Sunday, June 13, 2004
Suffering Servant ie Messiah
At this point the Petrine hymn sketches a wonderful synthesis of the Passion of Christ, modeled on the words and images of Isaiah, applied to the figure of the Suffering Servant (cf. Is 53) and reinterpreted in the Messianic key of the ancient Christian tradition.
3. This hymn that tells the history of the Passion consists in four negative (cf. I Pt 2:22-23a) and three positive declarations (cf. 2:23b-24), in which it describes the fortitude of Jesus in that terrible and grandiose event.
It begins with the twofold affirmation of his absolute innocence in the words of Isaiah 53:9: "He committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips" (I Pt 2:22). This statement is followed by two further considerations on his exemplary behaviour, inspired by meekness and gentleness: "When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten" (I Pt 2:23). The Lord's patient silence is not only a courageous act but a generous one. It is also a trusting gesture in regard to the Father, as suggested by the first of the three positive affirmations, "he trusted to him who judges justly" (ibid.). His was a total and perfect trust in divine justice that leads history towards the triumph of the innocent.
3. This hymn that tells the history of the Passion consists in four negative (cf. I Pt 2:22-23a) and three positive declarations (cf. 2:23b-24), in which it describes the fortitude of Jesus in that terrible and grandiose event.
It begins with the twofold affirmation of his absolute innocence in the words of Isaiah 53:9: "He committed no sin; no guile was found on his lips" (I Pt 2:22). This statement is followed by two further considerations on his exemplary behaviour, inspired by meekness and gentleness: "When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten" (I Pt 2:23). The Lord's patient silence is not only a courageous act but a generous one. It is also a trusting gesture in regard to the Father, as suggested by the first of the three positive affirmations, "he trusted to him who judges justly" (ibid.). His was a total and perfect trust in divine justice that leads history towards the triumph of the innocent.
