Isaiah 40 and John 1
Today at Considering the Canon, Matt Emerson notes for us a canonical connection between these two important texts. --JC
This past Sunday (July 26th) I preached a message on Isaiah 40:1-11 entitled “God is the Gospel.” In the course of my study through the passage, I noticed a few interesting points of canonical intersection. These occurred within Isaiah itself, with other parts of the Hebrew Bible, and also with the New Testament. It is this use of Isaiah 40 in the New Testament that I would like to focus on in this post.
While walking through Isaiah 40:1-11, a certain structure seemed to be indicated by various literary devices, the most important being repetition. If you look at this passage in the Hebrew, there are a number of repetitions, but in terms of structure the most significant seem to be the repetition of the words “cry” and “voice”. In verse 2, Isaiah is told to ‘cry’ to Israel the message of comfort commanded by God in verse 1; in verse 3 ‘cry’ is used for the description of what the messenger who prepares the way of the Lord does; and in verse 6 ‘cry’ is used twice to again point to the message that is to be proclaimed. ‘Voice’ also has three repetitions, found in verses 3, 6, and 9. The structure of the passage, based on these repetitions, seems to be four parallel messages of comfort. The first is found in verses 1 and 2, the second in verses 3 through 5, the third in verses 6 through 8, and the last in verses 9 through 11.[1] Each of these describes salvation in different terms, but they are all related to the message of comfort that is, in the final analysis, found in the declaration of verse 9 for the people to “Behold your God!” Comfort is given through and the heralding of the good news is equated to seeing God’s glory (cf. again v. 9, also v. 5). Verses 1 and 2 describe this salvation in terms of forgiveness of sins,[2] verses 3 through 5 proclaim a messenger preparing the way so that the people can see God’s glory (i.e. see salvation, cf. Luke 3:6), verses 6 through 8 describe salvation in terms of the eternal Word, and verses 9 through 11 describe it as being able to behold their God. Finally, behind all of this comfort is the idea of restoration, which is seen in numerous points of intertextuality (namely 40:2 and Is. 1; cf. also v.2 and Is. 53:5-6, 10-12) and in the close connection with chapter 35. We also get a clear picture of restoration in verses 3 and 4. So Isaiah seems to be telling his readers to be comforted by the fact that restorative salvation is coming through the forgiveness of sins, the glory of God revealed, the Word eternal, and the ability to behold their God.
Keeping that structure and the four ways in which Isaiah describes salvation in mind, it is interesting to look at John 1 after reading through Isaiah 40:1-11. There is an obvious connection with Is. 40:3-5 in Jn. 1:23, because John directly quotes Isaiah in reference to John the Baptist being the messenger preparing the way. But it seems that there is more of a connection than just this direct quotation. In Jn. 1:15, John is said to have ‘bore witness’ and ‘cried out’, which when tied to verse 23 is another reference to Is. 40:3-5. What is even more interesting is that the verse directly preceding this, Jn. 1:14, says that “we have seen his glory”. This is a verbal parallel to Is. 40:5, where it is said that all flesh (cf. Jn 1:13) will see the glory of God (cf. Luke 3:6 where Luke says that we will see the salvation of God). Again, verse 18 of John 1 makes a reference to ‘seeing’ God, which, in light of the other connections with Isaiah 40:1-11 and especially in Jn. 1:14ff., would seem to also be connected to the main thrust of Isaiah 40:1-11, i.e. beholding God. Given the connections seen thus far, it would not be a stretch to speculate that Jn. 1:1, which is a reference Gen. 1:1, also has a connection to Isaiah 40:6-8. The emphasis on the Word being eternal in verses 1-3 and the revealing nature of the Word in verses 5 and 14 makes this connection even more plausible. There is, finally, and perhaps most explicitly aside from Jn. 1:23, a clear connection in Jn. 1:29 with the whole section of Isaiah 40:1-11. John the Baptist exclaims when he sees Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This ties in reverse order the first and last sections of Isaiah 40:1-11 together, namely the comfort of the forgiveness of sins in 40:2 and the gospel of beholding God in 40:9. So John seems to have brought all four aspects of Isaiah’s message of being comforted by the promise of restorative salvation (forgiveness of sins, seeing the glory of God, the presence of the eternal Word, and beholding their God) to bear on his first chapter.
I would propose, then, that there is a very strong canonical connection between Isaiah 40:1-11 and John 1:1-34. To conclude I would also like to propose that, if indeed this connection does exist, it seems John’s purpose is to begin his Gospel with an explicit tie to the message of restorative salvation in Isaiah 40. This would fit well with other proposals about John’s emphasis on the new creation, and would tie in with the allusion to Genesis 1:1 in John 1:1ff. In other words, John is perhaps telling his readers that the restoration of all things is at hand, and it is through seeing God’s glory made manifest in his Son Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, that this restorative salvation has come to mankind.
[1] Verses 12ff. are of course part of this passage, but in my opinion they are a further description of the greatness and glory of God that is the essence of the message of these four parts. Therefore verses 12ff. are used by the author to describe why and how seeing God’s glory is equal to salvation. This means that in terms of the delineating the structure of the actual message of comfort, these verses can be subsumed under the overall message as descriptive.
[2] cf. Isaiah 53:5-6, 10-12 for intertextuality with these verses.
nice work. i was reading Schrieners’ NT Theology and he doesn’t make any connection so far at least with the Servant Songs in Isaiah with the Gospel of John. Perhaps this is a solid connection. He does connect the motif with the synopics but he highlights other OT motifs with John, ie Lamb of God.
Great observations, Matt. I am ceaselessly amazed by the presence of intertextual links in the so-called “Servant Songs” of Isaiah 40-55. The location of Isaiah 40 is particularly intriguing. Leaving critical considerations aside for the moment, the shift in genre, from prose to poetry (cf. 39-40), is remarkably abrupt. Perhaps this “innertextual seam” is meant to draw the reader’s attention to the time of when all these things (i.e. Isaiah 40 – 55) will come to pass. In view the textual links you have demonstrated between Isaiah 40 and John 1, one would be remiss should he overlook the other predictions in this portion of Isaiah.
Isaiah 42:1ff. The Lord promises a servant who “will not cry aloud nor lift up his voice” but who will “faithfully bring forth justice” for all peoples.
Isaiah 45:22ff. All the ends of the earth are commanded to turn (shub) to God and be saved. Furthermore, salvation will come through the Word of the Lord: “From my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess allegiance.”
Isaiah 48:17-21. The author types the wanderings of the wilderness and the flowing waters from the rock as the judgment that has befallen Israel because of her sin. Yet immediately Isaiah follows the pronouncement of despair with an eschatological hope: Isaiah 49:8-10 “Thus says the LORD: “In a time of favor I will answer you; in a day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people… they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.” Those who thirst, as Israel once did in the desert, will be satisfied by the True Rock (cf. 1 Cor 10:1ff).
Isaiah 51:1-6. The author connects the promise to Abraham’s seed with the comfort of Zion “3For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song. 4 “Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
Isaiah 52:3-10. Isaiah recounts the sojourn in Egypt and Assyrian’s oppression as a type of the spiritual bondage of Israel. Just as the Lord faithfully delivered his people in the past, he now declares that “in that day” of redemption, all will know that He is the Lord; He reigns; and He has saved his people. “7How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” 8The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion. 9 Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”
Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12. The one who will declare peace, bring good news of happiness, and publish salvation is the Suffering Servant, who comforts his people.
Isaiah 54:1ff. The children of the barren woman will “break forth into singing” and “cry aloud” when the Seed possess the nations and restores the desolate cities.
Isaiah 55:1-11. All who thirst are invited to “come to the waters” and “to hear, that [their] soul may live.” The Greater David, with whom the Lord has established an everlasting covenant (55:3) will be a witness to the peoples (55:4). We are invited to “seek the Lord while he may be found,” “call upon his name while he is near,” and “to return (shub) to the Lord” who has compassion on his people and will abundantly pardon them. This is why “His thoughts are higher than our thoughts,” and “ways higher not our ways.” The rain and snow which the Lord sends from heaven are a sign to his people, and so shall be the Eternal Word that proceeds from the Lord’s mouth. And it is this Word that will accomplish the purpose for which the Lord sent him (3ms), namely, the salvation of his people.
In view of the close relationship between the songs of Isaiah 40 – 55, I’m convinced that the “word” of Isaiah 55 is not merely the word spoken, nor it is referring to the word written; contrarily, Isaiah is inform the reader of the Eternal Word of Isaiah 40 and John 1, who himself is the good news for all peoples.
I love the site; keep the articles coming.
Doug