I am continuing my plan to try to see the writings of Isaiah has contemporaries might have seen them. This week we are looking at Chapters 50-57. It is hard to eliminate preconceptions for these chapters, especially chapter 53, because it is so easy for a Christian to see it as a prophecy of Jesus' life and death. Some of the phrases are so familiar, "Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." (v. 3) and "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (v. 5). If you are a Jewish person, and not thinking this is Jesus, than how do you see this? I guess there isn't really a consensus, but here are some theories I heard this week.
1. It could be talking about Hezekiah. I got this from a "Book of Mormon Central: Know Why" segment. They drew attention to the fact that Hezekiah got gravely sick and was about to die, but asked for the Lord to extend his life. He then went on to be a righteous king who saved Israel from the attacks of Ephraim and Syria. That kind of works, but it seams like kind of a stretch to me.
2. It is talking about Jerusalem. This, I believe, is a better match, especially since in the previous chapters it says, "Shake thyself from the dust; arise and sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the band of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion." (52: 2). Other clues in the text suggest that these chapters refer to the time when the Babylonian captivity has come to and end and Cyrus is letting the Jews return to Jerusalem. In 52, the people seem to be rejoicing to be able to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple, but in 53 they realize the extent of the destruction of their beloved city and center of worship. Chapter 53 could be, then, an admission that it is the people's fault that the city was destroyed, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." (vs 6.) In other words, Jerusalem fell because of the wickedness of Judah, specifically their worship of other gods.
3. These chapters foretell a future Messiah. During Jesus' time, there was, clearly, and expectation that a Messiah would come and free Judah from captivity. These chapters are, doubtless, part of the origin of that belief. In Isaiah 54, there is a suggestion that eventually Israel will triumph and live in prosperity "And I will make they windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all they borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." (54:12-13). These chapters, I think, were given to help those in Babylonian Captivity have hope that some day they would live in a land of peace where they could worship their god. I think Jews believe, and rightly so, that this day of peace hasn't happened yet, but is still a hoped for ideal.
The last take away from this week's reading is that I believe the writers of the New Testament included details specifically to show the fulfillment of prophecies, particularly Isaiah 53. If you think about a real human life, and all the things that are done from sun up to sun down every day, there is no way for a writer to include every detail. It was 40 years after the death of Jesus before the first Gospel was written. They had plenty of time to sift through all that happened in the three years of Jesus' ministry and pick out the details they thought were most important. The Gospel writers were primarily writing to fellow Jews. They wanted to convince them that Jesus was the promised Messiah. What better way than to show the similarities between his life and the Suffering Servant from Isaiah 53? They purposely put in the details from his life and death that matched the details in this passage. That is why, when I read it, I can't help but see Jesus. This doesn't mean it wasn't a prophecy of Jesus, it just means we all got a little help from the Gospel writers to see that it was a prophecy of Jesus.
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