Insult Zeal and Forgiveness

The life of being outcast is offered for our consideration through the texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today. Friar Jude Winkler comments that the text from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is the third of four sections of the Book which are written about the mysterious suffering servant.Christian readers of the suffering servant poetry see how the person described resonates with our experience of Jesus   Moshe Gold notes that no other Bible portion has created as much controversy between Christian and Jewish people as the Suffering Servant in the Book of Isaiah (52:13 – 53:12) This person in Isaiah who is humiliated, spit on and insulted is vindicated by God. We can transfer the eyes through which we see the transformation of the suffering servant to those in our society who are insulted and ignored. Amy Erickson invites us to let the poetry of the Suffering Servant texts heal our indifference and neglect of the physically disabled and those on the margins of society. The psalmist today identifies another aspect of character which may set us apart. He proclaims that zeal for the House of God has set him as an outcast to his brothers. It has brought him insult and shame. The Gospel of Matthew has prompted Amy Hoover to consider the action of Jesus toward Judas His betrayer in the light of her reading of books from Henri Nouwen (“The Return of the Prodigal Son”) and (“The Shack”) Wm. Paul Young. The action of followers of Jesus toward those who suffer rejection and those who betray us becomes forgiveness given and sought.