The fourth Servant Song is the prime example of why the book of Isaiah is often called the “Fifth Gospel.” The first Christians saw the suffering and vindication of Jesus throughout Isaiah 53, and thus these verses appear repeatedly in the Gospels and Epistles. Isaiah’s Suffering Servant poem contain the narrative contours of the Passion story.
The Anticipated Christ: A Lamb Led to the Slaughter
December 11, 2022 • Brian Zahnd
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The Anticipated Christ
The Anticipated Christ: Kings Shall Come
January 8, 2023 • Brian Zahnd
Christians reading Isaiah in the first decades after the death and resurrection of Jesus interpreted all the promises of Israel’s glorious future as prophecies about Jesus Christ, and Isaiah was an especially rich treasure trove of these prophecies. They read Isaiah and proclaimed that Jesus is Isaiah’s virgin-born Immanuel and Prince of Peace in whose kingdom swords are turned to plowshares, and where the lion lays down with the lamb. They also saw Isaiah’s prophecy of Gentile nations coming to worship the God of Israel as fulfilled in Gentile converts to Christ.
The Anticipated Christ: The Christmas Angels
December 25, 2022 • Brian Zahnd
The Christmas angels who appeared to the shepherds sang of peace on earth and good will toward men. Heaven is always seeking to pull us toward peace and good will, while hell seeks to drag us toward war and malice. If we cooperate with hate and ill-will we are left bereft of heaven’s aid and the angels sing their song in vain. But on Christmas Day we are reminded of the better way—the way of heaven, the way of the angels, the way of God, the way of the Prince of Peace.