2020, April 5 ~ Isaiah 50:4-9a and Phillipians 2:5-11
Isaiah 50:4-9a
Reading
4 The LORD God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens — wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. 5 The LORD God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. 6 I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. 7 The LORD God helps me; therefore, I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; 8 he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. 9a It is the LORD God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?
Commentary
The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.
Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 30 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to the Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile had ended.
Today’s reading is from “Second Isaiah” and is sometimes called the third of the four “Servant Songs” that are in Isaiah from Chapters 42 to 53.
Just before today’s reading, the prophet told the Judeans that YHWH has not broken the promises made to them, but their sin is the cause of their suffering and the Exile. The prophet asserted that he is YHWH’s agent to teach (v.4) the Judeans to pursue righteousness.
The Suffering Servant (sometimes understood as Judea) describes his suffering at the hands of the Babylonians, but because YHWH helps him, he has not been disgraced and will be vindicated (v.7).
The author of the Gospel According to Mark adopted many of the motifs of Psalm 22 and of the Suffering Servant Songs (particularly the 4th Servant Song in Chapters 52 and 53) to describe the sufferings of Jesus of Nazareth in the Crucifixion.
Philippians 2:5-11
Reading
5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Commentary
Philippi was a major city in Macedonia on the Roman road to Byzantium (Istanbul) and most of its inhabitants were Roman citizens. Paul had a deep affection for the Jesus Followers in Philippi and thanked them for gifts sent to him in prison (4:18).
Today’s reading is the best-known part of this Epistle and appears to be derived from a hymn that was already in use in Jesus Follower communities, perhaps in a Baptism liturgy.
Its statements were not only religious, they were also political. The Roman Caesars claimed to be “in the form of God” and (as rulers) to be the “Lord.”
The reading emphasized the divinity of Jesus the Christ (v.6), the self-emptying love of Jesus (v.7), his servant ministry (v.7), and that (like all human beings) he was subject to death, even a degrading death on a cross (v.8).
The phrases “every knee should bend” (v.10) and “every tongue confess” (v.11) were echoes of Isaiah 45:23 in which the prophet (speaking for YHWH) asserted YHWH had power to free the Judeans from Babylon and “to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”
The Letter to the Philippians contains some of Paul’s strongest assertions about Jesus the Christ as “Lord” and equivalent to YHWH.
The NRSV translates the Greek word Kyrios in the Christian Scriptures (which were written in Greek) as “Lord” with a capital “L.” When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in the period from 300 to 200 BCE, the name for God, YHWH, was also translated as “Kyrios.”
The NRSV translates the letters “YHWH” from the Hebrew Scriptures (which were written in Hebrew) as “LORD” with all capital letters.