Dear friends,
The Suffering Servant
‘‘He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.’ Isaiah 53.7
The Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 is one of 5 servant songs (or poems) in Isaiah that point clearly ahead 700 years to Jesus Christ – especially to his death on the cross.
On one occasion, just shortly after the resurrection of Jesus, an Ethiopian government official was reading this passage. He was confused by it. Who was this servant that Isaiah is speaking of? Thankfully Philip the evangelist was on hand to explain it to him. Starting from this very passage of Old Testament Scripture, Philip was able to tell the Ethiopian the good news about Jesus (Acts 8.26-40).
We can hear the good news of the cross too, as we read Isaiah 53 and think about it. It was written by Isaiah for this purpose: so as we would consider Christ.
Imagine that you were at Calvary, watching Jesus die on the cross. Someone beside you points to him and says ‘You see that man? What he’s doing right now is the most important thing in the history of the world. It will save millions of people from their deepest problem.’ On the day, that might be hard to believe. To you standing there it looks like just another Roman execution, of which there were many. It seems like just another act of pointless suffering.
But then you remember Isaiah 53. “O yes,” you think, “something like this had to happen. 700 years before the cross, God told us through Isaiah that someone called his Servant would have to suffer. So that when it did happen, we would believe it!”
Yes, this chapter is so clearly about Christ and his successful, saving mission. On the cross, Christ was the victor over sin, the devil, and death. He represented his people and substituted himself for them. On that first Easter weekend he overcame. Rejoice!
With love and prayers in Christ this Easter,
Bill
