If we compare the readings from today to those from last week, we see a strikingly similar theme. The First Reading is another of the Servant Songs from Isaiah (Isaiah 49:3,5-6) and the Gospel from John is another version of the story of the Baptism of Jesus (John 1:29-34). However, because the word of God within sacred scripture holds infinite meaning we can be assured that there is something new to learn from today’s message.

In the reading from Isaiah we detect a dichotomy in the identity of the Servant of God. In verse three the servant is identified as the people of Israel who reveal the glory of God. In verses five through six the servant appears to be an individual who was formed in the womb, chosen at birth to be God’s representative. He is honored with the task to not only restore the nation of Israel to its fullness, but also bring the salvation of the LORD to all the nations of the earth. John the Baptist references Jesus in this manner when he acknowledges him to be the one “who takes away the sin of the world.”

Perhaps there isn’t a discrepancy in the identity of the servant. It may be a “both/and” type of scenario where the servant is both the nation of Israel and an individual at the same time. If we examine the history of Israel from the Old Testament and the impact of Jesus on the world, we may see how this can be.

The people of the chosen nation of Israel were the descendants of the Patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They were made up of the twelve tribes who evolved from the twelve sons of Jacob. Through the work of Moses and Aaron, by the power of God’s hand they were liberated from slavery in Egypt (1250BCE) and brought to live in the Promised Land (1290BCE).

Their history continued to be a very tumultuous one from that time forward. It was one that involved repeated conflicts with neighboring enemies battling over possession of the land as a series of empires rose to and fell from existence.

The first major impact on the nation of Israel came from the super empire of Assyria who conquered the northern portion of Israel and dispelled the ten northern tribes to other locations throughout the Middle East (722 BCE). The second occurred when the mighty Babylonians invaded the southern area of Judah, devastating Jerusalem and destroying the Temple in the process. Most of the rich and powerful Judeans were taken into captivity to Babylon, while the poor peasants were left behind to attempt to survive on the land (586BCE). Many of these fled to Egypt for chance of a better life.

The next great empire brought some fortune back to the people now known as the Jews as Cyrus, the leader of Persia released the prior inhabitants of Judah to return to their homeland to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple (539BCE). After decades of exile, many of the next generation Jews decided to remain in Babylon as they had already established new lives there.

These various conquests of the nation of Israel throughout the years resulted in the territory known as the Diaspora, a word meaning “scattered” or “dispersed.” These were populations of Jews living in the countries we know today as Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq and other parts of the Middle East.

With the conquest of the Greeks under Alexander the Great, who brought his Hellenistic culture to the Middle East (332BCE), and finally the Romans who became the greatest world empire during the first century BCE, the Diaspora was extended to include parts of Greece and later Rome, as well. The nation of Israel was now positioned to bring its monotheistic belief in the one true God to the rest of the world as the servant spoken about by Isaiah.

Enter the time of Jesus and his followers, the disciples. After his death and resurrection and upon his ascension he tasked them, now as apostles, to carry the message of the gospel and “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

One of the main places they took their message was to their Jewish kinfolk living throughout the Diaspora. Thus, we find Mark, the companion of Peter, in Rome, Matthew in Antioch, and John in Ephesus. And others in far off places, like Philip in what is now Russia, Thomas in India, and Bartholomew in Ethiopia.

A large portion of the Jewish people in these synagogues were converted to Christianity as a result of the efforts of these Apostles. It was the message of Jesus which they brought, the good news of God’s salvation which had now reached the ends of the earth as a light to all nations. This was a task accomplished through both the nation of Israel and the life and mission of Jesus, dual servants about which Isaiah had spoken in his prophecies.