“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”
If we didn’t know better, we might hazard a guess that these verses were written by the Apostle Paul or one of the authors of the Gospels. But, instead, they were written some 600 or so years before the birth of Christ. Those of you with good memories will recall that we heard them a few minutes ago in our reading from Isaiah…
Fifth Gospel
The Book of Isaiah is sometimes called the Fifth Gospel. It’s called that because of the number of times it’s quoted in the NT. At Christmas time, the traditional 9 Lessons and Carols normally include readings from Isaiah. And Isaiah appears again during Lent and Holy Week.
Our reading is part of one of those passages referring to The Suffering Servant. We looked at some of those other verses last month. This one starts in verse 13 of the chapter before. So, today we only get a part. As Christians we tend to be familiar with these verses. We look through our particular lens and usually take Jesus to be the servant – and the Gospel writers do the same, interweaving verses from this chapter and from Psalm 22 into the crucifixion narratives.
And we understand something of Jesus’ mission amongst us and the anguish that he felt, in part at least, through this text. In the Acts of the Apostles, it’s these same verses with which Philip started to explain the good news of Jesus to the eunuch, as they were travelling through the wilderness in his chariot.
Genius
But there are many other ways to read this and it’s extremely difficult to pin down exactly who the poet had in mind when he wrote these lines. And perhaps that’s the genius on display here. That the words of scripture can come alive for each of us in very different ways and in different times.
Isaiah’s original audience were probably in Babylon, exiled there after the destruction of Jerusalem. They may have thought of Isaiah himself as being the suffering servant. But there’s a case to be made for Moses and Jeremiah too.
Or maybe those original readers and hearers saw in these verses a kingly, Messiah-like figure who would come and save them. Perhaps even a radically different saviour to themselves – who wasn’t even an Israelite. Earlier in Isaiah, the writer had talked of Cyrus of Persia, being both the Lord’s shepherd and the Lord’s anointed! It was Cyrus, a person of a different culture and different faith, who decreed that Israel should return to their land – and then backed that up and provided the finances to make it possible (44:28; 45:1-6,13). Was Cyrus, a pagan, the Suffering Servant?
And perhaps we also need to learn to look for inspiration and for guidance from peoples and places that we wouldn’t normally consider either. That our deliverance may come from the least expected direction too.
Conflicted
Or they may well have identified the suffering servant with themselves – the people of Israel – suffering as a community rather than via an individual. Broken now, this passage brought hope that they would someday be exalted and lifted-up (52:13). They would read into these verses the promise that their present suffering ultimately served a larger purpose (53:11-12).
And we might feel a bit conflicted about that today depending on whether we now see Israel as victim or perpetrator, or a bit of both, in the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Pigeon-holed
Or rather than speaking metaphorically, was Isaiah describing a real person who was physically or mentally suffering in some way – and at the same time being powerfully used by God?
It made me wonder how often we attribute, or see the media attribute, words like ‘suffering’ and ‘victim’ and ‘vulnerable’ to others when we don’t really know their situation. We make assumptions and that’s them pigeon-holed.
What does that do to the esteem, the self-worth, of those named this way – and only this way? And with discussions here and in Europe on Assisted Dying, there are potentially life and death consequences of those kind of labels.
Yet this very same person is also described in our text as ‘the righteous one…who shall make many righteous’. The one who is suffering is also righteous and exalted! An intercessor. We need to be very careful to look at the whole person and not just part, when we think about or describe people.
Bringers of redemption
We should therefore question how we think of those who suffer in any way: the migrant, the homeless, the person enduring famine or war. Or how we think of those from a different culture or religion. How easily do we think of these as people of ‘no account’, as it says in verse 3, – when in God’s economy it might very well be these very same people who bring us redemption…
We should be challenged to think about our hospitality and welcome, since we may be the ones being saved by the actions of these others, rather than the other way round.
Inclusivity
And maybe you see yourself within the description of the suffering servant? If so, take heart for these verses might be telling you that you are being used by God to bring salvation for others. I wonder if the Ethiopian eunuch saw himself in these verses too. Did he see a link between the words that he read and his own experience, a connection to the negative way that he was viewed and treated by society? Perhaps the eunuch was used by God to open Philip’s eyes to the inclusivity of God’s kingdom – as much as Philip was being used to open up the Gospel to the eunuch?
So, I ask you to be open to different interpretations of these verses. Be open to recognize that you and I might need to change and transform our frame of reference. That we might need a little help from our friends and from our foes alike.
And if you do see yourself here, then be prepared to be used by God in a way that may be life-transforming – for both you and for those that you encounter. Amen
‘Isaiah and Inclusivity’ was delivered by Ian Banks at St John with St Mark, Bury on October 20th 2024. It was based on Isaiah 53:4-12.
References:
- Berlin, A. & Brettler, M. (2004). The Jewish Study Bible. Oxford UP.
- Heschel, A. (2001). The Prophets. Prince Press.
- Sawyer, J. (1996). The Fifth Gospel. Cambridge UP.
- Schipper, J. (2011). Disability and Isaiah’s Suffering Servant. Oxford UP.
- https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-29-2/commentary-on-isaiah-534-12