Read Isaiah 52:13-15, 53
Why do you think a symbol of death by execution became the central symbol of a world religion?
Questions
- What did God say about his servant?
- What were the people shocked about?
- Who knows about God’s servant? What is their reaction?
- How did people react to what God’s servant did? How did that fit (or not) their expectations of what God does?
- What is God’s servant like?
- How did people treat the servant? What kind of people are usually treated in this way?
- What is the people’s view of why God’s servant is suffering? What is the real reason?
- What good results come from his suffering?
- What are people like? What do we deserve?
- What did God do with the punishment people deserve?
- How did the servant accept his suffering?
- What is a sacrifice? How is the servant like a sacrifice?
- What is the final end for the servant? Why?
- What happened after his death? How can the writer talk about one who has died being alive?
- Did he die by accident or mistake? How do you know? What was his task?
- How do verses 11-12 summarize the work of the servant?
- Why does God forgive the sins of the people? How?
- How does the description of the servant help us understand the cross as a symbol of God’s love?
The suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus turned the cross from a symbol of horrible suffering into a symbol of the highest expression of love. How do you respond to that message?
