The Plan and the Progeny
The Plan and the Progeny
Pastor Jim Quigley
“Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.”
Most people acquainted with Isaiah 53 will spend most of their time meditating on verses 3 through 7—which are indeed wonderful and glorious. But as a result, other verses in the passage—like verse 10, which we are looking at today—often get overlooked. If you linger longer over verse 10, you’ll come face to face with something staggering and shocking. Verse 10 begins by saying, “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him…” More literally, it can be translated as “Yet it pleased the LORD to crush Him…” What?! How could it be God’s will to crush His Son? Why would this be pleasing to Him? The answer is given in the rest of verse 10.
Before the foundation of the world—before an atom or Adam was created—the Triune God planned to save sinners through the death of God the Son on a cross. Before sin even entered the world (because there was nothing even created!), God’s plan and will was to reclaim ruined sinners and wandering, wayward sheep by crushing Christ on the cross (see Isaiah 53:4-7; Ezekiel 34:11-16, 22-24; John 10:11-18; Revelation 13:8). The crucifixion of Jesus was not Plan B in response to how things were playing out. It was God’s plan all along to save His sinful people from His wrath (see Acts 2:23-24; 4:27-28).
But why did it please God to crush His Son? God took pleasure in the death of His Son because of what His death achieved—namely, saving sinners and turning them into adopted children of God. Verse 10 says, “when His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring”—that is, His spiritual offspring. By His sacrificial death, Jesus “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” These ransomed, redeemed sinners are now spiritual offspring of God who have transformed hearts to glorify and delight in God. God’s pleasure is not so much in the suffering of the Son, but in what the Son accomplished through being crushed—namely, the purchasing of a people for God.
Reflection: Meditate on Isaiah 53:10. Spend a few minutes praising and thanking God that His plan (and pleasure!) all along has been to rescue ruined sinners through Jesus’s sacrificial death. Pray for your unsaved loved ones—that they may be one of God’s offspring that Christ died to save.