Christmas is a season of irony and song that helps us to know the sacred past and the truth of the Gospel of our salvation. Our reading from Isaiah for Christmas Day is deep within a context which gives us a great angle into a powerful gospel proclamation. We need to see Isaiah 52:7-10 in the greater framework of Isaiah 49-54. In this new rhetorical unit starting with chapter 49, Isaiah warns Israel concerning their spiritual captivity to sin and the redemption God has for the entire world. The Lord accomplishes this salvation through His “servant” who we know is Jesus. What is striking and important within the context is that in chapter 49 the “servant” is Israel in a single person! This is the perfect Israel, in one man, who gives Himself as a substitute for sinful Israel, the nation (Isaiah 49:3, 5). The climax of this section of Isaiah comes in our pericope where the servant’s mission is depicted in a very ironic salvation song (52:7-53:12).
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