I don't need a miracle to believe Jesus in the New Testament fits these verses.
From Isaiah Chapter 53
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Does not apply to Jesus, according to the common Christian reading, Jesus WAS God, so, he had no need to believe HIS OWN message or to see his own arm revealed to him.
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
Not really specific, everybody do grow up (including in a more metaphorical sense, when referring to a people). In fact, the more specific aspects
do not apply well to Jesus, if you refer to John Crossan's
excavating Jesus; Nazareth was "ideally situated (...) atop the Nazareth range, which separates the Nahal Zippori and Beit Netofah valley to the North from the much larger Jezreel valley to the south. The later was vast and fertile plain."
1 He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
2 He was despised and rejected by men,
Does not apply well to Jesus, not only there is no mention of him being unattractive anywhere in the Bible but the gospels do have plenty of account of him attracting people to him. Gathering crowd and attracting follower and being appreciated and popular among the populace rather than 'despised and rejected'.
There is account of people getting excited when he walks into their town and gathering around to listen to him and fighting for the honour of feeding him and giving him shelter.
The only people that have a problem with Jesus really seem to be a small minority with an agenda.
3 a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Does not apply well either. Sure, Jesus end of life was difficult and painful, but the expression 'familiar with suffering' implies a long series of sufferings (and sorrows) through his life rather than one violent episode at the end.
There is no evidence of that in the gospels.
4 Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Once again, it does not apply well as the Jesus from the Gospels was rather popular and esteemed indeed.
5 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
Maybe, I guess, although Jesus' sacrifice is considered to be about sins rather than 'infirmities and sorrows', but I am feeling generous.
6 yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
Nope; does not apply, Jesus was never seen as being stricken by God. At worst, there is a period of doubt... for three days but, even then, he was not perceived as being stricken by God but martyred for him.
7 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
I'll give that to you too, although, one has to consider the term 'piercing' as purely metaphorical as the actual martyrdom was the crucifixion, not 'piercing'.
8 he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
Yep; he was martyred for our sins
9 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Ok; our sins, his martyrdom, we get it already
10 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
Nope; does not match. Jesus did speak up, we even have two separate and conflicting list of what he said.
11 he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
Still about Jesus being the sacrificial lamb
12 and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
As mentioned, it does not fit as Jesus DID speak up.
13 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yes; Jesus was innocent and got scarified for our sins.
14 And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
Does not fit, because, what descendants?
15 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
16 and with the rich in his death,
The closest from an actual prediction.
Of course, one has to mention the unlikely and convoluted series of event that lead to this event taking place. In fact, many have seen this part of the Gospels as being fictional, added there a posteriori, presumably to do some post-hoc matching with this particular prophecy.
After all, Jesus was alone in his tomb and not 'with the rich' and he never was dead anyway.
Most likely, this verse is a metaphor for the sacrificial lamb dying in shame and being vindicated by God after his death, a theme that become prevalent later in the prophecy.
17 though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Again: Jesus was innocent and got martyred.
18 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
Again: Jesus was innocent and got martyred.
19 he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
Does not fit, again, no descendant. And it is quite clear, here, that descendant is not mean in a metaphorical way.
20 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
Does not fit, this talk about somebody being vindicated and rewarded AFTER his death.
But Jesus is God; he knew of the plan all along. Also, he did not receive anything he already had from all eternity.
21 by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
Again: Jesus was innocent and got martyred.
22 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
23 and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
Does not fit, once again, very clearly, the prophecy is about God rewarding a humble SERVANT after his death, giving him riches and honour he did not have before. Not about God self-pleasuring.
24 because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
25 For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
Again: Jesus was innocent and got martyred.
So; if you make the total, there is 25 statements in the prophecies.
12 do not match very well at all, in fact they are plainly contradicted by the Gospels account.
1 is less clear but does not seem to match very well either but in the most general sense.
12 do sort of match.
Of course, this thing is quite repetitive, so if we only count the same repeated statements once:
We have 6 statements that are wrong, the same one statement that is too vague to warrant consideration.
And TWO statements that seem to match: Jesus will be the sacrificial lamb and there will a game of musical-tomb played.
Even then, of this two statements, one his of dubious historicity and the second one is a reference to an
old Jewish Religious concept, one that would have been very familiar to the disciple of Jesus.
So, what seems the most parsimonious explanation, that a prophet would be able to foresee Jesus, through a distance of 8 centuries, or that the disciples, trying to make sense of Jesus' death, would decide to read into the concept of a well established Jewish Religious tradition?
