2nd Isaiah #1 May 15th 2026

Many, many peoples and groups have suffered devastation and destruction, some have survived to restore and rebuild, but how many, in the process, have produced a message of compassion, nonretaliation and nonviolence? The prophecy known as Second Isaiah (chapters 40 to 55) is an extraordinary piece of writing that makes the return from exile a revelation of a new meaning of God, one of "everlasting love and compassion." It is no accident at all that all four gospels take their first cue from this prophet and then trace a trajectory of suffering for Jesus that deeply replicates the figure of the Servant which is the backbone of the prophecy. Understanding both the gospels and Second Isaiah this way tells us that, far from representing some kind of disjunction, the message of Jesus has already arisen in the very abyss of Jewish experience.