Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 63:1 (Mar 2020)
Article: Jesus Messiah As Isaiah’s Servant Of The Lord: New Testament Explorations
Author: Jeannine K. Brown

JETS 63:1 (March 2020) p. 51

Jesus Messiah As Isaiah’s Servant Of The Lord:
New Testament Explorations

Jeannine K. Brown

Jeannine Brown is Professor of New Testament and Director of Online Programs at Bethel Seminary, 3900 Bethel Drive, St. Paul, MN 55112. She delivered this plenary address at the 71^st annual meeting of the ETS in San Diego, CA on November 21, 2020.

Abstract: Over the past 60 years, scholars have raised major questions about the long-standing view that Jesus and the early church understood Jesus to be the servant of the Lord identified in Isaiah 40–55. In this article, I propose that Second Temple Judaism discerned a discreet servant figure from Isaiah and that New Testament writers drew on that figure for their Christology. Specifically, I take a deeper look at Matthew, Luke, and 1 Peter to explore their distinctive uses of the servant figure and the Isaiah material pointing to that figure. Matthew draws primarily from Isaiah 42 and 53 to show Jesus to be the representative Israelite who brings justice, mercy, and forgiveness to his people. Luke in his two volumes draws frequently from Isaiah 49 to enhance his emphasis on Gentile inclusion. And the author of 1 Peter uses Isaiah 53 primarily to show the servant Jesus as exemplar for the Petrine audience. I conclude by suggesting that this variegated use could go back to Jesus through enigmatic references that he himself was Isaiah’s servant of the Lord.

Key words: Isaiah, servant of the Lord, Matthew, Luke-Acts, 1 Peter, intertextuality, Christology, atonement

I grew up in church. We were faithful members who attended not only on Sunday but on Wednesday nights, the once-a-month Sunday night missionary evening, and more. And one thing I learned, one thing I knew definitively, was that Isaiah, and chapter 53 particularly, spoke about Jesus. If someone outside the fold needed proof from the OT that Jesus was who he claimed to be, they didn’t need to go any further than Isaiah 53. It was proof because Jesus fulfilled the prophecies about the suffering servant in every way. Morna Hooker, who has been a key advocate for the view that the connection between Jesus and Isaiah’s suffering servant does not go back to Jesus himself, speaks of the traditional reading with clarity and great effect: “Isaiah 53 has, above all other passages, seemed to be the most relevant and...