We get a clearer picture of our Savior’s atonement in Isaiah, who prophesied messianically saying, “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting” (Isaiah 50:6). The beating and spitting are recorded in the New Testament Gospels, but the act of pulling out His beard with chunks of His face is not detailed anywhere else in scripture.
There is irrefutable evidence that other prophets had visions of the Savior’s mortal ministry. Elder Bruce R. McConkie gave his final testimony of the reality of the atonement of Jesus Christ just thirteen days before he passed away from cancer. While describing the events of His suffering, he included a detail not recorded in the New Testament. He said Jesus “was led away with a rope around his neck, as a common criminal.” (“The Purifying Power of Gethsemane,” April 6, 1985). Nephi also saw “the Son of God going forth among the children of men; and saw many fall down at his feet and worship him” (1 Nephi 11:24). And another Nephi was an “eyewitness” and “had power given unto him that he might know concerning the ministry of Christ” (3 Nephi 7:15).
This detail of being led away with a rope agrees with Isaiah’s Suffering Servant Song:
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7)
In this week’s block of scripture, we are reminded of the Abrahamic Covenant: “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him” (Isaiah 51:1-2). The imagery is striking. We are carved out and molded after the pattern promised to Abraham and Sarah, and ultimately in the image of Jesus Christ.
As we take on the name of Jesus Christ, we “put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). The phrase “put on” in this verse is the Greek word enduo, the origin of the English word endowment. Isaiah 52:1 states, “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.” We are invited to “put off” the natural man (Mosiah 3:19) and to “put on” Christ. The garment is symbolic of the “coats of skins” (Genesis 3:21) given to Adam and Eve and reminds us of the atonement of Jesus Christ. The Fall of mankind introduced death into the world, and an animal had to be sacrificed in order to make the coats of skins. The original Hebrew word for skins (ôwr) is actually singular, pointing the symbolism to an individual, namely Jesus.
The message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ must be carried by messengers into all the world. The “feet” that “bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace” are the feet of runners, who are swift to carry the message (Isaiah 52:7-8). The urgent message is relayed from mountaintop to mountaintop, or from tower to tower, as the watchmen (prophets) on the top of the mountain or tower can see the nearest relayer on the next mountain or tower, and they can relay the message if an enemy is approaching. Thus, they see “eye to eye.” We can become like the Savior, and when we see Him we will see “eye to eye,” because “we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (Moroni 7:48).
Isaiah 52:11 states, “Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.” These “vessels” were gold and silver instruments used by the priests and Levites to perform ordinances in the temple. Nebuchadnezzar carried these away to Babylon when Jerusalem was besieged, and when the Jews were allowed to return, they were carried back to the restored temple. In our day, it would be like the Lord commanding those who participate in temple ordinances to be pure.
Isaiah chapter 53 has to be one of the most sacred passages of scripture. This “Servant Song” prophesies of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice. Jesus would grow up like a normal child in apostate Israel. He didn’t have a halo around His head or other features to identify Him as the Messiah, so many people “esteemed Him not.” Many “did esteem him stricken, smitten of God” and considered His crucifixion to be a punishment from God. Traditional paintings show Jesus lifted up very high upon the cross, but was it really that way?
The Romans perfected this cruel form of torture. The position of the body on the cross caused pressure on the diaphragm causing a prolonged suffocation. Victims were put on public display and humiliated. We know Jesus was offered a sponge with vinegar stuck to a reed of hyssop. The average height of men in those days was about 5 feet and the reed of hyssop would have been 1 to 2 feet long, so Jesus would not have been very high from the ground. “They that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads” (Matthew 27:39). A lower cross would allow for closer eye contact so onlookers could insult and taunt Him more viciously.
As President Eyring just reminded us, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4).
A word in the next verse has connections to Old Testament sacrifices and a forerunner to the sacrament. Verse 5 states, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.” The Hebrew word for wounded is châlal, meaning “to wound or pierce.” There was an offering known as the “meat offering,” but this was the one offering where no meat, or animal flesh, was involved. It should be translated as “meal offering,” since it consists of fine flour. Leviticus 2:4 reads,
“And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.”
The Hebrew word for unleavened cakes is challah, related to chalal (wounded) in the Isaiah verse. The unleavened cakes are sometimes referred to as “pierced bread.” This is a type and shadow of the atonement of Jesus Christ and a forerunner to the sacrament, where the bread represents Jesus’ body bruised and torn for us. Also, the oil used in this offering is the Hebrew word shemen and is one of the roots of Gethsemane, meaning “oil press.” The wafers were “anointed with oil.” The Old Testament term Messiah and the New Testament term Christ (or Christus) both mean “the Anointed One.”
