The Suffering Servant II. (Isa 52:13-15; Isa 53:10-12)

As we celebrate Easter and remember that Jesus has overcome death and rose again, I want to continue our reflections on the Suffering Servant, which sets out the pattern fulfilled by Jesus. As we look at the verses surrounding the passage from last time (see my post here), some questions arise. What enabled the Servant to succeed in His mission? How did He manage to get from being despised and seemingly defeated even to the point of death, to a long life, vindication by God and recognition of His achievements?

In Isa 52:13-15 God speaks and gives an advance estimate of the Servant, namely, that He will be ultimately exalted and will prosper (v.13). The Hebrew for this last word actually means ‘to gain or have insight’, but the sense encompasses the outcome of having insight, hence ‘My Servant will prosper’. This is the testimony of Scripture: those who gain wisdom will flourish (e.g. Prov 3:13, 18). So, what is this wisdom that enables one to thrive, that can transform disaster into new hope not only for one’s own self but for others? And how does one receive such wisdom?

When we look at the Servant’s career, a pattern of humiliation to exaltation emerges. In other words, His wisdom or insight that we read of in v.13 is gained through testing times. This is primarily not an intellectual wisdom but an attitude whose focus is on God. It is clear from an earlier speech of the Servant, that He is obedient despite suffering and continues to trust God (Isa 50:5-7). His unwillingness to defend Himself likewise implies His trust in the One who will vindicate Him (Isa 50:8-9; Isa 53:7). In one sense, the Servant lands in suffering precisely because He already has godly wisdom, the kind that is founded on obedience to God and trust in Him (Prov 9:10) and which is willing to relinquish one’s rights and privileges for the benefit of others (Isa 53:5; Phil 2:6-8).

If this is so, however, we might well wonder why the Servant/Jesus needed such a test in the first place. There is a sense in which testing brings about a deepening of an existing relationship with God and of wisdom. This is true in the human sphere, but I believe also in the relationship of God the Son to the Father. It does not mean that Jesus was somehow lacking or ‘imperfect’ before, but that in any genuine relationship there is potential for growth as the principles that govern the relationship are applied in new situations.[1] In another sense, Jesus also had to be subjected to all that is our human condition, so that we might know that He can sympathise with our weaknesses to help us in our need (Heb 2:18).

These two reasons link in with Isa 53:11, where our justification is connected to knowledge – another wisdom term in our reading. If we understand justification in the legal sense of making us right or innocent in God’s sight because Jesus’ death paid the price for our sins, then it is hard to see what knowledge has to do with justifying us. However, the Hebrew for ‘to justify’ can be translated as ‘to cause someone to be right or righteous’ and we see this same verb rendered in Dan 12:3 as ‘to lead to righteousness’ (note also the connection to wisdom in the verse). Understood this way, Jesus not only achieves our justification in that He deals with our sin (Isa 53:5, 10) and presents us as just and right before God, but He also leads us into an ongoing course of right living. Because He has undergone the same process, He has pioneered the way for us to follow (Heb 12:2-3, NRSV has ‘pioneer’ of faith) and by the wisdom forged in the crucible of His suffering and death, He teaches us how to live in a wise and godly way.

As we ponder the rich meaning of Easter we can be thankful for Jesus’ willingness to undergo suffering for our healing and be reassured that His trust in the Father was vindicated when He raised Jesus from the dead. He calls us into such a life of trust and faithful obedience.

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[1] I touch on this issue in a footnote relating to Jesus’ authority pre- and post-resurrection in Jesus’ testing here.