Bobzammel

One of the major prophecies that are used to validate Christianity is Isiah 53: "The Suffering Servant". In it, it describes an unpopular man who apparentally dies and his death is seen as atonement for sin. While the theme is definetly similar to the Gospel, there are some things which do not quite line up with Jesus.

---The "servant" is described as apparentally very ill("Familiar with disease") and possibly disfigured("Beyond human semblance"), implying strongly that the passage describes a leper. No mention is made in the Gospels of Jesus either having been ill or disfigured. The passage "He bore our diseases" is used, but strangely is used to describe Jesus healing diseases, not taking them on himself.
---In previous passages in Isiah, "servant" is used to describe mainly Israel itself, as well as Cyrus. In many of these passages Israel is described as a beaten nation which will eventually be glorified.
---The servant is referred to as "opening not his mouth" but Jesus was fairly talkative during his trial and passion.
---The ending of the servant song does not seem to refer to a ressurection as such, but mainly that the man's saying and name will live on, even if he will not.

malookiemaloo

I think that some of the descriptions refer to Jesus when He was actually on the cross.

Yes, Jesus did speak during His trial but He could have said a lot more. Perhaps His silence was relative not absolute. But He was also completely silent too. Why oh why did He not answer Pilate when He was asked 'What is truth?'


malookiemaloo

diana

This explanation reeks of desperation.

I'm not sure how to respond to a person who can say "Jesus did speak during his trial" and "He was also completely silent" in the same breath.

How is this possible? Sign language? Listen to yourself.

To fulfill prophesy? Maybe it was this particular question the writer in Isaiah was referring to when he said, "He opened not his mouth." Yeah. That's it. That's the ticket.

d

Amos

The "suffering servant" here was Joseph the enterprising upright carpenter who suffered so much that in the end he was led to give an account of himself. To do this he traced the cause of his suffering right back to his place of birth; rather, he now realized that his error began when he first became a rational agent in persuit of destiny and that was his "place of birth."

He did not open his mouth because he endured his self inflicted suffering until he was beyond theology and was led, as if by the nose, to the state of mind he left behind since birth.

Here too, Joseph died and became our patron saint as suffering servant while his renewed image of Jesus lives on.

Amos

Let's bring in Luther's "nesting boxes."

If Joseph needed nesting boxes he became like a free run chicken that had just layed its first egg and all his cackling was to tell the rest of the world that "the bird that builts its nest is hatched therein." Once he achieved this goal he could let the old rooster (ego) that tripped the yin/yang scale out of balance just fade away.

CX

As far as I know most scholars conclude that the suffering servant motif is not messianic, but is a metaphor for the entire nation of israel.