BIBLE STUDY
Man of sorrows Major Darren Shaw explores how strength can be found in weakness ISAIAH 53
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F you could have any superpower, what would it be, and why? This question has no doubt been asked thousands of times during job interviews. (For the record, my choice would be teleportation.) I wonder if anyone has answered ‘sorrow’. In Isaiah 53 we find a prophetic poem about a ‘man of sorrows’ (v3 New Living Translation) – a suffering servant whose superpowers are anguish and affliction. He is so familiar with grief and pain that he takes on the collective suffering of his people, becoming the very embodiment of their guilt and woundedness. The suffering servant is an unexpected kind of hero. Disfigured and vulnerable, with no obvious appeal, what could possibly qualify him to bear the weight of a nation’s affliction? The ‘arm of the Lord’ (v1) – God’s power – is being revealed in someone who shows all the signs of being weak and downtrodden. Surely, in times of trouble, people need a superman, not a ‘sorrow man’! People
Through the week with Salvationist – a devotional thought for each day by Major Freda Benneyworth
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Salvationist 4 April 2020
need someone who is too powerful to have ever been troubled by suffering – someone who is invulnerable, not someone who seems to be the very definition of vulnerability. QUESTIONS might vulnerability be a strength rather than a weakness? O What is this man of sorrow’s secret identity? O How
To many Christians, the obvious answer to the latter is Jesus. The Early Church certainly thought this but many commentators point out that this wouldn’t have been the author’s original intent. In the context of their contemporary culture, Isaiah’s prophecy would have meant something else to his audience. QUESTIONS O How might Isaiah’s first audience, and subsequent generations, have interpreted the man of sorrows and his significance? O What light might Isaiah 49 shine on this?
Just as the intervening generations would have, Jesus’ disciples had a certain idea what Isaiah was talking about. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, however, they reread and re-embraced the Scriptures to form a new understanding of what the text meant in light of recent events. Jesus explained it to some disciples on the road to Emmaus (see Luke 24:25–27). Isaiah 53 became a core part of Church teaching (see Acts 8:30–33; 1 Peter 2:22). Jesus was the ultimate sorrow man. He took on everyone’s brokenness and transformed it into wholeness. ‘Peace’ in verse 5 of our study passage is the Hebrew word shalom – a sense of wholeness and well-being. QUESTION O What do verses 4 and 5 tell you about why bearing the suffering of others can be powerful? The centuries that passed between Isaiah and Jesus brought much tribulation to God’s people. They suffered exile,
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Hear the shout! The King is coming!/ See the Christ comes riding by;/ Lift your palms in joyous welcome,/ Wave them joyfully on high./ See he comes in peace and glory,/ With his rightful claim as King;/ Raise your voices to acclaim him,/ Let your own ‘Hosanna!’ ring. (SASB 140)
He was despised and rejected Man of sorrows! what a name/ by mankind, a man of For the Son of God, who came/ suffering and familiar with Ruined sinners to reclaim;/ pain… But he was pierced for Hallelujah! What a Saviour!/ our transgressions, he was Bearing shame and scoffing crushed for our iniquities; the rude,/ In my place condemned punishment that brought he stood,/ Sealed my us peace was on him, pardon with his Prayer and by his wounds blood;/ Loving Lord, in a we are healed. Hallelujah! week when we consider the (Isaiah 53:3, 5) What a hostility, betrayal, denial and torture you endured, we see again Saviour! (SASB 183) the most beautiful act of amazing grace and redeeming love. Man of sorrows, through your suffering you became our risen Lord.
