1st Reading Isaiah 53: 10-11
Psalm 33: 4-5. 18-19. 20 and 22 (R. cf. 22)
R//: May your merciful love be upon us, as we hope in you, O Lord
2nd Reading Hebrews 4: 14-16
Gospel Mark 10: 35-45
BE PART OF THE 'MANY'
Beloved, we usher ourselves into the 29th Week in Ordinary Time (Year B) with reflection on the existential problems regarding human suffering. We shall attempt to unpack the Word of God for this Sunday and shall realise that God takes delight in redeeming us from life's troubles and changing scenes. Indeed, the humiliated will be elevated and vindicated, and the weak will be made strong and great.
The first reading is from Isaiah 53: 10-11. This is a very brief but condensed passage. We are reading from the part of Isaiah called Second Isaiah (or Deutero-Isaiah) (Isaiah 40-55), which concerns consolation for a suffering people. The brief passage we are reading today is a portion of the fourth song of the Suffering Servant of God ('ebed YHWH). The historical context is that it is written to exiles in Babylon and also to residents of the conquered and destroyed Judah. Judah was destroyed in 587 BC by the Babylonians and the strong men were taken as captives and exiled to Babylon, leaving the weak and vulnerable behind. What it implies is that from the two corners — in Babylon and Judah — each of the people had suffered loss, affliction and humiliation at the hands of their masters.
The exile was occasioned by both religious concerns and military events. As a result of idolatry (2 Kgs. 17: 7-23), lawlessness, corruption and injustice (Isa. 1: 23; Micah 3: 1-12), God left them to their fate and were destroyed by the Babylonians during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king at the time. In addition, Zedekiah, the King of Judah, and other men were taken as captives.
It becomes the will of the Lord to bring these exiled people back to their land and restore them accordingly. The text seems to see in one, single individual the whole of the destroyed nation of Judah. This individual will be representative of the whole nation, although he is not part of the sin.
Regardless of the challenges, suffering and pain, the name SERVANT is used. The Servant ('ebed) is that faithful and steadfast person. "Servant of God" is a title expressing great esteem and given to great figures like Moses, to the prophets (Isa. 44: 26), Kings and even to the Messiah (Ezek. 34: 23f; Zech. 3: 8).
The good news is that the individual who is the ideal and chosen SERVANT will be 'bruised'. The Hebrew word translated as 'bruised' is "dâka' (דּכא). The word could be translated as to crush or break into pieces. Dâka' is turning into dust of something that was previously solid. The object in this reflection will be a "hardened heart". A hardened heart is an expression of refusal to feel sorrow for sins and wrongs and to be contrite. What the Lord wants to do with this Servant is to lay that hardness of heart of the people on him so that being crushed, he can go through the moment and process of pain and crushing, the process of conversion on behalf of the larger group.
Since the Servant represents the immediate community of Israel, including their pains and sufferings, whatever happens to the servants is deemed to happen to the group.
I want us to realise that the Servant is to make himself "an offering for sin" (Isa. 53:10). This is a liturgical language expressed here. We immediately recall that in Leviticus 4-5, there is a sin offering for both intentional and unintentional actions against God. The offering is Asham, and it is more of a guilt offering. I want to believe that the author of Isaiah 53: 10 combines both Sin offering and guilt offering.
The effect of that offering will make the immediate community of Judah free by taking away their Sin and oppression. This is very specific to this group. These are exiles. The Servant is told that "he shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days". He is projected as someone condemned to childlessness and his life short-lived. This is a sign of not being fruitful. To see his offspring is a sign of good age (Gen. 50: 23; Ps. 128: 6; Job 42: 16). Additionally, he will have prosperity. That is the blessing for paying the price of the sins committed. That is a full restoration.
Again, what the Servant is going through affects his entire humanity. By looking at the "travail of his soul" he shall be satisfied. The soul (nephesh) constitutes the person's life, passions, desires and emotions. He suffers in two aspects. The word "Travail" is 'āmāl and it refers to both outward and humanly-inflicted trouble and inner pain. The suffering is both external and internal.
The second dimension is that the servant's suffering and process of conversion will be beneficial to "many" (RAB). This is used in terms of being beneficial to all nations. The suffering has a universal dimension. It is not meant for a few. Those experiencing any kind of captivity and exiled by many afflictions shall experience release.
I want us to see this universalist dimension of the benefits of the servant's suffering in the light of the Gospel. Jesus brings the mind of the apostles to the fact that entrance into eternal life is not meant for a few, but for "many": "The Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mk. 10: 45). The Son of Man is a Servant and this allows us to identify him with the suffering servant in the first reading upon whom the sins and oppressions of the community are laid, and who's sacrificial death will win release and freedom for many, those who confidently draw near to the throne of grace, that they might receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4: 16).
Additionally, Jesus, the Son of Man offers himself as a RANSOM for those many. A RANSOM (lythron) is a price paid for the release of a person from slavery or captivity.
We recognize that Christ's salvation reaches everyone. We may be facing all kinds of suffering and oppression: sin, death, sicknesses, financial troubles, marriage and family problems, and others. We may be captives to them. However, the suffering of the ideal Servant of God, Jesus, becomes our source of consolation. In all these, we know that God redeems and takes delight in our freedom. All we need to do is to count ourselves among the "many" by drawing close to him for mercy and grace.
Pax et Bonum
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