Day 216: The Suffering Servant
Isaiah 53:1-3 Christ’s preaching about the Kingdom of God drew crowds of believers yet many-including those in positions of religious authority-rejected his message. In spite of his miracles, a significant number refused to believe and accept his teaching. (CCC 591)
Ch 53:4-6 By his suffering and Death on the Cross, Christ atoned for the sins of the world. This supreme Sacrifice was the price of our redemption and the culmination of the Revelation of God’s love. Through Christ’s Redemption, everyone is invited to receive forgiveness, healing, and everlasting life. (CCC 517, 1505)
Ch 53:7-12 Like a lamb led to the slaughter, Christ endured his Passion largely in silence, obediently accepting his Father’s plan for the ransom of humanity from the bondage of sin and death. Prefigured by the Passover lamb Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The Book of Revelation describes the Wedding Feast of the Lamb, which signifies Christ’s union with his Bride the Church, obtained by his redemptive Sacrifice. (CCC 601, 608, 615, 623, 627)
Ch 54:1-10 God’s eternal fidelity to his covenants prefigures Christian marriage, which by divine institution is an exclusive, permanent, and fruitful covenant between a husband and wife. (CCC 220, 1611)
Ch 54:5-14 This passage may be proclaimed as the Fourth Reading at Mass on the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night.
Ch 54:11-17 This prophecy depicts the city of Jerusalem rebuilt in magnificent splendor and decorated with fine gems. From a Christian viewpoint, this renovated city prefigures the New Jerusalem, which is the Church, destined to be perfected at the end of time. (CCC 756-757)
Ch 54:11-12 This description corresponds to the vision of Heaven described by John in Revelation (21:10-27).
Ezekiel 14:1-11 The worship of pagan idols was a sin both of the Jews who remained in Judah and those in exile. The allure of the gods so characteristic of the pagan culture prompted many Jews to reject the tenets of their covenant with God. Additionally, their intermarriage with foreigners led significantly to a general infidelity. Many tried to incorporate idol worship into the traditional worship of God, but doing so violated the basic teaching of the Mosaic Law, which prohibited the worship of idols.
Ch 14:12-23 Noah, Daniel, and Job were known traditionally as the most righteous of Israel’s forefathers. In this prophecy the Lord railed against those who worshiped idols and yet still approached God and his prophet. These three personages mentioned all distinguished themselves by their trust in the one God: Noah built his ark amid ridicule, Daniel refused to worship false idols under the threat of death, and Job persisted in his faith in God despite his sudden and severe hardships. Their ancestral relationship with great and holy persons would not protect or exempt the people from judgment because God judges every person according to his or her own deeds. Christ addressed this question when he told the Pharisees and Sadducees, “Bear fruit that befits repentance, and do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham” (cf. Mt 3:7-12). (CCC 58)
(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)
So Isaiah Chs 53 and 54 are BONKERS!
It is about the Lord’s Suffering Servant
If nothing else, it is one of the most CLEAR PROCLAMATIONS AND PROPHECIES of Jesus Christ and His suffering for us and for our sins (Oh and also, these verses are used in the Scriptural Rosary for the Sorrowful Mysteries, specifically for the Scourging at the Pillar!! 🤯🤯🤯)
Keep in mind that Isaiah is talking about the People of Israel
AND YET…
He maybe didn’t have any idea that he was talking about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, our Lord
So in Ezekiel Chs 14 and 15 we will talk about those false prophets and idolatry!
GOSH YOU GUYS!!
How PHENOMENAL is Isaiah Ch 53??
It is worth going back and listen AGAIN AND AGAIN
Open up your Bibles and UNDERLINE these things
Here is Jesus Christ, the Lord’s Suffering Servant, prophesied 600 YEARS BEFORE HE WAS MADE INCARNATE ON THIS EARTH!!
Isaiah 53:3, “He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief...he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows…”
He looked abandoned, right?
“...struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.”
IT IS CRAZY to realize the GOODNESS OF GOD and WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR US!!
Isaiah Ch 54 Mercy and Comfort is Offered
This is a MASSIVE MESSAGE
So many of us experience SHAME
We experience the GUILT OF OUR SINS
We SHOULD
If I’ve done something wrong, I should feel guilty
If I’ve done something wrong, and I don’t feel guilty, that means I’m a sociopath, right?
BUT…
We also experience SHAME
GUILT is when I KNOW I HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE STANDARD
SHAME is when I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW THAT I HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE STANDARD
GUILT is I KNOW I HAVE FAILED
SHAME IS I KNOW THAT I HAVE FAILED IN YOUR EYES
AND YET…
Isaiah 54:4, “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be put to shame, for you will forget the shame of your youth [and the fact that you were abandoned at one point].”
Isaiah 54:5, “For your Maker is your husband.”
Here is your CREATOR
HE IS YOUR BELOVED
Just like here is a wife that was CAST OFF, you will be GATHERED BACK by the one who LOVES YOU
The one who KNOWS YOU MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE!
IT IS JUST INCREDIBLE!
GOD’S OFFER OF MERCY
GOD’S OFFER OF COMPASSION
GOD’S OFFER OF COMFORT
Remember, this is The Book of Consolation (Comfort)
The previous Chs 1-39 is The Book of Woe
Chs 40-66 is The Book of Comfort
We only have eleven chapters left in Isaiah
What a gift it is to hear God’s Word that offers so much comfort
Now on to Ezekiel
Remember, he is writing to people who are IN BABYLON
They are already EXILED
He is letting them know, again and again
Ezekiel Chs 8-11 he has this vision of being transported to Jerusalem and seeing the people who still remained in Jerusalem had NOT TURNED BACK TO GOD YET
THEY ABANDONED GOD
So here is God’s presence LEAVING THE TEMPLE
Fr. Mike forgot to highlight something in Ezekiel Ch 11
Even in the midst of God taking His Presence, His Glory Cloud, and leaving, IS A PROMISE!
Ezekiel 11:19-20, “I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit in them; I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”
If you haven’t UNDERLINED that passage, that would be a GREAT ONE TO UNDERLINE
Why?
Because God’s people had been FALSE TO HIM
WE HAVE BEEN FALSE TO HIM
That’s why the next couple of chapters are all about how JUDGMENT WILL NOT BE DELAYED
YOU KEEP THINKING THAT IS NOT GOING TO COME TO YOU
BUT IT IS GOING TO COME TO YOU
FALSE PROPHETS ARE CONDEMNED, the ones who say, “Here is what I think” instead of saying, “Here is what GOD IS SAYING”
And today we have IDOLATRY CONDEMNED
Ezekiel 14:3, “...these men have taken their idols into their hearts…”
These things that are OUTSIDE OF YOU
We don’t necessarily have idols in the sense that we have, you know, an image of a “god” or “goddess” that we will give our hearts to
BUT…
We do have IDOLS in terms of the things that WE LOVE MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE
IN FACT...
Our relationship with God is meant to be such that HE TOLERATES NO RIVALS TO HIS PLACE IN OUR HEART
There are a lot of things in our lives that you can have rivals to
You have more than one friend
You can have more than one child
You can have more than one aunt, uncle, or cousin
BUT…
YOU CAN’T HAVE MORE THAN ONE SPOUSE
God says, “Your Maker will be your spouse.”
God is saying, just like any good spouse would say, “No. I don’t tolerate any rivals to my spouse in this relationship.”
Whenever we allow SOMETHING to be God’s RIVAL in our lives
God’s RIVAL to His place in our heart
THAT is what he is talking about
Ezekiel 14:3, “...these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces…”
That is what the people of Israel are doing by INTENTIONALLY TURNING AWAY FROM GOD to false gods
We sometimes slip into this and we end up giving our lives for things that ARE NOT WORTHY OF OUR LIFE
There are things you NEED to do
Work
Family
YES, THEY ARE IMPORTANT
BUT…
They have TAKEN THE PLACE OF GOD IN OUR LIVES
Because of that, our lives end up becoming USELESS
This is what the message of Ezekiel Ch 15 is, THE USELESS VINE
The Lord God says, “Speak this: What good is wood from vines? You can’t do anything with it. You can’t make anything with it. You can’t do anything with it. Now take that vine branch and put it in fire. The ends get burned. The whole thing gets charred. It is even more useless.”
What God is saying through Ezekiel (Fr. Mike said Isaiah but clearly he means Ezekiel) is, “That’s what Jerusalem has become like. That is what the inhabitants of Jerusalem have become like.”
They were chosen NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE GREAT
They were chosen NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE WISE
They were chosen NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE MORE BEAUTIFUL, MORE POWERFUL THAN ALL THE NATIONS
God says SO MANY TIMES
I CHOSE YOU BECAUSE I WANTED YOU
I CHOSE YOU BECAUSE I CAN TAKE HOW SMALL YOU ARE AND HOW INEFFECTIVE ON YOUR OWN YOU ARE, HOW WEAK YOU ARE, AND MAKE YOU GLORIOUS BECAUSE OF MY GLORY
But now, if you have turned away from me, you are EVEN MORE USELESS. There is even less that someone can do with you
That is SO REMARKABLE
So in Ezekiel Ch 14 God mentions through Ezekiel (Fr. Mike said Isaiah but obviously means Ezekiel) THREE PEOPLE
NOAH
DANIEL
JOB
Ezekiel would have known about Daniel
Remember, Daniel was in the FIRST PHASE OF THE EXILE TO BABYLON
He was known as a RIGHTEOUS PERSON
He was known as a Jew who remained FAITHFUL EVEN IN THE MIDST OF EXILE
So he was a good example
Job was a RIGHTEOUS MAN OF GOD
Noah was a RIGHTEOUS MAN OF GOD
One of the things God is saying through Ezekiel is, “Even these three men, who are incredibly righteous, when judgment comes, even their righteousness won’t even save their own kids. It will save their lives, but it won’t even save the lives of their children.”
One of the things that highlights is…
YES WE NEED TO PURSUE RIGHTEOUSNESS
YES WE NEED TO PURSUE RIGHT RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD
BUT ALSO…
WE NEED TO PRAY THAT THE PEOPLE AROUND US...and now we can’t MAKE anyone do anything, we can only control ourselves...BUT WE ALSO RECOGNIZE AND ASK…
“Ok Lord, you are drawing me closer and closer to yourself on these 216 days of reading your Bible, reading your Word, listening to your Word proclaimed. God, I want to intercede on behalf of my own kids, on behalf of my parents, my siblings, my nieces and nephews, my cousins, my aunts and uncles, all the people in my life, my co-workers, because I want them to CHOOSE YOU the way that you have allowed me to choose you.”
We have to pray for each other
We who are journeying in this Bible in a Year community, we are SO GRATEFUL TO THE LORD
BUT…
There are also people we know that THIS WOULD CHANGE THEIR LIFE (I know it’s changed MY life...what about you? 😉)
So we pray for them that at some point God sparks that HUNGER, that DESIRE for His Word and they are able to someday PRESS PLAY
PRAY FOR THEM
PRAY FOR FR. MIKE
PRAY FOR EACH OTHER
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven we give you praise and thank you so much. Gosh, God, thank you for this opportunity to be close to you and close to your Word. Thank you so much for your promise of a Messiah, who is willing to suffer for us and did and has suffered for us. Thank you for the deliverance of not only the people of Israel in sending your Son, our Lord, God, Jesus Christ. But also, thank you for sending him for us. Many of us, who were not your Chosen People, until you have chosen us in Jesus. And so we just give you thanks and we give you praise and we ask that you please hear our prayers and receive our thanks, receive our praise this day and every day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”