NARRATOR: A VISION GIVEN
DURING TROUBLED TIMES... TO THE PEOPLE OF JERUSALEM
LIVING UNDER THE IMMINENT
THREAT OF INVASION. IN 701, THE KING OF ASSYRIA,
SENNACHERIB, SARGON'S SON, CAME OVER WITH HIS ARMY AND
INVADED THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. WE KNOW FROM THE ASSYRIAN
SOURCES THAT THEY DESTROYED
46 OF THE CITIES OF JUDAH. NARRATOR: ACCORDING TO
THE VISION, THE LORD WAS
TRYING TO GET THE ATTENTION... OF A NATION THAT HAD TURNED
THEIR BACKS ON WHAT HE HAD
SAID IN THE TORAH, AND ON HIM. THE VISION EXPRESSED
BOTH WARNINGS AND HOPE
FOR ISAIAH'S TIME, WHILE INCLUDING
PREDICTIONS THAT REACHED
TO THE END OF THE AGE. BUT THERE WAS ONE PART
OF THE VISION THAT SOUNDED
DIFFERENT, TOTALLY UNEXPECTED, A MYSTERIOUS PROPHECY TUCKED IN
THE 53RD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. IN GRAPHIC DETAIL
IT SPOKE OF A SERVANT, A SERVANT DELIVERER
WHOSE IDENTITY SEEMED HIDDEN
IN A KIND OF PROPHETIC RIDDLE. FOR CENTURIES, MANY HAVE
TRIED TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY
OF ISAIAH CHAPTER 53, AND IDENTIFY THIS ONE WHOM
THE LORD CALLS, "MY SERVANT." IN THE ANCIENT TARGUM,
WHICH IS A RABBINIC
PARAPHRASE OF THE BIBLE, IT SAYS, "BEHOLD,
MY SERVANT, THE MESSIAH..." AND IT ADDS THE WORDS, "THE
MESSIAH," "...WILL PROSPER." AND SO, IT IS ACTUALLY
THINKING OF ISAIAH 52:13
THROUGH 53:12. IT SAYS, "THIS IS THE MESSIAH."
SO MANY, MANY PASSAGES, MANY CITATIONS COULD SAY, "YES, THIS WAS A MESSIANIC PASSAGE." FROM ANCIENT TIMES, JEWISH INTERPRETERS UNDERSTOOD
ISAIAH 52:13 THROUGH 53:12
TO BE A MESSIANIC PASSAGE. FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE TALMUD,
IN SANHEDRIN 98, IT SPEAKS
OF THE MESSIAH. IT ASKS THE QUESTION,
"WHAT IS THE MESSIAH'S NAME?" AND IT SAYS, "THE SICK ONE, FOR
HE SHALL BEAR OUR SICKNESSES," QUOTING FROM ISAIAH,
FROM ISAIAH 53. DR. DARRELL BOCK: THE JEWISH
VIEW THAT'S ALWAYS MADE THE
MOST SENSE TO ME IN THIS... HAS BEEN TO ARGUE FOR
THE RIGHTEOUS REMNANT AS
A FUNCTION OF THE COLLECTIVE, AS OPPOSED TO ISRAEL
AS A WHOLE. BECAUSE WE
KNOW ISRAEL'S HISTORY AS... AS A WHOLE IS NOT
PARTICULARLY RIGHTEOUS. SO THE NATION, AS A WHOLE,
DOESN'T QUALIFY. BUT THE IDEA THAT WITHIN
ISRAEL THERE ARE CERTAIN
RIGHTEOUS ONES... WHO HAVE FAITHFULLY
REPRESENTED GOD, WHO COULD
PERHAPS FIT THIS ROLE, SEEMS TO ME WOULD BE
A PLAUSIBLE WAY TO TRY AND MAKE
THE... THE CORPORATE ARGUMENT. THIS MUCH WE SEE:
BEGINNING IN THE 41ST CHAPTER, ISRAEL IS REFERRED
TO AS THE SERVANT OF
THE LORD, AS A NATION, BUT THEN SOMETIMES ONE
INDIVIDUAL WITHIN THE NATION
IS IDENTIFIED AS THE SERVANT. IT SAYS THAT THE SERVANT DIES,
"FOR THE SINS OF MY PEOPLE." NOW, WHETHER IT'S ISRAEL SPEAKING, GOD SPEAKING,
OR ISAIAH SPEAKING, THE ONLY ANSWER
TO THE QUESTION OF, "WHO ARE
MY PEOPLE?" IS, "IT'S ISRAEL." SO HOW COULD ISRAEL DIE
FOR ISRAEL, AS A SUBSTITUTION? NARRATOR: SO THE UNNAMED
SERVANT SUCCEEDS AND CONQUERS, NOT BY POWER, BUT BY
SURRENDER AND SUFFERING, BRINGING HEALING
FOR HIS PEOPLE, THE JEWISH
PEOPLE, AND THE WORLD. BUT WHO IS THIS
SUFFERING SERVANT? WHEN YOU COME TO ISAIAH 53,
YOU HAVE TO ASK YOURSELF,
WHO ACTUALLY FULFILLED THIS? WHO ACTUALLY DIED
AND HIS OWN PEOPLE THOUGHT
HE WAS DYING FOR HIS SIN, AND YET HE WAS DYING FOR
THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD? WHO WAS IT THAT DIDN'T
DEFEND HIMSELF, THAT WENT
AS A LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER? WHO WAS IT THAT NOT ONLY
WAS CUT OFF FROM THE LAND
OF THE LIVING AND DIED, BUT THEN CONTINUED ON,
SAW THE LIGHT OF LIFE,
CONTINUED ALIVE? WHO WAS IT THAT BORE
THE SIN OF MANY? WHO WAS IT BECAUSE OF WHOM KINGS
OF THE EARTH HAVE SHUT THEIR
MOUTHS IN AWE AND SAID, "WE NEVER KNEW.
WE NEVER UNDERSTOOD."? NARRATOR: FOR CENTURIES
THE RABBIS OF ISRAEL... REFLECTED ON THE MYSTERIES
OF WHAT ISAIAH HAD FORESEEN. SOME SUGGESTED
THAT ISAIAH WAS PREDICTING
TWO MESSIAHS, TWO DELIVERERS, ONE IN THE MILITARY LEGACY
OF KING DAVID, ANOTHER WHO, LIKE THE PATRIARCH JOSEPH,
WOULD RESCUE HIS PEOPLE
THROUGH SUFFERING. MESSIAH SON OF DAVID AND
MESSIAH SON OF JOSEPH. THEN, JUST AS THE MODERN NATION
OF ISRAEL WAS BEING REBORN, THE PROPHECIES
OF ISAIAH RESURFACED. ANCIENT COPIES OF THE PROPHET,
DATED 100 YEARS OR MORE BEFORE
THE CHRISTIAN ERA, WERE DISCOVERED AT THE
LOWEST SPOT ON EARTH,
NEAR THE DEAD SEA. SO THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS ARE
ANCIENT JEWISH MANUSCRIPTS, DISCOVERED BETWEEN
'47 AND '56 IN 11 CAVES
IN THE AREA OF QUMRAN. QUMRAN IS LOCATED
ON THE NORTHWESTERN
SHORE OF THE DEAD SEA, 25-30 KILOMETERS
EAST FROM JERUSALEM. THIS WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST AND
MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES... OF ANTIQUITIES EVER MADE. NARRATOR:
HERE THE AIR IS BONE DRY, PERFECT FOR PRESERVING
AND HIDING THE MANUSCRIPTS
OF THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS. MANY SCHOLARS
IDENTIFY WHAT REMAINS
OF THE QUMRAN COMMUNITY... WITH A JEWISH SECT
CALLED THE ESSENES. SEEING THE PRIESTHOOD
AND TEMPLE WORSHIP OF
JERUSALEM AS BEING CORRUPTED, THE ESSENES BROKE FROM MAINSTREAM JUDAISM... AND RETREATED HERE TO SEEK
THE LORD IN THE WILDERNESS. IT SEEMS THAT THE BOOK OF ISAIAH
WAS AMONG THE MOST POPULAR AND
MOST ADMIRED BOOKS... FOR THE SECT WHICH WAS
LIVING AT QUMRAN DURING
SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD. AND OF THE BOOK OF ISAIAH,
WE HAVE 21 COPIES. ISAIAH IS THE MOST
POPULAR PROPHET AMONG
THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS, HE'S THE OFT-QUOTED PROPHET
IN ALL THE SCROLLS. AND IT'S A FACT THAT OUT
OF THE 220 BIBLICAL COPIES
IN... IN QUMRAN, THE ONLY FULL COPY
IS THE GREAT ISAIAH SCROLL
DISCOVERED IN CAVE ONE IN '47. SO IT'S VERY OBVIOUS
THAT MUST BE A REASON, HMM? BECAUSE ISAIAH IS
A KEY PROPHET IN QUMRAN. NARRATOR: THE ESSENES
CAREFULLY COPIED BIBLICAL
TEXTS AND COMMUNITY DOCUMENTS. THEIR DESERT LIBRARY
REFLECTED THE BELIEF... THAT THEY WERE LIVING
IN THE TIMES OF ISRAEL'S
LONG-AWAITED MESSIAH. AND THERE'RE MANY EXAMPLES
IN THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, IN THE ORACLES OF
THE ISAIAH PROPHET, ABOUT A... THE FUTURE
SAVIOR AND THE...
THE END OF HISTORY. IN THE FIRST CENTURY BC,
FIRST CENTURY AD, THOSE PEOPLE PROBABLY FELT THEIR OWN DAYS AS THE VERY TROUBLESOME DAYS OF PROPHET ISAIAH. THEY REGARDED THE ROMAN
THREAT TO BE, MAYBE, PARALLEL TO THE THREAT
FELT BY THE JERUSALEMITES
FROM ASSYRIA, THE GREAT POWER OF THEIR TIME. THEY REGARDED THEMSELVES AS
THE ISAIAH OF THEIR OWN TIME. SOME GROUPS LIKE THE QUMRANITES
AND THE... THE GROUP OF JESUS
AND JOHN THE BAPTIST, THEY LIVE WITH THE SENSE
THAT ACTUALLY THEY ARE ON
THE EVE OF THE NEW ERA, EXPECTING THE...
THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM. IT'S QUITE OBVIOUS WHY
ISAIAH BECAME A KEY PROPHET FOR DISCLOSING THE SECRET OF TIME. NARRATOR:
THE SECRET OF THE TIMES. IN SCROLLS
GOVERNING LIFE AND WORSHIP,
CALLED THE COMMUNITY RULE, THE ESSENES USED THE WORDS
OF ISAIAH TO DESCRIBE THEIR
MESSIANIC MISSION TO, "OPEN UP A PATH FOR THE LORD." ROITMAN: AND THIS ISSUE
IS THE KEY ISSUE MENTIONED
IN THE SCROLLS THEMSELVES, IN THE COMMUNITY RULE.
AND IT'S NOT BY CHANCE
THAT THE SAME VERSE, QUOTING FROM ISAIAH
CHAPTER 40, VERSE 3, IS THE SAME VERSE ALSO
MENTIONED IN THE CONTEXT
OF JOHN THE BAPTIST... IN THE GOSPEL OF MARK
AND THE PARALLELS. ALSO, STRICTLY SPEAKING, THIS
VERSE IS MENTIONED EXPLAINING
WHY JOHN THE BAPTIST... IS ANNOUNCING
THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH
IN THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA. SO AGAIN, IT CAN'T BE BY CHANCE
THAT SAME VERSE IS QUOTE, AND AGAIN, IT TEACHES THE FACT THAT THE PROPHET ISAIAH... WAS A KEY PROPHET FOR DIFFERENT
GROUPS IN ANCIENT JUDAISM. NARRATOR: SOON AFTER
JOHN THE BAPTIST CALLED
ON HIS PEOPLE... TO PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD
IN THE WILDERNESS, ISAIAH'S PREDICTIONS OF
A SUFFERING SERVANT TOOK
A CONTROVERSIAL TURN. FOLLOWERS OF JESUS,
OR YESHUA IN HEBREW, CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT
THEY HAD SEEN AN UNEXPECTED
AND DRAMATIC FULFILLMENT... OF THE ANCIENT WORDS IN
THE 53RD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. THE SHRINE OF THE BOOK
AT THE ISRAEL MUSEUM... HOUSES THE DEAD SEA
SCROLLS EXHIBIT. SHOWCASED HERE IS A REPLICA
OF THE GREAT SCROLL OF ISAIAH, 1,000 YEARS OLDER THAN
ANY PREVIOUSLY DISCOVERED
COPIES OF THE PROPHET. HERE A NATIONAL
TREASURE SILENTLY REPRESENTS
THE HOPE OF A NATION... AND A PROMISE FOR THE WORLD. WITHIN THIS 24-FOOT SCROLL
ARE ANCIENT PREDICTIONS
OF A RESTORED PEOPLE, AND OF A GLOBAL PEACE. IT IS A DAY WHEN,
AS ISAIAH SAYS, "THE LION
WILL LIE DOWN WITH THE LAMB, "AND SWORDS WILL BE
BEATEN INTO PLOWS." A TIME WHEN A LONG-AWAITED MESSIAH REIGNS IN JUSTICE. YET WITH THE PROMISE
COMES AN UNFOLDING DRAMA. THE 53RD CHAPTER OF THIS
SCROLL TELLS THE STORY OF THE
SUFFERING SERVANT DELIVERER... THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY BE
CLAIMED BY FOLLOWERS OF JESUS. IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER
THAT IN THE TIME OF JESUS... THERE WAS NO SUCH THING
AS CHRISTIANITY. HE WAS A RABBI, NOT A REVEREND. HE WAS CALLED CHRIST
NOT BECAUSE HE WAS THE SON
OF MR. AND MRS. CHRIST, BUT BECAUSE "CHRIST" WAS THE
GREEK WAY OF SAYING "MESSIAH." AND THE ONLY BIBLE THEY HAD
WAS WHAT WE CALL THE TANAKH,
THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES. NARRATOR:
ACCORDING TO THE GOSPELS, JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES
DIDN'T SEE THEMSELVES AS STARTING A NEW RELIGION, BUT PART OF A NEW ERA IN
JUDAISM, A NEW ERA THAT WOULD, AGAIN AND AGAIN,
REACH BACK TO THE PROMISES
OF PROPHETS LIKE ISAIAH. AND IT'S A FACT THAT ALSO
THE PROPHET ISAIAH... IS THE OFT-QUOTED PROPHET
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITINGS. AGAIN, IT CANNOT BE A CHANCE.
AND THERE IS ANOTHER VERY INTRIGUING ISSUE. THAT IS IN THE STORIES
ON JESUS IN THE GOSPELS, THERE IS ONLY ONE STORY
IN WHICH JESUS IS SAID
THAT HE READS FROM A BOOK. THERE IS ONLY ONE STORY
IN ONLY ONE VERSION, IN THE
GOSPEL OF LUKE IN CHAPTER 4, WHICH TELLS THE STORY THAT WHEN
JESUS ON SABBATH, ON SHABBAT, HE... HE WAS IN NAZARETH.
HE WAS ASKED TO READ
FROM A... A SCROLL, AND IT WAS GIVEN TO JESUS,
THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, AND HE READ FROM
ISAIAH CHAPTER 61 ABOUT,
"THE SPIRIT OF GOD UPON ME." THERE IS A... A BIG
DISCUSSION AMONG SCHOLARSHIP... IF THIS STORY CAN BE
REGARDED AS A TRUE AND
ORIGINAL STORY ABOUT JESUS, OR IT'S AN APOCRYPHAL STORY. BUT IN ANY CASE,
IT'S VERY OBVIOUS THAT IN
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, THE STORY, IT REFLECTS THE SIGNIFICANCE
THAT THE PROPHET ISAIAH... HAD FOR THE FOLLOWERS
OF JESUS, JOHN THE BAPTIST
AND THE FIRST CHRISTIANS. IN THE BOOK OF ACTS,
IN ACTS CHAPTER 8, THERE'S A ETHIOPIAN ROYAL OFFICIAL WHO IS HEADING BACK. HE'S THE TREASURER. HE'S OBVIOUSLY A CONVERT TO
JUDAISM, AND HE'S GOT THE SCROLL
OF ISAIAH IN HIS CHARIOT. AND HE IS READING IT
AND HE'S TRYING TO FIGURE
OUT, "WHO IS THIS SERVANT?" AND IT'S AT THIS POINT
THAT HE MEETS PHILIP, WHO WAS A JEWISH FOLLOWER
OF JESUS IN THE FIRST CENTURY, OBVIOUSLY TAUGHT
BY THE DISCIPLES, HAD LEARNED OF ISAIAH 53
AND ITS APPLICATION TO JESUS
BEING THE MESSIAH. AND WHEN HE MEETS
THIS ROYAL OFFICIAL, HE ASKS HIM IF HE KNOWS
WHO HE IS READING ABOUT. AND THE ROYAL OFFICIAL SAYS,
"I DON'T KNOW. THERE'S NO ONE
HERE TO EXPLAIN IT TO ME. "WHO IS HE SPEAKING OF?
IS HE SPEAKING OF HIMSELF?
IS HE SPEAKING OF... "WHO IS HE SPEAKING OF?" AND AT THAT POINT
PHILIP SHOWS HIM HOW JESUS IS
THE FULFILLMENT OF THIS PASSAGE, THAT IT'S...
THAT HE IS THE... THE REFERENT
THAT ISAIAH WAS SPEAKING OF... WHEN HE SPOKE OF THE MESSIAH, THE SUFFERING SERVANT. AND AT THIS POINT, THE ROYAL
OFFICIAL IMMEDIATELY BELIEVES... AND BECOMES A FOLLOWER
OF JESUS, AS WELL. NARRATOR: WHAT REALLY INSPIRED
THOSE CLOSE TO JESUS? WHAT MADE THEM SEE HIM
AS MORE THAN ANOTHER RABBI? AFTER THE TRAGIC AND UNEXPECTED
EXECUTION OF THEIR TEACHER, FOLLOWERS OF JESUS
CLAIMED TO BE EYEWITNESSES
OF HIS RESURRECTION. BEFORE LONG,
THEY WERE ALSO SEEING IN
THE 53RD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH... AN ANCIENT PORTRAIT
OF THE REMARKABLE EVENTS
THEY HAD JUST WITNESSED. IN VERSE AFTER VERSE THEY
SAW DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS
OF THE LIFE OF JESUS, HIS TERRIBLE SACRIFICIAL DEATH
AND EVEN HIS RESURRECTION. THEY SAW JESUS AS THE UNNAMED
SUFFERING SERVANT... IN THE ARRESTING PORTRAIT
OF ISAIAH 53. IN ISAIAH 53,
IT'S SHOCKING TO SEE THE SERVANT
OF THE LORD EXPERIENCING... EXPERIENCING A HUMILIATING
DEATH, A HORRIFIC DEATH. WHEN IT DESCRIBES HIM,
IT TALKS ABOUT HIM BEING
CRUSHED FOR OUR INIQUITIES. IT... IT DESCRIBES HIM
AS BEING SO BEATEN AND SO HURT
THAT HE'S BEYOND RECOGNITION. IT IS A EXCRUCIATING,
HUMILIATING, DISFIGURING
DEATH THAT HE FACES. IT ALSO DESCRIBES HIM
DYING THROUGH PIERCING. IT SAYS, "HE WAS PIERCED
THROUGH FOR OUR INIQUITIES." SO IT INDICATES THAT HIS DEATH
WOULD INCLUDE PIERCING. AND THE SIGNIFICANCE
OF HIS DEATH IS THAT... IT WASN'T THAT HE WAS DYING
BECAUSE HE DID SOMETHING WRONG, BUT IT SAYS, "ALL WE,
LIKE SHEEP, HAVE GONE ASTRAY. "WE EACH HAVE
TURNED TO HIS OWN WAY. "BUT THE LORD HAS LAID ON HIM,
THE SERVANT, THE INIQUITY OF
US ALL, THE GUILT OF US ALL." IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT HE
IS SAYING IS THAT THE SERVANT
IS DYING AS A SUBSTITUTION... TO TAKE THE CHASTISEMENT FOR
OUR WELL-BEING. HE IS PAYING
THE PUNISHMENT FOR OUR SINS. HIS DEATH IN... IN EFFECT,
IS A SUBSTITUTION. HE IS EXCHANGING HIS LIFE
SO THAT WE CAN BE FORGIVEN. NARRATOR:
THIS DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVANT
READS LIKE IT'S A PERSON, AN INDIVIDUAL, AND REMARKABLY
LIKE THE STORY OF JESUS. BUT TRADITIONAL JUDAISM MOST
OFTEN IDENTIFIES THE SERVANT
AS THE NATION OF ISRAEL, WHO ALSO SUFFERED TRAGICALLY. IF I WAS READING IT
AS A TRADITIONAL RABBI... SO I'M READING THE HEBREW
TEXT, BUT I'M NOT JUST
READING THE TEXT, I'M READING IT WITH
THE MAJOR COMMENTARIES. AND THE PRIMARY COMMENTARIES
ON MY PAGE ARE GOING TO BE... SOME OF THE COMMENTARIES
FROM ELEVENTH, TWELFTH,
THIRTEENTH CENTURIES... NAMED RASHI AND
IBN EZRA AND RADACH. THESE MEN ARE VERY IMPORTANT
IN TRADITIONAL JUDAISM. I'M GOING TO BE READING IT
IN LIGHT OF WHAT THEY SAY, AND THEY'RE GOING
TO TELL ME THAT THE SERVANT
OF THE LORD IS ISRAEL, AND THIS IS SPEAKING OF THE
SUFFERING OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE, OR THE RIGHTEOUS REMNANT,
THE RIGHTEOUS MINORITY
WITHIN THE NATION. AND THIS IS AS WE'RE
SCATTERED AROUND THE WORLD,
BE IT THE HOLOCAUST, BE IT CRUSADES, INQUISITIONS,
WHATEVER WE'VE SUFFERED
THROUGH THE CENTURIES. AND THIS IS THROUGH OUR
SUFFERING, SOMEHOW HEALING
COMES TO THE WORLD. AND... AND THEN AT THE END,
THE GENTILE KINGS, THE NATIONS
WILL RECOGNIZE, "THEY WERE...WOW! WE THOUGHT
THEY WERE DESPISED AND REJECTED. "THEY WERE ACTUALLY SUFFERING
FOR US, AND THROUGH THEM
HEALING HAS COME OUR WAY." NARRATOR: FIRST CENTURY ISRAEL
CERTAINLY KNEW ABOUT SUFFERING. JESUS WASN'T
THE ONLY ONE CRUCIFIED. SOME WERE STILL LOOKING
FOR A MESSIAH, A DELIVERER, SOMEONE TO FREE THEM
FROM ROMAN OCCUPATION,
TO RESTORE THEIR KINGDOM. BUT IT HAD BEEN
400 YEARS OF SILENCE, 400 YEARS SINCE THERE HAD
BEEN A WORD FROM THE LORD, OR A PROPHET
TO SHOW THEM THE WAY. JESUS AND JOHN THE BAPTIST
BOTH ENTER THE SCENE, BUT WITHOUT A WORD
ABOUT ROMAN OPPRESSION. JESUS DID SAY, "GIVE TO CAESAR
THE THINGS THAT ARE CAESAR'S, "AND TO GOD THE THINGS
THAT ARE GOD'S." SO IT'S NOT SURPRISING THAT
THE RABBI FROM NAZARETH... DIDN'T MEET THE EXPECTATIONS
OF MANY IN JERUSALEM. THERE'S NO QUESTION
THAT THE PRIMARY JEWISH
EXPECTATION OF THE MESSIAH, EVEN AMONG THE DISCIPLES, WOULD
BE ONE WHO WOULD RULE AND REIGN, AND ESTABLISH THE KINGDOM
AND DESTROY THE YOKE OF ROME, AND SET THE JEWISH PEOPLE
FREE AND BRING THE KINGDOM
OF GOD TO THE EARTH. THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE MOST
COMMON JEWISH EXPECTATION. NARRATOR: BY CONTRAST,
ACCORDING TO THE GOSPELS
OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, JESUS PRESENTED HIMSELF HUMBLY
AS THE SERVANT OF ISAIAH, CONQUERING THROUGH
SURRENDER AND SUFFERING. BOCK: HE DOES IT INDIRECTLY,
WHICH IS HOW HE ACTUALLY
DOES A LOT OF THINGS. BUT HE DOES IT BY SAYING
THAT HE CAME TO GIVE HIS
LIFE AS A RANSOM FOR MANY, WHICH IS AN ALLUSION TO THE
IMAGERY OF THIS... OF THIS TEXT. HE DOES IT AT THE LAST SUPPER.
YOU KNOW, THE LAST SUPPER
IS KIND OF LIKE... A LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
TIME WITH HIS DISCIPLES. YOU SAY THINGS WHEN YOU KNOW
YOU'RE DEPARTING TO PEOPLE TO...
THAT THEY'LL REMEMBER. AND SO HE HAS THIS MEAL,
AND HE... HE TAKES WHAT
IS... WHAT IS PASSOVER, WHAT IS THE PASSOVER,
AND CHANGES THE IMAGERY
AND RELATES IT ALL TO HIMSELF. AND IN THE MIDST
OF DOING THAT, HE SAYS... HE SPEAKS ABOUT
THE BLOOD BEING SHED
ON BEHALF OF THE MANY. AND SO THIS IS THE BLOOD
OF THE NEW COVENANT. AND SO... POURED OUT FOR YOU
OR POURED OUT FOR THE MANY. TWO... WE HAVE TWO VERSIONS
OF THESE WORDS IN THE GOSPELS, BUT THE... THE ALLUSION
IS TO ISAIAH 53. AND... AND SO JESUS IS CONNECTING HIMSELF WITH THIS SACRIFICE, BEING THIS SERVANT. HE TELLS,
AT THE SAME MEAL, IN LUKE, HE TELLS HIS DISCIPLES
THAT HE WILL BE RECKONED
WITH THE TRANSGRESSORS, WHICH IS A PASSAGE COMING
RIGHT OUT OF THIS TEXT. NARRATOR:
SO ACCORDING TO THE GOSPELS, WHILE ANTICIPATING HIS DEATH, JESUS SPOKE OF THAT FUTURE
KINGDOM FORESEEN BY ISAIAH. AND EARLIER IN HIS LIFE
JESUS STATED HIS PURPOSE
WAS TO SERVE, AND SERVE AS A RANSOM,
AGAIN QUOTING FROM ISAIAH 53. HOWEVER, JESUS DIDN'T
JUST LINK HIMSELF TO ONE
PROPHETIC CHAPTER IN ISAIAH, BUT TO THE WHOLE
OF THE HEBREW BIBLE. CENTURIES AGO, THE PROPHET
WROTE OF THE SUFFERING... OF A HEROIC FIGURE CALLED,
"MY SERVANT." DOES THE MYSTERY STILL REMAIN? WAS THAT SERVANT A NATION
THAT SUFFERED? WAS THE SERVANT
A SON OF DAVID WHO SAID
HE CAME TO SERVE AND SUFFER? ALL PROPHECIES
ARE TESTED BY TIME.
