The Servant comes, and the arm of the Lord is revealed (Isaiah 53:1). The Servant’s face and form are marred, stricken, pierced, crushed, chastened, scourged.

It looks like the body that’s already there, the body of Israel: “Where will you be stricken again, as you continue in rebellion? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, only bruises, welts, and raw wounds, not pressed out or bandaged, nor softened with oil” (Isaiah 1:5-6). It looks like a body suffering the smiting and strokes Yahweh threatened in Deuteronomy 28.

What kind of help is this ? When the Lord finally comes to help, He doesn’t bring anything new. The Servant only reflects the disfigurements of the body politic back to the people. Judah already knew it was ugly. What she needs is a makeover. Why did the Lord instead send a mirror?

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory . . . . The God who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the [disfigured] face of Jesus.”