Author Philip Jenson
Publisher Grove £3.95
Format pbk
ISBN 9781788271257
On Good Friday, the lectionary takes us to John’s account of the Passion, but alongside the Gospel we also hear the prophecy of Isaiah 52.13-53.12, the most significant and graphic of the ‘Servant Songs’, which describe the suffering of a special servant of the Lord. This Grove book provides a detailed interpretation of all the Servant Songs, but with a special focus on Isaiah 53, an important, but difficult, chapter within Deutero-Isaiah. It is an ideal book to study during Holy Week, as we reflect on the mystery of the Passion and Jesus’ own suffering. Many, probably most, Christians believe that Isaiah’s servant prefigures the role of Jesus, for the person described is innocent, but suffers; he is wounded for our transgressions; he is exalted and lifted up. Philip Jenson demonstrates, with fine, balanced scholarship, that it is not quite so simple. Without denying that the passage anticipates Jesus’ fulfilment of the prophecy, Jenson demonstrates that a wider interpretation is also desirable. He shows that Isaiah 53 also describes the universal nature and character of a servant of the Lord, the ‘kind of servant the Lord is seeking’ in order to continue Christ’s work in our current fractured and often spiritually barren world. This is a clever and worthwhile little book which makes an excellent adjunct to Holy Week, by encouraging thoughtful and serious study as Lent reaches its solemn climax.
Reviewed by MALCOLM DAWSON
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