The Sacred Scrolls
In the early 1st century Jewish synagogues, they would have at the front, behind the speaker, a big box or cabinet. In the box or cabinet were sacred scrolls, 22 of them, divided into 3 categories, “The Law of Moses,” “the Prophets,” and “the Writings.” Sometimes the third category was referred to as “the Psalms,” as that was the first and biggest book in that category. We have copies of those 22 scared scrolls, but we have them further divided into 39 books. They are the 39 books of what we call the Old Testament portion of the Bible. Their scroll of Samuel we have made into 1st and 2nd Samuel. Their scroll of Kings we have made into 1st and 2nd Kings. Their Chronicles we have as 1st and 2nd Chronicles. Their scroll called “The Twelve” we have made into 12 separate books that we call the minor prophets. And we separate Ruth from Judges, and Lamentations from Jeremiah, which they didn’t do. But what we have as the OT portion of our Bibles they had as their 22 sacred scrolls.
As we begin our study here, I want us to get a feel for how the Jews felt about these sacred writings. So I want to read you a statement from a first century Jew. The man’s name was Flavius Josephus. He was a general of the Jewish forces in Galilee and led them in battle against the Romans in the mid 60s A.D. The Jews were defeated and Josephus was captured by the Roman captain Vespasian, who decided to keep Josephus as a servant and interpreter. Josephus won his favor and later when Vespasian became the emperor, he exalted Josephus to a place of prominence and allowed him to write out the history of the Jews. And we have copies of his writings. Here’s something he wrote about the scared scrolls:
“For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from, and contradicting one another: [as the Greeks have:] but only twenty two books: which contain the records of all the past times: which are justly believed to be divine. And of them five belong to Moses: which contain his laws, and the traditions of the origin of mankind, till his death. This interval of time was little short of three thousand years. But as to the time from the death of Moses, till the reign of Artaxerxes, King of Persia, who reigned after Xerxes, the Prophets, who were after Moses, wrote down what was done in their times, in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of human life. ’Tis true, our history hath been written since Artaxerxes very particularly; but hath not been esteemed of the like authority with the former by our forefathers; because there hath not been an exact succession of Prophets since that time. And how firmly we have given credit to these books of our own nation, is evident by what we do. For during so many ages as have already passed, no one has been so bold, as either to add anything to them; to take anything from them; or to make any change in them. But it is become natural to all Jews, immediately, and from their very birth, to esteem these books to contain divine doctrines; and to persist in them: and, if occasion be, willingly to die for them. For ’tis no new thing for our captives, many of them in number, and frequently in time, to be seen to endure wracks, and deaths of all kinds, upon the theatres; that they may not be obliged to say one word against our laws, and the records that contain them.” (Against Apion 1:8).
So the Jews had these 22 sacred scrolls and they so revered them as the word of God that many of them would go to their deaths in order to not speak against them.
The Jewish Expectation from the Scrolls
Now, the Jews had gleaned from their sacred scrolls that God was going to raise up among them, from the lineage David and from the little town of Bethlehem Ephrathah, just south of Jerusalem (Matthew 2:1-6) a great king and deliverer. Because of passages like Micah 5:2, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity… 4 And He will arise and shepherd His flock In the strength of the Lord, In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. And they will dwell securely, Because at that time He will be great To the ends of the earth. 5 This One will be our peace…”
They referred to this promised one with many titles and descriptions. Perhaps most often they referred to this one as “the anointed one,” because God’s chosen kings, priests and prophets in their history were anointed symbolically with oil, but also invisibly with the Holy Spirit to help them in their work for God and His people. “The anointed” in Hebrew is a term something close to “the Messiah” and in Greek the term is something close to “the Christ.” “The Messiah” and “the Christ” are words that mean “the Anointed,” and that’s what they called this king and savior God promised to send. They also referred to Him as “the Expected One” (Luke 7:19) and “the Son of David” (Matthew 9:27) and “the King of Israel” (John 1:49), “the Savior” (John 4:42), “the Holy One of God” (John 6:69), and “the Son of God” (John 1:49; 11:27; Matthew 16:16), because in the OT God’s chosen king over His people was called “God’s Son” (I Samuel 7:14; Psalms 2:7; 89:26-27). David was called the Son of God and Solomon was called the Son of God. So that’s another title they used to refer to this promised king to come.
But there was much about this promised one the Jewish people had missed in the Scriptures and didn’t understand about Him. They assumed, like king David of old and other kings of their past, this promised King would actually sit upon a throne in the earthly city of Jerusalem. They assumed the salvation or deliverance He brought would be salvation from their earthly national enemies, which in their day was the Romans. They assumed He would be a great warrior like David and lead them militarily in overthrowing the Romans, and that the peace He brought would be earthly peace. So Jesus was not what they had in mind for the Messiah, because putting the Jews over the Romans was not on Jesus’ agenda. And He was too gentle, too peaceful, too loving of His enemies. His appearance was pretty plain, nothing kingly about it. He even spoke of bringing the Gentiles into the kingdom and blessing them. That wasn’t part of the picture they had in mind. But though He wasn’t what they were expecting, there were so many signs He was the One. There was John the Baptist before Jesus’ public ministry, who the people were convinced was a prophet, and he kept preaching, “After me is coming the one whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.” It was evident God was with Him; all the miracles Jesus came performing, curing every kind of sickness and handicap, even raising the dead and multiplying a little boy’s lunch to feed thousands. Before He would cast demons out of people, the demons would cry out, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God, the Son of God.” So the Jewish people were divided in their opinions about Jesus. A few believed, “He’s got to be the Messiah.” Others believed, “No, He’s just another prophet.” And then others, including most of the Jewish leaders, contended He was a deceiver and was using the power of Satan to cast out demons and do His miracles. And when they managed to finally get their hands on Him and got Him to confess He was the Messiah, they charged Him with blasphemy and had Him crucified. Then everybody thought either, “That proves He wasn’t the promised one,” or “the promises of God have failed because we killed our Savior.” A horrible early death was not at all a part of the Messianic picture they had in mind.
Jesus Explained the Scriptures to His Disciples
I love the story in Luke 24 about Jesus on the day of His resurrection, opening the minds of His disciples to understand their sacred scrolls. Let’s start at verse 13, “And behold, two of them [two of Jesus’ followers] were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. 16 But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.” I don’t know if something supernatural was preventing of them from recognizing Jesus or if it was more self-inflicted, in that they were thinking, “Wow, this guy really looks like Jesus, but it can’t be Him, because He died 3 days ago. “17 And He said to them, ‘What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?’ And they stood still, looking sad.” Thinking, “This poor guy must live under a rock. How could he not know what we’re talking about?” “18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, ‘Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?’ 19 And He said to them, ‘What things?’ And they said to Him, ‘The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. 21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.” Notice the past tense, “we were hoping, but He died, so our hopes were dashed.” “22 But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” You boil down Jesus’ response to them in one word, it’s, “Duh!” “25 And He said to them, ‘O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ 27 Then beginning with Moses [that’s the first fives sacred scrolls, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy] and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” These good Jews were familiar enough with the Scriptures they didn’t need the scrolls with them to know what Jesus was talking about as He mentioned passage after passage. Jesus explained all these passages throughout their Scriptures that they never understood before and pointed out all these details and things they had always overlooked. Don’t you wish you could have walked along side and heard Jesus explain the OT Scriptures? In the next paragraph, when they invite Jesus to stay with them and have dinner, at the table Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and it suddenly dawned on them that this guy who looks like Jesus is Jesus. Then He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another (verse 32), “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” There have been a few occasions in my life when I have sat at the feet of a teacher explaining the Scriptures or explaining the incredible evidence we have that Jesus truly is our King and Savior, and it was like lights being turned on for me. I could see clearer than ever, God, His will, His plans, His greatness and what life is all about, and it just filled me with faith, joy, a new passion and zeal for God. I know a little how these guys were feeling. They had to go tell the news to the other disciples, even though it was getting dark and it was seven miles back to Jerusalem. The other disciples were grieving and depressed the last time they saw them. Now, I kind of feel sorry for these two guys, because they walked 7 miles to tell good news and they were so excited to tell it, but as soon they entered the door of the house where the disciples were they heard, “Hey, guess what? The Lord has risen! He appeared to Simon.” Talk about stealing your thunder! I bet they said, “Ah man! That was our story! We just walked seven miles to tell you that.” Be thankful we have phones today. Then as they were all together talking, Jesus suddenly stood in their midst, scared them all half to death. And He talked and ate with them to help them realize He was really there. And then verse 44, “He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,” I think that probably means He led them in a Bible study like He did with the two fellas earlier on the road to Emmaus. He explained the Scriptures to them. “46 and He said to them [Here was the conclusion to the Bible study:], “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
Wouldn’t you have loved to have been able to sit in on that Bible study and hear Jesus explain the Scriptures? Don’t you wish Luke would have interviewed some of the apostles and found out what Jesus said to them on that occasion, what passages He mentioned and how He explained them? Well, I think Luke might have actually done that. But perhaps he didn’t write it down here, because he wrote about it in his next book. This book we call the gospel of Luke is just volume 1 of a 2 volume set, with both volumes written by Luke. Volume 2, which picks up right where the gospel of Luke left off, is what we call the book of Acts. And in the book of Acts, Luke records many examples of the preaching of Peter, who was in that Bible study with Jesus, and he records examples of the preaching of other disciples who were taught by the apostles who were in that Bible study. And guess what we see a lot of in the examples of their preaching? We see them explaining to their fellow Jews OT Scriptures and showing that the Scriptures really do paint a picture of a Messiah exactly like Jesus. Where’d they learn to do that? Where’d they get that understanding of the Scriptures? They got it, I think, much from Jesus explaining the Scriptures to them after His resurrection.
So I want to share with you some of the passages that the preachers in the book of Acts used and explained in their preaching, that I’m confident were some of the Scriptures Jesus explained in those resurrection day Bible studies He had with His disciples. This is the sort of stuff the apostles would preach among their fellow Jews. This is the kind of teaching referred to in Acts 17 when it says Paul had a custom of going into the local synagogues on Sabbath days, reasoning with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and that Jesus is the Christ. I’ve selected just four passages of the preaching in Acts for us to look at.
First,
Psalm 16
Peter uses this one in Acts 2 and Paul uses it in Acts 13. I’m confident this is one Jesus used to turn the lights on for His disciples. It’s a Psalm written by David. Let’s just look at the last few verses, verses 8-11, “I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely. 10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay. 11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” So this Psalm speaks of someone who has a great relationship with God. God is always with Him. He’s called God’s Holy One. Since the Psalm was written in the first person, you might think it’s talking about David (who wrote it). But Peter pointed out something I’m sure Jesus pointed out to him that indicates it can’t be about David. Notice the part, verse 10, “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol [or Hades, that’s the realm of the dead]; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” Where is David’s soul right now? Well, it’s in Sheol. He’s still dead. He’s still in Sheol. What has happened to David’s body? Well, it’s decayed into nothing but dust. So that Psalm is not talking about David. David was a prophet who was inspired by the Spirit of God, and He was talking about the resurrection of the Messiah, that the Messiah would not be left in the realm of the dead and His body would not undergo decay.
Another Psalm I think Jesus pointed out to them was…
Psalm 110
Peter also uses this one in Acts 2 and it’s also a Psalm of David. It begins, “The LORD says to my Lord:” Think about that. This is a Psalm of king David. Who could this be talking about? David has a Lord aside from the LORD God? Someone is even greater than king David? Who could that be? This is the Messiah. And it’s describing the Messiah as far greater than the Jews ever imagined. As Jesus asked people toward the end of His public ministry, “If the Messiah is a son of David, a descendant of David, then how could he also be David’s Lord; how could He have authority over David?” Because He’s not simply an earthly king who just rules over those living on earth around him. He’s judge of the living and the dead (cf. Acts 10:42). Then notice what the LORD says to David’s Lord, “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” Peter used this verse to show that the Messiah doesn’t sit upon a an earthly throne. He’s ascended and sits at the right hand of God.
We won’t look at the rest of the Psalm for time’s sake. But the rest of the Psalm is awesome! It pictures the extension of His rule over the nations. It pictures His people, and how they will serve Him willingly, voluntarily, not out of compulsion. They will love Him. And they will be holy people; they’re pictured as dressed in holy attire like the priests. And they will be so many, like the drops of dew in a field on a spring morning. And it mentions how He will not only be a king, but also a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. He will mediate and intercede for us with God and bring friendship between us and God. That’s the Messiah.
Another passage I suspect Jesus talked about with them was…
Deuteronomy 18:15-19
Peter uses this one in his preaching in Acts 3. I love this one. Moses is speaking and he says, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. 16 This is according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ 17 The Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18 I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.’” So God promised to raise up another prophet like Moses and people must listen to Him, must heed what He says. You might think God was just talking about the various prophets that arose among the Israelites throughout OT history, like Joshua, Samuel, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah and so forth. But that’s not really what God meant. Look at the last 3 verses of the book of Deuteronomy. This last chapter was not written by Moses. An indicator of that is in this last chapter you read about Moses’ death. So this was written by some prophet later in history. And look at the last 3 verses, “10 Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses…” They had prophets since Moses, but not a prophet like Moses. In what way? “whom the Lord knew face to face…” Moses and God would regularly get together and talk back and forth like friends do. Other prophets would get a vision or dream or message here and there, but they didn’t have the kind of closeness and regular personal dialogue with God Moses had (cf. Numbers 12:6-8). Then here’s another way in which Moses was unique. “11 for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.” There hadn’t been a prophet who performed such an abundance of extraordinary miracles and wonders and signs in the sight of all Israel. But Jesus knew God face to face, didn’t He? And all Israel knew Jesus worked all kinds of miracles and wonders and signs (Acts 2:22).
Not only that, but it’s really remarkable to notice how many other parallels there are between Moses and Jesus. Moses came on the scene after 400 years of silence. There is a 400 year gap of time between Genesis and Exodus while the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. During those 400 years we have no indication there were any prophets or any supernatural intervention from God. Well, there’s one other 400 year gap in the Bible where we don’t read of God saying or doing anything. It’s between the last book of the OT and the first book of the NT, right before Jesus came on the scene. The circumstances around the births of Moses and Jesus were very similar. Both were born under foreign rule. Both were saved in infancy from wicked rulers. Pharaoh commanded all the Israelite baby boys be thrown to the crocodiles. When Jesus was a baby, Herod commanded all the baby boys in the Bethlehem vicinity under 2 years old to be killed. They both found safety in Egypt. Pharaoh’s daughter took little Moses in as her son. Joseph and Mary took Jesus down to Egypt, until it was safe to return to Palestine. Both Moses and Jesus were leaders of the greatest redemptive events in Bible history. Moses led the Exodus out of bondage in Egypt. Jesus brought about the Exodus from bondage in sin. Both established memorials for God’s great acts of deliverance. Moses established the Passover and others, and Jesus, the Lord’s Supper. Both were priests. Both were mediators of new covenants. Both were law givers. Both fasted for forty days and forty nights in the wilderness (Exodus 34:28; Matthew 4:2). Both reflected the glory of God in unique ways (Exodus 34:29-35; II Corinthians 4:6). Moses would come down the mountain after talking with God and it says His face would be shinning (Exodus 34:29-35). Hebrews 1:3 says of Jesus, “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature…” (See also II Corinthians 4:6). There are many other parallels and similarities (cf. Acts 7:25-35; I Corinthians 10:2). God was talking about Jesus when He said, “I will raise up among you a prophet like Moses.”
Let’s look at one more passage I’m pretty sure Jesus pointed out to His apostles when He was explaining the Scriptures to them.
Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12
I think Peter was alluding to this passage in his preaching in Acts 3, because He refers to Jesus a couple times in that sermon as “God’s servant,” and also calls Him, “the Righteous One.” That’s what this one is called in Isaiah 52 and 53, “the Righteous One” and “God’s servant.” The evangelist Philip in Acts 8 used this passage. An angel of God told Philip to go to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza, and so he went to that road. And traveling on that road in a chariot was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Queen of the Ethiopians. He was a seeker of God. He had traveled hundreds of miles to Jerusalem to worship, and he was on his way home, and had one of the sacred scrolls. He had the scroll of Isaiah. And he was reading it, out loud to himself, perhaps to help him understand it a little better. And the Spirit of God said to Philip, “Go up and join that chariot.” And by the providence of God, the passage of Scripture the Eunuch happened to be reading was Isaiah 53. Philip said to him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him, and he said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Is he talking about himself or someone else?” And it says, “Philip… beginning from that Scripture preached Jesus to him.” Then very soon after, that high official of Ethiopia was baptized into Christ.
Isaiah 52, “13 Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.” So this servant of God will be at the top, above all others. That sounds like the Messiah. But watch this: “14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men.” So it appears, before He’s exalted, He is so marred, so abused, so beaten, so disfigured that people gasp in astonishment at the sight of Him. “15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations…” my version says. Or the word could be translated, “amaze” or “startle” or “surprise,” and I think that’s the sense of it. He will amaze many nations. He will surprise the world. The world will be amazed at what becomes of this tortured marred servant of God. “Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand.” The world will not be expecting what becomes of this marred servant. Isaiah 53:1, an anonymous voice says, “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” They are questions that seem to suggest the message of this servant will not be believed by the majority. Most will not believe this marred servant is the arm of the Lord, the power of the Lord, to save us. “2 For [Here’s part of why people won’t believe it] He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground…” In other words, He will not have a very promising beginning. Like a tender little shoot in parched dry ground, you don’t expect it to become anything big, or to even survive. Jesus was born to an impoverished family, laid in a dirty feeding trough at birth because no one would let His parents have their room at the inn. He was reared in little no-wheres-ville Nazareth in Galilee. He had no formal rabbinical training. He had no financial means. It didn’t look like Jesus would become anything significant. “He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” He wasn’t your high school quarterback. He wasn’t your homecoming king. He wasn’t even in the running for homecoming king. He was just very plain looking. He didn’t look like anything great.] “3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs [or the word means something like sicknesses or diseases or infirmities] He Himself bore, And our sorrows [the word can mean pains or afflictions] He carried…” Matthew quotes this verse and applies it to the healing miracles Jesus went about doing (Matthew 8:17). He carried away people’s sicknesses and afflictions. “Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.” Though He did these good deeds for the Jews, though He healed them, they thought as He hung on the cross He was cursed of God, that He was being punished for His own sins. But why really did He suffer? “5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.” He took the penalty for our sins upon Himself. He suffered what we deserve so we would not have to. “7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.” He made no effort to save Himself from the suffering. “8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living [that He was killed] For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?” Who considered that’s why He died? Not because God was against Him, not because of His own sins, but to atone for our sins. Who of His generation considered He was dying for our sins? “9 His grave was assigned with wicked men…” Jesus’ grave was going to be with the thieves who were crucified next to Him. They would be thrown out like garbage somewhere and probably eaten by birds and dogs. “Yet He was with a rich man in His death…” I think that refers to the fact that a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea summoned up the courage to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus. Then he and another rich man named Nicodemus took down the body from the cross, bound it in burial wrappings with about a 100 pounds of expensive spices and buried Him in a brand new tomb. “Although He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. 10 But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief…” Though He was innocent, it pleased God to crush Him, so that we, the guilty, might be saved.
Now, here’s the results of this. “If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring“. He will die childless, but then He will have children. “He will prolong His days.” He will die an early death, but then He will live a long time. “And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.” I think the idea is whatever He puts His hand to will prosper, because it will be God’s good pleasure to bless Him. “11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.” Many will stand before God as righteous, though we all like sheep have gone astray. We will stand before Him without our sin because this righteous servant of God will be our guilt offering. “12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great [The word in Hebrew for “great” is the same as the word for “many” in verse 11. It’s the many who are justified before God because of what the righteous servant has done.] , And He will divide the booty with the strong [Or the word means “the numerous.” It’s the same as the many who are justified, it’s talking about us. Because of what Jesus has done we stand before God as righteous and we are fellow heirs with Christ, we get to divide the spoils with Him, we get to reign with Him and share all that He has.] “Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”
The point is, the good news of Jesus we’ve heard is for real. Those sacred scrolls described a Messiah who would die for our sins, be raised from the dead, and exalted to the right hand of God as Lord of all. Now we can have forgiveness and be exalted to where He is, if we will be those who listen to Him, who trust and follow Him, because He is also a prophet like Moses to whom God said we must listen.
– James Williams