Passover 2026: Isaiah 53:10: "When His Soul Makes an Offering for Guilt"

"When his soul makes an offering for guilt," we read in Isaiah 53:10, part of Isaiah's famous Suffering Servant prophecy.  The word for "offering for guilt" is asam, the name for one of the kinds of sacrifices offered at the tabernacle or temple.

Scholars today, following Jacob Milgrom, often refer to this type of sacrifice as a reparation offering.  Most English translations use "trespass offering" (KJV) or "guilt offering" for this kind of offering, but there are some variations.  CEB uses "compensation offering" and HCSB uses "restitution offering."  

In chapter 3 of The Gospel According to Isaiah 53, Walter Kaiser notes that a reparation offering is usually offered by an individual and makes sure that a debt is paid in full.  These qualities are appropriate for the sacrifice offered by the Messiah for the sins of mankind.   

Reparation offerings were called for in cases of "desecration of sancta"---that is, when something holy had been mishandled or mistreated (Lev 5:14-6:7).  One example would be a situation where someone accidentally ate food that had been set aside for the Levitical priests (Lev 22:14).  In that case, one would bring a reparation offering and make reimbursement for the food, adding a fine of 20 per cent.  

Another example was a situation where a Nazirite accidentally came in contact with a dead body (Num 6:9-12).  In that situation the holy thing that had been defiled was the Nazirite's hair, which was being prepared for an offering at the completion of the vow.  

A third example was a situation where one person robbed another and then came to regret it and wanted to make things right (Lev 6:1-7).  Here the thing that had been violated was a fellow Israelite, one of God's holy people.  In this case the stolen amount was restored along with a 20 per cent fine, and a reparation offering was carried out.  

A fourth example was the reinstatement to the Israelite community of a person who had been suffering from a skin disease.  The skin disease had desecrated a member of God's holy nation.  The ritual carried out in this case (Lev 14:12-18), which involved sprinkling of blood, restored the person to the "kingdom of priests." 

More broadly, Israel's exile was a desecration of Israel.  The Servant offered himself as a reparation offering so that Israel could be restored to the holy status of God's servant.  

In Isaiah 53:8, God says that the Servant was "stricken for the transgression of my people."  The word for "stricken" appears 78 times in the Old Testament, 61 of them in Leviticus 13-14, the chapters on skin diseases.  The prophecy pictures the Servant becoming a "leper" for the sake of the people.  Its references to the marred appearance of the Servant (52:14; 53:2-3) are consistent with such a picture.

Another detail that could tie in is in Isaiah 52:15, which says that the Servant will "sprinkle many nations."  As mentioned above, the ritual for restoring a person healed of a skin disease involved sprinkling of blood.  Overall, the prophecy pictures the Servant as both leper and offering for the leper, making atonement for "leprous" nations.

Passover 2026: Isaiah 52:13-53:12 and the Gospel

 The "suffering servant" prophecy in Isaiah 52:13-53:12, with its picture of substitutionary atonement, is foundational for Christianity.  

The Gospels indicate that this prophecy shaped Jesus' self-understanding.  In Luke 22:37, Jesus says that Isa 53:12, which describes the servant as "numbered among the transgressors," would be fulfilled in him.  Earlier that same evening he explained to his disciples that the wine of one of the cups of Passover represented "my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Mt 26:28).  Here his language also reflects Isaiah 53:!2, which says that the servant "poured out his soul to death" and "bore the sin of many."

Jesus' disciples initially resisted the idea that he, the Messiah, would be put to death in Jerusalem (Mt 16:13-23), but they came to understand that Jesus indeed would be the suffering servant.  Peter, who protested against this idea when he first heard it, later held up Jesus' example of sacrificial love as one for his disciples to emulate, using Isaiah 53 (1 Pe 2:18-25).  In verse 22, Peter quotes Isaiah 53:9 ("there was no deceit in his mouth") in reference to Jesus.  He makes several more allusions to Isaiah 53 in the ensuing verses.  

Matthew sees Jesus' healing ministry as a fulfillment of Isaiah 53:4 (Mt 8:14-17).

Many people have come to faith in Jesus the Messiah through the powerful words of Isaiah 53.  One example from the first century is the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8.  Philip uses Isaiah 53 to explain the Gospel to the eunuch and lead him to baptism (Ac 8:26-40).  

Paul recognized in Isaiah 52:!5 a prophecy of the Gospel going to the nations (Romans 15:21.).  John and Paul both saw in Isaiah 53:1 the fact that there would also be resistance to that revolutionary message (John 12:38; Rom 10:16).  Paradoxically, Jesus' being "lifted up" on the cross would be an exaltation and a victory (Isa 52:14; John 12:32).  

I recommend the book The Gospel According to Isaiah 53 for more on the amazing message of the Suffering Servant.

Seder 47 Sermon: Exodus 4:18, Mark 5:25-34---Go in Peace

 After receiving a commission at the burning bush, Moses let his father-in-law know that he was planning to return to Egypt.  Jethro responded, "Go in peace'' (Ex 4:18).  

In the Hebrew text, the word for "go" is preceded by the letter lamed.  According to one reading, this has the connotation that Moses has a difficult road ahead of him, but Jethro prays that Moses will head in the direction of shalom.  

In the Gospels Jesus conveys a similar blessing to the woman who has been plagued by bleeding for twelve years, then is healed when she touches the tassels of his tallit (Mk 5:25-34).  Kyle Kettering focused on this incident in a sermon at Church of the Messiah on November 23, 2024.  (He previously spoke on it in a sermon on January 22, 2022.)  

One common misconception regarding this woman is the claim that she was some kind of societal outcast because she was ritually impure for a long period of time.  However, ritually impurity was not sin and did necessarily come with a stigma attached.  Ritual impurity was mainly a concern when someone wanted to worship at the Temple---otherwise it was not a big deal.  It was also relatively easy to take care of with a toutine washing.  

Discussions of this subject always raise the question of whether Jesus experienced ritual impurity during his time on earth.  Some claim that Jesus was a source of "contagious holiness" and so imparted purity rather than ever becoming ritually impure.  Kyle mentioned an exponent of this school of thought, Tom Holmen, who has developed his thesis in papers entitled, "A Contagious Purity:  Jesus' Inverse Strategy for Eschatological Cleanliness" and "Jesus and the Purity Paradigm".

On the other hand, it is an important truth of Christianity that Jesus was fully human, and experiencing ritual impurity is a part of life.  For example, Jesus as a teenager probably had a nocturnal emission of semen at some point, which would have made him temporarily ritually impure. 

It is clear that Jesus did not worry about contracting ritual impurity.  He was much more concerned with his mission of helping people and alleviating suffering.  He willingly became fully human in order to serve mankind (Isa 53:2-5).  

Seder 86: More on Ritual Impurity and the Messiah

 In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on Jan 8, 2022, Kyle Kettering explored some Talmudic traditions about the Messiah involving skin conditions.  

One remarkable one, attributed to Rabbi Yitzhak in b. Sanhedrin 97a, says that the Messiah would come when the "heresy" of Christianity fills the kingdom.  This claim was based on Lev 13:12-13, which declares a person ritually clean when a skin condition completely covers his body and is no longer spreading.  To Christian ears, this sounds remarkably like Jesus' statement in his Olivet prophecy in Matthew 24:14:  "And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

Also remarkable is the story about the "leper Messiah" in b. Sanhedrin 98a.  Another midrash describes the Messiah as "leprous scholar."  These traditions are based on Isa 53:4, which says that the Suffering Servant would be "stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted."   The Messiah not only takes sickness away; he takes it upon himself.