Monday of Holy Week

The first readings of Holy Week – on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday – are the “servant songs” from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. These are mysterious passages describing the vocation of a chosen prophet. In the second and third songs he speaks for himself in the first person; in the first and last he is spoken of in the second and third persons. As they appear in Isaiah, the servant’s burden increases from:

1.    honored responsibilities (Monday),

2.    to disappointment and frustration (Tuesday),

3.    to physical abuse (Wednesday), and

4.    disgrace, suffering and death (Friday).

In our Christian tradition we assume these four songs refer to the same person, and we believe they are Jesus. Being chosen necessarily means anointed in the Holy Spirit. The Hebrew word is Messiah; and the Greek word, Christ. Historically, it is certain that Jesus was familiar with these songs. He studied them as a child and must have spoken of them with his disciples. After his resurrection, the evangelists used them to make sense of what they had seen. Saint John will finally tell us that he is these songs in the flesh!

In today’s servant song, the Lord presents his “servant” to us. He appears in a kind of ceremony, as in, I am happy to present to you… “my servant” and “my chosen one with whom I am well pleased.” Of course, Christians immediately recognize the voice and the words that thundered from the heavens over the Jordan River.  And it’s easy to imagine ourselves greeting him with applause, as we do when a priest or bishop is ordained. We’re so glad to see him! 

But what kind of messiah is he? Oppressed people hope for salvation from the cruel and the powerful, but they must often turn to the cruel and powerful for that gift. More often than not they find themselves delivered “out of the frying pan, into the fire.” Their new champion is just as wicked as the old tyrant.

God’s servant will be radically different:

Not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
Until he establishes justice on the earth;

This humble and meek servant of God is certainly a surprising challenge to everything we have been taught about peace, prosperity and security. Strong national boundaries, aggressive military services, vigilant police, security lights, locks, chains, doors, fences and walls will stand idly useless before the one who brings forth justice to the nations. What will they do when he starts his ministry:

… to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness?

But this is the one who has been set as a covenant of the people and a light for the nations. As this week unfolds we will try to set our skepticism aside and watch with hope.