Who is the ‘we’ in Isaiah 53:6? Let's read what it says, “6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Who is the we here? This is important to establish, because it is the we for which the Messiah Jesus Christ, died on the cross and took the punishment for.
If we back up into the passage a little bit we can see the identity of the ‘we’:
“7 How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who
brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your
God reigns.” 8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together
they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion. 9
Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord
has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has bared his
holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth
shall see the salvation of our God” (Isa. 52:7-10).
The ‘we’ is, according to this context, the people of “Zion” and “Jerusalem.” The “we” Jesus died for was therefore Israel.
Yet we Christians know that this applies to us, to all of
us, because we were as sheep who had gone astray, and it is our iniquity that
was laid on the shoulders of Jesus. Peter says this very directly in his first
letter,
“21 For to this you have
been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so
that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit
found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when
he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who
judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we
might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and
Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:21-25).
Peter is clearly taking Isaiah 53 here and applying it to
all who have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. He may be referring to Jewish
Christians in this letter, or not, scholars debate over this. But the key point
is that he is applying this to Christians, and therefore it applies to
Christians whether Jew or Gentile, and we all apply this to ourselves. There
are even kids songs for church based on Isaiah 53:6. After all the passage also says that his salvation for Israel will go out to the ends of the earth.
But it is clear from the context that it is Israel being addressed in Isaiah, without question,
and it was the sins of Israel that were laid on the Messiah, and yet Peter
takes this passage and directly applies it to Christians who have trusted in
Jesus. How can he do this?
Because we are the true Jerusalem, the true city of God,
“22 But you have come to
Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to
innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly[1] of the firstborn who are
enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the
righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to
the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Heb.
12:22-24).
It is now Christians, all who believe in Jesus who have
come to Zion, who are the heavenly Jerusalem and the city of God. Or, the place
where God dwells, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, “16 Do you not know that you are God's
temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple,
God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.” The
temple sits on Mt Zion, it is the place where God places his presence. Christians
are now the temple, we are therefore on Mt Zion, which is really a
representation of heaven. We are in other words full citizens of the people of
God.
Revelation 3:12 also tells us this,
“The one who conquers, I
will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it,
and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God,
the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new
name.”
Isaiah 53:6 can only apply to Gentiles if God’s design
was always to bring Gentiles into Jerusalem, or Zion, or into the city of God as full citizens. And
that is precisely what God said his plan is. And of what nation or people
is Zion the capital of? Israel. Israel is simply one of many names for the
people of God. Here are multiple passages telling Gentile believers that they
are of Jerusalem, and Zion, just as Jewish believers are. So, the ‘we’ in
Isaiah 53:6 is all believers, Jew and Gentile, and therefore Gentiles are
necessarily included in Israel and all the promises made to Israel about God’s
salvation and inheritance.
List of References
[1]
The word here in the Greek is the word for church, ‘ecclesia’, which means ‘assembly,’
‘gathering’ or as we noted, ‘church’
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