Isaiah 52:13–53:12

The Suffering Servant

See, my servant shall prosper;
   he shall be exalted and lifted up,
   and shall be very high. 
Just as there were many who were astonished at him
   —so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
   and his form beyond that of mortals— 
so he shall startle many nations;
   kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which had not been told them they shall see,
   and that which they had not heard they shall contemplate.

Who has believed what we have heard?
   And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
   and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
   nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 
He was despised and rejected by others;
   a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces
   he was despised, and we held him of no account. 

Surely he has borne our infirmities
   and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
   struck down by God, and afflicted. 
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
   crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
   and by his bruises we are healed. 
All we like sheep have gone astray;
   we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
   the iniquity of us all. 

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
   yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
   and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
   so he did not open his mouth. 
By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
   Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
   stricken for the transgression of my people. 
They made his grave with the wicked
   and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
   and there was no deceit in his mouth. 

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin,
   he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. 
   Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
   The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous,
   and he shall bear their iniquities. 
Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great,
   and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out himself to death,
   and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
   and made intercession for the transgressors. 

The fourth and final “servant song” in Isaiah is the most well-known, not least to those who hear the words sung so movingly and powerfully in Handel’s Messiah.  As the soloist sings, “He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”, the pain of the suffering servant is made clear. It’s a pain that is experienced on many different levels. The servant is physically disfigured which, as those with incurable skin diseases of the time experienced, would have also left them with the pain of being a social outcast.  They also have the mental anguish of being personally despised and rejected, and added to that they are not only “wounded” but actually “crushed” by the burden they bear. Ultimately this leads to their death and even then, after all that has happened, the degradation continues as their grave is “with the wicked”..

And yet, amidst all this pain and suffering, or perhaps because of it, something incredible is happening. The servant is not only carrying the burden of the failings of others but through this process they are bringing others closer to God, “the righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities”. This is like the scapegoat on the Jewish Day of Atonement, bringing forgiveness to a whole community by being sent out of it (Leviticus 16:22). But unlike the scapegoat, that is lost to the wilderness, this servant will ultimately “be exalted and lifted up”, an outcome previously described by Isaiah as relating to God in the Temple (Isaiah 6:1).

The sorrow and anguish of thousands of people who have been bereaved or have loved ones struggling for life in hospital or at home as a result of the spread of Covid-19 infection is all too real in this time of a pandemic. In addition, many others are left depressed or anxious as they have lost their jobs or livelihood and are uncertain about the future.  Not for generations have we witnessed so many being impacted so rapidly and having to adjust to a new way of life.

This poetic passage helps us as we reflect on the events of Good Friday. As we journey to the cross and beyond, we watch as Jesus is humiliated, abused and unjustly killed, how he accepts his fate without resistance, how he forgives those who mock him, how he is taken in to the depths of despair and yet how those who witness what happens begin to see the Son of God before them (Matthew 27:54).

Isaiah’s servant shows how both individuals and a whole nation can be healed and restored in their relationship with God.  Handel’s chorus sings, “All we like sheep have gone astray” but it’s Paul who understands that “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

Blessings as we ponder the mystery of the cross this holiest of days.  Be safe!  Be well!

 To Ponder:

• The suggestion that “It was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain” echoes the experience of Job (Job 2:7-8) but can be unsettling when we think of a loving God. How does this impact your understanding of what is happening on Good Friday?
• Pray for individuals or communities around the world experiencing pain and distress.
• Give thanks and pray for those individuals, groups, organisations and governments taking action to respond to and tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.