Reading for July 7th

Read Isaiah 52.13-53.12. In 52.13-53.12: The suffering servant. One of the most remarkable passages in all prophetic literature, this is the fourth of the distinctive Servant passages, or Songs, which describe the fate of Israel as the servant of God. The servanr will suffer as a result of his commitment to the task (50.4-9). Now what that suffering entails is spelled out in all its horrfying detail. This enigmatic passge seems to combine many experiences. Even if the references in 53.8-9 are not to actual death but to an extreme of suffering, the prophet himself cannot have written it. It is not the death and torture of one person alone that is being reported here. The servant's mission is divine in its challenge. Not all the prophet's hearers respiond to his demands, and many have already shown themselves to be rebellious and responsive. It is those who have identified themselves with this servant task, who have borne the rebukes, repraoches, and wounds of their fellows, whose fate is decribed here. So, the prophet has woven into one tapestry of suffering the terrifying experiences that many had undergone. It is a mission portrait of servanthood. There is a postive and reassuring outlook that sees beyond the immediate pain to the rich reward of such endurance (53.12). It is not a resurrection of an individual that is described in he shall see his offspring, and shall proplong his days (53.10-11). Rather it is the fruit that willbe borne buy those who assume the servant's task and find that, for all its pain, it gains a portion with the great (v. 12). Moreover, a remarkable sensitiveity to the way in which the righteous often suffer at the hands of wrongdoers leads to a new perception of the eaning of suffering The righteous individual may bear the sin of the any who are gulty. Comments or Questions..