Last Sunday we celebrated Easter, the holiest day of the Christian calendar.
Easter, as you probably know whether or not you're a Christian, marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the Sunday following an unjust trial, torture, execution and burial. Taken together, the events of that fateful weekend form the cornerstone of our religion. They flow together as one.
Jesus had to be martyred to be resurrected. So, no Good Friday, no Easter. No Easter, no Christianity. St. Paul wrote, "If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."
As luck would have it, my church's mid-week Bible study group, which I lead, is studying the Old Testament book of Isaiah. We reached chapters 50 through 53 just in time for Easter.
I wish I could say I planned it that neatly, but my lesson-planning skills leave much to be desired. Still, we got to this crucial portion of Isaiah at exactly the right time.
These chapters predict an unnamed, suffering servant who will arise in the future to deliver people from their slavery in a foreign land and from their sins.
Unlike other famous leaders, this one will be remarkable not for his might, charisma and pomp, but for his self-sacrifice, ordinariness and humility.
If you read the commentaries of ancient and modern Jewish rabbis, which I try to do regularly -- the Old Testament originated with the Jewish people, after all -- you see that Jewish scholars appear uncertain about the identity of this unnamed leader.
However, Christians long ago appropriated this figure for themselves. For centuries, they've identified Isaiah's suffering servant as Jesus, even though he didn't appear on the scene until 700 years after Isaiah lived.
I have all respect for rabbinic scholarship, which continues to teach me more than I can repay.
Still, I'm a Christian and I, too, think Isaiah was prophesying about Jesus.
Why does this matter? For several reasons, including that Isaiah paints us a portrait of what true, godly leadership looks like. In the New Testament's Gospels, God himself incarnates a human being who sounds a lot like Isaiah's suffering servant.
What a contrast between Jesus' leadership and the leaders we promote to power in our own politics, government, pop culture, military and business.
The two styles of leadership, and the kingdoms they represent, could not possibly be more different. If any politician today ran for office on the Jesus platform, he'd get hooted out of every convention center in the good ole U.S. of A.
Consider:
Isaiah's servant comes with his ear "opened" by God. In ancient times the opening of an ear indicated a slave whose ear had had an awl driven through it so the resulting ear-hole could hold his master's identifying earring. Isaiah's leader is a slave, not a task-master. (Isa. 50:5) He's not cracking the whip on sinners; he's kneeling to wash their dirty feet.
He willingly offers up his unprotected back to those who flog him, his cheeks to those who angrily pluck out his beard and his face to those who spit in it. He presumably possesses all power, yet refuses to fight back. (Isa. 50:6)
He comes to his people "like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground." (Isa. 53:2) He's not a martinet, but sensitive, open and encouraging.
He is "despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face he was despised, and we did not esteem him." (Isa. 53:3) He's not looked up to, but more often looked down upon.
He's willing to carry others' burdens. "The chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed." (Isa. 53:5) He's personally irreproachable, but willing to accept the blame due the guilty.
Even when he's oppressed and afflicted, he doesn't complain. "Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth." (Isa. 53:7) Faced with wild, made-up accusations, he doesn't respond in kind.
He doesn't believe the ends justify the means. He forswears violence and never deceives anyone, friend or foe, even when bending the truth might advance his cause. (Isa. 53:9)
He intercedes with God on behalf of the very people abusing him. (Isa. 53:12) He not only goes to bat for his friends and supporters, but for his enemies, too.
There's more.
But one takeaway of it all is this: do you want to find God's leader, God's hero of the hour? These are the qualities you look for: humility, mercy, selflessness, grace, generosity.
Unfortunately, God's model of a leader bears little resemblance to the leaders we habitually pick for ourselves in politics or in society as a whole.
At Easter, we remember the time such a leader actually came -- when God showed up in the flesh to teach us what it means to lead people that you love more than you love your own life.
Paul Prather is pastor of Bethesda Church near Mount Sterling, Ky. You can email him at
pratpd@yahoo.com