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A suggestive allusion to the servant occurs in John’s notion that Jesus’ death consists of his “lifting up” (hypsoō [John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32, 34]), for in Isa. 52:13 the servant will “be lifted up,” and the LXX likewise employs the verb hypsoō. John shares the thought world of Isaiah remarkably, for in both accounts the exaltation of the servant becomes a reality through suffering. 
John cites Isa. 53:1 in a significant text in which he sums up Jesus’ public ministry and explains why so many Jews failed to believe in him (John 12:38). Their unbelief should not surprise, for it was predicted all along that many would not believe the proclaimed word, that the arm of the Lord would not be revealed to them. John links Isa. 53 with Isa. 6, contending that the Lord “has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart” (John 12:40). 

 All has occurred according to the divine plan so that Jesus would be put to death in accordance with the prophecy in Isa. 53. We should also note that John does not understand Isa. 53 in a fatalistic sense. He assigns responsibility to the Jews for failing to believe (John 12:43, 46–48), even if their unbelief has been predetermined. The correlation between God’s hardening work and the human failure to believe is not resolved philosophically in John, but both truths stand together.

Schreiner, T. R. (2008). New Testament theology: magnifying God in Christ (p. 268). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

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