From: Isaiah 53:10-11
Fourth Song of the Servant of the Lord (Continuation)
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Commentary:
52:13-53:12. This fourth Song of the Servant is one of the most commented on
passages in the Bible, as regards both its literary structure and its content. From
the point of view of structure, it interrupts the hymn-style of chapter 52 (which is
taken up again in chapter 54); the style here is more reflective; the theme, the va-
lue of suffering. In terms of content, the song is unusual in that it shows the ser-
vant triumphing through his humiliation and suffering. Even more than that — he
makes the pains and sins of others his own, in order to heal them and set them
free. Prior to this, the idea of “vicarious expiation” was unknown in the Bible. The
passage is original even in its vocabulary: it contains forty words that are not to
be found elsewhere in the Bible.
The poem, which is very carefully composed, divides into three stanzas: the first
(52:13-15) is put on the Lord’s lips and it acts as a kind of overture to what fol-
lows — taking in the themes of the triumph of the servant (v. 13), his humiliation
and suffering (v. 14), and the stunning effect that this has on his own people and
on strangers.
The second stanza (53:1-11a) celebrates the servant’s trials, and the good effects
they produce. This is spoken in the first person plural, standing for the people and
the prophet: both feel solidarity with the servant of the Lord. This stanza has four
stages to it: first (53:1-3) it describes the servant’s noble origins (he grew up be-
fore the Lord like a young plant: cf. v. 2) and the low esteem in which he is held
as a “man of sorrows”. Then we learn that all this suffering is atonement for the
sins of others (53:4-6). Traditionally, suffering was interpreted as being a punish-
ment for sins, but here it is borne on behalf of others. This is the first lesson to
be learned by those who see him “stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted”, and
it marks the climax of the poem. Thirdly (53:7-9), the point is made, again that
he has freely accepted suffering and meekly, offers himself as a sacrifice of
atonement (he is like a lamb, like a sheep). His death is as ignominious as the
suffering that precedes it. Finally (vv. 10-11a) we are told how fruitful all this suf-
fering is: like the patriarchs of old (the text seems to imply) the servant will have
many offspring and a long life and be a man of great wisdom.
In the, third stanza (53:11b-12) the Lord speaks again, finally acknowledging that
his servant’s sacrifice is truly efficacious: he will cause many to be accounted
“righteous”, that is, he will win their salvation (v. 11) and will share in the Lord’s
spoils (v. 12).
The fourth song of the servant of the Lord was from very early on interpreted as
having a current application. When the Jews of Alexandria made the Greek trans-
lation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) around the second century BC, they
tinkered a little with the text to indicate that the servant in the poem stood for the
people of Israel in the diaspora. Those Jews, who encountered huge obstacles in
their effort to maintain their identity in that Hellenistic and polytheistic environ-
ment, found comfort in the hope that they would emerge enhanced, just like the
servant.
Jews of Palestine identified the victorious servant with the Messiah, but they rein-
terpreted the sufferings described here to apply them to the pagan nations. The
Dead Sea Scrolls interpret this song in the light of the ignominy experienced by
the Teacher of Righteousness, the probable founder of the group that established
itself at Qumran.
Jesus revealed his redemptive mission to be that of the suffering servant prophe-
sied by Isaiah here. He referred to him on a number of occasions — in his reply to
the request made by the sons of Zebedee (”the Son of man came not to be
served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”: Mt 20:28 and par.);
at the Last Supper, when he announced his ignominious death among transgres-
sors, quoting 53:12 (Lk 22:37); in some passages in the fourth Gospel (Jn 12:32,
37-38); etc. He also seems to refer to it in his conversation with the disciples of
Emmaus (Lk 24:25ff) to explain his passion and death. Therefore, the first Chris-
tians interpreted Jesus’ death and resurrection in terms of this poem; evidence of
this is the expression “in accordance with the scriptures” in 1 Corinthians 15:3;
the words “for our trespasses” (Rom 4:25; 1 Cor 15:3-5); the Christological hymn
in the Letter to the Philippians (Phil 2:6-11); and expressions used in the First
Letter of Peter (1 Pet 2:22-25) and in other New Testament passages (Mt 8:17;
27:29; Acts 8:26-40; Rom 10:16; etc.).
Patristic tradition reads the song as a prophecy that found fulfillment in Christ
(cf. St Clement of Rome, “Ad Corinthios”, 16:1-14; St Ignatius Martyr, “Epistula
ad Polycarpum”, 1, 3; the so-called “Letter of Barnabas”, 5, 2 and “Epistula ad
Diognetuin”, 9, 2; etc.). The Church uses it in the Good Friday liturgy.
52:14. “Beyond human semblance”: this phrase sums up the description given in
53:2-3 and shows the intense pain reflected in the servant’s face: the description
is so graphic that Christian ascetical writing, with good reason, reads it as antici-
pating the passion of our Lord: “The prophet, who has rightly been called ‘the Fifth
Evangelist’, presents in this Song an image of the sufferings of the Servant with a
realism as acute as if he were seeing them with his own eyes: the eyes of the
body and of the spirit. [...] The Song of the Suffering Servant contains a descrip-
tion in which it is possible, in a certain sense, to identify the stages of Christ’s
Passion in their various details: the arrest, the humiliation, the blows, the spitting,
the contempt for the prisoner, the unjust sentence, and then the scourging, the
crowning with thorns and the mocking, the carrying of the Cross, the crucifixion
and the agony” (John Paul II, “Salvifici Doloris”, 17; cf. idem, “Dives in Misericor-
dia”, 7).
53:1. St Paul cites this verse to prove the need for preaching (Rom 10:16). The
verse also underlines the extraordinary degree of undeserved suffering endured
by the Servant. It is sometimes interpreted as a further sign of the humility of
Christ, who, being divine, took on the form of a servant: “Christ is a man of hum-
ble thought and feeling, unlike those who attack his flock. The heart of God’s ma-
jesty, the Lord Jesus Christ, did not come with loud cries of arrogance and pride;
he came in humility, as the Holy Spirit said of him: ‘Who has believed what we
have heard?’” (St Clement of Rome, “Ad Corinthios”, 16, 1-3).
53:4-5. “He has borne our griefs [or pains]”: the servant’s sufferings are not due
to his own personal sins; they are atonement for the sins of others. “The suffe-
rings of our Savior are our cure” (Theodoret of Cyrus, “De Incarnatione Domini”,
28). He suffered on account of the sins of the entire people, even though he was
not guilty of them. By bearing the penalty for those sins, he expiated the guilt in-
volved. St Matthew, after recounting some miraculous cures and the casting out
of devils, sees the words of v. 4a fulfilled in Christ (Mt 8:17). He interprets Jesus
Christ as being the servant foretold by the prophet, who will cure the physical suf-
fering of people as a sign that he is curing the root cause of all types of evil, that
is, sin, iniquity (v. 5). The miracles worked by Jesus for the sick are therefore a
sign of Redemption: “Christ’s whole life is a mystery of “redemption”. Redemp-
tion comes to us above all through the blood of his cross (cf. Eph 1:7; Col 1:13-
14; 1 Pet 1:18-19), but this mystery is at work throughout Christ’s entire life”
(”Catechism of the Catholic Church”, 517).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: Hebrews 4:14-16
Our Confidence is Based on Christ’s Priesthood
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Commentary:
14-16. The text now reverts to its main theme (cf. 2:17), that is, the priesthood
of Christ. It highlights the dignity of the new high priest, who has passed through
the heavens; and His mercy, too, for He sympathizes with our weaknesses. We
have, therefore, every reason to approach Him with confidence. “The believers
were at that time in a storm of temptation; that is why the Apostle is consoling
them, saying that our High Priest not only knows, as God, the weaknesses of
our nature: as man, He has also experienced the sufferings that affect us, al-
though He was free from sin. Since He knows our weaknesses so well, He can
give us the help we need, and when He comes to judge us, He will take that
weakness into account in His sentence” (”Interpretatio Ep. Ad Haebreos, ad loc.”).
We should respond to the Lord’s goodness by staying true to our profession of
faith. The confession or profession of faith referred to here is not simply an exter-
nal declaration: external confession is necessary but there must also be commit-
ment and a spirit of fidelity. A Christian needs to live up to all the demands of his
calling; he should be single-minded and free from doubts.
15. “If we should some time find ourselves sorely tempted by our enemies, it will
greatly help us to remember that we have on our side a high priest who is most
compassionate, for He chose to experience all kinds of temptation” (”St. Pius V
Catechism”, IV, 15, 14). In order to understand and help a sinner to get over his
falls and cope with temptation, one does not oneself need to have experience of
being tempted; in fact, only one who does not sin knows the full force of tempta-
tion, because the sinner gives in prior to resisting to the end. Christ never yielded
to temptation. He therefore experienced much more than we do (because we are
often defeated by temptation) the full rigor and violence of those temptations
which He chose to undergo as man at particular points in His life. Our Lord, then,
allowed Himself to be tempted, in order to set us an example and prevent us from
ever losing confidence in our ability to resist temptation with the help of grace (cf.
notes on Matthew 4:1-11 and paragraph).
“There is no man”, St. Jerome comments, “who can resist all tests except He
who, made in our likeness, has experienced everything but sin” (”Comm. In Ioan-
nam”, II, 46). Christ’s sinlessness, often affirmed in Sacred Scripture (Romans 8:
3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; John 8:46; 1 Peter 1:19; 2:21-24), follows logically from His
being God and from His human integrity and holiness. At the same time Christ’s
weakness, which He chose to experience out of love for us, is a kind of invitation
from God to pray for strength to resist sin. “Let us adore Christ who emptied Him-
self to assume the condition of a slave. He was tempted in every way that we are,
but did not sin. Let us turn in prayer to Him, saying, ‘You took on our human
weakness. Be the eyes of the blind, the strength of the weak, the friend of the
lonely’” (”Liturgy of the Hours”, Christmas Day, Evening Prayer I).
16. The “throne” is the symbol of Christ’s authority; He is King of the living and
the dead. But here it speaks of a “throne of grace”: through the salvation worked
by Christ, the compassionate Priest and Intercessor, God’s throne has become
a judgment seat from which mercy flows. Christ has initiated for mankind a time
of forgiveness and sanctification in which He does not yet manifest His position
as Sovereign Judge. Christ’s priesthood did not cease to operate with His death;
it continues in Heaven, where He forever pleads on our behalf, and therefore we
should have confident recourse to Him.
“What security should be ours in considering the mercy of the Lord! ‘He has but
to cry for redress, and I, the Ever-Merciful, will listen to him’ (Exodus 22:27). It is
an invitation, a promise that He will not fail to fulfill. ‘Let us then with confidence
draw near to the throne of grace, and we may receive mercy and find grace to
help in time of need’. The enemies of our sanctification will be rendered power-
less if the mercy of God goes before us. And if through our own fault and human
weakness we should fall, the Lord comes to our aid and raises us up” (St. J. Es-
criva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 7).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.