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"See, my servant shall prosper; he shall
be exalted and lifted up, and
shall be very high. Just as there were many who were astonished
at him — so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of mortals — so he shall startle many
nations. . . . Who has believed what we have heard? . . . He
had no form or majesty that we should look at him, nothing in
his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and
rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised,
and we held him of no account. . . . But he was wounded for
our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was
the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are
healed" (Isaiah 52:13-53:5).
During this season of Lent how can any Christian
see these words and not picture Christ's crucifixion? Yet how
can words spoken in the days of exile anticipate Jesus' execution
on a day nearly six centuries later? Why does Isaiah's "suffering
servant" in Babylon resemble so closely the suffering Christ
on Calvary? Did Isaiah predict the Passion from the sixth century
B.C., or is this eventual coming-together of images simply part
of the mysterious plan of God, the one who knows all but cannot
be fully known?
"How beautiful upon the mountains are
the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good
news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns,'
" Isaiah wrote (52:7). People of faith who follow in the
footsteps of those beautiful feet also answer their questions
with
the simple, "God reigns." If we had all the answers,
there would be no need for faith.
Before the exile, prophets preached that the
people of Israel would soon be punished for their sins. During
the exile, Isaiah began to envision a day when the debt would
be paid and his people could go home again.
"Comfort, O comfort my people, says your
God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has
served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received
from the Lord's hand double for all her sins" (40:1-2).
When later messengers announced the good news
of salvation in Jesus Christ, people of faith would come to
understand Christ's suffering as payment for sin for all time.
"All we like sheep have gone astray," Isaiah
wrote, "we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord
has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (53:6).
Our "Bible Explorations" title for
this Lenten lesson is "Profit margin." According to
the Oxford Dictionary, profit margin is "the profit remaining
in a business after costs have been deducted."
After Christ paid the cost for our sins, the
profit remaining was no less than everlasting salvation! It's
up to us, the remaining prophets, to go out and tell the world.
"I will give you as a light to the nations," Isaiah
wrote, "that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth"
(49:6).
This season may be Lent, but this profit is
not lent; it is a gift to keep forever.
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