The Divine Lawsuit Motif in Isaiah 40-55 Flashcards
Although the narrative presents a division of opinion about who Jesus is, the narrator’s point of view has already been made explicit in the prologue – Jesus is to be identified as the Logos who is one with God and has come as the light of life in salvific judgment of the world’s darkness.
John 1:1-9 see also 3:19-21
Ironically Pilate sits in the judge’s seat!
John 19:13
Abundance of legal language
The noun ‘witness’ or ‘testimony’ (μαρτυρία) = x14 (x4 in the Synoptics)
The verb ‘to witness’ or ‘to testify’ (μαρτυρεν) = x33 (x2 in the Synoptics)
The verb ‘to judge’ (κρίνειν) = x19 (x6 in Matthew, x6 in Luke.)
Forensic sense of ‘truth’ (ληθεία) = x25 (x7 in the Synoptics)
The adjective ληθής, ‘true,’ (and its cognate ληθινός) = x23 (x3 in the synoptics)
Major statements of Jesus’ mission are formulated in these terms.
In 18:37 he tells Pilate, ‘For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.
In John 9:39 Jesus says:
‘I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind’
How do we know that John read Isaiah 40-55?
Because he quotes from it three times:
Isaiah 40:3 quoted in John 1:23
Isaiah 53:1 quoted in John 12:38
Isaiah 54:13 quoted in John 6:45
Which sections of Isaiah have the features of a lawsuit between YHWH and his people?
Isaiah 42:18-25 and 43:22-28
Which sections of Isaiah have the characteristics of trial speeches?
Isaiah 41:1-5; 41:21-29; 43:8-13; 44:6-8 and 45:18-25
The divine throne room and its heavenly council is the nerve centre of the universe, and the location of the divine judge.
Isaiah 6:1-5
Where is the court scene at the Jewish council where a sentence is passed on Jesus in his absence?
John 11:47-53
Twice, Jesus agrees to the legal demands that there should be more than one witness in his case
John 5:31; 8:17
Despite the law, Jesus’ testimony is to be deemed to be true and self-authenticating because of his unique identity
John 8:14
Where does Jesus depicts his and the Father’s witness as being ‘collaborative’? Where is this an echo of in Isaiah?
John 8:18. It echoes YHWH and the servant in Isaiah 43:10
The earlier of John’s 2 main trial scenes includes echoes of YHWH’s accusations against Israel…
‘you have never heard’ (5:37b, cf. Isa. 48:8)
In both trial scenes, we see Jesus turn the tables on accusers as both Abraham and Moses, who have been used against him, are employed to indict the opposition.
John 5:45-47; 8:33-40
