Theres a reason why the poem of Isaiah 53 is introduced with the phrase good news, and theres also a good reason why all four stories of Jesus in the New Testament were eventually called The Good News or The Gospel. Its the strangest good news you will ever hear, but also the best news. Tis mercy all, immense and free, for O my God, Rejection and ridicule characterize the servants ministry. The rest of Isaiah shows how the servant then forms a group of descendants (literally in Hebrew, seed), who will listen to his voice and follow him into Gods new creation. Although the song gives a first-person description of how the servant was beaten and abused, here the servant is described both as teacher and learner who follows the path God places him on without pulling back. It is not natural for people to see any profit in suffering; rather, mankind staggers over it, considering it a tragedy, a hindrance to progress, a fate to be avoided. JSOT Supp 4. It appears that the Israelites are still bitter about the exile, and they think theyve been ignored and abandoned by their God. Because he knew the truth. He reveals who he is through what he does. The Servant's Achieving exaltation through suffering is a strange thing indeed. No one else could remain silent under pain. The verse begins and ends with all. Substitutionary suffering of this Servant touches all who have sinnedand we know that that is all of us. Throughout the pages of Israels history, there was indeed a more subtle strand, a nuanced preparation for this unexpected revelation of Messiah that would only be understood in retrospect, as the early Christians looked back upon their own prophets message. He experiences suffering and affliction (53:3). Note the parallelism of this fifth verse: he was wounded for our transgressions and he was crushed for our iniquities. The contrast is between he and our. All his suffering was because of our rebellions and sins. Gods promise to David was offered to each and every generation of Davids descendants. We are called to a life of self-sacrificing love for others. Then in Isaiah 49:7, we discover that this servant is despised and abhorred by the nation. This ambiguous little description is developed in the following chapters. The Servant of the Lord fulfills God's will and is often presented in Scripture as someone chosen by God to hold a leadership position, to represent Him, and to accomplish a certain divine work. The Servant is uniquely honored by God to an exalted position. But that realization would take belief and revelation. Exegesis: After looking at 52: 13-52: 12 as a whole, the suffering servant brings reconciliation between the chosen people oflsrael and the Lord through the placing of transgressions on the servant. I have been to church literally my whole life. The details of this will be discovered in 53:1-9. 8:31-33). A little later, Jesus will repeat the same prophecy to them, but they will still refuse to hear what He is saying because they are too busy deciding who will be most important in the Kingdom (Mk. It basically means that God willed the suffering. Bearing fruit in a repentant life honors God who has provided the Substitute to suffer in In summary, we may report from the Bible that it is the will of God that believers suffer. Therefore, the Suffering Servant stands in marked contrast to the human expectations of Jesus' contemporaries, whether they be His disciples or His enemies. There are several important themes that are found in these passages. 3) Jesus finished the work that God had sent Him to do ( John 17:4 ). This is a picture of what God has done in the gospel of Jesus Christ. You may have been disappointed in the love you received from your parents, or, if you are married, from your spouse. Isaiah 52:14 and the DSIa Variant. Bib 35 (1954):475-479. The passage is divided into five stanzas of three verses each. Jesus, perfect Suffering Servant, You have made us whole again. Human experience feels it has found its highest and holiest form of love when the innocent is willing to take the blame for others. Schwarz, Gunther. It had been said of him in 52:13: My servant shall deal wisely. He knew what he was about. If anything will enable a person to accept silently his suffering it is thisthe knowledge that the suffering was service to God. Using military terminology Isaiah declares that the Lord will divide the spoil. These characteristics are conducive to building authentic, trusting relationships with team members. Such is the case here. The mission of Suffering Servant is to bring justice to the nations through the instruction for which the entire world is waiting. If we paraphrase the first verse we would say something like, No one ever imagined this. The verse is expressed in the form of questions. (Isa 54:4-5), Instead of your shame you will receive a doubleportion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. The servant songs are found a section of Scripture (Isa 40-66) saturated by honor and shame. 14:17).. at the Synagogue in Nazareth (Lk. This Servant "shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted" (52:13), an image of majesty and awe. 53:9). Very truly, I tell you unless a grain of what falls to the ground and dies it remains only a single seed. John 12 vs. 23-24. One cannot say enough about the importance of this inspired book. God will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.. Daabe, P. R. The Effect of Repetition in the Suffering Servant Song. JBL 103 (1984):77-84. It was the will of God that this Servant experience suffering, for it was through the vicarious suffering of the Servant that my righteous servant will justify many (53:11) and bear the sin of many, making intercession for the transgressors (53:12). The vantage point of this prophetic voice is positioned after the exile, which is described here as a period of hard service that came about as a result of Israels sins. Now that Israel has paid its dues, God announces comfort (in Hebrew, nakham) that a new day has dawned. They say that the Servant here is the nation of Israel, not an individual. Christians have long insisted that this Suffering Servant is Jesus, while Jews contend that He is the nation of Israel. This is what the poem in Isaiah 42 is all about. Jesus Christ is the person who endured shame and yet was divinely honored for the purposes of Gods glory (Phil 2:4-10; Heb 1). Christ would be both priest and sacrifice! Nevertheless, God declares that suffering will be a part of the experience of the faithful believers in this world. He was endowed with Gods Spirit seven times over (see Isa 11:1-3). In that day, they shall realize what the wisdom of God teaches, that the suffering servant will be exalted. Praying and seeking to see/behold his love for me, and experience his love that along can transform me. 2) Jesus never sought to please Himself but always to please the Father ( John 5:30 ). The Suffering Servant speaks his response to his mission in the Second oracle. The first line of each of the sections gives a summary of that section. It is that part of the service of humankind, to which we are all born, and of the reality of which we daily grow more aware. Isaiah 53. VT 24 (1974):98-108. Aslan explains that although the wicked witch knew the deep magic, which demanded the death of one who is a traitor, her knowledge only goes back to the dawn of time. It is love alone that transforms us. 7:117; Ps. This point then is that this Servant will prosper as God intends him to. The Cross And Unjust Suffering (1 Peter 2:19-25). Isaiah 49 describes how this individual servant of Yahweh is given the title Israel (49:3) and given Israels job of bringing justice and good news to the nations. Thank you. First, the Suffering Servant is sent on a mission from God. On the other hand, a person's suffering is the direct consequence of his or her violation of God's laws. In other words, God would have to do this work through the Messiah, a holy King who could atone for the sins of His people and establish them in righteousness. A servant is someone who carries out the will of another. Evangelicals tend to read this passage as how the suffering servant removes sinners guilt before God or how people need the servant to bear their guilt (cf. He wrote his dissertation on the manuscript history of the book of Ezekiel, with a focus on the Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls. And now it appears, hes showing up on the scene after the exile. Second, the mission involves suffering on behalf of another. The Seed Team is a group of sowers who partner with Seedbed financially to help us sow more extravagantly. In fact, our Lord learned obedience through the things that He suffered; if that is true of the Son of God, how much more is it true of us? This question is never directly answered in Isaiah. The promised Savior as suffering servant (vv. Why do you say, Israel, My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God?". ________. Prayer establishes a relationship between man and God. Santala, Risto. Prophets told of one whose suffering borne in love would end our pain; That is what Jobs visitors concluded about his suffering. 26:1439; Isa. And the pain brought spiritual healing and peacethat is, the suffering was redemptive. Stone, Marvin A. Through Scripture, story, and real-life applications, he brings together the primary models of atonement doctrine and offers an integrated vision for how Jesus offers the benefits of salvation to the world. This understanding of Jesus Christ is found in one of the oldest writings contained in the New Testament, St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, where in 15:3 he quotes a creedal formula which he himself had already received: For I deliver to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Who is this?! on 52:13-53:12). The poem that follows this dramatic announcement is the famous suffering servant poem of Isaiah 53 (to be precise, it goes from Isaiah 52:13-53:12). Blessing comes with repentance from the sin that has caused the suffering. Your email address will not be published. 2.He would be wounded and face death sentence for peoples sins. This helps them have a holistic perspective on any situation. Our mission is extravagant. 42:1-4; 49:1-7; 50:4-11; 52:13-53) that Jesus combines with the Son of Man prophecy from Daniel 7 to explain the kind of Messiah He is. Moreover, since the Lord's kingdom and the Davidic kingdom were to be one and the same as an eternal kingdom (2 Sam. Thankfully, this isnt the end of the servants story. There is no peace with God apart from the chastisement that he, the sinless Son of God, bore. The Career of the Servant in Isaiah 52:1353:12. BibSac 139 (1982):312-329; 140 (1983):21-39. In the gift of Gods Son into the worldOne born to suffer and diewe finally come to fully know and comprehend the love of God. An ideal Israel was needed who could serve God in righteousness, a man who would embody and represent Israel before the Lord in order to fulfill Israel's vocation. This comes about from prayer, communion with God and trust in him. 8:17 NRSV, quoting Isa. Isaiah, then, presents us with a picture of the ideal suffering Servant. What we discover, however, is that Jesus fulfilled these roles in ways that were unexpected. He has insight. With the Rich in His Death. Bible and Spade 6 (1977):56-59. Throughout the Gospels Jesus is reluctant to reveal Himself as the Messiah because of His credible fear that the crowd would want to make Him their king. In Isaiah 48, God accuses the post-exile Israelites of continuing their hollow allegiance and idolatry, which ultimately disqualifies them from being Gods servant to the nations. Only by a sovereign work could this kingdom be established (52:36, 10). He gave his life in service to mankind. Gods response is what we find in Isaiah 41-47. Parts 4 and 5. it found out me! But to suffer in service to God is a demonstration of love. God would ultimately be victorious through apparent defeat. His beginnings were unlikely. Success is knowing the will of God an doing it. The servant bears unspeakable shame from others. Steck, O. H. Aspekte des Gottesknechts in Jes 52:1353:12. ZAW 97 (1985):36-57. The prophet Isaiah prophesied in the Eighth Century B.C. Learn how your comment data is processed. Because he is a prophet, the rest of his day is spent in speaking God's. noting itshonor-shame dynamics. To paint a picture of the larger socio-theological context of the Servant Songs, here are a few of the many verses: All the makers of idols will be put to shame and disgraced; they will go off into disgrace together. The Bible says that all who live godly lives in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution (2 Tim. The glorification in the first oracle and the exaltation in the fourth oracle find their fulfillment in Christ's resurrection. Were talking about a daily alignment of our life to the light and love of Jesus, as we read in Ephesians: Our work is anchored in helping dissatisfied and passionate believers follow that ancient hymn. 3). 52:1353:12. VT 3 (1953):87-92. The humiliation is reported in v. 14: earlier, many were aghast at him. We are told that Philip joined the Ethiopian in the chariot, and starting with this Scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus (Acts 8:35 NRSV). Conservative Christians, on the other hand, strongly argue against the Jewish interpretation of Isaiah 53 for a number of expected reasons. 1:25; 5:14). If here the servant is the remnant that was suffering because of the sins of the whole nation, then the passage could only in general terms be applied, for their suffering did not redeem the nation, their suffering did not justify. Soggin, J. Alberto. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). 110), this kingdom could come only through the Son of David. As the passage continues, we see that He is marred and disfigured (52:14). Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. Jesus Himself identifies His mission as Suffering Servant by conforming Himself to what is described in the fourth oracle, Is. Jails are not usually a place of rejoicing but Paul, as a prisoner, rejoiced. 2:19-23). What he owes her must be paid and paid in fullwith nothing less than Edmunds life. Seedbed sells resources, but we give away far more in resourcing than we sell. The great lion Aslan, who is the Christ-figure in the story, comes forward and tells the evil witch he will be willing to suffer and die in place of Edmund. Pp. The picture of the suffering of our Lord is nowhere more poignantly displayed than in the prophecy of Isaiah, Chapter 52:13-53:12. Surely here passed into oblivion the fairest life that ever lived. These words from the institution narrative in the Eucharistic Prayer go back to the most ancient account, the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt. Required fields are marked *. Munich: Kaiser, 1974. He will receive a threefold blessing of being raised and lifted up and highly exalted (52:13). Nothing else can. The song is preceded by a scene in heaven where God declares how beautiful are the feet of His messenger who will bring good news and announce salvation (Isa.

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