Shocked by the Servant
His face was flushed with anger as he thrust the glossy Isaiah 53 tract in my face. With a voice full of angry emotion, he said, “This is a Christian document!”
Over the years, I have witnessed a range of reactions – surprise, disbelief, anger, shock – as Jewish people read the text of Isaiah 52:13–53:12. This portion of Scripture has been called by some “the forbidden chapter.” There is debate, especially between Jewish and Christian interpreters, as to the identity of the Servant mentioned in this section. My goal in this blog is not to prove the identity of this Servant, but to relay some of the reactions I have witnessed and encountered over the years, because I believe they are powerful witnesses of the identity of the Servant.
I introduced this blog with the words of an Orthodox Jewish man who, while passing by on a sidewalk in NYC, accepted a tract from me as I stood at the busy corner of an intersection. This man’s body language told me he already had an idea of the type of literature I offered people as they passed by. He briskly walked the short distance to the other side of the road with the tract I had just handed him. Once on the other side, he opened the trifold with the text of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 in both English and Hebrew and started to read. Every so often, he would briefly pause and then direct his attention to me. His body tensed and his face reddened as he strode directly across the street back to me. I prayed silently for the encounter.
As he thrust the tract in my face, with his accusative declaration of “This is a Christian document,” my reply stunned him. I agreed, “Yes, it is, sir. What is it doing in the middle of your Tanakh, in the book of Isaiah?”[1]
This man thought he was reading a portion from the New Testament, because he believed the passage was talking about Jesus. His facial expression changed as he realized he had read from Isaiah, and he quickly turned and walked away.
This man is not the only Jewish person I have spoken with who thought this section from Isaiah was talking about Jesus. I once was at a festival where there was food and music, and many people had booths under pop-up tents. Some were vendors selling goods, others were organizations presenting literature for their cause or group.
I was there with a group and our table was full of literature about Jesus; there were brochures, books, and Bibles. A young man in his twenties stopped and asked about the material and who we were. I spoke to him about Jesus, and he quickly said, “Oh no, I do not believe in Jesus, I’m Jewish.” Within a couple of minutes, we were in a conversation, and I started to share why I believe Jesus is the Jewish Messiah.
As I spoke to him about passages in the book of Isaiah, suddenly we were interrupted by an older man with a black kippah who had stopped to listen. He told the young man I was lying and the passage I spoke of was talking about the people of Israel, not a person. He was adamant, so I asked the young man if he had ever read Isaiah 53. He said no, so I said, “You are an intelligent person. Why don’t we just read it?” He agreed, and so I opened one of the Bibles we had on the table and simply started to read Isaiah 52:13–53:12.
After just a few verses, the older man with the kippah shouted, “Stop it! Shut up!” I continued to read, so he came around my table into the tent and knocked the Bible out of my hand, saying, “You are a deceiver.”
This man made such a scene that many people nearby suddenly got quiet, so the older man turned and walked away. The younger man was shocked and asked me, “Why was he so mad?”
Other people then walked up to see why this man had gotten so angry, and for the next several minutes I talked with people about this passage in Scripture and finished reading. Many people agreed that it must be talking about Jesus, and the younger man then took some literature as well.
I have seen fear and confusion on the faces of people who read this passage in Isaiah for the first time because as they are reading, they realize the chapter is speaking about a person – a special Servant who was killed as an atoning sacrifice because it was God’s plan for His people.
I once had a religious man accuse me of having a deceptive Hebrew Tanakh because he was certain his did not include this passage, so he demanded to read it in another Tanakh. When I gave him one, he read the same passage and just shook his head and walked away.
There are thousands and thousands of Jewish people who have never read these words from the book of Isaiah. Yet, for many Jewish people over the centuries who came to acknowledge and believe Jesus (Yeshua) to be the promised Messiah, their path to faith started with Isaiah’s words about this suffering Servant.
Isaiah 52:13–53:12 is not part of the weekly Parashah and Haftarah readings, which are a predetermined reading of a section of the Torah and an accompanying reading from the Prophets, respectively.[2] This is one of the reasons most Jewish people have never read nor heard these words from Isaiah.
A Reform rabbi’s daughter once attended a Bible study I taught and became very shaken after we read and spoke about Isaiah 53. She asked, “What do the rabbis say about this?”
I responded, “You should ask your father, but you just read this yourself. Who do you think it speaks of?” She left soon after without giving her answer.
Our challenge is simple – if you are Jewish and have never read Isaiah 52:13–53:12, do so, and contact us if you have any questions. I have seen the power of these verses to have a dramatic effect on those who read them for the first time. As you read, consider who you think this passage is about. The answer you discover could change your life.
Written by Jeff, Life in Messiah staff
Why do you think reading Isaiah 52:13–53:12 for some can elicit such a visceral response?
Have you read this passage in Isaiah for yourself? If not, are you willing to take up the challenge and see who you think the chapter is about?
If you have any questions, we would be happy to talk with you. You can contact us here.
Endnotes:
[1] Tanakh is an acronym for the Law (Torah), the Prophets (Nevi’im), and the Writings (Ketuvim), which make up the Hebrew Bible.
[2] A list of the weekly Scripture readings in Judaism can be found at https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/weekly-torah-readings.