The Suffering

Isaiah 53:4-12
​Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
    yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
    Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
    for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
    and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
    nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
    he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
    and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
    and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
    and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah was a prophet (740-681 BC) who lived during the fall of Israel in 722 BC. He and his contemporaries, Amos, Hosea and Micah gave warnings to the kings of Judah about the dangers of abandoning God and living a life that did not support the poorest and marginalised of the society. The Old Testament or Hebrew Bible, as we call it today, was the Bible of Jesus’s time, so Jesus would have read this reading, the last of four Servant Songs. 

Today, many sermons use this reading to support Jesus’ claim of being the Messiah. When the people of Israel first read or heard the word, they might not have interpreted it the same way. The people of Israel may have thought it referred to themselves. They were in exile and were thinking that they were the injured, that they were led like a lamb to the slaughter and that it was them who, like sheep, had gone astray and gone their own way. The people of Israel were trying to find meaning in their suffering, a suffering that had been instigated by God. They were lamenting and languishing in self-pity, but the beauty of this Isaiah reading is there is hope that through suffering will come redemption, joy and reward. 

Today, we look at our own sufferings. We may say, why me? Like the people of Israel, we need to reflect. Is God punishing us, or is our predicament down to our own life choices? Is suffering redemptive in any way? We too, just like the Israelites, have to make sense of our exile, for many will think that the suffering is because God has abandoned us. Yet, we know because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is always hope, and while the suffering may seem senseless, somehow God will bring good from it. God has the bigger picture, and whilst ego makes us feel that we should be the centre of God’s plan, perhaps our role is for others in years to come, maybe generations to come, to benefit through what we are suffering today. 

So, this reading allowed the people of Israel to reflect, as we should reflect. Through that reflection, know that there is hope. There will indeed be redemption, joy and reward, for God is a God of love as well as a God of Justice.

Image Source: Bible.com

This sermon was first preached at Gants Hill URC on 17th October 2021