Gospel Doctrine teachers: The lessons in the manual contain more information than you will probably be able to teach in one class period. Seek the Spirit of the Lord in selecting the scripture accounts, questions, and other lesson materials that best meet the needs of class members.

Basic Resources

• Do you want to see this week's Gospel Doctrine lesson? Lesson 39

• Would you like to see the class member study guide for this week? Lesson 39

• You can read the assigned scriptures for this week online: Isaiah 50–53.

• Do you have an MP3 player? Try downloading Isaiah 53, which is in this week's reading. For more Old Testament audio, click here.

• The official scripture study aids often have helpful information you can use in your lessons. For example, for this week's lesson, read the definition of "Isaiah" in the Bible Dictionary.

Art

The picture in the upper-right corner of this page shows the Savior, Jesus Christ, praying in Gethsemane. The picture is available online or in your meetinghouse library: Jesus Praying in Gethsemane, Gospel Art Picture Kit, no. 227.

Recent Talks and Articles in Church Magazines

In a classic message about the fundamental doctrines of the restored gospel, President Gordon B. Hinckley bore a stirring testimony of the Savior, quoting Isaiah: "Absolutely basic to our faith is our testimony of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who under a divine plan was born in Bethlehem of Judea. He grew in Nazareth as the carpenter’s son, within Him the elements of both mortality and immortality received, respectively, from His earthly mother and His Heavenly Father. In the course of His brief earthly ministry, He walked the dusty roads of the Holy Land, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, raising the dead, teaching doctrines both transcendent and beautiful. He was, as Isaiah had prophesied, 'a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief' (Isa. 53:3). He reached out to those whose burdens were heavy and invited them to cast their burdens upon Him, declaring, 'My yoke is easy, and my burden is light' (Matt. 11:30). He 'went about doing good' (Acts 10:38) and was hated for it. His enemies came against Him. He was seized, tried on spurious charges, convicted to satisfy the cries of the mob, and condemned to die on Calvary’s cross" ("Four Cornerstones of Faith," Ensign, Feb. 2004, 4). Listen to this article online or download the MP3 audio file.

Music

Below are two Church hymns that relate to this week's lesson. You could read words from a hymn in class or have your class sing a hymn together. Click on a hymn title below to go to the Church Music site, where you can read or listen to the hymn online. Or, search for other hymns that relate to the lesson.

Isaiah 52:7–10

• "Come, All Ye Saints of Zion," Hymns, no. 38

Isaiah 52:8

• "Glorious Things Are Sung of Zion," Hymns, no. 48

Additional Helps

• The emphasis of this lesson is Isaiah's specific prophecies about the life and Atonement of Jesus Christ, and the reality of that Atonement in our lives.

• You could sing "Redeemer of Israel" (Hymns, no. 6) and then ask someone to express his or her thoughts about it.

• You could read each verse of Isaiah 53 aloud, pausing after each verse to ask class members to comment on its relationship to Jesus's life.

• To emphasize the power of Isaiah's prophetic witness, read Isaiah 53 aloud and substitute the words "the Jewish people" for "our" or "we," and substitute "Jesus" or "the Messiah" for the word "he."

• Ask one or more class members prior to the lesson to come prepared to discuss the phrase "with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5) by applying that phrase to their own lives and relating an experience about how they or someone close to them has felt the healing power of Christ, and how they accessed that healing power.

Historical Context

• Isaiah 53 is often referred to as the "suffering servant" story and has been interpreted by scholars as referring to various persons or people, but there is no doubt in Latter-day Saint minds that this chapter is referring to Jesus Christ.
• Isaiah 53 has been called the "Old Testament Gospel."

  53:1—Quoted in John 12:38; Romans 10:16.
  53:2—This verse describes the Savior as having "no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." On the other hand, the Hebrew word for beauty (translated as "comely") is used to describe King David in 1 Samuel 16:18, meaning that Jesus had none of the appearance of King David, even though the Messiah was supposed to be the descendant of King David.
  53:4—This verse uses words similar to those found in Matthew 8:17.
  53:5—Jesus "was wounded for our transgressions" (John 19:34); Jesus was the great substitute (see 2 Corinthians 5:21).
  53:5—"With his stripes we are healed" (see 1 Peter 2:24).
  53:7—John called Jesus "the Lamb of God" (John 1:29, 36); Jesus was silent before the chief priests, Herod, and Pilate (see Matthew 27:12–14; Mark 14:60–61; Luke 23:8–9; John 19:8–9).