Easy Listening?

This passage makes me think of a piece of music by John Tavener, which is based on the William Blake poem – The Lamb (you’ll find it on YouTube). It is a tune that takes a bit of getting used to as it sounds like the notes are all wrong and clash over each other, but then something shifts and it seems to make sense – a bit like this passage.

The question in verse 1 asks who has believed “the message”, which is the good news of salvation.  However, just as the title of the music The Lamb makes you think of a cute white ball of wool bouncing around a field, once the music starts you soon lose that image.  This is similar to the description of the Messiah that Isaiah writes about, where He is described as being despised, rejected, familiar with suffering, from whom men hid their faces and a man of sorrows, not the type of Messiah that was expected by the Jews.  

The Lamb can be difficult to listen to, and I would imagine to perform. Similarly, this passage can be difficult to read.  It is hard to learn that our Saviour was ‘pierced for our transgressions’, ‘punished’ and ‘carried our sorrows’. However, I find that what makes the song difficult to listen to also makes it so moving. So perhaps this Easter as we read some of the passages that talk of the cruelty our Saviour experienced, it will make us appreciate His love for us even more when we truly understand what He suffered for us.

Diane D