Friday, April 9, 2004
Strict Fast
Great and Holy Friday
6th Hour: Isaiah 52:13-54:1 1st Vespers: Exodus 33:11-23 2nd Vespers: Job 42:12-16
Isaiah 52:13-54:1 LXX, especially vs. 6: "All we as sheep have gone astray; every one has gone
astray in his way; and the Lord gave Him up for our sins." In the Church, from earliest times, this astounding passage of
prophecy has been numbered as "the Fifth Gospel." It is the Church's custom to read this crown jewel among the riches of
Isaiah on Great and Holy Friday. Are you surprised that this Prophetic passage, read at Sixth Hour, recalls that portentous
moment in 33AD, in the month of Nissan, at noon "until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land" (Mt. 27:45)?
Even to comment on these inspired words evokes a deep dread in the heart - that we not repeat the mortal error of the
benighted Uzzah who stretched out his hand to steady the Ark of God (2 Sam. 6:6).
Fr. Paul Tarazi observes that this passage has a "chiastic" structure. That is, its ideas are set down in an order which may
be likened to a cross such as the Greek letter, Chi - "X:"
A/52:13-15: the servant is glorified before kings;
B/53:1-3: the servant suffers and is humiliated
C/53:4-6: the servant's suffering is for the sin of his fellows;
B'/53:7-9: the servant's humiliation and suffering are unto death;
A'/53:10-12: the servant is glorified before the great and strong.
The crossing occurs at the letter "C." About these verses Fr. Tarazi comments, "The new idea can be found at the
center....Its theme was not even hinted at by the previous poems" in Isaiah. While we should not dwell long on the inherent
cross structure, the fact that this prophecy of the Lord's Crucifixion is chiastic does warm the heart and call forth praise to
God. Following Isaiah's Chiasm, let us examine the three elements which form it, the A, the B, and the C.
A. Christ our God has been "exalted and glorified exceedingly" (vs. 13) through all ages since that day when He offered
Himself up for our iniquities. He has been the wonder of nations wherever His Gospel has been proclaimed (vs. 15).
Isaiah begins with the glory which men and nations have raised to Him, and the Holy Prophet ends with a similar
announcement: "...the Lord also is pleased to purge Him from His stroke...to take away from the travail of His soul, to
show Him light and...to justify the Just One Who serves many well..." (vss. 10,11). As a result, "Therefore, He shall inherit
many, and He shall divide the spoils of the mighty; because His soul was delivered to death...and He bore the sins of many"
(vs. 12).
B. In verses 1-3, the Lord's earthly ignominy is highlighted for us. In verses 7-9, the cost of His humiliation becomes clear,
"for His life is taken away from the earth...because of the iniquities of My people He was led to death" (vs. 8). St. Nikolai
of Zica says, "...He clothed Himself in simple garments, so that He might impress us, not by His garb but by the power of
His spirit....By tradition, His face was swarthy and His hair chestnut-colored." Think of this: Christ transformed shame and
humility into virtues, not with words, but by offering His life.
C. It is in verses 4-6 that the "Fifth Gospel" is proclaimed purely. Theodoret of Cyrus pronounces an eternal judgment:
"We each fall under the blow of chastisements for having sinned, but He, although He Himself was free from sin, bore His
chastisements for our sake....it is He Who has taken the chastisement on Himself and Who has granted us the peace."
Christ, the uncreated Divine Light, Himself illumines every word of this Crown Jewel of Prophecy!
A salvation Thou produced in the midst of the earth, O Christ our God, when Thou didst stretch out Thy pure hands upon
the Cross, calling together all the nations, who cry to Thee, O Lord, glory to Thee.
