The Suffering Servant I. (Isaiah 53:1-9)

I am always intrigued by people’s different perceptions of the same reality. Some look at a set of facts and conclude that they are facing disaster. Others see in the same set of facts an opportunity. I remember being shown a couple’s photo from their younger days and wondered what she saw in him then that made her realise his potential. I am particularly challenged when I ponder the reaction of the man crucified next to Jesus when he expected Him to come again as king (Luke 23:42) even though He was helpless on the cross. Likewise, one could understand the Roman centurion’s conviction that Jesus had done nothing wrong (literally that He was righteous), but why praise God (Luke 23:47) when Jesus was dying? Isaiah 53, in which Christians have long recognised the pattern of suffering Jesus has endured, presents the same tension between perceptions and reality. How did the group who testifies in the passage move from contempt to a recognition of the Servant’s true mission? What made the difference in their perception?

The description of the Servant is not promising (Isa 53:2-3). The man is despised, even dismissed as of no account (the sense of ‘forsaken of men’ in v.3). The images used of Him of unimpressive appearance and literally ‘a man of pains and acquainted with sickness’ (v.3) are a poetic blend from the Psalms where suffering is often linked to physical pain, even disfigurement, and loathing by others (e.g. Ps 22:6, 14; Ps 31:9-10; Ps 88:8-9). While we are not aware of Jesus being literally disfigured or sickly, He would have experienced pain and sickness like anyone else. Moreover, by carrying our sins, He carried with them all the consequences of a sinful and broken world. At a time when so many are suffering from the new coronavirus, it is comforting to know that Jesus was no stranger to our experience and that He overcame a world where sickness and death are an everyday reality.

After the initial unfavourable impression, the poem goes on to describe the we-group’s assessment (Isa 53:4-6). In the typical attitude of the ancient world, they saw the Servant’s suffering and assumed that God was punishing Him (v.4). Yet somewhere along the line came a changed perspective: this man ‘was pierced through for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities’ (v.5). In the early phases of the current pandemic, some youths were defiantly saying that if they get the virus later, so be it, they won’t let it interfere with their pleasures now. Just like these young people had no concept that their actions might spell death for others, so many have no recognition that their sin spelt death for Jesus because by foregoing our immediate punishment God had absorbed the consequences of our sin.

Finally, in Isa 53:7-9, we are given a description of the Servant’s attitude against a background of unjust accusations and suffering. It is perhaps the entry point for the perceptive to see a different reality in the Servant’s refusal to retaliate and defend Himself. In the NT, Jesus’ innocence is in fact the common thread in the unusual insight of the criminal on the cross and the Roman centurion. In their attitude is a recognition of Jesus’ power and authority alongside His unwillingness to use it for His own ends, as well as of His solid trust in God despite seeming abandonment. All this goes against our natural human impulse and may alert observers to a different reality.

As Isa 53:1 states, ‘who has believed our message?’. It is indeed a surprising one that takes spiritual openness to see and hear. Victory is gained through defeat and healing through the scourging of God’s Servant. As we look at our own circumstances in the present, the worry over getting sick, our finances and any number of related stresses, our perception of reality may be different from God’s. Yet, so often what looks like disaster may be God’s opportunity. On this Good Friday, may we see His assessment of our lives about what really matters, hear the message of forgiveness and live a renewed life where anguish is replaced by joy and despair by hope.