Isaiah 52:1 - 53:12

Good Friday - Year B

Isaiah 52:1 - 53:12

Another long, long passage. There is much here that has been used for a too easy theory of bloody atonement. It seems as if there is an inherent quality of identity for this servant figure. Overlooked in the “will of the Lord to crush him” is the beginning of verse 8 - the power of regime, of privilege, of violence known as “oppressive judgment” or a “perversion of justice” or “seized by force and condemned”.

We all have a hand in delaying justice, which is denying justice. Our vision of other possibilities than the one we seem trapped in is too limited. In Isaiah all this allusive language is a stand-in for the nation, not an individual. We are called to evaluate our reality from the perspective of community. How are we doing as a people, not just my own sense of persecution? If we can begin to approach life communally, we may be able to do social course correction as well as the personal. This gives us an opportunity to redefine our present in light of where we would like to end up so life is not just G*D’s will, but also our engagement with one another as well as with G*D and creation.

Blessings to your journey to reframe judgment against into intercession for.