The mystery of the servant
THE GOSPEL OF ISAIAH Today we reach the fourth and last Servant Song in the book of the‘prophet’Isaiah.
But this last Servant Song is so close to Jesus that I call it the ‘gospel’of Isaiah. You will find it in Isaiah 53.1-12. Today we come to the fifth and final weekend in Lent and this fifth Sunday is sometimes called Passion Sunday.
In the coming days, we will tread through Passion Week on ever increasing holy ground.
Next Sunday will be Palm Sunday when we celebrate Christ’s entry into Jerusalem.
Then we tread that most holy week towards Gethsemane, Calvary and the Cross. Finally bursting into the glory of Easter Sunday.
A PICTURE OF JESUS Isaiah 53 is certainly the fullest and most graphic of these Servant Songs.
The servant belonged to an unspecified community. His upbringing was tortuous. He was, “A root out of the dry ground” (Isaiah 53.2).
As an adult, he was disfigured and ugly to look at.
“He had no form or comeliness, nor any beauty that we should desire him.”
In fact, he was so repulsive that people hid their faces from him (Isaiah 53.2-3).
In these ancient times, misfortunes were deemed as judgments from God.
It was quite obvious that God himself had rejected His servant.
The servant’s dreadful condition is illustrated by two dramatic images.
The servant is like a lamb being led to the slaughter, passively awaiting its fate (Isaiah 53.7).
Or, he was like a legal party in court who received no justice whatsoever (Isaiah 53.8).
His end came quickly:“He was cut off out of the land of the living and they made his grave with the wicked”(Isaiah 53.8-9).
VICARIOUS SUFFERING At this point, this fourth Servant Song takes a dramatic turn.
Those watching the servant — almost like spectators — then confess that the servant’s fate is due to their sins and failures.
“All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned to our own ways, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all”(Isaiah 53.6).
We then read what must be the deepest and richest verse in the entire Old Testament.
“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed”(Isaiah 53.5).
Think of Jesus and the agony of Holy Week, and the torture under Pontius Pilate and you will appreciate why I call this chapter the‘gospel’of Isaiah.
This chapter does not describe what Jesus looked like, what he said and did.
Rather, it describes how Jesus was aware of his mission from God and the servant-like way in which he fulfilled that mission throughout his whole life.
THE EASTER GOSPEL May I commend the moving Gospel the church seeks to proclaim.
It tells the simple, yet irresistible message of God, the source of all life.
As light and life flows from the sun, so from God flows the dynamics of all things wholesome, beautiful and true.
God is kind and deals with men and women gently.
God is caring and enters into our intimate and personal feelings, whether they be sad or happy, right or wrong.
God seeks to attract our attention, win our trust, inspire our love.
God does not force his will upon us, but tries by gentle persuasion to lead us in the paths of righteousness.
God became a stranger in his own world.
“God has allowed himself to be pushed out of his own world and on to the Cross. For it is only there on the Cross that God can help us, heal and save us.”( Dietrich Bonhoeffer‘Letters from Prison’ p164).
GOD’S SON God does all this through Jesus, his Son.
Throughout Jesus’entire life span the grace and mercy, the care and kindness, of God our Father flooded into the daily experiences of the folks of Galilee.
These waves of Godly goodness can still flow into our heart and soul.
Then, at the end, God gave us his own heart and soul in Jesus of the Cross.
This is the church’s Easter message. It is meant for you.
“God shows His love for us that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”(Romans 5.8).