Isaiah 53:9
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 53:7-9
Jesus died the death of a criminal but was rich in his death even though he had done nothing wrong and no deceit was found in him. Many translations say: “he had done no violence.” The Hebrew word for “violence” is ḥāmās which could be translated “violence” or “malicious”. It more accurately means “violent hatred” and is almost always speaking of sinful violence. God uses this word in Genesis:
“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence (ḥāmās). God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, ‘I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence (ḥāmās) because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth’” (Gen 6:11,13).
This violence is actually violence against God’s law. It’s the same concept spoken about by John:
“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4).
So what Isaiah is affirming here about Jesus is that he was sinless. He had done no violence against God’s law. Jesus committed no sin violations – he was perfect.
And there was no deceit in his mouth. Jesus said:
“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt 12:33-37).
The Hebrew word for “deceit” is mirmâ which portrays the willful distortion of truth. A man’s heart is deceitful by nature. Jeremiah says:
“The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?” (Her 17:9).
Jesus was found to have no deceit. His heart was not like ours. His motives were pure. He spoke only truth. Peter quotes Isaiah 53:9 describing Jesus:
“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
‘He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.’
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Pet 2:21-23).
Jesus was perfect on the inside and outside. His thoughts and his actions were both sinless. And that is why he was the perfect sacrifice for us. Jesus is the perfect spotless Lamb. Peter would go on to say:
“‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed’” (1 Pet 2:24).
Our response to Jesus living a perfect life and giving it up for us is to live for righteousness. We cannot be perfect like Jesus. But we must set that as our goal. Jesus is our standard. We are to stop practicing deceit and start speaking truth. We now are to live for righteousness no matter what it might cost us because it cost Jesus everything.
Christ in the Old Testament 
Leave a comment