BECOMING CHRIST-LIKE

Return to God’s word. Allow it to transform you. Notice how your faith is being deepened and your way of life motivated.

Isaiah 53:3-7

He was despised and rejected by others;

a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;

and as one from whom others hide their faces

he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities

and carried our diseases;

yet we accounted him stricken,

struck down by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions,

crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the punishment that made us whole,

and by his bruises we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have all turned to our own way,

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

COMMENTS

The idea of “becoming Christ-like” applied to the Suffering Servant passage is a scary thought. Christians have long interpreted Isaiah’s prophecy to point towards Calgary. If we are to become more like Christ, are we too destined for endless self-sacrifice, suffering, and even death?

This week I have been pulled by this passage to think of sin, forgiveness, and God’s willingness to become at-one with us again. There are deep questions here, questions of how God can be just when the world is unjust; even the Bible suggests that God allows suffering, as in this passage. Yet at the end of the day, it is sinfulness, malice, and selfishness that breaks our relationship with God, and these things too that lead the innocents to suffer. God, somehow, seeks to bring us back into right relationship, but that is no excuse to stop looking at the sin — at our own role in causing suffering.

Where in my own life do I allow greed, complacency, or selfishness to hurt others? From whom am I hiding my face, as the prophet describes above? Jesus did not allow these things to happen in his life, a principle of love he held so firmly that he would rather die than abandon. How can I be more like Jesus, the uncompromising giver of self?

It may not mean intense physical suffering and death, but it may mean a closer look at those suffering around me, and the excuses that so readily surface when facing them.

-Taylor

© Suffering Servant, Donald Jackson, 2005. The Saint John’s Bible, Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition, © 1993, 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

CONTEMPLATING

Notice the transforming presence of God within you. Let go of words and images. Surrender all that is stirring, even if only briefly, and rest for a few minutes in God’s embrace.

COMMENTS

We are used to meditating on Good Friday, to calling to mind various images of Christ’s life and our own, and turning our thoughts towards God in a special way. Contemplation, on the other hand, invites us to let go of our thoughts and simply receive God and God’s love deeply within us.

In my own prayer life, I find that this is something I fail to do far too often. I find it easy to think about scripture passages or even illuminations, and I am excellent at telling God what I want. When I get to the end of my litany of wants, I even leave a space for God to speak to me.

I sometimes run my prayer like a business meeting, you see. “Nothing else on my agenda, God. How about on yours? Nothing? Okay, see you next Thursday.” And before I know it my attention is turned elsewhere.

Contemplation invites us to view prayer as something other than a business meeting. Sure, you have an agenda, and we are even instructed by Christ to bring these things before God. But after the “business” is taken care of, Contemplation invites us to simply sit with an old friend — to enjoy their company.

Maybe a better image than a business meeting is that moment when an old friend or relative, who has traveled far to visit, almost has to leave. You drink in the details and want every moment to last longer. You recognize how truly important they are to you, and appreciate them just for being who they are.

Lord, help me to stop, let go of words and images, and simply rest in your presence.

Taylor

© Suffering Servant, Donald Jackson, 2005. The Saint John’s Bible, Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition, © 1993, 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

PRAYING

Pray to God, allowing for the transformation of your being and feelings. Give to God what you have found in your heart.

COMMENTS

Lord God,

From nearly the beginning of time, the world has been full of those who suffered innocently. This is such a large part of our reality that you yourself entered into this injustice when you were tried, found guilty, and crucified. Maker of all things good, you ordained that some goodness would come even from the depth of such human malice and evil.

We are so quick to place blame, Lord. When we see one whose lot is worse than our own, we justify their condition by pointing to their lifestyle, their character, or their sins. Yet we are quick to ignore our own sin in ignoring their needs. When we see the systemic injustices of our society, we point to politicians and faceless business leaders, yet we do not bother to consider how our own life contributes to that system. And when you are crucified by sinful humanity, yet somehow (mysteriously) bring good out of that evil, we condemn you for operating an unjust system of atonement.

Lord, help us to see the need in our neighbor’s eyes, and do not let us ignore the hungry child. As we enter into the story of your death and resurrection, rather than ascribing blame to you or others, help us to appreciate the beauty you brought forth out of the greed, fear, and malice that killed you.

Taylor

© Suffering Servant, Donald Jackson, 2005. The Saint John’s Bible, Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition, © 1993, 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

MEDITATING

Ruminate on the word you were drawn to in yesterday’s scripture passage (Isaiah 53:3-7). What does the word or phrase you have chosen mean to you today?

COMMENTS

There is a practice we refer to as “sustained lectio“; that is, returning to an illumination or text again and again to draw deeper nourishment from it. The text and imagery has not changed, but we have. We can also be inspired by our own thoughts and reflections from before, which is why each Seeing the Word Reflection Guide has room for journaling. Irene Nowell OSB, who wrote the meditations for the Seeing the Word printed materials, even suggests dating our thoughts as we write them.

Last year, I reflected on the Suffering Servant during Lent as well. I now go back and read what I wrote:

When I listen to this scripture passage, I am drawn to the phrase “we held him of no account”. I cannot imagine that those who saw Jesus’ affliction fully knew in their hearts what they were doing, who they were witnessing. They did not see Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffering. Instead they saw someone suffering who, in their eyes, was of “no account”. Why am I drawn to this phrase? I feel the reason rising almost against my will: am I guilty of this too?

This is familiar to me, and still rings true. Yet now, I find myself instead drawn to the phrase “struck down by God”. This is not an idea that at first draws me closer to God. I am uncomfortable with the idea of a God who strikes down, and the fact that the suffering servant is innocent only makes matters worse.

The prayer (“oratio”) movement of visio comes later in the week, but already I feel inside of me questions directed at God: “Why? How could you?” These are questions that come up far too often. How could God allow a sick relative to suffer, to die? How could God design the world this way? I pray that as I meditate on this image and text I can find some words of comfort.

Taylor

© Suffering Servant, Donald Jackson, 2005. The Saint John’s Bible, Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition, © 1993, 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

LISTENING

Read the text below, preferably aloud. As you hear the word, “listen with the ear of your heart” for a word or short phrase that God has for you this day.

Isaiah 53:3-7

He was despised and rejected by others;

a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;

and as one from whom others hide their faces

he was despised, and we held him of no account.

Surely he has borne our infirmities

and carried our diseases;

yet we accounted him stricken,

struck down by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions,

crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the punishment that made us whole,

and by his bruises we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

we have all turned to our own way,

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;

like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

COMMENTS

The ancient Jews carried with them a strong sense of their sins, how they themselves had turned away from God and endangered that most special of relationships. The stories they carried with them, their heritage, told them that while God had kept faith, they had turned away time and time again. In part because of this deep awareness of having turned from God, the role of animal sacrifices was extremely important. Because of God’s mercy, the blood shed when the animal was offered took the place of the debt owed by the sinner.

By the time of this writing from Isaiah, sacrifice had become an integral part of the Jewish world. It had been written down and filtered into precise formulas, and became a practice that was often abused. What had begun as a sinner humbly recognizing the enormity of a debt and the inability to pay it had become a license to feel okay about the sin and get back to more important worldly tasks.

The prophets, a group defined by their willingness to go against the grain, spoke out again this. In Isaiah 1:11,16-17 we find:

What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the Lord;

I have had enough of burnt-offerings of rams

…

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your doings

from before my eyes;

cease to do evil,

learn to do good;

seek justice,

rescue the oppressed,

defend the orphan,

plead for the widow.

It was the meaning behind the sacrifice that really mattered, not the ritualistic practice itself. It is interesting that this is the context for the Suffering Servant passage. Scholars attest that there are actually multiple authors (i.e. First Isaiah, Second Isaiah) at play here, yet the message was nonetheless interwoven into this context of true sacrifice.

The “suffering servant” is the extreme atoning sacrifice. All sins are made up for because of the willingness of this servant to silently suffer extreme agony. Yet…that is not enough. The people must humbly recognize where they have gone wrong so that the sacrifice has value. Isaiah has to convince the people that like mindless sheep, we have all gone astray. The underlying change must take place; the people cannot hold him “of no account” any longer.

To modern Christians who identify Jesus as the suffering servant, this idea is familiar. Somehow Jesus’ death brings atonement (one of the few theological words derived from English: at-one-ment), restoring God and us together. But we have to accept it, realizing the truth of the situation and allowing ourselves to be changed.

Doing so requires that we take a good look at where we have gone wrong. How have we been unkind? From whom do we hide our faces? How has our society been unjust? In a sense, this is the Lenten journey.

-Taylor

© Suffering Servant, Donald Jackson, 2005. The Saint John’s Bible, Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition, © 1993, 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.