Today's reading is a favorite of mine. Isaiah reflects on the suffering servant of God in words we know fit perfectly with Jesus. Isaiah's word's describe being unimpressed by the servants humble appearance, even repelled by his suffering. Often we think of those who suffer as marked by wrong. But Isaiah discovers that the truth in this case is that the suffering isn't punishment for the servant's sins but for the sins of the community. In this case, we know Christ's suffering pays for all our sin. It's a lot to take in and an amazing gift of love. Jesus seeks and suffers for sinners.
God bless,
Sam
Isaiah
53:1-5
Who has
believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord
been revealed? 2For he grew up before him like a young plant, and
like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at
him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3He was
despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with
infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we
held him of no account.
4Surely he
has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him
stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5But he was wounded for
our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment
that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.
From a friend of mine, Erik: This is an interesting idea- that the sufferer is not just marked by wrong or is a sinner, but is a symptom of a communal failure. It is easy to look at someone who has strayed from their path and think bad things about them or label them with certain judgments, but if we consider that these individuals are symptoms of communal problems, perhaps we can view our world, or care for our world, in new ways, and those who suffer in them as not some isolated person, but as part of a cared-for community.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the dictionary I see that "suffer" has another meaning. It also means "to endure, to bear." It makes me wonder if our Lord chose to endure and to bear His misery. Of course He did, but the different meaning of the word "suffering" gives a different general feeling.
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