Friday 27 April 2007

The servant

We have talked about the way in which Jesus enacted the return of God to Zion, but there is more to Jesus' consciousness of what he was doing during those fateful days in Jerusalem.
There are extensive references made in the gospels to what have come to be called the servant songs in the second half of Isaiah (other parts of isaiah are referred to aswell of course!).
If one accepts that it is likely that Jesus and subsequently the gospel writers are not simply using snippets of Isaiah out of context with some other agenda in mind, but are referencing Isaiah to point to Jesus as fulfilling the totality of the work of the servant, it is worth reminding ourselves of who this servant is in the book of Isaiah.
The focal texts are Isaiah 42:1-7, Isaiah 49:1-6, Isaiah 50:4-9, Isaiah 52:13-53:12.
The title of 'servant' is used to speak about Israel as a whole, but also to one who is chosen out of Israel to represent them. This representative will be empowered by the Spirit of the Lord to bring justice, liberation and light. He will extend the Lord's favour to the Gentiles. He will display the Lord's glory, and bring salvation to the nations. He will be attentive and obedient to the Lord, but He will be mocked and charged with wrongdoing by men. He will be rejected by men, and also by God. He will receive the punishment due to wrongdoers (Israel? see Isaiah 51), he will bear their sin and so bring peace and healing. Though crushed by God he will be vindicated, he will prosper by the Lord's hand.
Could it be that this representative of Israel was none other than Jesus of Nazareth, and that as he returned to Jerusalem he understood the rejection and suffering he anticipated in terms of being this representative, the 'servant'?
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Jill said...

I have just read N.T. Wright's Evil and the Justice of God. In discussing God's response to evil, Wright suggests that human responsibility for evil is clear throughout the Bible - all people appear to share in the problem, even those specially chosen by God - Noah, Daniel, David etc. It is only the silent figure of Isaiah 53 who stands before us as the only one whom it can be said remains innocent and righteous.

Assuming the suffering Servant represents Jesus, the hypothesis that Jesus understood/anticipated his suffering in terms of the fulliment of Isaiah's prophesy, appears to be strongly supported by the number of references to the Isaiah text in the New Testament.

John 12:37-38 and Romans 10:16 use Isaiah 53:1 to state Israel's rejection of Christ despite His many miracles in their presence. Matthew 8:16-17 uses Isaiah 53:4 to show Jesus assuming our infirmities and carrying our sorrows. 1 Corinthians 1:23 references Isaiah 53:4, ". . .yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted."
1 Peter 2:24 quotes Isaiah 53:5, "By his wounds we are healed," and 1 Peter 2:25 refers to Isaiah 53:6, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray." These are only a few examples.

Of course you could write your PhD thesis on Jesus as the fulfilment of Isaiah 53 (which I'm sure some have done). Suffice to say Isaiah is called the Gospel Prophet because of the numerous references to Isaiah by New Testament writers. I think the strongest evidence though is this. In
Acts 8:26-40 Philip meets the Ethiopian eunuch who sat reading Isaiah 53. The man had his finger on verses 7-8. When Philip asked if he understood the words, the eunuch invited him to explain them. "Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus" (Acts 8:35).

29 April 2007 at 4:00 pm

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