All Hail the Bloody King: The Important Consistency Between Isaiah 53 & 63
“Who is this coming from [Jordan] in crimson-stained garments from Bozrah—this One who is splendid in His apparel, striding in His formidable might?”[1]
The prophet Isaiah had seen so much by the time he inked his sixty-third chapter into parchment, yet he couldn’t recognize the figure rising before him here. Much like Joshua froze when the Angel of the LORD happened upon his path,[2] Isaiah must have trembled to see a mighty, dignified warrior covered in blood coming towards him. “Who is this?” he wondered.
“It is I, proclaiming salvation, powerful to save.”[3]
Let us pause here before we proceed; the LORD responds to Isaiah and tells the aged prophet the blood-soaked warrior approaching from the east is none other than the Holy One who met Moses in the burning bush,[4] brought Abraham out of Babylon,[5] and would one day bring a Roman battalion to the ground with the simple declaration: “I AM.”[6] And, much like He declared His dynamic name to Moses on the mountain—“The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation”[7]—He here emphasized two traits as He identified Himself. Proclaiming salvation. Mighty to save.[8] These are important to bear in mind, because the sight of Him intimidated Isaiah, who understandably then asked:
“Why are Your clothes red, and Your garments like one who treads a winepress?”[9]
Remember, Isaiah has seen Him bloodstained before—as the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, slaughtered for sins He didn’t commit.[10] But something about the revelation of Jesus in Isaiah 63 shook him, and rightly so. Why are You soaked in blood like one who goes to war?
“I trampled the winepress alone, and no one from the nations was with Me.”[11] He said the same to Ezekiel, that He sought a man in the gap to intercede and found no one but Himself.[12] “I trampled them in My anger and ground them underfoot in My fury; their blood splattered My garments, and all My clothes were stained.”[13]
These are aggressive words, and we’re likely more familiar with the Lamb who didn’t make a sound as He was led to the slaughter[14] than we are with a Lion who trampled His enemies underfoot. But this concept is not unknown in Scripture; Psalm 110 (the most-quoted psalm in the New Testament) clearly says Jesus’ enemies will end up under His feet.[15] The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost in Eden,[16] and destroy the works of the devil.[17] He has long been destined to crush that serpent of old under His holy heel.[18] The Man of War[19] continues:
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“For I planned My day of vengeance”[20]—also not a foreign concept[21]—and the year of My redemption came.”[22]
The year of His redemption.
The Gospel—the “good news” of the Kingdom[23]—does not end with the Cross. It could have, but it didn’t. Redemption’s thread woven with a holy hand through the course of human history has every man, woman, and child barreling towards the Day of the LORD because He is going to restore all things.[24]
The Good News of the Kingdom of Jesus brings us to the Cross so that it can guide us to the Crown.
Charles Spurgeon once remarked that he would not play with sin, as it would be akin to “toying with the blade” that killed His king.[25] Sin kills.[26] The devil kills.[27] And conquering their bloodlust costs blood; this is why God nailed Himself to splintered planks of Roman wood.[28] A curse was placed upon the traitorous mirrors in the Garden of God, and He hung Himself on a tree to shatter it.[29] Thankfully, the story does not end there. It ends in another garden.[30] But blood will spill before we get there.[31]
“The wheat and the tares will grow together,”[32] and for as much as the Body and Bride of Christ will grow into maturity to rule and reign with Him before He comes,[33] so will the wickedness sown in Eden’s first mutiny. Before this age ends, the rage of the nations, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of our finite lives will crescendo in the worst—mightiest—forms of exploitation, oppression, trafficking, murder, deceit, idolatry, and Christ-slander the world has yet seen. We have not yet known the depths of man’s depravity, but we soon will.[34] And when we do, we will beg Jesus to come end injustice and make every wrong thing right.[35]
And He will.[36]
When He does, every eye will see Him split the sky. You won’t be able to miss it.[37] Those who are dead in Christ are given the dignity of rising first;[38] those who had to bury their loved ones and wait for His return will then follow.[39] Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess:[40] the Man born in a manger, who let us kill Him on a Cross, He is the Conqueror long-promised—and He has come back, once and for all.
All hail the Rider on the white horse[41]
All hail the bloody King
All hail our Conqueror long-promised
Lord of war, Prince of Peace
Lord of war, Prince of Peace
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Stephanie Quick (@quicklikesand) is a writer/producer serving with FAI. She lives in the Golan Heights and cohosts The Better Beautiful podcast with Jeff Henderson. Browse her free music, films, and books in the FAI App and at stephaniequick.org.
[1] Isaiah 63:1a, CSB
[2] Joshua 5:13-15
[3] Isaiah 63:1b, CSB
[4] See Exodus 3
[5] See Genesis 12-15
[6] See John 18:5-6. Some translations add “He” in italics as a grammatical implication, but Jesus did not say “I am He.” He said to the battalion in Gethsemane what He said to Moses in Midian: “I AM.”
[7] Exodus 34:6-7, NKJV
[8] See also Zephaniah 3:17
[9] Isaiah 63:2, CSB
[10] Isaiah 53:1-12
[11] Isaiah 63:3a
[12] Ezekiel 22:30
[13] Isaiah 63:3b
[14] See Isaiah 53
[15] Psalm 110:1
[16] Luke 19:10
[17] 1 John 3:8
[18] Genesis 3:15
[19] Exodus 15:3
[20] Isaiah 63:4a
[21] Proverbs 6:34; Isaiah 34:8; 61:2
[22] Isaiah 63:4b
[23] Matthew 24:14
[24] Revelation 21:1-5
[25] C. Spurgeon, (2010). Collected Works, Vol. 2, 160. The original quote: “If Christ has died for me, I cannot trifle with the evil that killed my best Friend.”
[26] Romans 6:23
[27] John 10:10
[28] 2 Corinthians 5:21
[29] Galatians 3:13
[30] Revelation 22:1-5
[31] Revelation 14:20; 19:1-2
[32] Matthew 13:30
[33] Ephesians 4:12-14; 5:31-32
[34] See Revelation 17
[35] Revelation 1:7; 6:10; 22:17
[36] Revelation 11:15-19
[37] Matthew 24:27; Luke 17:24
[38] 1 Thessalonians 4:16
[39] 1 Thessalonians 4:17
[40] Philippians 2:9-11
[41] Revelation 19:11