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Lenten Season · Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord: Mass · Year C

Isaiah 50:4-7

God’s Mercy and Israel’s Unfaithfulness

April 9, 2028

The Crowning with Thorns, Titian
The Crowning with Thorns, Titian, 1542–1543Musée du Louvre, Paris
Titian's tormentors drive the crown down with staves from every side, in a composition built entirely out of converging diagonals.I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard.TitianThe dominant painter of sixteenth-century Venice (c. 1488-1576), who worked into his eighties and whose late manner, applied with fingers as much as brushes, startled even his admirers.Musée du Louvre, ParisA royal palace turned public museum by the Revolution in 1793, on the principle that what the king had owned now belonged to everyone.Musée du Louvre, Paris
Roman Lectionary
GospelLuke 22:14–23:56Lk 22:14–23:56 orLuke 23:1-49Lk 23:1-49
Second ReadingPhil. 2:6-11Phil 2:6-11
First ReadingIsa. 50:4-7Is 50:4-7
Responsorial PsalmPs. 22:8-9, 17-18a, 19-20, 23-24 (2a)Ps 22:8-9, 17-18a, 19-20, 23-24 (2a)

Overview & Insights

“Behold, I am doing a new thing... I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19)

After the parallel sequences of prophecies in 41:1–20 and 41:21–42:17 have come to their natural end in praise, a new pair of sequences begins. First Yahweh directly confronts Jacob-Israel about its capacity to fulfill the servant role (42:18–25). Then Jacob-Israel is reassured that nevertheless Yahweh, the one who brought the community into being, is still committed to it (43:1–7). Further, its calling to be Yahweh’s servant still stands, and beyond that, Yahweh intends that it shall also function as witnesses for Yahweh in the legal battle over who is really God (43:8–13). Fourth, Yahweh explicitly declares the intention to defeat Babylon for Jacob-Israel’s sake (43:14–21). After this fourth unit Yahweh returns to confronting Jacob-Israel. At this point a sequence parallel to 42:18–43:21 begins and develops these points further.

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Commentary

Commentary on Isaiah 50:4-9aCommentary on Is 50:4-9a Working Preacher

Lectionary commentary connecting the Servant's suffering to the Passion reading.

Isaiah 50 Commentary: The Servant's ObedienceIs 50 Commentary: The Servant's Obedience Enduring Word · David Guzik

Verse-by-verse treatment of the third Servant Song.

Isaiah 50 CommentaryIs 50 Commentary Precept Austin

Detailed word-study style commentary with cross-references.

Isaiah 50:4 CommentariesIs 50:4 Commentaries BibleHub

Aggregates classic commentaries verse by verse.

Isaiah 50 CommentaryIs 50 Commentary StudyLight

Geneva Bible notes and related commentary sets on the chapter.

Isaiah 50:4-9a CommentaryIs 50:4-9a Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

Preaching-focused reading of the Servant Song for Passion Sunday.

Background & Word Study

Isaiah 50:4 InterlinearIs 50:4 Interlinear BibleHub

Hebrew text and parsing for the Servant's opening words.

Isaiah 50:4-7Is 50:4-7 Sefaria

Hebrew and English text side by side with linked commentary tools.

The Church Fathers

Catena on Isaiah 50Catena on Is 50 Catena

Patristic readings of the Servant's suffering as a type of Christ.

Questions preachers ask

What is the new thing in Isaiah 43?

God calls his people to stop dwelling on former things, for he is making a new way through the wilderness, blotting out their sins for his own sake.

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