STRANGE TWISTS IN THE STORY

Someone once asked newspaperman Joseph Pulitzer what is it that qualifies as news. The story goes that he replied something like this, "When a dog bites a man, that’s not news. When a man bites a dog, that’s news." Something that is different usually catches our attention. A different kind of person who does things in a different way stands out.

Jesus is such a person. His story is reported in such a way to get our attention. He did things differently. Different kinds of things happened to him. Consider his silence at his trial and the location of his grave. He would be expected to defend himself, yet he didn’t. It was expected that his grave would be with others who were crucified, but it wasn’t. The strange twists in the story are there so that we might consider this person, that we might ponder his death and the reason for it.

The fourth stanza in the Servant Song of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 spotlights the trial, execution and burial of the Servant of the Lord.

Like Israel, the Servant of the Lord is "oppressed" and "afflicted"—words that would be particularly associated with Israel’s bondage in Egypt (Exodus 1:11-12). The nation is on the verge of going into captivity again—this time in Babylon. The Servant identifies with Israel in her affliction. Israel, though, thought the Servant was being afflicted by God because he was a sinner (verse 4). The Servant is different from Israel in how he responds to oppression. Israel "cried out" to the Lord (Exodus 2:23, 3:7), but the Servant "did not open his mouth." This is a startling response, or lack of response, especially inasmuch as the Servant is innocent (verse 9). He suffers voluntarily, without protest.

The word "mouth" links the beginning of the stanza with the end of the stanza, in verse 9, which declares that there was no deceit in the Servant’s "mouth." Most would resort to deceit, or subtle stretching of the truth, in order to defend themselves in the face of death, yet the Servant is completely truthful.

To illustrate the Servant’s silence, Isaiah compares him to a "lamb that is led to slaughter" and a "sheep that is silent before its shearers." In the previous stanza Isaiah said the Servant was "pierced" and "crushed" to death. Now, like a lamb, he is slaughtered. A lamb or a sheep is silent because it has no idea what is about to happen to it. If it knew that it was in peril, it would start bleating. The illustration is all the more apt because the Servant knows exactly what is happening to him, yet he offers no resistance.

Isaiah just used sheep as an illustration for the people of Israel (verse 6). Again, we see that the Servant is identified with Israel. The sheep of Israel, however, have "gone astray," and "each has turned to his own way." The Servant, on the other hand, is "led" to slaughter. Israel rebels, and the Servant submits.

Jesus of Nazareth, the Servant of the Lord, identified with Israel, and the gospel writers identify him with Israel (Matthew 2:15). As the Messiah, he is the true Israelite, the representative of Israel. He also identifies himself with all of us, with sinful humanity (Hebrews 2:14). Thus, he was oppressed and afflicted, and he identifies with us in our oppression and affliction. Unlike us, instead of turning to his own way, he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane, seeking the will of God. When it becomes clear to him what God’s way for him is, he waits in the garden for those who will oppress and afflict him. When Peter offers resistance, Jesus rebukes him (John 18:10-11). Like a sheep led to slaughter, Jesus is "led" to the Jewish authorities (John 18:13).

Oppression in Egypt and Babylon never purified the nation. Israel was released from both places, but she never really became free, because she never really came home to the Lord. A true Israelite needed to suffer in order to bring the rest of Israel into true freedom. Only this time, Israel herself is the oppressor. She oppresses and afflicts her Messiah. Then she hands him over to her own oppressor, Rome, which executes him.

Each of the gospel accounts portrays Jesus as being silent during the trial sequence. His silence fulfills that which is predicted for the Servant in verse 7. What are we to make of Jesus’ silence? Isaiah says "he did not open his mouth," which does not mean that Jesus didn’t speak. Jesus did speak at times, but he offered no resistance or defense. Pilate, the governor, was amazed by this (Matthew 27:12-14). In Matthew, Mark and Luke, when Jesus does speak, it is essentially to confess that he is the Messiah (Matthew 27:64). Not only did he fail to offer any defense, he spoke in a way that was sure to convict him. The gospel writers show that, from a heavenly perspective, the only thing Jesus was guilty of was being the Messiah. He was convicted because he was not the kind of Messiah that Israel wanted. The only way to get off the hook at this point was to claim that he wasn’t the Messiah or to amend what he had offered Israel as the Messiah. He would not be anything other than what he was, and he would be true to his vocation—and he would suffer for it.

How was Jesus able to respond in this manner? Peter says that "while being reviled, he did not revile in return; while suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously" (1 Peter 2:23). He endures such treatment because he’s interested in God’s judgment, not the judgment of this human court, and he knows that God will vindicate him (Matthew 26:64).

The response of Jesus—his silence and his confession, if we can call it that—is just strange enough to grab our attention. Pilate marveled; so should we. Who is this who responds to his accusers this way? He is the Servant of the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth, who wants to know if you’ll follow him.

As servants of the Lord, as God’s representatives on earth, we are to identify with humanity, particularly the oppressed and afflicted. If Israel and her Messiah are oppressed and afflicted, we, as God’s Israel today, can expect similar treatment. How do we deal with it? The same way Jesus did. We seek the way of God instead of turning to our own way. We don’t bleat in protest when it looks as if we are going to get shorn or slaughtered. We remain true to our vocation as God’s people willing to suffer for the world. When Peter speaks of the way Jesus endured ill-treatment by entrusting himself to God, he does so to hold him up as "an example for you to follow in his steps" (1 Peter 2:21).

If we’re looking to win our case in the court of public opinion, we’ll be turning to our own way instead of God’s way. God’s way often doesn’t get much attention. When it does, it is often subject to misunderstanding, and it sometimes attracts oppression and affliction. Like Jesus, we must entrust ourselves to God, who judges righteously. By waiting for the judgment of the heavenly court, we carry on without being deterred by earthly verdicts.

Peter also tells us that ill-treatment should not catch us by surprise: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you, but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of his glory, you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you" (1 Peter 4:12-14).

Candidates who have nothing to lose are more interesting to listen to. The candidates nominated by the two major parties are extraordinarily careful in what they say. One gets the sense that they are not telling you what they really think for fear of losing votes. They’ve determined whose votes they need in order to win the election, and they’re not going to do anything to turn off those voters. Small-party candidates, or dark-horse major-party candidates, however, aren’t trying to win the election; they’re trying to advance their point of view. They therefore have every reason to be honest with their opinions.

We need to be like those candidates. We need to live as those who are true to our vocation as the people of God who have nothing to lose in the court of public opinion.

By "oppression and judgment" the Servant was taken away. Judgment was rendered, but inasmuch as he was oppressed, that judgment is shown to be unjust. To be "taken away," in this context, means to be killed (Proverbs 24:11, Ezekiel 33:4).

The next sentence presents some translation difficulties. The word translated "who" suggests that a question is being asked. Seeing the last three lines of verse 8 as one sentence containing the question makes the most sense. "Generation" is probably the right translation value—not "inheritance," as the NIV has it (Genesis 6:9). Thus, the New American Standard Bible translates it: "And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?"

The Servant’s "generation" constitutes his contemporaries. The word translated "considered" means to ponder something, to reflect on it and to think it through thoroughly. To be "cut off out of the land of the living" is to be killed.

The speaker in verse 8 refers to "my people," implying that it is the Lord himself who is speaking at this point. The word "transgression," in plural form, was used earlier in the poem by Isaiah in saying that the Servant was "pierced through for our transgressions." Transgressions are willful violations of God’s law. Just as in verse 5, the Servant is killed for the transgressions of Israel. Here, though, they are not just "our" transgressions, meaning the transgressions of Isaiah and the believing community, but the transgressions of "my people." The Lord himself is saying that the Servant was killed in the place of his people. He’s thereby communicating the value he assigns to his people. The "stroke," or blow, that killed the Servant should have been delivered to God’s people, but it was received by the Servant instead.

The question is two-fold. First, who bothered to ponder the Servant’s death? Second, who bothered to ponder that he died for the sins of God’s people?

In the trial and execution of Jesus, from the perspective of the individual, justice was not served. A righteous man was convicted and executed. That should get our attention. Jesus’ generation, however, did not ponder his death. His innocence, and his silence before the shearers, should have at least caused his contemporaries to think about his death. But the gospel accounts leave it to the Romans to express wonderment. Even Pilate marveled at Jesus’ response, as noted earlier, and declared his innocence (Luke 23:14). A Roman centurion at the scene of the crucifixion took the time to ponder the death of Jesus and concluded, "Certainty this man was innocent" (Luke 23:47), and even, "Truly this man was the Son of God" (Mark 15:39).

How about this generation? Not many today would argue for the guilt of Jesus. They would say he was an innocent man, even a good man. They might even say he was the Son of God, for whatever that means. But why was this innocent man killed? The question begs for some attention. It wasn’t just another example of the powerful oppressing the weak. Something more was happening. The weak don’t respond the way Jesus did when being oppressed by the powerful. No one is silent before his or her shearers as Jesus was. Who has pondered the death of Jesus and asked, "If the stroke was not due him, who was it due?" Who has the courage to follow where the question leads and dare answer, "The stroke should have been mine; I deserved the death blow"? Isaiah’s question rings out afresh to this generation, inviting us to ponder the death of Jesus, to be shocked by it, to ask questions about it and to find in the end that he was cut off from the land of the living for our transgressions.

As a child, I watched movies about Jesus on television when they appeared at Easter time. It bothered me that they killed him. Why he have to die? He had done nothing wrong. I didn’t understand it. Years later, as a teen-ager, when the gospel was presented to me, I understood. My question was answered. Why did he have to die? He had to die for my transgressions—for me, to whom the stroke was due.

As servants of the Lord, we too will be subjected to oppressive judgment. Oppression has many purposes in God’s hands, but one of them is to ask others to look at the oppression and start asking questions about it. When someone suffers for a cause, some will want to know the nature of that cause. And if we care so much for the world that we suffer almost as if we were suffering in its place, some will want to know why we care so much. All their questions have one answer: Jesus.

Two apparently contrary things are true about the Servant’s burial: "His grave was assigned with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death." He was thought to be a criminal, so his burial would be in keeping with those given to wicked men. Yet somehow he ended up with the burial of a rich man.

The reason for this switch is given in the last two lines of verse 9. Although the first word in the third line can be translated "although," the word is probably better translated "because," thus introducing the explanation for the strange contrast presented in the first two lines. He was slated for a disgraceful burial and given an honorable burial "because he had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in his mouth." He was considered to be a sinner, and thereby assigned a grave with the wicked, yet in reality he was not a sinner, and he thereby ended up in the grave of a rich man. This is not to say that rich men are not sinners. It is to say that rich men were given honorable burials.

Together the words "violence" and "deceit" express sin in all its outward manifestations—from what we do to what we say. Paul’s description of sin in Romans 3 shows that the heart of sin is rejection of God in favor of other gods (Romans 3:10-12). Sin is then expressed in what we say (Romans 3:13-14) and what we do (Romans 3:15-18). Isaiah is saying that in reality, there was no sin in the Servant of the Lord. He was innocent in word and deed.

Isaiah does not tell us who is responsible for the switch in burial sites. It’s a mystery that would remain for more than 700 years.

For a man executed for high treason, Jesus received a very unusual burial. The mysterious Joseph of Arimathea appears in all four gospels, but not until the end, and only briefly. He shows up on the scene after Jesus is crucified. Mark and Luke tell us that he was a member of the Sanhedrin, which convicted Jesus, and Luke tells us that Joseph had not consented to the action to hand Jesus over to the Romans. John tells us that he was a follower of Jesus, but a secret one because of fear. Matthew fills out the gospel’s description of Joseph with a particularly intriguing detail: He was rich (Matthew 27:57).

Joseph, in a remarkable act of courage, went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate granted his request, perhaps because he did not believe Jesus was guilty. Joseph placed the body of Jesus in his own new tomb, and buried him with expensive spices. Jesus, executed as a criminal, received an honorable burial, in fulfillment of the strange change in burial sites depicted for the Servant of the Lord in Isaiah, and solving the ancient mystery. Behind the hands of Joseph, who placed Jesus in his tomb, we see the hand of God. The earthly judges may render their verdict and assign him a grave with the wicked, but the heavenly Judge, giving a hint of the verdict he will render shortly, gives him an honorable burial.

Jesus did no violence and advocated no violence. That’s one reason the Jews handed him over to the Romans: He opposed violent nationalism. Jesus wept because Jerusalem did not know the way of peace (Luke 19:42). He even had to instruct one of us own disciples to put away the sword (John 18:11). So in reality, Jesus’ Jewish accusers were the ones guilty of violence—an attempt to introduce the kingdom of God through the violent overthrow of Rome, which led to Rome’s destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The Jews presented Jesus to the Romans as a violent revolutionary, deserving of death, when in reality they were the violent ones. And of course, it was they who perpetrated violence against Jesus. There was no deceit in the mouth of Jesus, but his Jewish accusers sought to obtain "false testimony" against him (Matthew 26:59). Blood was on their hands; deceit was in their mouths.

As we look about us, it may seem as if the cause of Christ is suffering. That Jesus, supposedly dead and gone, is assigned a place, if not with the wicked, at least with the meaningless.

The challenge that Jesus presents today, the challenge to turn one’s life over to him, gets him assigned a place with the wicked. Oh, that’s not how most people would word it, but by the way they respond to such a challenge, it’s clear that they consider it a wicked one. At the conscious level, however, Jesus is usually assigned a place with the meaningless. Therefore, as we look about us, it seems as if the cause of Christ is suffering. The powers that be have made their decision, and made their assignments, and that’s the end of it. But God’s verdict is the final one—and the one that counts—and if we look about us, we’ll see hints of it. God is honoring Jesus, the Servant of the Lord. He is honoring him by the evidence presented in the lives that Jesus has changed. Look around you at the lives of your brothers and sisters and take heart. God is honoring Jesus today through them. He is also honoring Jesus through you. What Jesus has done to beautify your life is a hint of the final verdict that will be rendered in his favor.

As you assume your role as a servant of the Lord, it may seem as if you are being assigned a place with the wicked or the meaningless. All this toil may seem fruitless at best, self-destructive at worst. But God will honor you for your service. You may only get a glimpse or two of it in this life, but those glimpses are enough to know that when the final verdict is rendered, you will be honored by God before all creation. "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil in not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58).

As you allow the strange twists in the story of Jesus to cause you to look afresh at the death of Jesus, as you find that he was cut off for your transgressions, you find that you want to follow hard after him. You want to be a servant of the Lord.

God is looking not in Arimathea but in the cities of today’s world for his servants. Who will be Joseph of Arimathea today? Joseph was a secret follower of Jesus for fear of the Jews. When Jesus was crucified, all of the open followers fled in fear. But that’s when Joseph emerged. That’s when he came out of hiding. That’s when he realized it he had to stand up for what he believed. Who here is a follower of Jesus but a somewhat secretive one because of fear? Who will come out of hiding? Who will be courageous and go the Pilates of this world and say he or she wants to honor Jesus? Who will give of their resources and who will give up their own place of honor so that Jesus may be honored? Who is willing to have only a bit part at the end of the play so that the star of the show can shine? Who will be Joseph of Arimathea today? Will it be you?

Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE ("NASB"). © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Where indicated, Scripture quotations were also taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ("NIV"). © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

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STRANGE TWISTS IN THE STORY

SERIES: ISAIAH 40 - 55