Home versebyverse bible commentary isaiah chapter 50. This reading is the third of the servant songs in isaiah 4055 in which a servant is chosen by god who declares what the servants task will be. The use of the book of isaiah in handels messiah, biblical interpretation, 2007. This text is used for the lectionary year c on march 20, 2016. The timing is perfect as we head into holy week and focus on the travails of the servant and then turn to the fourth servant song on good friday.
Book of isaiah matthew henrys bible commentary concise. This song shares some things in common with the previous chapter. John bedingfield in the name of one god, father, son and holy spirit, amen. Study isaiah using matthew henrys bible commentary concise to better understand scripture with full outline and verse meaning. The lord god has given me the tongue of a teacher, that i may know how to sustain the weary with. We come this morning to the third message on the servant songs of isaiah. The most critical of them focuses on whether isaiah s prophecies will receive literal fulfillment or not, and on whether the lord, in his program, has abandoned national israel and permanently replaced the nation with the church, so. This song suggests that such a person will be despised by those around and is the foreshadowing of the servants suffering in the fourth song isaiah 52.
Their master had given them the word that god had given him, and he had done that in the teeth of fierce and intractable opposition. Or which of my creditors is it to whom i have sold you. In todays passage from isaiah, we hear the musings of a prophet who is seeking to make sense of the painful realities of exile. I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the. Year a passionpalm sunday april 17, 2011 isaiah 50. The most critical of them focuses on whether isaiahs prophecies will receive literal fulfillment or not, and on whether the lord, in his program, has abandoned national israel and permanently replaced the nation with the church, so. The union of the two names adonai jahveh or jehovah indicates, as elsewhere, a special solemnity. Series a in this text, isaiah is quite explicit and reflects the suffering and disgrace this servant will suffer as he faithfully does the will of god.
Isaiah might have been one of the evangelists, so exactly does he describe what our savior endured. The old testament lesson this sunday, sunday of the passionpalm sunday, is from the book of the prophet isaiah. The audience sees the face of the one beating and the face of the one beaten. It is no accident that the passion narrative in the gospel of mark, which is read on passion sunday along with isa. But like other words of prophecy in chapters 40 through 66 of isaiah, these words especially a. To vindicate is to clear someone of blame or suspicion. Although the hebrew word for servant does not explicitly appear in this, the 3rd servant song, the descriptions of the servants characteristics are quite similar to those of the servant found in the other three. However, as we begin the last week of jesus life on this palmpassion sunday, our attention turns to another servant found in the book of isaiah.
The lenten color of violet hints at the violence sometimes suffered by faithfulness in the shortterm, and also sends shivers down the spine. One challenge lies in its pairing with the hymn of obedient kenosis in philippians and with marks passion story, making the identification of isaiahs servant with jesus irresistible. The lord can and will help those who trust him isaiah 50. Thus, the prophet equates himself with the servant or is speaking about the experience of suffering through the lens of. He awakens me morning by morning, he awakens my ear to listen as a disciple. The lord god has opened my ear, and i was not rebellious, i did not turn backward. Robert pushed the rest of the lunch over to one side of the hospital tray. The second discourse of the fifth part of this book extends to the 17th verse of the following chapter. Chapters 4253 of the book of isaiah contain four servant songs.
King cyrus of persia has overcome babylons dominance in the region and is establishing a new empire. The title is hearing god and it is taken from isaiah 50. We have before us the language of prophecy, but it is as accurate as though it had been written at the moment of the event. This pericope provides a powerful image of how the servant of god bears suffering. We see the ideal in the very act of passing to its highest form, and that in which it is finally fulfilled in history, namely, by the. They see one person standing, head up, legs wide and steady, arm raised in power, beating. We see the ideal in the very act of passing to its highest form, and that in which. The first of the servant songs we examined is found in isaiah 42. Beating someones back in public is a performance of domination. The book of isaiah is a composite book, probably written over a long period of time and most likely not by an individual. In recent decades, the business world has begun to use the phrase servant leadership to designate one who leads by serving and empowering others, not by accumulating and hoarding power. I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. Prominent in the third song is the repetitive lord god adonai yahweh or sovereign lord which appears in other places in isaiah, but not in the other servant songs. Mar 24, 20 gods servant, a reflection on isaiah 50.
Isaiah 50 is the third servant song the first two are isaiah 42 and 49. Here he offers an autobiographical reflection on his call as a prophet sent by god to the. Who will provide peace and stability for gods people. Chapters 42 53 of the book of isaiah contain four servant songs. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. Where is the certificate of your mothers divorce, whom i have put away. These questions are where isaiah 50 and the triumphal entry find common ground this palm sunday. I have not been rebellious, i have not turned away. A young boy of 10 or 11 was suspected of sabotage by the s. Many pages in famous books would be cancelled if all that had been written.
Long before their conversation, the prophet isaiah told what it is like to be gods servant and what gods servant is to be like. He had been struck and insulted and spit upon, but he had not turned back, because he knew that his god was helping him. Isaiah originally sang or chanted these prophecies to his contemporaries, probably in the temple court. Interpretive challenges interpretive challenges in a long and significant book such as isaiah are numerous. We see the ideal in the very act of passing to its highest form, and that. This is one of the most profound questions that confront the human condition. Lectionary reflections palmpassion sunday isaiah 50. Whether it is how to assemble an engine, prepare a feast, or tie the laces of a shoe, the one learning how to do it needs the one who already knows standing nearby. This study of isaiah 50 compares the disobedience of israel and the obedience of the humble servant who is the lords anointed one. In his book, night, elie wiesel tells the following story about an incident that took place in a german concentration camp during world war ii. A new section begins in the form of an abruptly introduced soliloquy. As jesus was trained, so we must be trained to be true disciples servants.
The sovereign lord has given me a wellinstructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. Read commentary on this popular bible verse and understand the real meaning behind gods word using john gills exposition. He was to declare the truths which comfort the broken, contrite heart, those weary of sin, harassed with afflictions. In a blacksmiths shop, he points out, there are three types of. This is the sermon from kilmarnock baptist church, kilmarnock, va, sunday, september 16, 2012. Earlier in this book, isaiah instructed the israelites to. Isaiah 50 contains the third of four servant songs in second isaiah, each offering a testimony of humility and hope in the midst of israels recent trials and future unknowns. Isaiah 50 is in the second half of second isaiah, penned toward the end of the babylonian exile. Mar 18, 20 image by marcella paliekara this wellknown holy week text presents a number of challenges for the conscientious preacher. Morning by morning he wakens wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. It is even more than what the gospel writers explain to us. Walter brueggemann the voice that speaks in isaiah 50. By sharing in the eucharist, the church embodies the way christ has prepared for all people. The servant, like a welltrained disciple, does not refuse the divine vocation.
Isaiah 4055 proclaims god as creator and develops the explanation god as creator of the world first. For the lord god helps me, therefore, i am not disgraced. This passage is taken from a section that was most likely written in the 6 th century during the babylonian exile. The lord jehovah hath given me a disciples tongue, that i may know how to set up the wearied with words. Generally the term is used to describe someone who was. He in whom jehovah came to his nation, and proclaimed to it, in the midst of its selfinduced misery, the way and work of salvation, is he who speaks in isaiah 50. Ok, i know that the vast bulk of you clergy are not going to emphasize the passion side of palmpassion sunday. The lord god has given me the tongue of disciples, that i may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. The servants humiliation and vindication the lord god has given me the tongue of a teacher, that i may know how to sustain the weary with a word. The old testament reading from isaiah 50 is assigned by the revised common lectionary for palm sunday in the liturgy of the passion, which means that it is most likely that it will be overlooked in most pulpits in favor of the account of jesus. Therefore, i have set my face like flint, and i know that i will not be ashamed. The servant songs emphasise five characteristics of the true servant. The servant is gods agent to do gods work in the world.