Please read the passage first.
We are accustomed to teaching with words. The Suffering servant in Isaiah 50:4-9a taught that way. So did Jesus. Yet, the suffering servant also taught with his life, in the way he deal with opposition. The same is true of Jesus, of course. One who enters the school of Christ will not have done so in vain.
Isaiah 40-55 contains four servant songs, dealing mission and witness of the servant. In the passage before us, the servant is a teacher, always listening to what the Lord teaches him. The purpose of this word is to sustain the weary, even as Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30 lifted the burdens of the weary. One who seeks to teach others of God must first learn from God. Yet, this teacher experiences opposition. The Servant gives his back: where he can be freely struck without hope of protecting himself. The Servant offers his cheeks: allowing his beard, a badge of maturity and virility, to be plucked out. The Servant does not even turn his face to avoid the ultimate sign of distaste and disrespect -- a spit in the face.
Yet, the servant remains firm, because he is confident God will help him.
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