The followers of Jesus were able to make sense of the events surrounding Jesus passion and death by referring to the Prophet Isaiah, particulaly what are known as the “servant songs.” They were written during the time of the exile of the Jewish people when all of their national hopes had been dashed. The Prophet saw the servant of God bringing the plan of God on a bigger stage: I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. The first Christians saw Jesus as the fulfillment of that prophetic word. Perhaps as we are dealing with issues around globalization and climate change we need to expand our notion of the plan of God too.
