The Suffering Servant passages of Isaiah — composed in the sixth century B.C. during the exile in Babylon — describe a mysterious figure who speaks on behalf of God and suffers mightily for his efforts. He senses divine inspiration in his thoughts and speech and puts them to good use in his ministry of encouragement. We don’t know who this figure was — it may have been a symbol denoting the nation of Israel itself — but it clearly would have been meaningful for Isaiah’s audience. The Servant is not passive, for his words and actions seem to have struck a raw nerve in some people and to have stirred up a lot of opposition.

How can encouragement be threatening? It threatens oppressors who have a vested interest in keeping a captive people cowed and broken in spirit. It is also disturbing to the oppressed, especially when the encouragement nudges them to greater resistance and hope of liberation by the hand of God. There can be a pseudo-comfort in accepting one’s lot and settling into a new life, albeit one of servitude. The Servant did not flinch in the face of persecution — and we are not told at whose hands he suffered — but neither did he back down from his prophetic ministry. His rock-like fortitude and courage was not fed by fanaticism but by the firm inner conviction that he was led by God and was doing God’s will. Rather than passive submission, he responded with the strength and truth of non-violent determination. This flowed from the certainty that God alone would provide the means, protection and power to accomplish his mission.

This is a model for prophetic figures of all times and places, many of whom have been active in our own lifetime. They are not perfect people and not all of their actions and personality traits should be imitated. But listening to a higher voice, and putting aside their own fears and desires, they reorder their entire lives in service to that voice. True to a repeated pattern in history, we too persecute the prophets of our own time and leave honour and praise to guilt-ridden future generations.

The model of the Suffering Servant was expressed perfectly in Jesus the Christ. He “emptied Himself ” — that is, He set aside anything that could give Him honour, power, security or divine identity. Not only did He take on our humanity, He also did so in the lowest form possible. He was totally obedient to God, even to death on the cross. The exaltation, empowerment and honour that He experienced from God was the result of trust, obedience and generous love. Not a bad combination — we could accomplish so much if we would live by them.

Jesus walked steadily towards His passion and death fully aware of what He would have to face. The familiar (perhaps too familiar) story in Matthew is the story of all of us. It is filled with human ignorance, incomprehension, weakness and betrayal on the part of those closest to Jesus. Fear, jealousy, hatred and lust for power on the part of others provided the fuel for His arrest and condemnation. Jesus did not want to die and even prayed that if it were possible, He would prefer a different way. Throughout the ordeal, Jesus could have escaped His fate — in fact, the crowd taunted Him on the cross and urged Him to do just that. If you are who you say you are, save yourself and come down from the cross! To save Himself or escape would have derailed His entire mission. That mission was to walk calmly through the valley of the shadow of death with absolute trust in the love, care and saving power of God.

Despite whatever human hesitations Jesus might have experienced, He was positive that this was what He had to do. The empty tomb was the result of total surrender to the will of God. The passion story is about the faith of Jesus and the power and love of God working together for all humanity. Our own faith is never just for ourselves — it enables God to accomplish great deeds for the benefit of others.