Finding the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53:3-12 New International Version (NIV)

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,

   a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

   he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain

   and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

   stricken by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,

   he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

   and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

   each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

   the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,

   yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

   and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

   so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

   Yet who of his generation protested?

For he was cut off from the land of the living;

   for the transgression of my people he was punished.

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

   and with the rich in his death,

though he had done no violence,

   nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,

   and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,

he will see his offspring and prolong his days,

   and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

11 After he has suffered,

   he will see the light of life and be satisfied;

by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,

   and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,

   and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death,

   and was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many,

   and made intercession for the transgressors.

Our scripture for this morning serves as a great reminder.  God is often viewed much differently in the Old Testament as compared to the New Testament.  In the Old Testament we often view God as vengeful and kind of mean and in the New Testament we get a different picture because of Jesus.  For a long time in my faith I thought it was God who had changed but I realize now that it is our human experience with God that has changed and that is due in large part to our understanding and our interaction with Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  When we study the Old Testament we will see that there are constant reminders that God had not always been viewed as vengeful and angry.  In fact, the Old Testament is filled with “Suffering Servants” that are constantly preparing us for the New Testament version of the Suffering Servant we find in Jesus Christ.  I should have included verse three in our reading of this scripture because it helps us paint an even better picture of the Suffering Servant described in Isaiah 53: “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.  Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we help him in low esteem.”  When I initially read this scripture, it was completely apparent to me that it was referring to the expected Messiah.  That this scripture was pointing directly to Jesus Christ himself.  But once I began studying the scripture and digging beyond face value I found something different.

First off, the scripture is written in the past tense.  It cannot be exclusively referring to a futuristic messiah by saying things like “he bore our suffering” or “he was pierced for our transgressions” or “he was assigned a grave with the wicked.”  There is a lot of debate among scholars as to who or what is being described in this suffering servant poem of Isaiah 53.  Some of those scholars so it is an individual among Israel that is being described while others say it is describes Israel collectively or a sub-group within Israel that was persecuted.  The truth is that it is not exactly clear as to who is being described.  Part of the reason I cannot wrap my mind around poetry and other creative outlets.  A professor of Old Testament Theology named Charles Haley said this about Biblical poetry:    

Like all poetry, biblical poetry is often elusive and open to multiple interpretations. The dense imagery and allusive language of the suffering servant poem make it susceptible to a variety of possible understandings within the rich literary environment of Isaiah 40-55 and the Old Testament as a whole. The servant's identity shimmers in the poem between an individual and a group, a prophet and disciples, Israel and a sub-group within Israel. The identity of this servant is hard to pin down; the individual and the group seem to blur into one another.

Secondly, I am a concrete thinker.  Abstract paintings look like a toddler threw paint at a canvas and it's called beautiful art.  When it comes to my faith, I have always struggled with seeing God in the unseen.  The spiritual aspect of my faith has always been a struggle because of my approach for viewing things.  I was watching a show the other night and there was an abstract painting that they were talking about and I couldn’t believe how they were describing its beauty and how it inspired them.  I look at the painting like and do not see any of what they are describing. On a similar note, it is amazing to me how much Griffin has learned in school.  I love when I speak to him about everything he has learned each day.  The pictures he draws are so abundantly clear to him, but I need his description to figure it out.  He does not have to skill set to more accurately draw his pictures but he still understands what he is trying to draw.  Like Griffin’s pictures and poetry in general, faith is something that is difficult to explain to others.  We often have a pretty good understanding of our own faith but find it difficult to explain to someone else. Faith, art, poetry have to have some sort of context and experience to help them make sense.  I’ve seen the Mona Lisa in person, was not impressed.  I have seen the Sistine Chapel in person.  WOW.  My different experiences and perspectives give me a different point of view when I saw those objects.  Someone who has much different appreciation for art most likely sees the Mona Lisa much differently than I do.  

I tell you that so that you better understand that there may be differing perspectives when reading and studying scripture.  Our experiences and individual understanding of faith will allow us to see scripture and faith differently.  But here is where we often breakdown as a Christian community.  We believe that the way we view Scripture has to be correct and when someone says otherwise we think them to be a heretic.  From Peter and Paul to Martin Luther and the Catholic Church to You and I, there has been tension in our understanding and implementation of scripture and faith.  It boils down to who is right.  And how do we figure out who is right?  For some of us, mostly the concrete thinkers among us, there has to be a wrong and a right.  There are fundamental truths found in the Bible.  I will never waiver from that.  But how each one of gets to those truths is as individual as we are.  We all may take different paths but those paths all lead to the same place.  We have to allow others to grow, fall, get up, strengthen and fall short as they move through their faith.  What works for us to see God in all of his grace and glory may not work for someone else.  It may not work for our spouse or our children so we have to be willing to let others grow, read, and study how it works for them.  

Lastly, where does this leave us when it comes to our scripture for this morning?  There is a movement from humiliation to exaltation, from shame to honor, from weakness to greatness in Isaiah 53 and throughout the Bible.  Remember when I said that the scripture was written in the past tense?  That all changes in verses 11 and 12:  “After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.  Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.  For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”   So when I read this poem in Isaiah 53, it was concretely apparent to me that it was referring to Jesus and to be honest, it still does. But what about those who believe that this scripture is referring to a group?  I think I have an answer for all of us.  Jesus, who was the ultimate Suffering Servant, dies on a cross and then lifted up above every other name.  In his death and resurrection, Jesus represents the recurring theme of God’s servants moving from humiliation to exaltation.  Just as a point of reference, let’s look at Deuteronomy 21:22 and 23: “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,  his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.”  That “tree” is most like a reference to the cross in which Jesus died on. A movement from shame to honor.  And the ministry of Jesus, just like the poetry of Isaiah 53, moved between the unique individual, Jesus and the community who followed him.  Each day our faith brings us closer to God, closer to greatness.  As we walk with God, shape our lives like Christ’s, and work together as the body of Christ with one another then we are continually moving from weakness to strength.  A movement from weakness to greatness.  

Jesus may have been the suffering servant described in Isaiah 53.  Jesus’ ministry may be the suffering servant described in Isaiah 53.  God’s people may be the suffering servant described in Isaiah 53.  You may be the suffering servant described in Isaiah 53.  The homeless veteran, the pregnant teenager, the alcoholic, the heroin addict, or I may be the suffering servant described in Isaiah 53.  The point is that we all have the potential to move from humiliation to exaltation, from shame to honor, from weakness to greatness.  Isaiah 53 is about us. All of us. Amen.