Week 23 - Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Our look at this seminal passage in Isaiah has been divided it into two weeks. Last week, we looked at the “suffering servant” from a Jewish perspective, and this week from the the Christian viewpoint. Following is a summary of Brueggemann’s chapter on this issue.
From marred to awesome: Who is “the servant”?
Throughout 2nd Isaiah (chapters 40-66), “the servant” is mentioned in four poetic units, the fourth being this week’s passage. (The others are found in Isaiah chapters 42, 49 and 50.) All of them present an enormous problem in Isaiah studies because the identity of “the servant of the Lord” is anything but straightforward. Who exactly is the servant? Jewish interpretation characteristically identifies the servant as the community of Israel. More classical Christian interpretation sees the servant as an anticipatory allusion to Jesus. And then standard historical criticism has sought to identify a “nameable, known historical character.”
So just who is this figure? Is the servant historical? Metaphorical? Israel? A prediction of Jesus? At the present time, says Brueggemann, it’s an “enigma beyond resolution”. Only one thing seems certain: the figure is completely enigmatic.
There are, however, identifying characteristics that we can put a finger on. Chapter 53:13 tells the end of his story, and it is glorious. The servant (whoever that may be) shall be “exalted and lifted up”, and succeed in every way. But this glorious well-being is preceded by a life of terrible suffering and humiliation. The servant is a marked, distorted figure. He is not one of the “beautiful people”, but a genuine outcast. He is “marred beyond human semblance” (52:14). This sorry figure is countered one verse later in 52:15, when we read that nations and kings are awed by the servant. That’s how compelling his majesty and dignity is. People everywhere will be startled. It’s a rags to riches story of epic proportions.
This double theme of humiliation and exaltation makes up the plot line of the poem, and the life of the servant. We move from the marred figure of verse 14 to the awesome figure of verse 15. How does that happen? It’s another mystery. Brueggemann says, “We do not know how to move from marred to awesome, except by the powerful resolve of Yahweh, who transposes this figure with an inexplicable firmness.”
We can understand this plot line in several ways. Understood in the context of the Isaiah tradition and Jewish interpretation, the theme of humiliation and exaltation works. Israel is exactly the humiliated (exiled) people of Zion. And within Christian tradition, even though this passage is not literally talking about Jesus, the church through history has seen Jesus in Isaiah’s words. Humiliation equals crucifixion and exaltation equals resurrection.
These two interpretations have created much tension over the years, especially from the side of Christian triumphalism and, in response, from a Jewish fear of Christian usurpation of Jewish claims. It is most unfortunate that this text has been a contentious point in Jewish-Christian interpretation.
Brueggemann helpfully suggests that instead of focusing on the tension, it’s more important to recognize what is common to both traditions. The core thread running through both interpretations is the same. Whether it’s the life of Israel or the life of Jesus, both have experienced a deep reversal of fortunes. In each story, God is doing something new through a radical and powerful resolve. Not just that, but God can do something new through suffering. In both stories, there is a rejection of self-sufficiency and despair, and a grace-filled wonder of life given away for others.
This is the thread both traditions have in common, and a shared mystery both can cherish.
- Lydia
Reading: Brueggemann pages 109-110 and 141-150
image by Penny Kovacs
