"He shall see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant be satisfied; make many to be accounted righteous; and he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53.11 RSV)

How has the reconciliation of all who will, been effected? It is by the knowledge possessed by our Lord. Knowledge of God, gained by His presence with the Father "before the world was", when He was at the Father's right hand. Knowledge of man, gained during His earthly life when He was made like man that He might share with men in all their infirmities and sorrows, and be made a merciful and faithful High Priest able to have compassion upon the ignorant and them that are out of the way. Knowledge of the Devil and his wiles, gained both from the times before the fall of Lucifer, when he was a sinless creature in the high courts of Heaven, and in the time when he bore the grim title of prince of this world. It was because of this knowledge that our Lord was able to carry out His mission with inflexible determination and assurance of ultimate triumph. He, the Lord of glory, was of necessity possessed of all knowledge; that is why His personality is presented under the name of "Wisdom" in the early chapters of the Book of Proverbs.

In later days the "Wisdom" of early Jewish thought became the "Logos" or word, thought, mind, of God. The "Logos" in turn became identified with the Man of Nazareth when John, speaking by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, told his listeners that the "Logos" had been made flesh so that the invisible and incomprehensible Son of God might be manifest amongst them and to them. So the One who lived among men, ministering to them, who taught them, suffered with them and ultimately suffered for them, was Himself the repository of all Divine wisdom and knowledge. Thus it was that by knowledge the One we love and serve, justified many.

"He shall bear their iniquities." 'When' He shall bear their iniquities, is the right thought. It is when Jesus has borne the iniquities of the children of men and given Himself a Ransom for all, that the basis for justification is laid down. Even then one is not automatically justified, for there is the human part in this as well as God's. No one can be justified by faith until they have exercised faith and become conscious of faith in Jesus Christ. No one can enjoy the state of reconciliation with God until they have first accepted Jesus as their Saviour and trusted in Him as the basis of their acceptance before God. And no one can attain that state without repentance — repentance for the sin of the past, repentance for their share in the undone state of the world, repentance for all that is out of accord with the Divine ideal. Not many thus repent today. Even though God has, since Pentecost, extended to all men a call to repentance, few of earth's millions have heard the call and fewer have heeded it. The world continues in sin and the Redeemer bears its iniquities, until at length they are forever removed by the cleansing measures of His Kingdom. In that day God's Plan of salvation will reach its glorious climax and as the fruit of the coming of the Lord in human form "for the suffering of death" many will be justified.

"Therefore will 1 appoint him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (vs. 12).

This final verse is something like the "Hallelujah Chorus" in Handel's "Messiah". It is the acclamation of triumph that ends the story. This glorious climax was inevitable from the first; there was no doubt at all of its coming, but none the less it resounds with notes of joy and gladness which could not have been struck before. This is the Father setting the seal of His own satisfaction upon all that has been done. The first two clauses of this verse picture a victorious warrior returning from battle to receive honour and reward from His King. The Lord Jesus Christ is the warrior and He has vanquished death and all its powers and driven sin and evil far away so that they can never return. There are many captives and trophies of the battle. All those things which in any way have opposed the righteousness of God or have flouted His laws or have ravaged His dominion have been subdued and led captive by the conquering Christ. All enemies have been put under His feet. But since He also is to be subject unto God Who did put all things under Him, that God may be all in all, it is an entirely appropriate picture here that shows him bringing the trophies and spoils of victory to God His Father, as it were, and receiving back from His Father's hands the honour that is rightfully His. We know what that honour is; in the name of Jesus shall every knee bow, both in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So when the Father is depicted as declaring "I will appoint him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong" He implies that He himself is the great and the strong one to whom has been rendered the spoils of war and who divides those spoils with the Son, the victor in the conflict. In no better manner could we have shown to us the unity which exists between the Father and the Son in the final triumph over evil. The whole Plan of Redemption is of the Father; its execution is by the Son. The power which overthrows evil is of the Father; that power is wielded by the Son. During a long period sin was upon the Earth but the time for the work of atonement had not come. Father and Son together in the heavens, worked in complete unity and oneness of thought and purpose. When in due time Christ Jesus was "born into the world to save sinners" the Father in heaven who dwelt in the indescribable light which no man can approach unto, and the Son on Earth, made in the form of a bondman, in the likeness of humanity, remained still in the intimacy of unfettered communion and the harmony of perfect unity. When the time of sacrifice and suffering was ended and the way prepared for men to walk the highway back to God, the risen Christ ascended to perfect reunion with his Father, seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. In all of this the relationship of the Son to the Father is clearly shown; and now in the end of all things the Son received from the Father excellent honour and glory. God the Father has appointed him a portion with himself ‑ 'the great'; He has graciously given that the Son shall divide the spoil with Himself the strong, and so the heavenly chorus goes up in jubilation "Worthy is the Lamb That was slain to receive riches, and power, and honour, and glory, and blessing".

For three-and-a-half years He faithfully carried out His earthly commission and the whole of that ministry was a pouring out of His life unto death. Jesus not only died for men; He also lived for them, and that living was in itself a dying, for He died daily, giving and being given, spending and being spent, yielding to all who would partake His flesh which was given for the life of the world.

He who was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich. Becoming poor involved His being counted among the transgressors, He who knew no sin. It involved being condemned as a criminal, He who knew no guile, neither was deceit found in His mouth. He the holy, the sinless one, was put to death as an offender against the holy laws of God, and counted among the criminals of this world. In bearing away the sins of mankind He was himself accounted a sinner. That is the final note of triumph. By this very means He made intercession for the condemned and dying race before the Throne of God, and established His plea. The fallen sons of men, despairing and dying in the darkness, without hope and without God in the world, all unwittingly saw a great light. Adam's children, sitting unheeding in the land of the shadow of death, found the light streaming upon them. The Light of the world shone at length into their hearts, transforming the fear and gloom and terror into peace and joy and love. The all-powerful wisdom of God had found a way — the only way — whereby the creation of His hands could achieve its fore-ordained destiny despite the invasion of sin. The holy Son of God, looking down from His exalted station in the heavens "shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied", and from all the Earth shall arise the joyful chorus in honour of the God who planned it all ‑ "Lo, this is our God.... we have waited for him…we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation".       

The End

TH