Isaiah 52:13. Behold, 7 My Servant shall prosper, He shall be exalted and lifted up. We have understood this chapter to show the manner in which that king would set us free. Behold, My Servant shall prosper. Here we begin chapter 53. Until now you have heard Christ’s kingdom depicted in the cross and that it is carried forward by faith and the Word alone. Yet that leading of faith, the Word, and the cross is not without deliverance and protection. In this chapter the prophet speaks primarily of the Head of the Kingdom as he treats of the person of the King and the manner of His deliverance. This is the foremost passage on the suffering and resurrection of Christ, and there is hardly another like it. Therefore we must memorize this passage, for it certainly drives out the stubbornness of the Jews. The Jews cannot deny that this passage speaks of Christ. They indeed grant the glories of Christ in this chapter, but they are unwilling to grant His cross and sufferings. Yet this is what the text says: This King will be glorious, but after His death. This indicates that this King is different from an ordinary one, since He will begin His reign after death. Behold, My Servant shall prosper. He calls Him Servant as He did above (42:1 f.): “He will not cry or lift up His voice, or make it heard in the street.” There He is not just called Servant, as the monastics think, but He is a servant, that is, a minister of the Word, an apostle and an ambassador. What will this Servant do? He shall prosper. The Hebrew word יַשְׂכִּיל8 means to act wisely, to be able to deal circumspectly with a matter. They are said to act wisely who carry an important and extremely dangerous matter through to its conclusion in such a way that they nowhere do violence to it. The political ruler needs this wisdom to take note of all dangers, beware of all snares, and bring everything to a successful conclusion. So Matt. 10:16 reads: “Be wise as serpents.” Now, the serpent is a shrewd animal, involving itself in violence and craftiness. Summary: It is incumbent upon the wise man not to rule by violence, not to ram his head through, but in the midst of an even desperate situation to see it through gently and bring everything to an orderly conclusion. Thus Christ will find an exceedingly involved situation. This affair will be imposed on Him in a way to make His task seem entirely impossible, and yet He will handle the matter so successfully that He will dispose of it without force and without danger. He has accomplished it wisely and without noise. This is the meaning of My Servant shall prosper. Before this no such person was found, although David is called a שֵׂכֶל, that is, a man wise in the Scriptures (1 Chron. 22:12). Summary: “My Servant will not be turbulent, as you hitherto acted under the Law with violence, but His ministry is supremely pleasant and joyful, and He handles everything in the gentlest manner, offending and hurting no one. Such sagacity is the very opposite of every kind of force and tyranny on the part of authorities. Then, when His first office and ministry have been accomplished, He will be in glory. He will bring it about that even in this life He will arrive at glory after many people have been gathered to Him.” But I understand it simply in this way: Here, in the time of his earthly life, He will be Servant. After death He will be Lord. In His life He will be the most prudent Servant” (Luther’s Works, v. 17, p. 215-216).