Isaiah’s Literary “Stations of the Cross” — Raham al-Qurban
With the paschal season arriving in the Western world, I wanted to reflect on the Roman Catholic tradition of via dolorosa which roughly translates to “way of sorrow” in Latin. Colloquially it is simply known as the “stations of the cross”, and in traditional Catholic churches, they can be seen on the walls depicting several key moments of Jesus’ passion. While attending a traditional Latin Mass recently, I noticed from the stations as well as from the imposing and graphic crucifix displayed in that church, just how much it reminded me of Isaiah’s characterization of Jacob/Israel as the suffering servant in Isaiah 40–55. In many ways, Isaiah depicts a literary via dolorosa which informs the entirety of the scriptural tradition, culminating in the life and death of Jesus Christ as presented by Paul’s letters and the four Gospel accounts that followed them.
Saved Through Instruction
The best book that I have ever read on this topic is Iskandar Abou-Chaar’s Rereading Isaiah 40–55 as the Project Launcher for the Law and the Prophets. At the forefront of his exegesis of Isaiah is the central focus on the servant of the so-called servant poems (Isaiah 42:1–4; 49:1–6; 50:4–11; 52:13–53:12). The servant in question is a literary stand-in/ substitute for Jacob/Israel who is introduced as the sinful and rebellious Jacob who is transformed into the righteous Israel. In order for this transformation to happen, there needs to be a divine encounter between Jacob and God where God ultimately prevails and permanently wounds him. This is depicted in Genesis, a byproduct of Isaiah 40–55, in chapter 32 where Jacob wrestles with God and his hip-joint becomes dislocated. This is where God renames him Israel, which has tremendous literary significance. As Abou-Chaar explains, the Hebrew name yaqob essentially refers to a “follower” and thus an “acolyte”. He is a student that is awaiting instruction. Further, the word aqob, from the same root as yaqob, can also refer to ground that is rocky and uneven. The name Israel is much more complex but refers to one prevailing on the one hand, but being made steady and straight on the other.
There is a play on these in 40:4–5 where the “crooked places” will be “made smooth”, where the original Hebrew uses the same roots as the names Jacob and Israel respectively. Since this leads into the servant poems of 40–55, it foreshadows what is to happen to Jacob/Israel. The Semitic root from which Israel derives can also refer to a “night journey” as it does in Arabic, which specifically refers to an “intimate divine encounter”. As Abou-Chaar explains,
The Arabic language provides better help in deciphering the enigmatic use of this verbal root in Gen 32:29. The matrix of meanings associated with the cognate Arabic roots sry, sr, srr, and srw match well with the story as in Gen 32. These include secret, night travel, night escapade, concubine (both free and slave), pleasure, a type of tree from which arrows are made, highest part, to be elevated. All the meanings can be summed under the general heading of either masculine virility or nighttime activity. The possibility suggests itself of a possible use in forms of initiation such as a mystagogical initiation into the intimacy of a supposed higher order. — Abou-Chaar “Rereading Isaiah 40–55” p. 55
In the Qur’an and later Islamic tradition, this same idea is expressed in Muhammad’s “night journey” which is called the Isra’ from the same root. According to some Hadiths, Muhammad was eventually taken to heaven on a flying horse named Buraq and met with God face to face. The similarity between both accounts is unavoidable and fascinating, both substantially (especially since both occur at night) and purely on the linguistic side (Israel and Isra’ being cognates).
This relates to the biblical account in that Jacob’s wrestling with God and God’s ultimate victory, while still wounding Jacob, is instructional and channeled throughout Isaiah 40–55.
God’s Only Begotten — The Nameless and Faceless Lamb
In his book, Abou-Chaar separates Isaiah 40–55 into two identifiable parts. The “Jacob” part makes up the first nine chapters (40–49) where the problem of Jacob is introduced. This is evidenced in context where the original Jacob in the book of Genesis was a serial conman, who was always fighting against men and God in order to better his own situation. His descendants, the Israelites, continuously disobey God throughout the prophetic literature which leads to the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC. In short, this is the “problem” tract. To offer a solution, the “Abraham” part makes up chapters 50–55:13 where the solution is to be found in the transformation of Jacob into Israel via his son, the raham or suffering servant (Abraham being the father “ab” of the “raham”). This root in Arabic refers to a weak/emaciated lamb. Other vocalizations of the same root also refer to a dressing that is drizzled onto a wound in order to heal it. As a verb, it means to rain upon something.
It is with this information where we get context for verses like,
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. — Isa. 53:4–5
Thus the raham functions like the scapegoat in Leviticus 16. God was pleased to crush him according to Isaiah (53:10), because in doing so, God could use this victim (qorban/ sacrificial lamb) as a parable for instruction. This parable of the suffering servant is not just for the people of Israel, but for the nations. In fact, in Isaiah 42:6, the servant is said to be a “light to lighten the gentiles”. This is the story of Israel. They were brought up by God, transgressed, suffered the consequences from God as a result, were “crushed”, and then are rescued by a blameless servant who bears all of their iniquities and is essentially the opposite of the Jacob we read about in Genesis. He does not speak (42:2) and is despised and beaten beyond human recognition (52:14). He does whatever God leads him to do, including the act of submitting to a brutal death in order to save his people and then, through the instruction, save the people of the coastlands, i.e. the Greeks and by extension, the rest of the world.
Messiahs, Pauline School, and Jesus of Nazareth
First century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus told of many messianic figures in Roman Judea. This is hardly surprising. The people of Judea had been under near constant occupation since the Babylonian exile in the sixth century BC. The Persians were kinder, but that came to an abrupt end with the arrival of Alexander the Great in the fourth century. There was brief nationalistic pause when the Maccabean revolt took Judea back from the Seleucids, only for them to be betrayed by their Roman allies when Pompey the Great sacked Jerusalem in 63 BC. Throughout its time as a client of Rome, Jerusalem saw intense religious sectarianism. There were the Sadduccees/ Priests who were tied to the Temple, and only observed the five books of Moses, which served essentially as their liturgikon. The non-priestly Pharisees were devoted to the study of scripture and held not only the Torah in high regard, but the books of the Prophets (especially Isaiah). Their outlook was more beyond the Temple and its services. They knew, from the scriptures, that better times were ahead. There were also religious zealots, of whom we would probably call “terrorists” today. Nearly all, if not all, of the messianic figures belonged to this group. They wanted to militarily take Judea back from the Romans. It is what the Jewish people as a whole expected. All of these figures failed for the simple reason that they were eventually killed by the Roman state.
According to his own letters, Paul of Tarsus belonged to the Pharisaical branch of this tree. He even records trying to destroy (Gal. 1:13) the assembly of believers who still followed one of these messianic figures. This one had been killed by crucifixion, the most shameful way to die as a Jew. The reason is simple. It necessitated that your body would be hanged and put on display for all to see, which was a sign of being cursed by God according to the Torah (Deut. 21:23). Surely this could not be the messiah? Even more enigmatic was that this messiah’s followers claimed that God had raised him from the dead. It wasn’t until God was pleased to reveal his son to him (Gal. 1:16) that Paul realized that God’s anointed servant needed to channel the raham in order to fulfill the messianic promise. He needed to suffer and die as was evident from the book of Isaiah. With God raising him from the dead, he undoes the curse (Gal. 3:13) that was placed upon him and declares that Christ truly is his beloved Son. So begins the saga of the New Testament literature and the Good News of Jesus Christ, which truly brought God’s light to the nations and instituted a new covenant (Jer. 31:31) not like the Mosaic one with laws and ordinances, but one of grace. The Gospel is the Cross (1 Cor. 15:1–4). What made Jesus different than the other messianic figures was that he was literarily identical to Isaiah’s suffering servant. I.e., he wasn’t a military leader nor a zealot. He did as the four servant songs foretold and obediently faced his death as the redeemer and savior of Israel and as the light to lighten the gentiles.
For more detail on this topic, I wrote a quick overview of scripture’s basic message where I discuss how Jesus’ death and resurrection function in the story. The point is that the New Testament is rooted completely in the Old. Everything that is in the New Testament was already there, it is merely repackaged for the nations to receive it. This doesn’t take outside theology and philosophy to make sense of. The blueprint is in scripture itself. Christ, after he was risen in the Gospel of Luke, begins with the books of Moses and goes through the entirety of the Old Testament in order to teach his disciples about how they testify of him.
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. — Luke 24:27
With the cross, God becomes exalted in human weakness. God raises this crucified lamb, his only begotten son, above all of the princes of the world. This is the Good News, Christ Crucified, the only salvation our world could possibly have. Everybody is brought low, and in his death, the curse which binds us to the fear of death (i.e. the worldly powers) is shattered.
Sin is forgiven, mercy is granted, and grace becomes the law. The test then becomes how we respond to that grace, which is of the essence when it comes to the final judgement. I will leave this post with Matthew 25:31–46 where Christ gives us the answer to the final exam before the fact. There is nothing here about religious affiliation nor any creedal statements. The test is in how we behaved.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
