“…by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11).
Knowledge is not mentally or even spiritually apprehending truth. Knowledge is not related to a conceptual realm. Knowledge is what we do. Knowledge includes the apprehending and understanding of truth, but this is incomplete. Knowledge is only fully realized when we act. In Christianity we are to know God. What is knowing God? Knowledge is what we do, and God is love, so knowing God is love acted out. “Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7). Love is the test of knowledge. As Paul says, “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge…but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2).As the above scripture from Isaiah says, Jesus justified many by His knowledge. What knowledge is being referred to, and how did it justify us? It is clear. His knowledge is the end of that same sentence: “…he shall bear their iniquities.” It is this love that Jesus invoked and obeyed unto death. That was His knowledge: an act of suffering, an act of bearing undeserved heartbreak and punishment, an act of emptying Himself. He knew something or, rather, someone—His Father. But what He did made the difference and showed He truly knew. Who did what his father asked in the parable? Not the one who agreed with his mouth but the one who agreed with his life (Matt. 21:28-31).
