It took a year to read the Bible, then almost 9 months to read the Apocrypha. Now, I'm going to try to offer reflections on the Narrative Lectionary. But, I won't be posting daily--at least, for a while.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

God's Servant, a Reflection on Isaiah 50:4-9a

Jesus explained to Peter--who really would have rather heard something else--that being a messiah included rejection and suffering.

Long before their conversation, the prophet Isaiah told what it is like to be God's servant and what God's servant is to be like.

"Every day I listen to God. I pay attention to God not to those who oppose me. My call is to help the weary and to ignore those who oppose me."

Isaiah reminds us that when we accept God's help and prompting, we can together overcome our adversaries.

John Holbert expresses little wonder that early Christians would have seen how Isaiah's word were applicable. In his commentary on the Patheos page, he writes about this passage:
His followers could now tread his path, precisely because the same God who had called him, had called them. They now were those whose tongue had been taught to listen and speak the truth about this man, this servant who was now their Lord. And we, his modern followers, now join their company, trained to speak a truth the world still needs to hear, a word to sustain the weary of our own time. 

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