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How can we describe someone who remains completely anonymous? Chapters 40 to 55 of the Book of Isaiah constitute a short collection of prophetic texts that make up a clear literary unit, whose author has effaced himself behind his message. We know neither his name nor the place from which he speaks. All we know is that his message concerns the events which took place around 538 years before Jesus Christ, when Cyrus, king of the Persians, allowed the Jews exiled in Babylon to return to their homeland. The name “Second Isaiah” was given to the author of this collection because his thinking is inspired by a tradition that goes back to the great eighth-century prophet Isaiah. This Second Isaiah has to announce an absolutely unthinkable event: a tiny group of people, a “remnant” that may have numbered no more than 15,000, was going to cross the desert in a kind of new Exodus (43:16-21) and come back to Jerusalem. It is hardly surprising that those who heard him remained unconvinced. A deported nation was often doomed to disappear, and the seventy years of exile must have caused deep discouragement: people assumed that the covenant which God had wished to make with his people was broken, that God had had enough of them. By what arguments could this discouragement be overcome? If God is eternal, his wisdom must also have resources beyond anything we can imagine, and his strength must be literally inexhaustible (40:27-31). And the prophet came up with even more powerful images: can a mother forget the child she has borne (49:14-15), or a man reject the woman who was the great love of his youth (54:6-7)? The first words of this collection are repeated insistently: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God” (40:1). After a time of extreme desolation, the people needs to be “comforted,” which means to be enabled to cease their lamenting, to stand up straight and acquire new courage. Though this people may well be at the end of their rope, this comfort must show that a future for them flows from the heart of God. The image of God that believers had acquired has been purified through the extreme trial of the exile, as can also be seen by reading the Book of Job. When Second Isaiah speaks of God, there are no outbursts of anger, no threats, no authoritarian affirmations. God loves, and does so for no other reason than because of his love (43:4,25). It could be said that from now on, all God can do is love (54:7-10). If he brings his people back to their land and to their city, that restoration will have consequences for all the nations (45:22; 52:10), for God is a universal God (51:4). In the utterly free choice of one nation, in the forgiveness shown by the return from exile (in some sense even more undeserved), God goes beyond his own covenant with this people. The king of the Persians can thus receive the title of “Anointed”, Messiah (45:1), and the authentic ministry of mediation between God and human beings will be entrusted to a humble Servant. That Servant will reflect the characteristics of his God. Not only will he not impose himself (42:1-5), but he himself will be vulnerable to the others’ discouragement (49:4-6). He will not reply with harsh words to those who mock him (50:5-6). Continuing to listen to God like the humblest of believers (50:4), he will go to the point of taking upon himself all the unbelief around him (53:12), following the example of the God who has “borne” his people throughout their entire history (46:3-4).
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Kako možemo opisati nekoga tko ostaje potpuno anoniman? Poglavlja 40 do 55 Knjige proroka Izaije sadrže kratku zbirku proročkih tekstova koji čine jasnu književnu cjelinu čiji se autor skriva iza svoje poruke. Mi ne znamo niti njegovo ime niti mjesto odakle govori. Sve što znamo je da se njegova poruka tiče događaja koji su se dogodili oko 538. godine prije Isusa Krista, kad je Kir, kralj Perzijanaca, dopustio Židovima prebjeglima u Babilon povratak u domovinu. Ime «Drugi Izaija» nadjenuto je autoru ove zbirke jer je njegovo promišljanje nadahnuto tradicijom koja seže u prošlost do velikog proroka iz osmog stoljeća, Izaije. Ovaj Drugi Izaija mora objaviti apsolutno nezamisliv događaj: mala skupina ljudi, «ostatak» koji nije mogao brojiti više od 15.000, prijeći će pustinju u svojevrsnom novom Izlasku (43,16-21) i vratiti se u Jeruzalem. Nije osobito iznenađenje da oni koji su ga čuli nisu bili baš uvjereni. Iseljen narod je često bio osuđen na nestanak, a sedamdeset godina egzila sigurno je izazvalo duboko obeshrabrenje: ljudi su pretpostavljali da je Savez koji je Bog želio sklopiti s njihovim narodom prekinut, da ih je Bogu dosta. Kojim bi se argumentima moglo nadvladati ovo obeshrabrenje? Ako je Bog vječan, i njegova mudrost mora imati izvore koji nadilaze sve što možemo zamisliti, a njegova moć mora biti doslovno neiscrpna (40,27-31). Tako je prorok iznio još moćnije slike: može li majka zaboraviti svoje dijete (49,14-15), ili čovjek odbiti ženu koja je bila velika ljubav njegove mladosti (54,6-7)? Prve riječi u ovoj zbirci uporno se ponavljaju: «Tješite, tješite moj narod, govori Bog vaš» (40,1). Nakon iznimno teških vremena, narod treba «utjehu», što znači mogućnost da prestanu jadikovati, da se usprave i dobiju novu hrabrost. Iako bi ovaj narod lako mogao biti na rubu propasti, ova utjeha mora pokazati da njihova budućnost izvire iz Božjeg srca. Slika Boga koju su vjernici dobili pročišćena je ekstremnom kušnjom egzila, što se također može vidjeti čitajući Knjigu o Jobu. Kada Drugi Izaija govori o Bogu, nema izljeva bijesa, nema prijetnji, nema autoritarnih tvrdnji. Bog ljubi, a za to nema drugi razlog osim svoje ljubavi (43,4,25). Moglo bi se reći da od sada nadalje, Bog može samo ljubiti (54,7-10). Ako dovodi svoj narod u svoju zemlju i u svoj grad, taj će povratak imati posljedice na sve narode (45,22; 52,10), jer Bog je univerzalni Bog (51,4). U posve slobodnom izboru jednog naroda, u praštanju pokazanom povratkom iz egzila (u nekom smislu čak nezasluženom), Bog nadilazi svoj vlastiti savez s tim narodom. Perzijski kralj tako može primiti naslov «Pomazanika», Mesije (45,1), te autentično poslanje posredovanja između Boga i ljudi bit će povjereno poniznome Sluzi. Taj će Sluga odražavati karakteristike svog Boga. Ne samo da će izložiti sebe (42,1-5), nego će i sam biti izložen obeshrabrenju drugih (49,4-6). Neće odgovarati grubim riječima onima koji ga ismijavaju (50,5-6). Nastavljajući slušati Boga kao najponizniji među vjernicima (50,4), ići će dotle da na sebe preuzme sve nevjerništvo oko sebe (53,12), slijedeći primjer Boga koji je «nosio» svoj narod kroz čitavu njegovu povijest (46,3-4).