Questions about the Savior and the Servant

Questions: (1) Is the Savior a type for the servant? Or can someone greater be the type of someone lesser? (2) Could our continual focus on the servant be in some ways eclipsing the Savior himself?

Answer: Rather than seeing the Savior as a type of his servant, it is more in line with typological thinking to perceive that both fit a classic messianic pattern. Elements of that pattern were established by Enoch, Moses, Melchizedek, David, Hezekiah, and Book of Mormon kings and prophets. They appear even in the prophet Joseph Smith, and will also be visible in others such as the 144,000 servants of God—the end-time saviors who will stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion.

A “continual focus” on the servant, moreover—if such indeed is prevalent among those who study the words of Isaiah—is uncalled for and misplaced. Our focus should be on the Lord, as so it appears in Isaiah’s prophecies themselves. It is enough that we believe in the servant as an indispensable player in Isaiah’s end-time scenario—together with the Antichrist king of Assyria and other actors—as belief in the servant is a necessary precondition for the Lord’s raising him up.

On the other hand, if our focus on the servant is to define his attributes and the nature of his mission within the larger context of Isaiah’s prophecies so that we can recognize him by the things he does—and also discern the counterfeits who don’t fit the pattern, who seem to pop up almost daily—that could be a profitable focus. For that reason, I’m personally uncomfortable with dwelling on the servant other than to identify what Isaiah and the scriptures say on the subject.