- Verse 9 can also be translated, "He was assigned a grave with the wicked but was with the rich in his death." What part of Jesus' story do you think that is describing?
Verse 9 describes Jesus’ death by crucifixion and his subsequent burial. The first part of verse 9 - “He was assigned a grave with the wicked” - refers to the fact that Jesus likely would have been buried with the two criminals who were crucified with him that day. Matthew 27:57-60, Mark 15:43-46, Luke 23-50-54, and John 19-38-42 all describe the second part of verse 9 – “was with the rich in his death.” This refers to the time after Jesus died when Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea, asked for Jesus’s body and put Jesus in Joseph’s own tomb.
- Imagine you are an Israelite living in Isaiah's day, hearing these words for the first time. Does anything strike you as strange about these verses?
The first thing that would likely get the attention of an Israelite living during Isaiah’s day is hearing in verse 10 that “the Lord makes his life an offering for sin.” The Israelites knew that human sacrifices were against Mosaic Law, so they would have been confused about whether this Messiah was a person or an animal.
The other thing that would be confusing is that it is clear that this person (or animal) will die, but then how will he “see his offspring and prolong his days?” The Israelites did not have the benefit of hindsight as we do to see that the Messiah would be resurrected, and they would not understand his “offspring” to be all of the believers that would come after his death and resurrection.