During Holy Week the Church reads four selections from the Book of Isaiah which scholars call the Suffering Servant Songs. This section of Isaiah was probably written at the time of the exile. The nation had been conquered. The king and leadership eliminated. The temple destroyed. Israel was experiencing extremes of suffering and despair. The Suffering Servant reminds Israel that God isn’t finished, that God can redeem suffering. The Lord GOD is my help; who will prove me wrong? The first followers of Jesus looked to those Songs as a way to understand what Jesus had experienced. His suffering was simply a prelude to the new, glorious thing God would do. By looking into their story, the followers of Jesus could make sense of their present. That is a practice we should all adopt. Whenever we feel overwhelmed by suffering, troubles, doubts, confusion let us look at the stories which formed us, particularly the story of Jesus. Then we learn to trust that our Good Fridays don’t get the last word, that God will do something new in us and for us.
