by Ptr. Art Calaguas<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shalom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our study of the Isaiah Servant Songs seems to indicate that 2 different servants are really spoken of. The nation of Israel is one servant. The other servant is identified as the (preserved) faithful remnant of Israel; or the prophet Jeremiah; or Zerubbabel; or the Teacher of Righteousness written about in the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS); or our Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We saw that the 4th<\/sup> and last Servant Song (Isaiah 52:13 \u2013 53:12) more clearly identifies the chosen servant\/messiah of the LORD as one who suffers. Ironically, this suffering servant represents the whole of Israel as David\u2019s heir, as its king and messiah and as such, is God\u2019s \u201cson\u201d as Israel is God\u2019s \u201cson.\u201d This suffering servant is also a light unto the nations\/Gentiles, which will bring salvation to the ends of the earth. Yet \u201chis appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance<\/em>\u201d (Isaiah 52:14 ESV) seems to emphasize the servant\u2019s suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The prophet Isaiah may himself have been shocked at this utterance from the LORD. The northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 BC and Isaiah prophesied about this end. Meanwhile the southern kingdom, Judah was conquered by the Babylonians in 586 BC. The prophet Jeremiah wrote about this time and of the terrible toll on the populace in Jerusalem during the siege and final destruction. A great number of people suffered but what Isaiah describes in this and the following verses in the 4th<\/sup> Servant Song is of a specific individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n John 12:38 quotes the LXX version of Isaiah 53:1 when he wrote (ESV): \u201cLord,<\/em> who has believed what he has heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?\u201d <\/em> The apostle John laments the fact that despite all the words, signs and miracles done by the Lord Jesus, the \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 (Jewish authorities opposed to him; coming from the Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, the ruling elite, etc.) and most of the people still refused to believe in him. This was a prelude to the Upper Room farewell discourse and subsequent betrayal and suffering of our Lord. It also leads up to fulfilling Isaiah 53:3-4 as John describes the intention of the \u1f38\u03bf\u03c5\u03b4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03bf\u03b9 to simply get rid of this perceived \u201cblasphemer\u201d in their midst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Matthew 8:17 spoke also of the fulfillment of the LXX version of Isaiah 53:3-4 when he wrote (ESV): \u201cHe took our illnesses and bore our diseases.<\/em>\u201d Matthew\u2019s context was when the Lord gave his Sermon on the Mount (and great numbers of people followed him) and cleansed a leper, healed the servant of a Roman Centurion remotely, healed Peter\u2019s mother-in-law at Capernaum, cast out demons and unclean spirits and healed all those who were sick. So in Isaiah, it would seem that this servant really identified with his people, took pity on them and as a result, brought healing, comfort and deliverance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Isaiah 53:5-6 (ESV) the LORD God has allowed this servant to be \u201cpierced for our transgressions; \u2026 crushed for our iniquities; \u2026 and laid on him the iniquity of us all.<\/em>\u201d Proceeding from this, Matthew 26:28 and its parallels in Mark 14:24 and Luke 22:20 have the Lord Jesus at the Last Supper declaring (ESV): \u201cfor this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.<\/mark><\/em>\u201d This reflects the cult sacrifice concept and theology of \u201csubstitutionary atonement\u201d as put forth by Leviticus 16. At its base is the confirmation of God\u2019s covenant with the Israelites at Mt. Sinai in Exodus 24:8; amplified by Leviticus 17:11 and spoken of in Hebrews 9:19-22. Judaism\u2019s Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement (fast approaching this October 4-5, 2022) is part of this sacrifice concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The silence of the sacrificial Lamb during the Lord\u2019s ordeal is spoken of in Isaiah 53:7. Some rabbis note that Jeremiah 11:19 spoke similar words (ESV): \u201cBut I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter.<\/em>\u201d It may be that both Isaiah 53:7 and Jeremiah 11:19 resonated in the Lord\u2019s mind during his ordeal. The degree of suffering the Lord underwent is of course, to a much greater extent than what Jeremiah experienced in his time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This suffering servant took his role as a \u201cservant\u201d very seriously, up to the point of death. The suffering encapsulated in Isaiah 53:8-12 makes this conclusion inescapable. Recall Matthew 20:28, with Mark 10:45 as a parallel, when the Lord Jesus says (ESV): \u201ceven as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.<\/mark><\/em>\u201d Truly, the Lord Jesus knew what he had to accomplish and he died for our redemption, even while we were yet sinners. Scripture must be fulfilled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luke 22:37 has our Lord saying (ESV): \u201cFor I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me: \u2018And he was numbered with the transgressors.\u2019 For what is written about me has its fulfillment.<\/mark><\/em>\u201d Our Lord was quoting and fulfilling Isaiah 53:12 (ESV): \u201c\u2026he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.\u201d <\/em>Recall that on the cross, our Lord prayed (Luke 23:34 ESV): \u201cFather, forgive them, for they know not what they do.<\/mark><\/em>\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n But perhaps, the most telling fulfillment of Isaiah 52:13 \u2013 53:12 has to be the event that defines our Christian faith: the Resurrection. It is quite clear that the suffering servant was killed as written in Isaiah 53:8-10 (ESV): \u201c\u2026 he was cut off out of the land of the living, \u2026\u201d <\/em>yet in verse 10, Isaiah writes that \u201c\u2026 when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.\u201d <\/em>Simply put, the servant is resurrected. His grave tomb was left empty. Only our Lord Jesus, as the suffering servant and messiah was killed and resurrected from the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier, I asked if it could be that there were multiple levels of fulfillment of Isaiah\u2019s suffering servant prophecies; and could more than one candidate fulfill Isaiah\u2019s prophecies. When Matthew 12:18-21 and 8:17 quoted Isaiah 42:1-4 and Isaiah 53:3-4, respectively; and the other Gospel writers quoted other parts of the 4 Servant Songs; they must surely have known that all these prophecies were fulfilled in the life of their Lord and Master. Matthew, John and perhaps, Mark saw these as eyewitnesses. If we also take all of the 4 Servant Songs together and their context within the other (Davidic) messianic prophecies of the prophet Isaiah, it seems quite clear only one unique servant fulfilled them all to the ultimate level: our Lord and Master; the Messiah Jesus. Glory to God! Amen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next week, we will start with a new topic from Matthew\u2019s Gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n God bless us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Ptr. Art Calaguas Shalom. Our study of the Isaiah Servant Songs seems to indicate that 2 different servants are really spoken of. The nation of Israel is one servant. The other servant is identified as the (preserved) faithful remnant of Israel; or the prophet Jeremiah; or Zerubbabel; or the Teacher of Righteousness written about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[6,7,18,9,8,5],"class_list":["post-237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ptr-art-calaguas","tag-church-of-the-risen-lord","tag-crl","tag-jesus","tag-spiritual-refreshment-of-the-day","tag-upcemi","tag-upcrl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":238,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237\/revisions\/238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upcrl.org\/refreshment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}