NOTES for Isa 50:4-7
Speaking about his prophetic ministry, Isaiah mentions certain persecutions that he endured. At the same time he speaks of God, who opened his ear. The reference is clearly to Isaiah's prophetic calling: God allowed him to hear His voice, calling him to serve Him. And immediately the text turns to the persecutions which, judging from the prophet's words, begin right after this encounter. It is hard to say exactly which events in Isaiah's biography are meant. It is clear only that his ministry was by no means simple. But for the prophet himself, persecution proves to be the natural and logical continuation of his calling and of his subsequent prophetic ministry.
Isaiah's awareness of the inner connection between his spiritual path and the rejection he aroused in those around him made his path a prototype of the earthly path of Christ, who, of course, also understood perfectly the reasons He was rejected by those who, it would seem, should have rejoiced at His coming. This is not simply the hatred for the righteous person that every sinner feels, consciously or unconsciously, when trying to justify his sin.
There is something more here: here is the Kingdom entering the world. And it does not fit into any human framework: not political, not social, not religious. To accept the Kingdom, to enter it, one has to give up every kind of framework. And that is frightening. A person is especially frightened for his religiosity, because it is more important than social status or political preferences. Of course, the witness of the prophet is not the witness of the Messiah.
The Messiah brings the Kingdom into the world; the prophet only bears witness to it as something destined to enter the world. But Isaiah's witness, the image of the Messiah and the Kingdom that appears in his preaching, also did not fit into any traditional framework of his era. It is no wonder that the prophet's witness aroused rejection and resistance, possibly even persecution and harassment. Meanwhile Isaiah, it appears, understood perfectly why he was being persecuted. And he had no illusions about his contemporaries, just as the One who brought into the world the Kingdom to which Isaiah bore witness had none.