The Servant’s Suffering

Old Testament Proclamation

  1. The Servants of God face a component of suffering throughout their lives. Characters such as Job, Isaiah, and Jeremiah paint a picture that the עבד יהוה (ebhedh YHWH) can anticipate agony in order to stay true to their call. This is not all there is to servant hood, but foreshadows the unjust suffering of Christ.
  1. Servant Psalms portray the suffering of God’s servants. Psalms of Lament may fall into this category in which God’s servant pleas (Psa 69:1-2), confesses (cf. 5), and claims zeal (cf. 9) as he suffers at the hands of his enemies (cf. 20-21). However, Servant Psalms can also be of thanksgiving (Psa 18). Psalm 22 gives an example of the Servant Psalm pattern of expressing despair and hope amidst situations, opening with a cry of distress, and expressing a clinging to faith. Not all the life of a servant is suffering, but he or she can expect to find it when undertaking service to the Lord.
  1. Servant Songs are generally identified four times in Isaiah; though not all scholars agree to their extent (Isa 42:1-7, 9, 12; 49:1-7, 13; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12). All but Isaiah 50 use עבד. Scobie says that if עבד is not a pre-requisite, other passages express content that qualifies as Servant Songs (61:1-4). The suffering component is missing from Scobie’s example. The Servant Song pattern shows a servant is chosen for a task, equipped, and will be devoted until completed. The servant is sometimes a sacrificial (53:10) or redemptive figure. Proposals have been that of an identity of an individual, collectively of Israel, and ideal, or messianic. Israel seems to be representative of the faithful remnant, not Israel only (Isa 49:3-6).
  1. The Death of the Servant is found expressed in the last Servant Song. The Servant Psalms speak only of the threat of death (Ps 18:4). Servant hood may bring death, but also vindication (Isa 53:12).
  1. Martyrdom is the extent to which a servant should be dedicated. Ahab killed God’s prophets (1Kg 19a:10), and The People of God are also responsible for the same crime (Neh 9:26). A theology of martyrdom becomes more pronounced later in the OT period (1Macc 1) and the NT. Jesus offers Abel as an early type (Luk 11:51). The master’s wicked tenants kill his servants and his son (Mar 12:1-11).

Old Testament Promise

  1. A Messianic Servant may have surprised many. The combination of messiah and servant is not shown to be realized in the OT, but yet is in accordance with the Scriptures (Luk 24:45-46, 1Co 15:3) by Jesus and by Paul. The Targum identifies the Servant with the Messiah (Isa 53), but attributes the suffering mentioned to Israel or her enemies.
  1. A Suffering Mosaic Messiah some scholars feel is revealed in the servant figure. The future messiah was a type of Moses who was a servant par excellence. He was mediator (Exo 32:30-34) who would give his life for God’s people.
  1. A Suffering Royal Messiah shows that some expected the servant to be a warrior and conqueror as a kingly servant (Eze 34:23-24, 37:24-25, Zec 3:8). However, David also had many adversaries and suffered at personal and family levels.
  1. A Suffering Prophetic Messiah may be an expectation because the prophets are often called God’s servant and do suffer. Ezekiel sits upon scorpions (Eze 2:6), Micaiah was put in prison with low rations of bread and water (1Kg 22:27), and Jeremiah was accustomed to a life of strife and contention to the whole land (Jer 15:10). Jesus said this is normative of prophets (Mat 5:12) and his disciples.
  1. A Suffering Son of Man is designated for the first time as a future, faithful remnant of God’s people in Daniel (7:13). Later in Daniel the servant is shown to suffer and to expect a future vindication (11:35).

New Testament Fulfillment

  1. Jesus the Servant earns his OT suffering servant designation by living a servant pattern; not by simply using the words: παῖς, δοῦλος, or διάκονος. The pattern is one of suffering, death, and resurrection (Mat 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:18-19). The gospels record frequent “quotes from and allusions to the Servant Psalms.” Psalms 22 is referred to in the NT so often that Frost called it the fifth gospel (415). It is possible Jesus recited the entire Psalm when the gospel authors record quotations, which certainly would have had memorized by Jesus. The author of Hebrews says believers are made perfect through Christ’s sufferings (Heb 2:10), and the author quotes Psalms 22 (cf. 22). Matthew quotes the Servant Songs regarding Jesus’ fulfillment of OT prophecy (Isa 53:4). Jesus came to serve and give his life as a ransom (Mat 20:28, Mar 10:45).
  1. Why Did Jesus Die? Jesus’ death is of supreme significance in Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation. Mark’s Gospel is called a passion narrative by Kahler (418). Apostle Paul refers often to the cross. The wicked tenants parable makes a distinction between servants and son (Mar 12:1-12). Μάρτυς primarily means witness, but the NT shows many who hold their witness of the faith to death. Stephen and Antipas are μάρτυσι (Act 22:20, Rev 2:13). Jesus was not a μάρτυς. His death has much more significance. The NT provides a narrative answer by recounting the sequence of events leading to his death. Jesus is presented as unworthy of death and death on a cross. The NT provides a kerygmatic answer, primarily in the Epistles, by the preaching of the gospel message.
  1. God so Love the World gives a kerygmatic presentation that Jesus’ suffering and death was theological and purposed (Mar 8:31). Apostle Peter pointed to the hand of God in it (Act 2:23), which has been revealed (1Pe 1:20). Jesus proclaimed it is written that the messiah must suffer (Mar 9:12). The NT presents a formula of events being fulfillment of OT Scripture (1Co 15:3). “Behind the drama of the self-giving Christ is the self-giving love of God” (421). The suffering servant proceeds from love (Joh 3:16). There is a consistent dialectic wherever the Christ’s death finds mention in the NT: the objective event and the subjective appropriation (died for us).
  1. Christ Died for Us is presented by several metaphors and various imagery. One is of victory and liberation. The suffering servant has been victorious over the adversaries. A significant term is the ransom paid for many (Mar 10:45). We were ransomed from the futile ways of our ancestors (1Pe 1:18) like slaves were redeemed through the payment of a ransom. Believers have been bought (1Co 6:20). We have been liberated from slavery and the power of darkness (Col 1:13-14). Another image is that of sacrifice or reconciliation, which captures the atonement component of the suffering servant. Several terms show this. The blood of Christ cleanses (1Joh 1:7). He gave himself as a sacrifice (Heb 9:26). He was the propitiation (averting anger) and expiation (nullifying sin) of our sins (Heb 2:17, 1Jo 2:2). Scobie proposes God is both merciful and just. He was the sacrificial lamb (Joh 1:29, 1Co 5:7), which is grounded in the OT. Hyssop and no broken bones recalls the Passover ritual (Joh 19:29,36), he was led to the slaughter (Isa 53:7), he was our scapegoat (Lev 16:22), God provided this sacrifice (Gen 22:8). His offering wasn’t death only, but an entire life. Mostly it is Paul who develops the ideas of reconciliation and justification. By how the LXX uses δικαιόω to translate צדק it is not only a legal term, but also one of restoration to a healthy relationship. What Christ has done gives us new identification by suffering as “us” (Mar 1:4, Luk 22:37, Isa 53:12), and was the substitution of our penalty (Rom 6:23, Rom 5:18). What Christ has done gives us incorporation as a rebirth into God’s family (Rom 8:1, 2Co 5:17), and allows participation into the kingdom (2Co 5:21, 1Co 10:16-17). Christ is provided as an example (Mt 10:25).
  1. The Descent of the Servant is the reference to Jesus’ time in which he was in the grave. He proclaimed victory to spirits who were in prison from the days of Noah (1Pe 3:18-20). He proclaimed the gospel to all the dead (1Pe 4:6). This may speak to the reality of his death and that his message reached all souls. Sheol, Hades, or Hell is the abode of death and may not indicate a place of torment. However, in the parable of the rich man this doesn’t seem to hold (Luk 16:19).

New Testament Consummation

  1. The Mark of the Nails bore the marks of the Suffering Servant’s completed work.
  1. A Lamb Standing as Though it had Been Slain demonstrates that Jesus’ victory is a sacrificial victory and not a warrior’s victory. He is both lion and lamb, but will always remain the sacrificial lamb (Rev 5:5-6).
  1. Every Eye Will See Him as the martyred servant of God (Zec 12:10). Those who mourn will be those who did not realize what they had done to him or what he had done for them. For believers, it is a celebration of victory and mercy.

[1] Charles H. H. Scobie, The Ways of Our God: An Approach to Biblical Theology, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003, 403-440.