The Exaltation of the Suffering Servant on the Holy Cross
By Fr. George ElAndary
The Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14th of each year. It is important to point out that Christians believe strongly that Jesus Christ has been a key player in human history since the world’s creation. We also believe that the New Testament (Jesus Christ) is hidden in the Old Testament, whereas the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament. From the beginning, God promised us salvation through his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who was destined to suffer greatly for the sake of man’s redemption and salvation from sin and death and to achieve—through suffering and sacrifice—a position of glory and honor. This idea is rooted in biblical texts, particularly in the Book of Isaiah and in the New Testament, where the suffering servant is depicted as enduring pain and humiliation on the cross for the sake of humanity's redemption.
Feast of the Triumph of the Cross
The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross has been celebrated by the Church since the 4th century, when the True Cross was found by St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine. Tradition says that she found the True Cross in Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified, because those who did not wish for Christianity to spread or who had political reasons to do so buried the cross in an unknown place. We celebrate this feast on September 14th because on this day in the year 335, the Church in Jerusalem dedicated a new church built to honor both Jesus’ crucifixion and his resurrection on the site where he had died and rose from the dead. On this day, we reflect on the meaning of the cross to remember God’s love and mercy toward us and to honor the victory Jesus won for us through his death and resurrection.
The Suffering and Glory of the Servant
Between the years 740-680 BC, as recorded in Isaiah 52:13-53:12, the prophet Isaiah prophesied the fourth Suffering Servant Song, presenting the value of suffering in an unusual way. This prophetic song shows the Servant triumphing through his humiliation and suffering on the cross, even making the sins of others his own in an act of love meant to heal and set humanity free.1
The central theme throughout the book of Isaiah is servanthood—the servanthood of God’s people through whom his saviorhood is revealed to the world. Isaiah 40-55 focuses on deliverance, restoration, and the vocation of the Servant. The coming Servant will bring salvation through suffering. Isaiah foretells of God’s Servant who will bring back the nation of Israel, and He alone has the ability to redeem and restore his people and the entire world through the “arm” of the Lord (Is. 50:2; 51:5,9; 52:10), gather the scattered tribes of the Jacob, and be a light for the Gentiles. In chapter 52 particularly, Isaiah comes to the climax of God’s “comfort” in redeeming his people, the Servant will obey and suffer in order to bear the sins of many and intercede for the transgressors (Is. 52:13-53:12) .2 This Suffering Servant will finally make possible the glorious invitations and promises of Isaiah that lead to the great deliverance that produces love and joy for the world.
The Servant Song of the Suffering Servant is structured chiastically, 3 and it can be divided into five stanzas of three verses each: Isaiah 52:13-15 and Isaiah 53:10-12, the opening and the closing of the poem that foretell the Servant’s exaltation; Isaiah 53:1-3 in which the Servant was despised and rejected; Isaiah 53:4-6 where the Servant carries man’s sins and transgressions; and Isaiah 53:7-9 wherein the innocent and sinless servant carries man’s sins in silence.
Stanza 1: Servant’s Exaltation (Is. 52:13-15)
The Servant poem begins with the main themes of the Servant’s exaltation. Isaiah 52:13-15 is put on the Lord’s lips, and it acts as a kind of overture to what follows: the Servant’s exaltation (Is. 52:13), his humiliation and suffering (Is. 52:14), and the astonishing effect that this has on his own people and on strangers. Isaiah used the language of exaltation in other places regarding God. (Is. 6:1; 57:15). The exaltation of the Servant, therefore, would lead to His success, which He experiences through suffering, being disfigured beyond human recognition such that people were horrified by his appearance.4 His exaltation points to him being lifted and glorified above men.
A seemingly different reality explained in the rest of the passage is that the exalted hero would have a parade held in his honor. Taking a throne as a king, no one expected that one so lowly and persecuted could ever be so exalted, sitting on the very throne of Yahweh. The Servant’s presence and appearance startle humanity and make kings speechless (Is. 52:14-15).
This Servant also “sprinkles many nations” (Is. 52:15). In Leviticus, the word sprinkling—with blood, oil, water, or a mixture of these—is used multiple times in reference to sprinkling blood on the altar, which creates an image of sacrifice and revelation.5 Oil also was sprinkled for consecrating the altars (Lev. 8:11), and oil mixed with water and blood was sprinkled for cleansing and purification.6
Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of this passage and the object of this predictive prophesy is the Christian interpretation of this part of Isaiah. During Jesus’ ministry, he looked for his future exaltation: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness (for forgiveness), so the Son of Man must be lifted up” (John 3:14); “when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he…” (John 8:28); “and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). His punishment was beyond even what he was accused of: blasphemy. Ultimately, Jesus, the suffering Servant, will be the redeemer of mankind to return them to God.7
Stanza 2: The Servant was Despised and Rejected (Is. 53:1-3)
In this stanza, the speaker could be identified as the nations, the prophet’s disciples, or the believing people of Israel. It also seems possible that Isaiah, “is probably identifying himself with his people and speaking for them.”8 The role the Servant will play as the “arm of Yahweh;” his miraculous saving power “divided the Red Sea” (Is. 51:9; Ex. 6:6; 15:16), will smite the Babylonian (Is. 48:14) and will bring salvation in view of all nations (Is. 52:7). His powerful arm will bring about his just reign.9 The Servant who is to bring redemption is rejected by men because of his meek image. Obscure and humble, nothing about him was impressive (Is. 53:2), and it is a man of undesirable appearance who takes on the pain and suffering of the world. (Is. 53:3). In fact, he was so pitiful, with all his pain and sickness, that Israel despised and rejected him. Men did not want to have anything to do with him. Therefore, this Servant received no exaltation from mankind; rather, he was rejected by all.
The Song of the Suffering Servant, what we believe to be about the baby born in a manger who would eventually become a lowly carpenter, later works in a sense to, “identify the stages of Christ’s Passion in their various details: the arrest, the humiliation, the blows, the spitting, the contempt for the prisoner, the unjust sentence, and then the scourging, and the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the Cross, the crucifixion, and the agony.”10
Stanza 3: The Carrying of Man’s Sins and Transgressions (Is. 53:4-6)
In Isaiah 53:4-6, the Servant who was despised and rejected by the people and was persecuted was the same one on whom the sins and punishment of mankind were laid, enabling those same people to experience peace, forgiveness, and healing. Traditionally, in the Near East, suffering was interpreted as being a punishment for sins, but here it is borne on behalf of others. This vicarious suffering for the sins of others is also ordained by God, who laid the iniquity of all upon his shoulders.11 Therefore, the Servant must be someone who is able to bring justice and deliverance to the whole world.
The significance of this passage is that Isaiah points to the most important theological truth of Scripture, which can only be fully explained after the suffering and death of Jesus Christ for the sins and salvation of man. The Suffering Servant received the just punishment that was due to the rebellious Israelites. By receiving it, he heals the relationship between the people and God. This prophesy is fulfilled on the cross of Christ, where Jesus is slaughtered so that people might be saved. “For Christ died for sins once and for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus also said that his death was one of purposeful sacrifice: “This is my blood of the New Covenant, which is poured for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).
Stanza 4: The Innocent and Sinless Servant Carries Man’s Sins in Silence (Is. 53:7-9)
The Servant is innocent, but he goes quietly and willingly to carry the sins of man. Isaiah prophesies that the Servant is like a lamb in his submissive death because he carries the sins of others despite his lack of sin: “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter…” (Isa. 53:7). Even though his death is unjust, he remains submissively silent in his oppression, affliction, judgment, and death. To add to this humiliation, he was buried with the rich and the wicked in his death. Even in his death, he receives insult. This stanza concludes with a reminder that “there was no deceit in his mouth.”
In this part of the passage, we see many similarities to the ministry and life of Jesus. Jesus was oppressed, afflicted, yet He made no struggle and made no defense for himself (Matthew 27:12-14; Mark 15:3-5). He was humble and submissive to the point of death on the cross, sacrificed himself as a lamb for the sin of man, suffered willingly, and was afflicted on behalf of all.
Stanza 5: Accomplishment of the Atonement (Is. 53:10-12).
This section brings the passage to a close with repeated focus on two things: first the Servant’s suffering is the will of Yahweh, and second, the Servant’s suffering provides the means for lifting the guilt of the sins of the nations. This section points out specifically that the Servant was exalted because, “He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.” (Is. 53:12). That theological idea is uniquely expressed in this final stanza; here, atonement through vicarious suffering comes as a result of humble and faithful obedience, an intercession for transgressors. The servant who does this is exalted because he was obedient in pouring himself out for the redemption of others.
Jesus revealed his redemptive mission to be that of the suffering Servant prophesied by Isaiah when he replied to the sons of Zebedee: “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). He also alluded to it during the last supper when he announced his undeserving death among transgressors, quoting (Is. 53:12) and saying, “it is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors,’ and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment” (Luke 22:37).
The Church takes the position that this passage was a prophesy about Jesus. We may see that as early as its use by the authors of the Scriptures. In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke writes that Philip was sent to meet an Ethiopian eunuch, who he found reading the book of Isaiah while riding in his chariot (Acts 8:32-34). The text that Eunuch was reading is Isaiah 53:7-8. In response to this text, the Ethiopian asks Philip who Isaiah was talking about. Philip then, “opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture, told him the good news of Jesus” (Acts 8:35). Jesus’ suffering brings about the justification of believers through his gift of himself as atonement for their sins. “Patristic tradition reads the song as a prophecy that found fulfillment in Christ that the Church uses it in Good Friday liturgy.”13
The Suffering Servant and the Exalted Messiah are two pictures of Christ that seem to conflict. This man is worthy of exaltation above anyone else, yet he humbles himself for human beings so that they may experience redemption through his suffering. He is the king of kings and above all kings, yet he is the only king who had to go up on the cross and taste death to heal the wrongdoing of men. Theologically, Isaiah presented us with the fourth song passage as a picture of the prophesized Messiah who is the atonement for the sins of man. “Much of Jesus’ life and death as portrayed in the Gospel can be read as a fulfillment of the fourth Servant Song.”14
The Suffering Servant Song presents us with a great understanding of the redemption plan of God for our salvation, which is accomplished through our Lord Jesus Christ. The suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross gives us hope that as sinners, he redeemed us once and for all and gave us his Church and especially his Sacraments for forgiveness of sins and the sanctification of souls. He enabled us to become adopted sons of God again through his blood shed on the Cross, so he brings salvation to all. We as Christians are supposed to learn the truth of the way that Jesus gives himself for us and for others. He humbled himself, obeyed God to the point of suffering and death, and so was exalted. We are to follow his teaching and live our lives the way He lived his. Not a life of pride and glorification of our own selves, but a life of humility, love and self-giving to others like Jesus.’ We are to take our cross as Jesus did and follow Him in prayers, fasting and almsgiving, continuing his mission to save our souls, bring those who are away from God back to his flock, and renew their relationship with God through hope, faith, and charity that we may all gain God’s love and happiness in his kingdom.
Conclusion
The nation of Israel was supposed to be the collective Servant of the LORD through whom God would bring about justice and salvation to Israel and to all nations. However, the people of Israel rebelled and transgressed their covenant with Yahweh. The humble, obeying, unexpected, despised, and rejected Suffering Servant was to come and take their place, making an atoning self-sacrifice for the purpose of forgiveness and healing relationship between Yahweh and his covenant people, bringing peace to all nations. Much of Jesus’ life through his ministry and death as portrayed in the Gospels can be read as a fulfillment of the fourth Servant Song. He is the true and ideal “Israel” in the sense that during his brief ministry on earth, Jesus took upon himself the mission that Israel failed to take and do. The New Testament clearly identifies Jesus as the Servant who fulfills the mission and tasks assigned to the Servant of Isaiah. Even though Isaiah is not foretelling of Christ with photographic precision, it is reasonable to believe that Jesus is, in fact, the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. His self-sacrificial, atoning work has reconciled us back into a right relationship with God.
Bibliography
The Navarre Bible in the Revised Standard Version with a commentary. Dublin; for Courts Press. New York; Scepter Publishers; 2004; P. 233.
2 J. Daniel Hays and Tremper Longman, The Message of the Prophets: A Survey of the Prophetic and Apocalyptic Books of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2010), 38.
3 H. G. M. Williamson, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 366.
4 John Goldingay, the theology of the Book of Isaiah (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2014), 702.
5 Barrett, Michael P. V., Beginning at Moses: A Guide to Finding Christ in the Old Testament, (Greenville: Ambassador-Emerald International, 2001), 204
6 Smith, Gary V., The New American Commentary: Isaiah 40-66, (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2009), 358
7 Ibid, 359
8 Platt, David, “The Scandal of the Gospel,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2010), 2641.
9 Oswalt, John N. The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998. 381.
10 Smith, Gary V., The New American Commentary: Isaiah 40-66, (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2009. 444.
11 St. John Paul II, Salvifici doloris, 17; cf. idem, Dives in misericordia, 7.
12 Smith, Gary V., The New American Commentary: Isaiah 40-66, (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2009. 366
13 The Navarre Bible in the Revised Standard Version with a commentary. Dublin; for Courts Press. New York; Scepter Publishers; 2004, 234.
14 J. Daniel Hays and Tremper Longman, the Message of the Prophets: A Survey of the Prophetic and Apocalyptic Books of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2010), 131.
Feast of the Triumph of the Cross
The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross has been celebrated by the Church since the 4th century, when the True Cross was found by St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine. Tradition says that she found the True Cross in Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified, because those who did not wish for Christianity to spread or who had political reasons to do so buried the cross in an unknown place. We celebrate this feast on September 14th because on this day in the year 335, the Church in Jerusalem dedicated a new church built to honor both Jesus’ crucifixion and his resurrection on the site where he had died and rose from the dead. On this day, we reflect on the meaning of the cross to remember God’s love and mercy toward us and to honor the victory Jesus won for us through his death and resurrection.
The Suffering and Glory of the Servant
Between the years 740-680 BC, as recorded in Isaiah 52:13-53:12, the prophet Isaiah prophesied the fourth Suffering Servant Song, presenting the value of suffering in an unusual way. This prophetic song shows the Servant triumphing through his humiliation and suffering on the cross, even making the sins of others his own in an act of love meant to heal and set humanity free.1
The central theme throughout the book of Isaiah is servanthood—the servanthood of God’s people through whom his saviorhood is revealed to the world. Isaiah 40-55 focuses on deliverance, restoration, and the vocation of the Servant. The coming Servant will bring salvation through suffering. Isaiah foretells of God’s Servant who will bring back the nation of Israel, and He alone has the ability to redeem and restore his people and the entire world through the “arm” of the Lord (Is. 50:2; 51:5,9; 52:10), gather the scattered tribes of the Jacob, and be a light for the Gentiles. In chapter 52 particularly, Isaiah comes to the climax of God’s “comfort” in redeeming his people, the Servant will obey and suffer in order to bear the sins of many and intercede for the transgressors (Is. 52:13-53:12) .2 This Suffering Servant will finally make possible the glorious invitations and promises of Isaiah that lead to the great deliverance that produces love and joy for the world.
The Servant Song of the Suffering Servant is structured chiastically, 3 and it can be divided into five stanzas of three verses each: Isaiah 52:13-15 and Isaiah 53:10-12, the opening and the closing of the poem that foretell the Servant’s exaltation; Isaiah 53:1-3 in which the Servant was despised and rejected; Isaiah 53:4-6 where the Servant carries man’s sins and transgressions; and Isaiah 53:7-9 wherein the innocent and sinless servant carries man’s sins in silence.
Stanza 1: Servant’s Exaltation (Is. 52:13-15)
The Servant poem begins with the main themes of the Servant’s exaltation. Isaiah 52:13-15 is put on the Lord’s lips, and it acts as a kind of overture to what follows: the Servant’s exaltation (Is. 52:13), his humiliation and suffering (Is. 52:14), and the astonishing effect that this has on his own people and on strangers. Isaiah used the language of exaltation in other places regarding God. (Is. 6:1; 57:15). The exaltation of the Servant, therefore, would lead to His success, which He experiences through suffering, being disfigured beyond human recognition such that people were horrified by his appearance.4 His exaltation points to him being lifted and glorified above men.
A seemingly different reality explained in the rest of the passage is that the exalted hero would have a parade held in his honor. Taking a throne as a king, no one expected that one so lowly and persecuted could ever be so exalted, sitting on the very throne of Yahweh. The Servant’s presence and appearance startle humanity and make kings speechless (Is. 52:14-15).
This Servant also “sprinkles many nations” (Is. 52:15). In Leviticus, the word sprinkling—with blood, oil, water, or a mixture of these—is used multiple times in reference to sprinkling blood on the altar, which creates an image of sacrifice and revelation.5 Oil also was sprinkled for consecrating the altars (Lev. 8:11), and oil mixed with water and blood was sprinkled for cleansing and purification.6
Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of this passage and the object of this predictive prophesy is the Christian interpretation of this part of Isaiah. During Jesus’ ministry, he looked for his future exaltation: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness (for forgiveness), so the Son of Man must be lifted up” (John 3:14); “when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he…” (John 8:28); “and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). His punishment was beyond even what he was accused of: blasphemy. Ultimately, Jesus, the suffering Servant, will be the redeemer of mankind to return them to God.7
Stanza 2: The Servant was Despised and Rejected (Is. 53:1-3)
In this stanza, the speaker could be identified as the nations, the prophet’s disciples, or the believing people of Israel. It also seems possible that Isaiah, “is probably identifying himself with his people and speaking for them.”8 The role the Servant will play as the “arm of Yahweh;” his miraculous saving power “divided the Red Sea” (Is. 51:9; Ex. 6:6; 15:16), will smite the Babylonian (Is. 48:14) and will bring salvation in view of all nations (Is. 52:7). His powerful arm will bring about his just reign.9 The Servant who is to bring redemption is rejected by men because of his meek image. Obscure and humble, nothing about him was impressive (Is. 53:2), and it is a man of undesirable appearance who takes on the pain and suffering of the world. (Is. 53:3). In fact, he was so pitiful, with all his pain and sickness, that Israel despised and rejected him. Men did not want to have anything to do with him. Therefore, this Servant received no exaltation from mankind; rather, he was rejected by all.
The Song of the Suffering Servant, what we believe to be about the baby born in a manger who would eventually become a lowly carpenter, later works in a sense to, “identify the stages of Christ’s Passion in their various details: the arrest, the humiliation, the blows, the spitting, the contempt for the prisoner, the unjust sentence, and then the scourging, and the crowning with thorns, the carrying of the Cross, the crucifixion, and the agony.”10
Stanza 3: The Carrying of Man’s Sins and Transgressions (Is. 53:4-6)
In Isaiah 53:4-6, the Servant who was despised and rejected by the people and was persecuted was the same one on whom the sins and punishment of mankind were laid, enabling those same people to experience peace, forgiveness, and healing. Traditionally, in the Near East, suffering was interpreted as being a punishment for sins, but here it is borne on behalf of others. This vicarious suffering for the sins of others is also ordained by God, who laid the iniquity of all upon his shoulders.11 Therefore, the Servant must be someone who is able to bring justice and deliverance to the whole world.
The significance of this passage is that Isaiah points to the most important theological truth of Scripture, which can only be fully explained after the suffering and death of Jesus Christ for the sins and salvation of man. The Suffering Servant received the just punishment that was due to the rebellious Israelites. By receiving it, he heals the relationship between the people and God. This prophesy is fulfilled on the cross of Christ, where Jesus is slaughtered so that people might be saved. “For Christ died for sins once and for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus also said that his death was one of purposeful sacrifice: “This is my blood of the New Covenant, which is poured for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).
Stanza 4: The Innocent and Sinless Servant Carries Man’s Sins in Silence (Is. 53:7-9)
The Servant is innocent, but he goes quietly and willingly to carry the sins of man. Isaiah prophesies that the Servant is like a lamb in his submissive death because he carries the sins of others despite his lack of sin: “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter…” (Isa. 53:7). Even though his death is unjust, he remains submissively silent in his oppression, affliction, judgment, and death. To add to this humiliation, he was buried with the rich and the wicked in his death. Even in his death, he receives insult. This stanza concludes with a reminder that “there was no deceit in his mouth.”
In this part of the passage, we see many similarities to the ministry and life of Jesus. Jesus was oppressed, afflicted, yet He made no struggle and made no defense for himself (Matthew 27:12-14; Mark 15:3-5). He was humble and submissive to the point of death on the cross, sacrificed himself as a lamb for the sin of man, suffered willingly, and was afflicted on behalf of all.
Stanza 5: Accomplishment of the Atonement (Is. 53:10-12).
This section brings the passage to a close with repeated focus on two things: first the Servant’s suffering is the will of Yahweh, and second, the Servant’s suffering provides the means for lifting the guilt of the sins of the nations. This section points out specifically that the Servant was exalted because, “He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.” (Is. 53:12). That theological idea is uniquely expressed in this final stanza; here, atonement through vicarious suffering comes as a result of humble and faithful obedience, an intercession for transgressors. The servant who does this is exalted because he was obedient in pouring himself out for the redemption of others.
Jesus revealed his redemptive mission to be that of the suffering Servant prophesied by Isaiah when he replied to the sons of Zebedee: “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). He also alluded to it during the last supper when he announced his undeserving death among transgressors, quoting (Is. 53:12) and saying, “it is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors,’ and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment” (Luke 22:37).
The Church takes the position that this passage was a prophesy about Jesus. We may see that as early as its use by the authors of the Scriptures. In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke writes that Philip was sent to meet an Ethiopian eunuch, who he found reading the book of Isaiah while riding in his chariot (Acts 8:32-34). The text that Eunuch was reading is Isaiah 53:7-8. In response to this text, the Ethiopian asks Philip who Isaiah was talking about. Philip then, “opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture, told him the good news of Jesus” (Acts 8:35). Jesus’ suffering brings about the justification of believers through his gift of himself as atonement for their sins. “Patristic tradition reads the song as a prophecy that found fulfillment in Christ that the Church uses it in Good Friday liturgy.”13
The Suffering Servant and the Exalted Messiah are two pictures of Christ that seem to conflict. This man is worthy of exaltation above anyone else, yet he humbles himself for human beings so that they may experience redemption through his suffering. He is the king of kings and above all kings, yet he is the only king who had to go up on the cross and taste death to heal the wrongdoing of men. Theologically, Isaiah presented us with the fourth song passage as a picture of the prophesized Messiah who is the atonement for the sins of man. “Much of Jesus’ life and death as portrayed in the Gospel can be read as a fulfillment of the fourth Servant Song.”14
The Suffering Servant Song presents us with a great understanding of the redemption plan of God for our salvation, which is accomplished through our Lord Jesus Christ. The suffering and death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross gives us hope that as sinners, he redeemed us once and for all and gave us his Church and especially his Sacraments for forgiveness of sins and the sanctification of souls. He enabled us to become adopted sons of God again through his blood shed on the Cross, so he brings salvation to all. We as Christians are supposed to learn the truth of the way that Jesus gives himself for us and for others. He humbled himself, obeyed God to the point of suffering and death, and so was exalted. We are to follow his teaching and live our lives the way He lived his. Not a life of pride and glorification of our own selves, but a life of humility, love and self-giving to others like Jesus.’ We are to take our cross as Jesus did and follow Him in prayers, fasting and almsgiving, continuing his mission to save our souls, bring those who are away from God back to his flock, and renew their relationship with God through hope, faith, and charity that we may all gain God’s love and happiness in his kingdom.
Conclusion
The nation of Israel was supposed to be the collective Servant of the LORD through whom God would bring about justice and salvation to Israel and to all nations. However, the people of Israel rebelled and transgressed their covenant with Yahweh. The humble, obeying, unexpected, despised, and rejected Suffering Servant was to come and take their place, making an atoning self-sacrifice for the purpose of forgiveness and healing relationship between Yahweh and his covenant people, bringing peace to all nations. Much of Jesus’ life through his ministry and death as portrayed in the Gospels can be read as a fulfillment of the fourth Servant Song. He is the true and ideal “Israel” in the sense that during his brief ministry on earth, Jesus took upon himself the mission that Israel failed to take and do. The New Testament clearly identifies Jesus as the Servant who fulfills the mission and tasks assigned to the Servant of Isaiah. Even though Isaiah is not foretelling of Christ with photographic precision, it is reasonable to believe that Jesus is, in fact, the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. His self-sacrificial, atoning work has reconciled us back into a right relationship with God.
Bibliography
The Navarre Bible in the Revised Standard Version with a commentary. Dublin; for Courts Press. New York; Scepter Publishers; 2004; P. 233.
2 J. Daniel Hays and Tremper Longman, The Message of the Prophets: A Survey of the Prophetic and Apocalyptic Books of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2010), 38.
3 H. G. M. Williamson, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Historical Books (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 366.
4 John Goldingay, the theology of the Book of Isaiah (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2014), 702.
5 Barrett, Michael P. V., Beginning at Moses: A Guide to Finding Christ in the Old Testament, (Greenville: Ambassador-Emerald International, 2001), 204
6 Smith, Gary V., The New American Commentary: Isaiah 40-66, (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2009), 358
7 Ibid, 359
8 Platt, David, “The Scandal of the Gospel,” in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2010), 2641.
9 Oswalt, John N. The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1998. 381.
10 Smith, Gary V., The New American Commentary: Isaiah 40-66, (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2009. 444.
11 St. John Paul II, Salvifici doloris, 17; cf. idem, Dives in misericordia, 7.
12 Smith, Gary V., The New American Commentary: Isaiah 40-66, (Nashville: B&H Publishing, 2009. 366
13 The Navarre Bible in the Revised Standard Version with a commentary. Dublin; for Courts Press. New York; Scepter Publishers; 2004, 234.
14 J. Daniel Hays and Tremper Longman, the Message of the Prophets: A Survey of the Prophetic and Apocalyptic Books of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2010), 131.
