To understand how the passage from Isaiah relates to us today, we look to the Liturgy. When the Word of God is proclaimed at liturgy “we can experience here and now that same saving action of God among us just as fully and really as when the biblical events occurred” (Irwin 102).

It is customary for the papal preacher to give the homily at the Good Friday Liturgy in the presence of the Holy Father. Father Raniero Cantalamessa reflected on the Suffering Servant in his 2004 homily to Pope John Paul II. Father Cantalamessa describes the passage of Isaiah as a “prologue delivered by God in heaven. Then follows a long piece in which an anonymous crowd, like the chorus in a Greek tragedy, reflects on what happened and draws a conclusion” (Cantalamessa 203). He reflects on how the anonymous crowd explains why they do not recognize the servant. He is unrecognizable. Cantalamessa notes a sudden shift in tone as the crowd recognizes that this servant bore our sins upon himself. 

Cantalamessa points to Christ as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. Christ died for us as the Suffering Servant. If the text only reflected the author’s sufferings, then “the entire servant song would be nothing more than a string of pitiful exaggerations” (Cantalamessa 204-205).

Cantalamessa points out that the Suffering Servant pertains to a particular person and not a whole nation, for the suffering servant suffered for the transgression of a people (Isaiah 53:8). 

For Cantalamessa, the climactic surprise is that God does not save his faithful servant from suffering. Through the suffering servant, the justice of God is realized, for his persecutors and sinners are made just (Cantalamessa 205).

This begs the question. What is the meaning behind Isaiah 53:10? In this passage we read, “It was the will of the LORD to crush him with pain.”

At first hearing, the text suggests that the Father took pleasure in having his servant undergo indescribable pain. This is contrary to a correct understanding of the text. The Father was pleased by faithful obedience and “his Son’s willingness to die for the salvation of the world” (Cantalamessa 206).

Jesus was resolved and determined to fulfill the Father’s will to the end. The salvation of the many was fully disclosed in the Son of God. The Son stayed on the Cross to the bitter end, making his life a gift for many. On the cross he exposed violence “revealing the naked reality of all its injustice and futility” (Cantalamessa 206-207). Christ was victorious because he was a victim (Cantalamessa 207). Cantalamessa makes the case that Christ responds to violence not with non-violence but with forgiveness, mildness, and gentleness.

While I appreciate Cantalemessa’s reflections, it is challenging for me to see Jesus as a victim. Victim focuses on the suffering of a person and the harm inflicted on them. This way of being a victim is like being a “gentle surrogate in punishment” (Brueggemann 147). It seems to lose the force of understanding Jesus as the one who freely gives his life. Instead of a victim, I consider the term active agent. Jesus is completely living out his discipleship and obedience to the Father. Jesus freely gives his life as an offering. 

The Suffering Servant could have been Isaiah or corporate Israel, and its fullest expression is found in Jesus of Nazareth. It is important to hold this tension in the identity of the servant. The servant’s suffering brought about redemption and restoration for all. The servant suffered because he was totally obedient to God. This provokes the consideration that we are suffering servants. When we are obedient to God’s will, we will suffer and our suffering brings about good. 

With this perspective, I appreciate the insight of Cantalamessa. He bridges the identity of the servant in light of Jesus. Jesus does not use the title servant. Our Lord takes all that is implied in the word servant and raises its meaning in the title Son of Man (Hahn 830). Jesus fulfills Israel’s vocation perfectly. He demonstrates his utter perfect obedience to the Father. He tramples over sin and death in a final and absolute way that brought about universal redemption. We see Jesus as the perfect substitution for Isaiah’s Servant (CCC 615). Jesus transposes the concept of a servant and applies it to himself as Messiah. He does not do this as an outsider. He is the one who closely walks with us as a slave to communicate his very life (CCC 713). Another way we can find greater appreciation in Isaiah is through the Responsorial Psalm on Good Friday.

The Responsorial Psalm in the liturgy is intimately connected to the First Reading. The Responsorial Psalm is “an integral part of the Liturgy of the Word which has great liturgical and pastoral importance since it fosters meditation on the Word of God” (GIRM 61).

The Psalms are more than just singing as a response to what was heard. Those who sing the Psalms become the ‘I’ and the ‘we’ addressed in its text. Singing the psalms has a particular character of forming us in a way acceptable to God. The psalms allow us to share in the baptized priesthood and participating in the event of God drawing near to his people (Reid 81-83).

Singing the Psalms regularly acts as a secret archive. It helps us evoke various emotions in different circumstances of our lives. By praying the psalms “the human mind will seek to resolve this dissonance: either by changing cognitions, adding new cognitions, or changing attitudes” (Reid 97).

The antiphon of this Psalm in the Good Friday Liturgy is a direct quote of our Lord’s words, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). It is a direct correlation with the first verse of this psalm, “Yahweh, I have trusted in you. Let me never be disgraced, Eternal One” (Psalm 31:2, Zerr). Jesus knows Yahweh intimately that he calls him Father. By giving his spirit over to him he trusts that he will not be disgraced in his suffering. Having Psalm 31 as the response to the Isaiah reading gives voice to the silent and suffering servant.

Throughout this Psalm, tones of confidence are apparent in the midst of suffering. The Psalmist prays, “I have withered up like a dead man without heart and become like a broken jar. But as for me, I put my trust in you, O Yahweh …” (Psalm 31:13, 15, Zerr). The confidence of this prayer is not due to the virtue of the servant. Rather, confidence comes from God who remains faithful and true to himself.