Thursday
Isaiah 52
The first thing one might notice about the 53rd chapter of Isaiah is the number of texts in those 12 verses that were used by Georg Frederich Handel in writing his glorious oratorio, The Messiah.
I wonder why he chose those texts?
Perhaps it was because they are part of the Suffering Servant songs, found throughout Isaiah. The notes in RSV for Isa 52:13 to 53:12 point out that this passage is the 4th of the Songs in which the Servant’s (Israel’s) background and appearance are undistinguished, rejected. And like a leper, suffers painful loneliness and rejection by the larger community. Yet it is by his (Israel’s) suffering that all people are restored to God.
What is it about the collective suffering of a community (like Israel) bearing the sins of the many, that forms a sort of pivot to bring us all to a new and more blessed song?
And then! What happens after you sing Hallelujah?
Jane Bowes
Isaiah 52
The first thing one might notice about the 53rd chapter of Isaiah is the number of texts in those 12 verses that were used by Georg Frederich Handel in writing his glorious oratorio, The Messiah.
I wonder why he chose those texts?
Perhaps it was because they are part of the Suffering Servant songs, found throughout Isaiah. The notes in RSV for Isa 52:13 to 53:12 point out that this passage is the 4th of the Songs in which the Servant’s (Israel’s) background and appearance are undistinguished, rejected. And like a leper, suffers painful loneliness and rejection by the larger community. Yet it is by his (Israel’s) suffering that all people are restored to God.
What is it about the collective suffering of a community (like Israel) bearing the sins of the many, that forms a sort of pivot to bring us all to a new and more blessed song?
And then! What happens after you sing Hallelujah?
Jane Bowes
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