Stop 5. The servant and the psalm

Two Old Testament texts carry more green arcs than any others: Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22.

Isaiah's servant suffers for others. "He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins" (Isaiah 53:5). Four New Testament writers point to him. Matthew applies 53:4 to Jesus' healings (Matthew 8:17). John quotes 53:1 (John 12:38). Philip meets an Ethiopian reading 53:7–8 on the road, "and beginning with this scripture proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him" (Acts 8:35). Peter writes, "By his wounds you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24), and says the prophets "predicted the grace that would come to you" (1 Peter 1:10).

Psalm 22 is David's cry: "They are dividing up my clothes among themselves; they are rolling dice for my garments" (Psalm 22:18). At the cross the soldiers throw dice for Jesus' tunic, and John writes, "This took place to fulfill the scripture" (John 19:24). Is the psalm a prediction or a pattern? Acts 2:30 calls David "a prophet", so readers label it both ways.

The other arcs here come to the cross from the Passover lamb, "you must not break a bone of it" (Exodus 12:46; John 19:36), and from Zechariah's "they will look to me, the one they have pierced" (Zechariah 12:10; John 19:37).

Picture: Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 into the Gospels, Acts and 1 Peter. Layer: band 2.