03-09-2024, 12:56 AM
There are a lot of details in this thread, so I would like to try a little summary of what I think is my most important point.
Counter-missionaries claim that one of many reasons why Jesus cannot be the servant of Isaiah 52-53 is that Jesus was not buried with the wicked as Isaiah 53:9 describes. In the details, their objection has been that he did not share a grave with the wicked, but was allegedly buried nearby in a rich man's tomb.
Well, the nation Israel was not buried with the wicked, either, except perhaps a few individuals. So, for Judaism to claim that the nation Israel is the servant, they must interpret Isaiah 53:9 as not describing or requiring that the servant was literally in the same grave as the wicked, but rather that their death was associated with the wicked in another way.
So, if that counter-missionary claim is applied to the nation Israel, that cannot be the servant, either. So, the counter-missionaries had better either withdraw their objection to the traditional Christian Jesus to be able to accept the nation Israel as the servant, or maintain their objection and reject both.
I accept the counter-missionaries' challenge and accept the NT account as implying that Jesus must have been buried with the wicked, perhaps with the bodies touching, and therefore Isaiah 53:9 is not at all a reason to disqualify the real Jesus of Nazareth. I advise the counter-missionaries to get their house in order, because their current position is untenable.
Counter-missionaries claim that one of many reasons why Jesus cannot be the servant of Isaiah 52-53 is that Jesus was not buried with the wicked as Isaiah 53:9 describes. In the details, their objection has been that he did not share a grave with the wicked, but was allegedly buried nearby in a rich man's tomb.
Well, the nation Israel was not buried with the wicked, either, except perhaps a few individuals. So, for Judaism to claim that the nation Israel is the servant, they must interpret Isaiah 53:9 as not describing or requiring that the servant was literally in the same grave as the wicked, but rather that their death was associated with the wicked in another way.
So, if that counter-missionary claim is applied to the nation Israel, that cannot be the servant, either. So, the counter-missionaries had better either withdraw their objection to the traditional Christian Jesus to be able to accept the nation Israel as the servant, or maintain their objection and reject both.
I accept the counter-missionaries' challenge and accept the NT account as implying that Jesus must have been buried with the wicked, perhaps with the bodies touching, and therefore Isaiah 53:9 is not at all a reason to disqualify the real Jesus of Nazareth. I advise the counter-missionaries to get their house in order, because their current position is untenable.