In Isaiah 52:13-15 we find a summary of both the humiliation and the exaltation of the Servant, which is described in more detail in Isaiah 53:1-12. These verses cover the work of Christ in His substitutionary death, His burial, His resurrection, His saving grace, His intercession, and His kingdom.
"Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently" (v. 13a). This passage opens with the Lord calling special attention: "Behold" is used to draw our focus to something that is important. It means to look at, fix your eyes on, or observe with care and understanding. Make sure you understand what the Lord is saying and how He works.
"He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high" (v. 13b). This refers to both His first and second coming. He is exalted right now. After His resurrection and ascension, He is now at the right hand of the Father. At His second coming, He will be exalted in the sight of all the world, which He will rule.
"Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men" (v. 14). Nothing about His physical appearance when Jesus was on this earth would cause people to give Him honor. In fact, His appearance would be "marred" to such an extent that He would no longer be recognized by anyone. Literally, He would be "disfigured."
This description may refer to both His physical stature and His appearance, but it is probably simply a reference to His appearance when He was crucified. The last part of verse 14 says literally that the Lord's "form" was disfigured "more than the sons of men." In other words, He was so disfigured that people were astonished with His looks even more than they were with His teaching.
"So shall He sprinkle many nations" (v. 15a). This verse refers to salvation. It is the sprinkling or shedding of His blood that brings salvation to mankind. The reference to "sprinkling" may recall the sprinkling of blood on the doorposts and lintel of the houses on the night in Egypt when the Lord spared the firstborn of the Israelites (Exodus 12:7). It is the blood of Christ, His death on the cross in payment for our sin, that enables us to enter into fellowship with the Father.
There is one other similar biblical tradition to which this sprinkling may refer. Leviticus 14 describes the ceremonial cleansing of a person healed of infectious disease, a ceremony in which the priest sprinkles water and blood on the healed person to pronounce him or her clean.
His sprinkling many nations would then be consistent with both His first and second coming. At His first coming, His death atoned for our sin, making it possible for all who trust Him to be reconciled to the Father. At His second coming, He will rule the nations in righteousness and goodness.
"Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider" (v. 15b). When He is exalted at His second coming, leaders in the highest places will be speechless and in awe before the once-despised Servant. When He takes His throne, they will see His power and glory in a way they could never imagine. They will not resist. "Kings shall shut their mouths" and say nothing against Jesus because they will finally understand. "They shall see" things in a new light, things that "had not been told them." "They shall consider" things "they had not heard," and they will submit to His rule.
Paul applied this verse to his preaching the gospel where Christ was not yet known. In that way, people who had never heard the gospel of Jesus before, would hear and consider what Jesus had done for them. Consider Christ and His blood shed for you, and trust Him by faith for your salvation. Amen.
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