For this prophecy there are different views among Jews and Christians on what the prophecy is referring to. 

The prophet Isaiah writes the following:

“Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished.

He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Isaiah 53:4-12

While Christians see this passages as referring to Jesus and his unjustified suffering, Jews interpret this as describing Israel and it’s suffering. Let‘s look at both angles and check if, in case it is referring to the Messiah, Jesus would fulfill this prophecy.

Israel suffering on behalf of other nations

In my research I found that contemporary Jewish interpretation reads Isaiah 53:4-12 as describing the suffering of Israel at the hands of the nations. They think other nations misinterprets Israel’s suffering as divine punishment, when in fact they are themselves guilty. Israel suffers, remains faithful and is ultimately vindicated by God in the eyes of the world. 

From a Jewish viewpoint, the following scripture passage speaks against a human sacrifice or a single person, like the Messiah, suffering on behalf of others as it stresses the importance of individual responsibility for one’s deeds:

“Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.”

Deuteoronomy 24:16

I would argue however that this is not applicable in the case of Jesus, as he was pushed and sentenced to death by the will of the people, primarily the Pharisees, on behalf of his own behaviour – as Pharisees considered Jesus conducting blasphemy.

Further we read in Scripture that people were indeed being killed for their faith and suffered martyrdom like innocent sheep without God intervening, a faith that I would rather link to Jesus and that reminds me of his last words on earth:

“Because of you we are being killed all day long and accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not cast us off forever!
Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
For we sink down to the dust; our bodies cling to the ground.
Rise up, come to our help. Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love.”

Psalm 44:22-26

When further asking AI for the pros and cons of the Jewish viewpoint, I get the following result:

Pros

• Servant elsewhere = Israel
  • In the surrounding chapters the servant is repeatedly called Israel or Jacob (e.g., Isaiah 41:8–9; 44:1–2; 49:3), making a corporate reading the natural starting point.​
  • The broader context (exile, restoration, testimony before the nations) concerns Israel’s historical fate, so seeing 53:4–12 as another angle on Israel’s suffering and vindication fits the book’s macro‑theme.​
• Historical pattern of Israel’s suffering
  • The description of being oppressed, afflicted, judged unjustly and “cut off” can be read as poetic concentration of Israel’s experience under empires (Assyria, Babylon, etc.).​
  • The eventual “seeing offspring” and “prolonging days” can be taken corporately as Israel’s survival and restoration after suffering.​
• Linguistic flexibility for “because of”
  • Some Jewish exegetes emphasize that phrases often translated “for our transgressions” and “for our iniquities” may be understood as “because of,” i.e., Israel suffers as a result of others’ sins (or its own), not as a priestly substitute.​

Cons

• Strongly individual death‑and‑burial profile
  • Verses 8–9 describe being “taken from judgment,” “cut off from the land of the living,” and given a grave; these read naturally as the story of one person, not an entire people.​
  • To apply a single grave, a specific violent death, and an apparently limited life span to the whole nation requires heavy metaphorical stretching.​
• Heightened innocence and righteousness
  • 53:9, 11 stress that the servant has done no violence, no deceit, and is “my righteous servant,” whereas Isaiah elsewhere sharply condemns Israel’s sin. A purely corporate identification must either idealize Israel or treat the text as describing only a tiny remnant.​
• Explicit vicarious / atoning language
  • 53:5–6, 10–12 speak of the servant bearing “our iniquities,” carrying “the sin of many,” with “the punishment that brought us peace” falling on him and “by his wounds we are healed.”​
  • Reading all of this as merely “Israel suffered because of others” underplays the clear logic of one suffering bringing healing, justification, and peace to others.​
• Lack of clear historical counterpart
  • The text envisages a group (“we”) later recognizing that their peace and healing are bound up with the servant’s suffering and death. There is no obvious moment where the nations as a whole confessed Israel’s innocence and their own guilt in such terms.​

Jesus suffering for many as the lamb of God

For the Christian viewpoint, I think it is important to stress that Jesus did not present himself as a classical offering, but that despite being innocent like a lamb, he was sentenced to death and cruelly killed by the will of the Pharisees and some crowds present in Jerusalem. Jesus did not fight his destiny and God, accepting the will of humanity, did let it happen. Jesus was obedient and his obedience was rewarded with forgiveness for others.

In the new testament we read of a reference to Isaiah 53 and Jesus as the innocent lamb in the following passage that describes the encounter of John the baptizer with Jesus:

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’
I myself did not know him, but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”

John 1:29-34

In the same spirit, Jesus taught his disciples that they should be serving others and he prepared them that he will eventually give his life for others (also see Matthew 16:21-26)

“You know that among the gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:41-45

When consulting AI on pros and cons of the Christian interpretation of the Isaiah passage, I get the following:

Pros

• Coherence across 4–12 as a personal story
  • The sequence of humiliation, suffering, silent submission, unjust execution, burial, and subsequent exaltation fits a narrative about a single person.​
  • The contrast between “we” who went astray and “he” who bears “the iniquity of us all” is consistently maintained across vv. 4–12, naturally supporting a representative individual suffering for many.​
• Vicarious and justifying language aligns with atonement
  • The servant is “pierced for our transgressions,” “crushed for our iniquities,” and “by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities” (vv. 5, 11).​
  • This matches a framework in which an innocent sufferer bears judgment in place of others, resulting in their justification—conceptually close to later Christian atonement theology.​
• Representative‑servant pattern fits Isaiah and Second Temple ideas
  • Isaiah 49 already shows a servant who both embodies Israel and has a mission to Israel, suggesting a representative figure who stands for the people but is not identical with them.​
  • Second Temple martyr texts (2 & 4 Maccabees) show righteous individuals whose suffering is portrayed as benefiting the people or turning away wrath, providing a Jewish analog for one suffering on behalf of many.​
• Explains exaltation and success after death
  • 53:10–12 speak of the servant “seeing offspring,” “prolonging days,” dividing spoil with the strong after having “poured out his soul to death.” This paradox of death followed by fruitful success is naturally read as vindication beyond death (resurrection/exaltation in Christian reading).​

Cons

• Need to bridge from “servant = Israel” to “servant = individual”
  • The Christian reading must explain why a figure frequently called “Israel” as servant is now treated as one distinct person; critics see this as driven by later christological application rather than by the original horizon.​
• Risk of overshadowing exilic context
  • Focusing on an individual Messiah can sideline the central themes of Isaiah 40–55: comfort for exiled Israel, the end of captivity, and the people’s role before the nations.​
  • A purely christological reading can unintentionally detach the passage from its immediate 6th‑century BCE setting, which Jewish interpreters want to safeguard.​
• Dependent on acceptance of Jesus as referent
  • As a theological claim, the Christian interpretation takes Isaiah 53:4–12 as prophetically anticipating Jesus’ passion and resurrection. For readers who reject that identification, the reading may seem imposed from outside the text.​

Does Jesus fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 53

Now let’s look if Jesus does even fulfill this prophecy, passage by passage:

• “He took up our pain and bore our suffering” (v. 4): Matthew 8:16–17 explicitly quotes this in reference to Jesus’ healing ministry, seeing it as a fulfillment.
• “Pierced for our transgressions” (v. 5): Connected to Jesus’ crucifixion: John 19:34, 37 references Zechariah 12:10 (“they will look on the one they have pierced”) in the context of Jesus’ side being pierced. 
• “By his wounds we are healed”: 1 Peter 2:24 directly quotes this, applying it to Jesus’ sacrificial death for sin.
• “We all, like sheep, have gone astray… the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (v. 6): This is central to Christian atonement theology: 2 Corinthians 5:21 – “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.” and 1 Peter 2:25 – “For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.”
• “He did not open his mouth… led like a lamb to the slaughter” (v. 7): Matthew 26:63; 27:12–14 – Jesus remains silent before Caiaphas and Pilate 
• “Cut off from the land of the living… for the transgression of my people he was punished” (v. 8): Refers to an innocent dying for others’ sins. Jesus’ death as substitutionary is seen in Mark 10:45 (“a ransom for many”) 
• “Assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death” (v. 9): Jesus was crucified between two criminals (wicked) (Luke 23:33), but buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man (Matthew 27:57–60).
• “The Lord makes his life an offering for sin… he will see his offspring” (v. 10): Hebrews 9:28 – Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. The resurrection (“see his offspring… prolong his days”) is seen in Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances and spiritual offspring (believers).
• “My righteous servant will justify many… he will bear their iniquities” (v. 11): Romans 5:19 – “Through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” and 1 Peter 2:24 – “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross.”
• “Numbered with the transgressors” (v. 12): Luke 22:37 – Jesus quotes this about himself before his arrest and Mark 15:27 – crucified between two thieves.

From this it becomes clear that Jesus indeed does fulfill this prophecy. 

Conclusion

The classical Jewish reading (servant = Israel in a purely corporate sense, with mainly “because of” rather than “for” our sins) fits the broader Isaianic servant theme and the exilic context, but under-explains the intensity of the vicarious, righteous-individual language in 53:4–12.
The classical Christian reading (servant = individual suffering Messiah) gives strong weight to the vicarious and representative aspects of the text, but must be careful not to ignore the prior identification of Israel as servant and the exilic/restoration context.

Thus, on balance, Isaiah 53:4–12 points more convincingly to a righteous, representative individual whose suffering is borne for others and is bound up with Israel’s destiny than to a purely corporate portrait of Israel suffering for the nations—though the servant remains deeply rooted in Israel’s story and calling.

Though a crucified Messiah defies human expectations of triumph and the ways of the Lord often confound our hopes, Jesus remarkably fulfills this prophecy through his innocent suffering, vicarious death, and resurrection vindication.

Valtorta’s visions related to Isaiah 53

Here a few visions of the Italian mystic Maria Valtorta that are related to Isaiah 53.

In an early vision, she sees the following scene before Jesus was even born. This dialogue takes place between the pregnant holy Mary and her equally pregnant relative Elisabeth, who is very old but will become still mother of John who precedes Jesus:

« Blessed Mary! Neither do I feel any longer burden, tiredness or pain, since I saw You. I seem to be new, young, freed from the miseries of woman’s flesh. My child, after leaping happily at the sound of Your voice, is now quiet in his joy. And I seem to have him, in me, as in a living cradle, and I see him sleeping satisfied and happy, breathing like a little bird under the wing of its mother… I will now start working. He will no longer be a weight. I cannot see very well, but… »

« Never mind, Elizabeth. I will see to the spinning and weaving both for you and for your baby. I am quick and My sight is very good. »

« But you will have to see to Your… »

« Oh! There will be plenty time!… First I will take care of you, since you are going to have your baby very shortly, and later I will see to My Jesus. »

It is beyond human possibility to tell you how sweet are Mary’s expression and voice, how bright Her eyes are with sweet happy tears, and how She smiles in pronouncing that Name, looking at the clear blue sky. She seems to be enraptured simply saying: « Jesus ».

Elizabeth exclaims: « What a beautiful name! The name of the Son of God, of Our Redeemer! »

« Oh! Elizabeth! » Mary becomes sad and She seizes the hands of Her relative who had laid them across her enlarged abdomen. « Tell Me, since you were illuminated by the Spirit of the Lord, when I came here, and you prophesied what the world does not know, tell Me: what will My Creature have to suffer to save the world? The Prophets… Oh! What do the Prophets say of the Savior? Isaiah… Do you remember Isaiah? “He is the Man of sorrows. Through His wounds we are healed. He was pierced through for our faults, crushed for our sins. Yahweh has been pleased to crush Him with suffering. After being condemned He was lifted up…” What lifting is he referring to? They call Him the Lamb and I cannot help thinking of the lamb of the Passover, of the lamb of Moses, and I associate it with the serpent elevated by Moses on a cross. Elizabeth!… Elizabeth!… What will they do to My Creature? What will He have to suffer to save the world? » Mary is crying.

Elizabeth comforts Her. « Mary, don’t cry. He is Your Son, but He is also the Son of God. God will see to His Son, and will look after You, His Mother . And if so many will be cruel to Him, so many will love Him. So many!… Forever and ever. The world will look at Your Son and will bless You with Him. They will bless You, for You are the Spring from which redemption gushes out. The destiny of Your Son! He will be raised to the rank of King of the whole creation. Just think of that, Mary. King, because He will redeem the whole creation, and as such, He will be universal King. And He will be loved also in the world, in its lifetime. My son will precede Yours and will love Him. The angel told Zacharias. And he wrote it down for me. How painful it is to see him dumb, my Zacharias! But I hope that when the baby is born also the father will be freed from his punishment. Will You pray, too, since You are the Seat of the Power of God and the Cause of delight in the world. To obtain this grace I make my offers to the Lord, as best I can. I offer my creature: because it belongs to Him, as He lent it to His servant to grant her the joy of being called “mother”. It is the testimony of what God has done for me. I want his name to be “John”. Isn’t my son a grace? And didn’t God grant me it? »

« And God, I am sure, will grant you the grace. I will pray… with you ».

Maria Valtorta, The Poem of the ManGod, chapter 22. Mary and Elizabeth Speak of their Children.

Here another passage where Jesus speaks to his disciples also about the prophets the night before Passover and before his sufferings begins:

“Once again speaks David, who sees the tortures of his Christ: «“They are not yet satisfied and they look at Me, they laugh scornfully at Me and they divide My garments among them and cast lots for My tunic. I am the Evil-doer. It is their right.”

Oh! Earth, look at your Christ! Recognise Him, although He is so consumed. Listen, remember the words of Isaiah and understand why, the great why, He became so, and man was able to kill the Word of the Father, reducing Him to such a state. “He is without beauty and splendour. We saw Him. He was not handsome. And we did not love Him. Despised like the last of men, He, the Man of sorrows and accustomed to suffering, had His face concealed. He was despised and we took no account of Him.” This masque of one who is tortured was His beauty as Redeemer. But you, foolish Earth, preferred His serene face! “He really took our sufferings upon Himself, He bore our sorrows. And we looked at Him as if He were a leper, as one cursed by God and despised. He, instead, was injured because of our wickedness. The punishment reserved for us, the punishment that gives us back peace with God, has fallen upon Him. Through His wounds we are healed. We had all gone astray like sheep. Each had deviated from the straight path and the Lord burdened Him with the sins of all of us.”

Those who think that they have done good to themselves and to Israel should undeceive themselves. And likewise those who think they have been stronger than God. And also those who think that they do not have to expiate this sin, only because I voluntarily allow them to kill Me. I am fulfilling My holy task, My perfect obedience to the Father. But that does not exclude their obedience to Satan and their wicked task. Yes, o Earth, your Redeemer has been sacrificed because He wanted it. “He never opened His mouth to utter a word of prayer and thus be spared or a word to curse His murderers. Like a sheep He let Himself be led to the slaughter-house to be killed, like a lamb that is dumb before its shearers.” “After being captured and condemned He was raised. He will have

for the sins of His people. Will no one of His generation on His Earth pity Him? Will the man cut off from the Earth have no children?”

Oh! I am replying to you, o prophet of your Christ. If my people will have no pity on the innocent Man killed, the angels of the heavenly people will pity Him. If His virility will have no children in a human way, because His Nature could not find union with a mortal body, He will indeed have children, and many of them, according to a procrea-tion that will bring life not from animal flesh and blood, but from divine love and Blood, a procreation of the spirit whereby eternal will be its offspring. And I will also explain to you, o world, that do not understand the prophet, who are the wicked placed at His grave, and the rich man at His death. Consider, o world, whether even one of His murderers had peace and a long life! He, the Living One, will soon leave death. But, like leaves that the autumn wind lays one by one in the hollow of a furrow after detaching them with repeated gusts, they will soon be laid one by one in the ignoble tomb that had been decreed for Him; and one who lived for gold, if it were lawful to put an unclean man where the Holy One was, could be laid where there will still be the dampness brought about by the numberless wounds of the Victim sacrificed on the mountain.

As He was accused although He was innocent, God avenges Him, because there was never perjury in His mouth, or iniquity in His heart. He was consumed by pain. But once consumption has taken place and His life has been taken for the sacrifice of expiation, His glory will begin with future generations. All the desires and the Holy wills of God on His behalf will be accomplished. Because of all the anxiety of His soul, He will see the glory of the true people of God and will be happy. His heavenly doctrine, which He will seal with His Blood, will be the justification of many of the best ones, and He will take upon Himself the wickedness of sinners. And that is why this unknown King, Whom the wicked mocked at and the best ones did not understand, will have a large multitude, o Earth. And with His followers He will divide the spoils of the defeated. He will divide the spoils of strong men, the only Judge of the three kingdoms and of the Kingdom. He has deserved everything, because He gave everything. Everything will be delivered to Him, because He delivered Himself to death and was numbered with criminals, He Who was without sin. Without any other sin except perfect love and infinite goodness. Two sins that the world does not forgive, such a love and goodness that urged Him to take upon Himself the sins of many, of the whole world, and to pray for sinners. For all sinners. Also for those through whom He was put to death.

I have finished. I have nothing else to say. Everything has been said of what I wanted to tell you of the Messianic prophecies. I have explained them all to you, from My birth to My death, so that you may know Me and have no doubts, and may have no excuses for your sin.

And now let us pray together. This is the last evening we can pray thus, all united like grapes to the bunch supporting them. Come. Let us pray. “Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on Earth as it is done in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.”

“Hallowed be Thy Name.” Father, I have hallowed it. Have mercy on Your Son.

“Thy Kingdom come.” I am dying in order to establish it. Have mercy on Me.

“Thy will be done.” Support My weakness, You Who created the flesh of man and clothed Your Word with it, that I may obey You down here as I have always obeyed You in Heaven. Have mercy on the Son of man.

“Give us our Bread”… A bread for the soul. A bread not of this Earth. I do not ask it for Myself. I need only Your spiritual comfort. But I, the Beggar, stretch out My hand for them. Before long it will be pierced and nailed, and it will no longer be able to make a gesture of love. But it can still do it now. Father, grant Me to give them the Bread that daily fortifies the weakness of the poor children of Adam. They are weak, Father, they are inferior, because they do not have the Bread that is strength, the angelical Bread that spiritualises man and leads him to be deified in Us.

“Forgive us our trespasses”…»

Jesus Who has spoken standing and has prayed with His arms stretched out, now kneels down and raises His arms and face to Heaven. A face made wan by the effort of the supplication and by the kiss of the moon, furrowed by silent tears.

«Forgive Your Son, o Father, if I wronged You in any way. I may also seem imperfect to Your Perfection, I, Your Christ, burdened by flesh. To men… no. My conscious intellect assures Me that I have done everything for them. But forgive Your Jesus… I also forgive. I forgive, that You may forgive Me. How much I have to forgive! How much!… And yet I forgive. Those who are present here, the disciples who are absent, those whose hearts are deaf, My enemies, mockers, traitors, killers, deicides… Here. I have forgiven the whole of Mankind. With regard to Me, o Father, consider remitted all debts of man to the Man. I am dying in order to give Your Kingdom to everybody, and I do not want the sin against the Love incarnate to be imputed to them as condemnation. No? Are You saying no? It is My grief. This “no” is pouring the first sip of the bitter chalice into My heart. But Father, Whom I have always obeyed, I say to You: “Thy will be done”.

“Lead us not into temptation”. Oh! if You want, You can drive the demon away from us! He is the temptation that incites flesh, minds, hearts. He is the Seducer. Turn him from our birth to our death!… Oh! Holy Father, have mercy on Your children!

“Deliver us, deliver us from evil!” You can. We are weeping here… Heaven is so beautiful and we are afraid of losing it. You say: “My Blood cannot lose it”. But I want You to see the Man in Me, the Firstborn of men. I am their brother. I pray for them and with them. Father, mercy! Oh! mercy!…»

Jesus bends with His face on the ground. He then stands up. «Let us go. Let us say goodbye to one another this evening. It will no longer be possible tomorrow evening. We shall be too upset. And there is no love where there is perturbation. Let us kiss one another with the kiss of peace. Tomorrow… tomorrow each of you will belong to himself… This evening we can still be one for all and all for one.»

And He kisses them, one by one, beginning from Peter, then Matthew, Simon, Thomas, Philip, Bartholomew, the Iscariot, His two cousins, James of Zebedee, Andrew and last John, on whom He leans while leaving Gethsemane.”

Maria Valtorta, The Poem of the ManGod, chapter 595. The Night of the Wednesday before Passover. Last Teachings to the Apostles.

And one more passage I would like to highlight in this context. This is where Maria Valtorta sees Jesus during his trials with the Pharisees and where they also refer to the prophets:

«Who are You?»

«Jesus of Nazareth, the Rabbi, the Christ. And you know Me. I have not acted in darkness.»

«No, not in darkness. But You have led the crowds astray with obscure doctrines. And it is the Temple’s right and duty to protect the souls of the children of Abraham.»

«The souls! Priest of Israel, can you say that you have suffered for the soul of the least or greatest person of this people?»

«And what about You? What have You done that may be called suffering?»

«What have I done? Why do you ask Me? The whole of Israel speaks about Me. From the holy city to the poorest village, even stones speak to say what I have done. I have given sight to blind people: the sight of their eyes and of their hearts. I have opened the ears of deaf people: to the voices of the Earth and of Heaven. I have made cripples and paralytics walk, so that they might begin marching from the flesh towards God and then proceed with their spirits. I have cleansed lepers of the leprosy pointed out by the Mosaic Law and of that which makes man polluted in the eyes of God: sin. I have raised the dead, but I do not say that it is a great deed to call a body back to life, but it is a great thing to redeem a sinner, and I have done that. I have helped the poor, teaching greedy and rich Hebrews the holy precept of love for our neighbour and, remaining poor, notwithstanding that a stream of gold passed through My hands, I have wiped more tears by Myself than all of you, who possess riches. And, finally, I have given a wealth that has no name: the knowledge of the Law, the knowledge of God, the certain-ty that we are all equal and that in the holy eyes of the Father tears and crimes are the same, whether they are shed or committed by the Tetrarch and by the Pontiff, or by the beggar and the leper who dies on a cart-road. That is what I have done. Nothing else.»

«Do You realise that You are accusing Yourself? You say: the leprosy that makes one polluted in the eyes of God and is not pointed out by Moses. You are insulting Moses and are insinuating that there are some lacunae in his Law…»

«Not his: God’s. It is so. More than leprosy, which is a misfortune of the flesh and comes to an end, I declare grave, and it is so, sin, which is an eternal misfortune of the spirit.»

«Do You dare say that You can remit sins? How can You do it?»

«If with a little lustral water and the sacrifice of a ram it is lawful and credible to cancel a sin, expiate it and be cleansed of it, why will My tears, My Blood and My will not be able to do so?»

«But You are not dead. So where is the Blood?»

«I am not yet dead. But I shall be, because it is written. In Heaven before Zion existed, before Moses existed, before Jacob existed, before Abraham existed, since the king of Evil gnawed at the heart of man and poisoned it in him and in his children. It is written on the Earth in the Book that contains the voices of the prophets. It is written in hearts. In yours, in Caiaphas’, in the hearts of the members of the Sanhedrin who do not, no, those hearts do not forgive Me for being good. I have absolved anticipating through My Blood. I will now accomplish absolution with a purifying bath in it.»

«You say that we are greedy and we ignore the precept of love…»

«Is it perhaps not true? Why are you killing Me? Because you are afraid that I may dethrone you. Oh! be not afraid. My Kingdom is not of this world. I leave you the masters of all power. The Eternal knows when to utter the “Enough” that will make You drop thunder-struck…»

«Like Doras, eh?»

«He died of a fit of anger. Not because he was struck by heavenly lightning. God was waiting on the other side to strike him.»

«And You are repeating that to me? A relative of his? How dare You?»

«No: sincere. You accuse Me of offending you. But do you all not hate? You hate one another. And now your hatred for Me unites you. But tomorrow, when you have killed Me, you will hate one another once again, and more fiercely, and will live with this hyena behind your backs and this snake in your hearts. I have taught love. For the world’s sake. I taught people not to be greedy, to have mercy. Of what do you accuse Me?»

«Of preaching a new doctrine.»

«O priest! Israel is swarming with new doctrines: the Essenes have theirs, the Sadochites and the Pharisees have theirs; everybody has his secret one, which for one is named pleasure, for another one gold, for another one power; and everybody has his idol. Not I. I have resumed the down-trodden Law of My Father, of the Eternal God, and I have gone back to repeating the ten commandments of the Decalogue in a simple way, talking Myself hoarse to make them enter the hearts that no longer knew them.»

«Horror! Blasphemy! How dare You say this to me, a priest? Has Israel no Temple? Are we like the exiles in Babylon? Reply to me.»

«That is what you are, and even more. There is a Temple. Yes. A building. But God is not in it. He has fled before the abomination that is in His house. But why ask Me so many questions, since My death has already been decided?»

«We are not murderers. We kill if we have the right to do so for an evident fault. But I want to save You. Tell me, and I will save You. Where are Your disciples? If You hand them over to me, I will let You go free. The names of all of them, and the secret ones more than the known ones. Tell me: is Nicodemus one of Yours? And Joseph? And Gamaliel? And Eleazar? And… But with regard to this one, I already know… It is not necessary. Speak. Speak up. You know that I can kill You and save You. I am powerful.»

«You are filth. I leave to filth the business of the informer. I am Light.»

A bravo lands a blow in His face.

«I am Light. Light and Truth. I have spoken openly to the world, I have taught in synagogues and in the Temple, where the Judaeans meet, and I have said nothing secretly. I repeat it. Why do you ask Me? Ask those who have heard what I have said. They know.»

Another bravo gives Him a slap in the face shouting: «Is that how you reply to the High Priest?»

«I am speaking to Annas. Caiaphas is the Pontiff. And I am speaking with the respect due to the old man. But if you think that I have said something wrong, prove it to Me. If not, why do you strike Me?»

Maria Valtorta, The Poem of the ManGod, chapter 600. The Various Trials.