Day 213. Isaiah 51-53

In the reading for today the Lord, through his prophet, calls the exiles in Babylon to look backward and forward. Look back at the history of Israel, he says—"Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you, for he was but one when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many" (51:1-2). And the LORD is ready to similarly bless his people when they return to the Land of Promise. He promises to "comfort Zion . . . and . . . make her wilderness like Eden" (51:3).
But this is more than a real estate promotion. Together with the Land, God offers the returning exiles a mission—a part in his teaching mission to the world. "A teaching will go out from me," says the LORD, "and my justice to the peoples" (51:5). The deliverance of Israel is good news for the whole world—the LORD's "deliverance will be forever, and [his] salvation to all generations" (51:8).
The prophet calls out to God—"Awake, awake put on strength, O arm of the LORD! Awake, as in days of old, the generations of long ago! (51:9). And the LORD replies that he has wakened, and has set the exiles free from "the fury of the oppressor" (51:13).
Now it is the turn of the ruined city of Jerusalem to awake—"Rouse yourself, rouse yourself!" the prophet says. "Stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, you who have drunk to the dregs the bowl of staggering" (51:17). The survivors of the city's destruction are drunken with the wine of violence—they are stunned by what has happened to them—traumatized—like "an antelope in a net" (51:2). Now the LORD says--"See, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; you shall drink no more from the bowl of my wrath" (51:22).
The LORD has set the exiles free; now he calls out—"Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion . . . , loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! (52:1). Now that God has acted in setting the exiles free, it is time for the people to shake off their lethargy and despair. The prophet anticipates the time of the exiles' return, when the ruins of Jerusalem "break forth together into singing" (52:9). He imagines how "the sentinels [will] lift up their voices, [how] together they [will] sing for joy; for in plain sight they [will] see the return of the LORD to Zion" (52:8). And he calls upon the exiles to leave Babylon for home—"Depart, depart, go out from here" (52:11). Their journey will be like the exodus from Egypt long ago, only this time they will "not go out in haste" in fear of being pursued (52:12). They will go without fear because "the LORD will go before you and the God of Israel will be your rear
guard."
Now in the fourth of the Servant Songs the full significance of Israel's defeat and exile is revealed. The servant is the personification of suffering and obedient Israel. The afflictions through which the servant has passed have distorted his appearance "beyond human semblance" (52:14). He is "despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity" (53:3). But God has decided to win over the rest of the human race through the anguish of his people—his suffering servant. This the true reason for their being chosen. The prophet speaks with the voice of humanity as a whole. The servant has been chosen to bear "our infirmities and [carry] our diseases"—he will be "wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole" (53:5). Thus he will fulfill the true destiny of the nation of Israel. So the LORD says—"The righteous one, my servant, shall make many
righteous" (53:11).
It is impossible for us as Christians not to see in the image of Isaiah's suffering servant in the person of Jesus Christ, who suffers innocently and gives his life for others. Without Israel, God's chosen people, we would never have known God's plan fully revealed in Jesus Christ. But it is through his suffering and death, and not because of the obedience of Israel, that we are healed and forgiven. The prophet may be thinking only of obedient Israel in the role of the suffering servant, but Israel's obedience was never sufficient even to save itself. For us the hope he expressed of a world redeemed by sacrificial love is realized only through the crucified and risen Lord.