THE CRUCIFIED CHRIST This remarkable chapter has been always considered as one of the most beloved to believers, because it reveals the mystery of the cross and its power, as the Lord outstretched His arms in practical love to redeem humanity, according to His words: “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.” (Exodus 6: 6) He talked about the appearance of the Savior, saying, “His visage was marred more than any man.” (Is. 52: 14) Yet he said that through that painful appearance, He sprinkled His love and blood on many nations to redeem them (Is. 52: 15). This is what this Chapter is clearly revealing. And as St. Clement of Rome, says, [Christ is Christ of the humble and not of the arrogant. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the rod of authority of God’s greatness, did not come in a procession of pride and vanity, although He could have so done, but He came in humility, as the Holy Spirit has proclaimed about Him1.] 1. The cross as an exalted mystery 1. 2. The cross as shame and disgrace 2-3. 3. The cross as redemption and salvation 4-12. 1. THE CROSS AS AN EXALTED MYSTERY The prophet begins his talk of the cross by saying, “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? (Is. 53: 1) If the contemporaries of the prophet Isaiah did not receive the prophecies that concerned the appearance of Cyrus, who would restore the people from the Babylonian captivity, how then could they believe what concerns the cross? It is truly an amazing mystery, before which both the heavenly hosts and men stand astounded, seeing the revelation of the arm of the Lord through incarnation, outstretching His hands on the cross to embrace the nations, granting them the strength and joy of His resurrection, through their sharing in His passion and crucifixion. God, the Son of God, the arm of God sustains such passion!2 St. Cyril of Jerusalem The revelation of the arm of God, or the incarnation of the Word of God, remains a subject of amazement for both the heavenly and earthly creation; how can the Word become flesh? By what words can we bless God, and what thanksgiving can we offer Him? He loved us so much that, although He is the eternal, who was there before creation itself, became in age younger than many of His ministers in the world! As a child, He passed through speechless childhood. He, the “Word,” without whom, all human eloquence is unable to utter a word. Behold, what God became, for your sake! Although a human, wishing to be a god you lost your way. Yet although He is God, He became human, to restore him who lost his way! Human pride brought you down, so that, through divine humility alone, you may 1 Ep. 1:16. 2 Cat. Lect, 13:13. 7 soar above!1 St. Augustine Nobody could speak about Your eternity; so let me try to speak with astonishment of Your coming, my Teacher. Love attracted You to come to our country for our sake. Although You are our Lord, You became with us, and one of us. Here Emanuel is with us and beside us; that is why unworthy tongues spoke!2 St. Jacob El-Serougi By saying “To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Is. 53: 1) He meant the appearance of the Lord Christ, not just historically - something that astounded all creation, but His presence in our personal life, or His continuous transfiguration in the heart, as a source of inner satisfaction. Do not forget that Christ is the arm of the Lord! Do not let the (spiritual enemies) rejoice saying, ‘Christians are only here for a limited time!3’ “To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” By giving you His Christ, He is granting you His arm; and by giving you His arm He is granting you His Christ. He leads man to the Way, through leading him to His Christ; and leads him to His Christ, through leading to the Way; Christ is the Truth4. “You open your hand; they are filled with goods.” (Psalm 104: 28) What does opening your hands to the Lord mean? Christ is your hand... “To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” It is opened when it is revealed, as revelation is opening. “You open your hand; they are filled with goods;” When you reveal your Christ, you become filled with goods.5 St. Augustine Our Christ - the arm of the Lord - has been revealed to us, to enjoy Him as the mystery of our life, saying, “The life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.” (1 John 1: 2) 2. THE CROSS AS SHAME AND DISGRACE The Lord Savior came as a shoot growing before Israel, and as a root out of dry ground. That is why He was despised by people, especially His own. “He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant” (Is. 53: 2). He came a descendant of David, as a tiny plant, as a tender shoot, although He is the Creator of the vine. He came concealed in humility, to be symbolized by the “Burning Bush,” which seems as a weak helpless plant, although by His divinity, He is flaming fire! He came “before” Israel, being the Shepherd who precedes His flock! “And as a root out of dry ground” (Is. 53: 2); He came in an unexpected way. 1 .342- الحب الإلهي، ص 341 الحب الإلهي، ص 2 .244 3 On Ps. 71. 4 On Ps 86. 5 On Ps 104. 8 The Jews thought that the Messiah would come as a great king with authority, capable of destroying the Roman Empire, to establish a nation that masters the world; But He came like a concealed root out of dry land, not expected to grow nor to give fruit. He came out of a dry land, being born to St. Mary, betrothed to Joseph the carpenter, both poor; “He became poor, that you, through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8: 9). The Lord Christ came as a root out of a dry ground, as the Jews at that time were passing through a stage of severe dryness; He came amid dryness to make from the desert a Paradise. Of Him the bride said: “Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons.” (Song 2: 3) “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”(Is. 53: 2, 3) Here, the prophet moves from the incarnation scene to that of crucifixion; In the incarnation he saw a tender shoot of the descent of David, and a root out of a dry ground; He came as a Son of Man, when all humanity, including the people of God, were completely dry; and came out of a poor surroundings, that made Nathaniel say, “does anything good comes out of Nazareth?” Now the prophet looks at the scene of the cross, to see Him of “no form or comeliness, of no beauty, despised, nobody dares to come near Him, a man of sorrows, and we hide our faces from Him” He has no form or beauty in the eyes of the Jews, yet in David’s eye, “He was fairer than the sons of men.” (Psalm 45: 2) On the Mount (during transfiguration), “His face shone like the sun” (Matthew 17: 2), referring us to His future mystery1. St. Gregory of Nazianzus He, who was “fairer than the sons of men,” was seen by men on the cross with no form or beauty, with bowed head, and uncomely stature. Yet that lack of beauty of your Savior has added to your own beauty, as “The royal daughter is all glorious within...” (Psalm 45: 13)2. St. Augustine 3. THE CROSS AS REDEMPTION AND SALVATION Having talked about the cross from outside He entered with us into the depths to discover its mystery and power, as a sacrifice of transgression and atonement for our sins, saying, “Surely He has borne our grieves and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted.” (Is. 53: 4) What He took up was not His sorrows nor His infirmities, but ours. What He is voluntarily and lovingly bending to carry in His body is the burden of our sins. He took up our sins and infirmities; nevertheless He did not suffer anything that needs cure. He, like us, was tempted in everything, with no sin of His own. Whoever could oppose the light that shines in the darkness?3 1 On the Son, 19. 2 On the Good Widowhood, 23. 3 Oration On Easter, 2:13. 9 He has been crushed and wounded; yet He healed every infirmity and every weakness1. St. Gregory of Nazianzus Do not be ashamed of the Crucified, but you should rather be proud of Him, saying, He carried our sins, He took up our sorrows, and His wounds healed us2. St. Cyril of Jerusalem The Lord Christ carried our sorrows, as we have seen Him at the garden of Gethsemane, drinking our bitter cup to the last drop, and praying to His Father, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” (Matthew 26: 42) He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee to see Him begin to be sorrowful and deeply distressed, saying to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.” (Matthew 26: 38) “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,” (2 Corinthians 5: 21) as He offered Himself a sacrifice of sin, took up our transgressions for atonement. “He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray, we have turned everyone, to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Is. 53: 5, 6) The Lord delivered His body to death, to sanctify us through the forgiveness of sins, realized by the sprinkling of His blood. We should thank the Lord from our depths, because He revealed to us things that passed; gave us wisdom concerning those at present; and did not leave us without understanding of those of the future3. Epistle to Barnabas We are purified by His precious blood from all sins; His blood which does not scream for vengeance like that of Abel (Hebrews 12: 24) 4. Pope Athanasius the Apostolic I wish we remind ourselves of the benefit of the true faith; as it is proper for me to realize that Christ has taken up my infirmities for my sake, submitted to the pains of my body; For my sake - namely for the sake of everyone - “He became a curse for us” (Galatians 3: 13). For my sake He submitted and was humiliated! He became a curse - not by His divinity but by His manhood - as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Galatians 3: 13). He was hanged by His body; becoming a curse, He who took up our curse! He cried, so as to spare you much crying! What a glorious cure! For us to have the comfort of Christ! For our sake He suffered these things with amazing patience... when we, for His name’s sake, cannot bear the normal patience! 1 Oration On the Son, 20. 2 . Cat. Lect. 13:34. 3 Ep. To Barnabas, ch5. 4 Pasch. Ep. 1. 10 His tears wash us, and His crying cleanses us!1 St. Ambrose Through His death He raised the dead as He took up the curse, to rid us from it2. St. John Chrysostom Through the death of the righteous, that took place by His own will, He took away the death of sinners, which was by necessity a verdict that we deserved3. St. Augustine “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as sheep before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth.” (Is. 53: 7) The prophet here uses the past tense; and as said by St. John Chrysostom: [This is how the prophets of the old did, talking of the future, as though of the past4.] Surely, the prophecy talks more clearly about Lord Jesus, as it says, “He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.” (Is. 53: 7) (Being our Passover) Your forehead was anointed by the mark of His blood, and also the two (doorposts). All Christians carry that same mark5. St. Augustine When Pilate debated with the religious leaders, Lord Jesus was silent, realizing what the prophet said: “He opened not His mouth and in His humility there was wisdom.” (Is. 53: 7, 8). St. John Chrysostom It was fitting for Him to be silent during His passion; but He would not be so in His judgment, when He who, in great humility, was sentenced, comes to judge all6. He patiently took on Himself evil, to turn it later on into righteousness7. When He was led as a sacrifice, “as a sheep before His shearers,” He was silent; and when He was crucified and buried, He was all the time the hidden God of gods8. St. Augustine When He was scourged He opened not His mouth! And when He was crucified He prayed for His crucifiers! How can I pay the Lord off for all what He had given me? The Chalice of salvation I take, and call the Name of the Lord!9 St. Jerome St. Augustine believes that the Lord Christ kept silent during the ordeal of His 1 .422- الحب الإلهي، ص 421 الحب الإلهي، ص 2 .423 الحب الإلهي، ص 3 .426 4. In John hom 13:3. 5 On the Catechizing of the Uninstructed. 6 On Ps. 38. 7 On Ps. 45. 8 On Ps. 50. الحب الإلهي، ص 9 .246 11 trial, in order to conceal His Deity, to let them consummate what they intended to do; But at His ultimate coming, He “Shall not keep silent” (Psalm 50: 3); as He will be proclaiming His Deity. “And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgression of My people He was stricken.” (Is. 53: 8) “Who will declare His generation?” (Is. 53: 8) He was born eternal... was timelessly, begotten from the Father; and in the fullness of time, He was born by the Virgin1. St. Augustine “And they made His grave with the wicked, but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.” (Is. 53: 9) They crucified Him with robbers, involuntarily realizing the prophecy... What they did to insult Him has been meant to realize the strength of that great prophecy. The devil tried hard to conceal what took place, but in vain. Three have been crucified, among whom Jesus alone was glorified, to confirm His authority on all. Miracles happened, as the three of them were nailed on their crosses, yet no one referred those miracles to the other two, but to Jesus alone, putting the plan of the devil completely to no avail. One of the two robbers was saved, he who did not say wrong to the glory of the cross, but somehow contributed to it. What happened to him that led him to Paradise is not much less than an earthquake2. St. John Chrysostom St. Augustine believes that the prophecy, “They made His grave with the wicked,” had been realized through assigning wicked soldiers to guard the grave of the Lord Christ, who have received a bribe to falsely testify that “His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.” (Matthew 28: 13) In their false testimony, they testified to His resurrection, as, if they were sleeping, how could they know that His disciples came and stole Him away?3 They testified to the fact that His body was not anymore in the grave, but their claim that it has been stolen away was something against any logic. “Because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Is. 53: 12) If it was for the sake of you and your sins that He numbered with transgressors you should keep the law for His sake. Worship Him, who was nailed on the cross for your sake, even though you are yourself nailed... Purchase your salvation by your death, and enter together with Jesus into paradise, to remember, “from where you have fallen” (Revelation 2: 5)4. St. Gregory of Nazianzus He intercedes for us every day, washing our feet. We likewise are in need of washing our own feet every day, through spiritually doing what is right; realizing and saying 1 On the Creed, 8. 2 In John hom 85:1. 3 On Ps. 38. 4 Orat. On Easter, 34. 12 with the Lord’s prayer: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Matthew 6: 12) 1 St. Augustine 1 In Joan tr. 56:4.
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