The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,

to know the word that sustains the weary.

He wakens me morning by morning,

wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.

The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears;

I have not been rebellious,

I have not turned away.

I offered my back to those who beat me,

my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;

I did not hide my face

from mocking and spitting.

Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,

I will not be disgraced.

Therefore have I set my face like flint,

and I know I will not be put to shame.

He who vindicates me is near.

Who then will bring charges against me?

Let us face each other!

Who is my accuser?

Let him confront me!

(Isaiah 50:4-8 NIV)

In the second of the three parts of the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapters 40 to 55, there are four poems centered on the mysterious figure of a servant of the Lord. These four “servant songs” are, at the heart of the Old Testament, a remarkable testimony of humility. In this third song, the servant of the Lord is first presented as a man concerned to support the weakest by words of compassion, but also as an disciple able to listen to what the Lord says.

There are various interpretations of the identity of the servant: it could be the prophet himself, or the ideal type of a righteous and faithful servant. But the author could also be evoking, through this character, the entire believing elite of Israel, or the people as a whole, at that time probably exiled in Mesopotamia.

A second feature of this servant of the Lord is his extreme humility. Not only does he support the weak, but he is himself a victim of insults. Thus, God is presented in a new way as someone close to those who are suffering—still more, he identifies with them in the person of his messenger. Here, the suffering of the innocent can no longer be seen as a scandalous silence on God’s part: he is the one who expresses his compassion, in other words who suffers with the one who is disgraced.

It is in this light that the figure of the Servant of God was quickly perceived by the first generations of Christians as a prophetic announcement of the life and death of Jesus. In our passage, one phrase draws attention to itself: in verse 7, we read that he “has set his face like flint.” This is an expression very close to the one found in the Gospel when, in Luke 9:51, Jesus sets out on the way to Jerusalem, the site of his Passion. It is possible that the evangelist chose the expression as a discrete allusion to this Messianic prophecy.

In addition, the suffering and death of Christ, seen in the light of this figure of Isaiah’s Servant, may in no circumstances be regarded as something willed by God, for it is God who here aids his servant who is undergoing affliction. The end of the text is presented as a legal trial between the unfaithful people and the servant, who finds his hope in God’s presence. This is reflected in this passage from St. Paul to the Romans: “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is interceding for us” (Romans 8:33-34).

If this servant song describes God’s plan for humanity, it is by revealing his extreme solidarity. Likewise, Jesus opens a way of salvation by the gift of his life. On the cross, it is not suffering itself which is a source of salvation for all, but the disinterested and faithful love which that suffering reveals.

 What does the figure of the suffering servant tell me about God?

 In what way can this text help us to remain hopeful in times of trial?