Continued from Chapter 22v
Banim
The word bein (literally “son”) may figuratively mean “disciples” (2 Kings 2:3, 5, 7, 15). Zer‘a (“seed”) is never used in this sense.
For example: “And Abram said: ‘Behold to me You have given no seed [zer‘a], and, see the son [ben] of my house is my heir.’ And, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying: ‘This man shall not be your heir, but he that shall come forth out of your own bowels shall be your heir’” (Genesis 15:3-4). Zer‘a must always be taken literally to mean physical descendants. Since zer‘a refers to one’s physical descendants the servant must have children. Since Jesus had no children of his own, the promise that the servant “shall see seed” rules out the possibility that Jesus is the servant.
53:10: “he shall prolong days”
The concept of prolonging of days and that of gaining eternal life:
The differences:
The concept of a prolonged life cannot be treated as the equivalent of eternal life because in an eternal context, time of any duration is of no consequence. Consequently, one cannot speak of an eternal being as having his days prolonged: “Are Your days as the days of man, or Your years as a man’s days?” (Job 10:5). God must be referred to as eternal: “The number of his years is unsearchable” (Job 36:26). He is the first, He is the last, He cannot be anything else. Prolonging the days of one who is already supposed to be eternal would make his life longer than eternity. That is an obvious impossibility. Prolonging of life implies earthly mortality, a cut-off date in the future, while the term eternal life refers to immortality. The phrase “prolonged life” can only relate to the limited bodily existence in this world, and not to the endlessness of eternal life. Can “he shall prolong days” be applied to Jesus in heaven or on earth? If, after his alleged resurrection Jesus returned to heaven to become an eternal heavenly being again, this stage of his existence cannot be appropriately referred to as prolongation of days.
How can such a promise have any meaning for Jesus, if he is viewed as being a supernatural being of divine substance and whose existence is believed by Christians to be eternal?
There would be no need for one part of God to assure a fellow member of an eternal triune deity (or a created eternal being) an everlasting life. “He shall prolong days,” can also not be applied to the human Jesus, who died young and childless. If the promise of prolonged days is applied to the human Jesus, it is an empty promise. Since the blessings of seeing children and prolonging life are only appropriate when applied to a mortal man and not to an immortal being, these blessings cannot be applied to the Jesus of Christian theology. Some Christians argue that “he shall see seed” refers to God seeing the birth of Jesus and “he shall prolong days” refers to God resurrecting Jesus. That would make these two promises into a parenthetical statement having no connection with the conditional nature of the verse. Their argument makes absolutely no sense!
53:11: “From the labor of his soul he shall see; he shall be satisfied.”
Christians claim that the life’s work of Jesus is reflected in verse Certainly, the Gospels’ Jesus was not “satisfied” with what he accomplished during his lifetime; this is indicated by what he said on the cross. There, it is said, he cried out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34). The argument that verse 11 refers to the supposedly heavenly Jesus subsequent to his death, becoming increasingly satisfied as his following grew, is of little help since this verse deals with an earthly being. If Jesus was an equal partner in the triune deity, he would not have had to ask his “Father” to “forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). He himself would have been able to bear iniquities and forgive sins without invoking the assistance of God the Father.
But, then again, the Gospels’ Jesus never forgave anyone who he felt wronged him. He only advised others to forgive. Verse 11 is a continuation of the thoughts expressed in the preceding verse. Thus, the pericope suggests that from the servant’s toil and travail on behalf of the purposes of the Lord, “he shall be satisfied” at the outcome of his long struggle. The servant will be pleased with the abundant material and spiritual fulfillments that he will “see” occur.
53:11: “With his knowledge the righteous one, my servant, shall cause many to be just. And their iniquities he shall bear.”
God’s servant (Israel) will spread the knowledge of His law. God’s recognition and acceptance of the faithful servant’s many sacrifices made over the centuries of exile become apparent when he is vindicated as righteous and innocent before the nations of the world. Moreover, the servant’s actions on behalf of the nations will eventually cause righteousness to spread among them as well. Nevertheless, “their iniquities he shall bear,” that is, throughout the centuries, the servant will suffer iniquitous acts perpetrated at the hands of the nations despite all the good he has contributed to the world.
Did the teachings of Jesus uplift the nations? Did they become more just or righteous when they converted (often forcibly) or forced others to convert, many times accompanied by much bloodshed. One can certainly point to righteous deeds done in the name of Jesus. Nevertheless, at the same time horrific harm has been done to large segments of humanity in the name of Jesus. The death toll in bringing the supposed “salvation of Christ” to the world has been staggering. Countless atrocities have been committed in the name of Jesus by those professing to be his followers. Many who profess Christianity in one of its myriad forms disavow the murderous spreading of Christianity. But does Jesus only get credit for the good Christians do but is not responsible for the bad? Is there tangible proof to support the claim that Jesus at any time bears the iniquities of anyone? There are certainly many iniquities perpetrated by his followers over the centuries he could start with.
Continued
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