Several of my most emotional personal experiences reading scripture happened in Isaiah, particularly the last third of the book.
As a 20-year-old laboring to understand the biblical Hebrew of Isaiah, suddenly chapter 50 enthralled me. I could almost hear the voice of the pre-incarnate anointed Messiah: Feeling extreme emotions. Awakened morning by morning. In the throes of deadly trials and persecution. Overcoming in ultimate courage and victory.
Imagine my surprise and feeling of justification (no pun intended) when I recently learned the emphasis the Jewish sages placed on these very chapters in synagogue readings. They come on the seven sabbaths immediately following the great mourning of the 9th of the summertime month of Av (the date when both the 1st and 2nd Temples were destroyed in divine judgment). There is no other stretch of the prophets and writings so highlighted by the sages. In both Orthodox Judaism and Christianity, these chapters in Isaiah are understood as prophecies of consolation, ultimate national redemption, and the future Messianic Era. Seven Sabbaths of consolation from Isaiah
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