ISAIAH'S SUFFERING SERVANT
Isaiah's career as a prophet begins in 742 BCE with a shattering religious experience in the Temple, Isaiah has a vision of God on his throne, praised by angels while smoke and noise fills the Temple. This is a numinous experience for Isaiah - he is gripped by a sense of his own sinfulness and unworthiness. In his vision, an angel brings a fiery coal to his lips to burn away his sin. He hears God saying to his angels "Whom shall I send?" and the now-purified Isaiah calls out "Here I am! Send me!"
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God chooses the Servant who will bring justice to earth. The Servant is a Kingly Messiah and a Prophetic Messiah who brings about God's will on Earth.
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight Compare this to the description of Jesus' baptism as described in the Synoptic Gospels eg Matthew 3: 13-17. Notice how God is pleased with/delights in Jesus and puts his Spirit into him.
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I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth - Isaiah 49: 6
I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting - Isaiah 50: 6
He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain - Isaiah 53: 3 The expression "man of sorrows" is commonly applied to Jesus by Christians
The Servant doesn't just suffer for himself - he takes upon himself OTHER PEOPLE'S pain and suffering, but nobody appreciates it. Instead, people regard the Servant as a victim and an evil-doer.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, |
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; The link to Christian beliefs here is pretty clear. Jesus was "pierced" by nails for the sake of mankind's "transgressions" (sins) . Christians believe that Jesus' wounds bring healing from Original Sin.
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After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities - Isaiah 53: 1
But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend Isaiah 41: 8
Israel, who has been chosen by [God] as his servant, is to be restored from Exile and will manifest God’s glory to all nations - Morna Hooker
Israel had been subjected to terrible humiliation, she was oppressed and afflicted, taken from her own country and led like a lamb to the slaughter: but now her sufferings are over, and she is to return; she will be exalted and know prosperity again - Morna Hooker
YES
The Servant is identified as the Messiah by several ancient rabbis who believed the Kingly Messiah would suffer. Isaiah links the Servant to the line of King David, just like a Kingly Messiah. The Fourth Song ends with God rewarding the Servant and bringing in the Messianic Age.
The sufferings of the Servant closely fit the sufferings of Jesus, who was rejected by his own people, abused and tortured then painfully executed. This supports the Christian belief that the Servant predicts Jesus and that Jesus' death was an atoning death for the sins of mankind.
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NO
The Servant is a corporate personality, representing the whole Jewish nation (called 'Israel') or perhaps just the faithful few among the Jewish people who truly serve God. The Songs describe the sufferings of Jews at the hands of Gentiles (antisemitism).
Although some later rabbis link the Suffering Servant to the Messiah, there's no evidence that Jews of the 1st century thought Isaiah 53 described a Suffering Messiah. The link between the Messiah and the Suffering Servant was made by Christians AFTER Jesus' crucifixion.
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