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As is well known, the text forms the third of the four Servant Songs that are found in the prophecies of Second Isaiah. Some scholars have maintained that the songs are later additions to the material, but rhetorical analysis has revealed that the songs are an integral and indispensable part of Second Isaiah's message. The whole, made up of Isaiah 40--55, was delivered to the Israelite exiles in Babylonia, sometime between 550 and 538 B.C.

In the prophet's original understanding, the Servant of the Lord here is intended as the corporate figure of Israel, not as Israel presently is, but as the Servant whom the Lord calls Israel to be, Israel as the Lord would transform Israel to be. The Word of God through this prophet summons the exiles to give their lives in faith for the sake of the salvation of the nations. Israel will suffer, but in the end be vindicated by the Lord. (See next Sunday's Old Testament lesson.)

At the same time, it cannot be denied that this text also reflects some of Second Isaiah's own prophetic experience. He tells us how he receives his message from the Lord. God opens his ears and teaches him his words. The prophet is like a pupil, listening to a beloved teacher morning by morning. And the words that Second Isaiah is given are comforting words for his fellow exiles, words that will sustain Israel in its weary time of captivity to Babylonia, when so many of them have lost all hope (vv. 4--5a).

Faithfully, the prophet passes on those comforting words to the exiles. But it costs him. It costs him ridicule, abuse, and suffering, perhaps from the Babylonians, perhaps from unfaithful exiles themselves, who do not believe what Second Isaiah is saying (vv. 5b--6). Yet, the prophet remains a faithful messenger of his God, delivering the message given to him in the stubborn certainty that in the end, God's word will come to pass and his message will be shown to be true. Always he finds God near to him, strengthening and guiding him, and he knows that his adversaries will not prevail (vv. 7--9).

It is no accident, of course, that you and I can read this Servant Song only with our Lord Jesus Christ in mind, because God does in fact fulfill the words which he has spoken through his prophets. And so the portrayal of the Servant that we have in our text becomes the fulfilling portrait that we find of Christ in the New Testament. In the ongoing work of God, Christ takes upon himself the role of the perfect Suffering Servant and becomes everything which Second Isaiah prophesied. Jesus is the one who listens to his Father and speaks only that which the Father gives him to speak (cf. John 14:10). He is the one who is subjected to scorn, to spitting and reviling and finally execution because of those words (Matthew 26:67; 27:30; Mark 15:19). Jesus is the Servant of the Lord who sets his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem and to death (Luke 9:51). And he is the Son who trusts his Father's will, even though a cross looms up before him (Matthew 26:39). Our Lord, as he subjects himself to the agony of his passion, believes as the Servant of Second Isaiah believes, that God will vindicate him, that his words will be shown to be true and that God's way, incarnate in him, will finally prevail.

Prevail it did, did it not? The suffering, the spitting and the scorn, the agonizing death at the hands of human evil were not the last word, were they? Human sin, violence, betrayal, the grave did not and cannot defeat God's purpose. On Easter morn, we shall celebrate in this sanctuary the resurrection of our victorious Lord.

But first comes this Passion Week. First come the careful listening to God's Word, the commitment to follow and to speak it, the consequent scorn and suffering brought on by such a commitment, and yet the clinging to the certain faith that God's ways and words will triumph.

During this week, can you and I also take on that role of the servants of the Lord? Oh, we are by no means the Servant, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. But we are bidden by the scriptures to make him our model for our lives, aren't we? And it is the role of every Christian, no matter what our circumstances and ability, to strive to become like Christ in our everyday living. Therefore, will you, with me, every morning open your ears and eyes and hearts to listen to the Word of God? Will you read the scriptures and listen to God speaking to you through them? Will you be eager pupils of your Master, absorbing every word that he teaches you? And then will you live according to that word and speak of it to your family and neighbors and associates? Will you let them see Christ living in you?

But then, to be more like Christ, will you be willing to bear any scorn or perhaps suffering that may come upon you because you are a Christian? We Christians here in the United States don't often find ourselves faced with the necessity of dying for our faith, but there are a lot of our fellow believers in third world countries who suffer that necessity. Yet, there is always suffering involved in following our Lord. Most of the media in this country don't think much of believers and they characterize us, as did one newspaper writer, as poor, ignorant, and easily led. Most university campuses in the U.S. will listen to any form of religion except that of the Christian faith. And any Christian who will not adopt the materialism, self--serving, and fight for status and power that are characteristic of our society is very likely to be called a wimp who definitely is not "with it." Our society wants nothing to do with suffering for our faith. It wants comfort, wealth, power, and sex, and if you don't seek those, you just don't "get it."

But if you trust your Lord Christ and want to be like him, will you also hold fast to his trust in his Father? Will you be absolutely certain, no matter what happens, in plenty and in want, in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, in turmoil and in peace, in joy and in sorrow, that God's word and way will prevail, and that finally his will be the victory over all this world's wanton ways?

If you will - if you will - in trust and surrender to your Lord, then perhaps the Father will finally say to us, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant ... enter into the joy of your Master" (Matthew 25:21).