How Are We To Experience The Honor And Shame Of The Suffering Servant?
Good Morning Friends,
Blink your eyes and in one-week Easter will have come and gone and the climax of March Madness, which is now always finalized in April, will be upon us. As for church staff they will be rejoicing in the offer of Jesus. “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest.” And for the lot of Florida laity we too will shift gears as the tourist season winds down. But today’s text is still ramping up for Easter, so forgive me for getting ahead of the storyline and minimizing the greatest event in all history. But the thing is that I have worshipped many Easter weeks in all sorts of ways and am seeking something to breathe life into what should never become routine. In today’s lectionary we have an appropriate text from John that begins the close of Jesus’ public ministry and sets the stage for Jesus’ death and Judas’ betrayal. It is the story of the anointing of Jesus and is best told by reading all the Synoptic narratives which we will not do today. But I will point out that it includes a rather shocking depiction of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet instead of head and of wiping his feet with her tears and hair. But I will leave that for another devotional. Instead this morning the focus is on a passage from Isaiah 42 that is really a book end for the passage Jesus read to start his ministry in Isiah 61. These songs are most appropriate for Passion week and they lead us to ask, How Are We To Experience The Honor And Shame Of The Suffering Servant?
Scripture: Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching. Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.
Isaiah 42:1-7 (NRSV)
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
Isaiah 61: 1-2 (NRSV)
Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.
John 12:1-11 (NRSV)
Message: Jesus certainly identified himself with the Suffering Servant. He quotes from Isaiah several times and claims the prophecies for himself that many of his contemporaries thought should be reserved for the collective nation of Israel. In the synagogue at Nazareth he reads from the book of Isaiah 61: 1-2, which mirrors Isaiah 42: 1 -7. Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Here he is identifying himself as the Suffering Servant, the Messiah. The effect on the synagogue in Nazareth is electrifying. These people know their Scriptures. They fully understood the implications of what Jesus is claiming, and as a result they try to kill him for blasphemy. The evidence Jesus offers to support his claim is that he is fulfilling the messianic promises to heal, to deliver, and to set the captives free. No one before, or since, has even come close to fulfilling the promises of the songs of the Suffering Servant like Jesus. The early Christian also identified Jesus as the Suffering Servant who will redeem God’s people from their sins. And we too need to experience Jesus as the Messiah in this way. In fact, associating Christ’s death with the redemption of sins, is based on the concept of the Suffering Servant. Of course, there has always been disagreement over whether Isaiah is referring to the Nation of Israel as the Suffering Servant or whether the servant is an individual, in either case the servant is thought of in Messianic terms. There was disagreement at the time of Jesus and there is disagreement today. Christians identify Jesus as the Messiah and Jews are still waiting for the Nation of Israel to be led by a new, heavenly, king. When the two converge I imagine we will experience this season in a new way with a new song.
Pray God hear us. Pray God help us. Pray we realize that how we love and what we love makes a difference. Pray we realize that sin destroys. Pray we are thankful that God knew from the beginning that we would yield to the tempter and was prepared to love us anyway. Pray we appreciate the plan of redemption and love both individually and collectively. Pray we appreciate the Servant’s purpose of glorifying God and restoring justice. Pray we realize that God chooses and empowers servants to endure the shame of others and then be lifted in honor. Pray we become as instruments of peace in God’s plan. Pray we too serve to Glorify God.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 