Scripture Study for

A heavy price is exacted of the servant spoken of by Isaiah. He suffers both personal insult and physical attack. In the face of his affliction, he maintains that  God is his strength. Such maltreatment was usually interpreted as punishment.  However, that is not the case here. This is an innocent victim. Much of the content of this passage resonates with that found in many of the laments. However,  there is really no complaint here, just a description of the sufferings that accrue from faithfully carrying out the mission assigned by God. If anything, this passage resembles a declaration of confidence in God’s sustaining presence. 

Being in the form of God, Christ enjoys a Godlike manner of being. Nonetheless,  he did not cling to this or use his exalted status for his own ends. Furthermore,  though in the form of God, he chose the form of a servant or slave. This does not mean that he only resembled a human being; he really was one. Having taken on the form of a slave, he made himself obedient. Finally, the exaltation of Christ is as glorious as his humiliation was debasing. Consequently, every knee shall do him homage and every tongue shall proclaim his sovereignty. 

The narrative of the Lord’s Supper is a classic farewell scene. Its connection with the Passover underscores the supper’s end-time significance; mention of  “covenant in blood” points to its sacrificial character. The events that take place on the Mount of Olives are the prelude to the rejection and the agony in store for Jesus. Faced with the terrors, he accepts them as the will of God. Throughout this narrative, Jesus is portrayed as the non-violent, innocent victim of the unwarranted hatred and bloodthirsty desires of major sections of both the Jewish and the Roman populations. The execution is reported in a matter-of-fact manner. The culminating event of the redemption of the world is accomplished with dispatch.