The Christological Fulfillment of Isaiah’s Servant Songs -- By: Robert B. Chisholm, Jr.
Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 163:652 (Oct 2006)
Article: The Christological Fulfillment of Isaiah’s Servant Songs
Author: Robert B. Chisholm, Jr.
BSac 163:652 (October-December 2006) p. 387
The Christological Fulfillment of Isaiah’s Servant Songs
Robert B. Chisholm Jr. is Chair and Professor of Old Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas.
Article one of Dallas Theological Seminary’s Doctrinal Statement affirms the Bible’s Christological focus: “We believe that all the Scriptures center about the Lord Jesus Christ in His person and work in His first and second coming, and hence that no portion, even of the Old Testament, is properly read, or understood, until it leads to Him” (italics added). This does not mean one should arbitrarily allegorize the Scriptures or subject passages to typological interpretive fancy in an effort to conjure up their Christological import. It does mean, however, that the entire Bible, including the Old Testament, finds its full significance in Christ’s person and work.
This Christological dimension may be discovered in every genre of Scripture, including those not normally viewed as sources for messianic texts. This includes legal material, narratives, wisdom literature, and even love poetry. For example the animal sacrifices of the Mosaic Law prefigure Jesus’ sacrificial atonement.1 The story of Ruth presents a model of sacrificial love that finds its ultimate expression in Christ’s redemptive work. Ecclesiastes demonstrates
BSac 163:652 (October-December 2006) p. 388
that any quest for meaning and fulfillment in life is a dead-end street apart from God’s special revelation found in the Law (Eccles. 12:13). But progressive revelation makes it clear that the Law points ultimately to Christ and is fulfilled in Him. The Song of Songs celebrates human love, but only Christ’s redemptive work frees human beings to express genuine love in the robust manner envisioned in the Song.
The Old Testament’s Christological dimension is perhaps most apparent in the Psalms and Prophets. At many points the New Testament correlates Jesus’ experience with passages from the Psalms and Prophets and views these texts as fulfilled in Him. When one examines the New Testament’s use of these texts, Jesus appears in two primary roles: (1) He is the ideal Davidic king envisioned by the prophets and depicted in the royal psalms, and (2) He is the suffering servant envisioned in Isaiah’s fourth servant song who brings to culmination the long line of persecuted sufferers who speak in the Psalms. But how are these two seemingly contrasting images—one of royal majesty and the other of suffering servanthood—to be harmonized? The key to resolving this tension lies in Jesus’ self-id...
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