Works in translation

Review: Behold My Servant

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Cover image of "Behold My Servant" by john Calvin, translated by Robert White.

Behold My Servant, John Calvin, translated by Robert White. Banner of Truth (ISBN: 9781800405080) 2025.

Summary: Seven sermons by John Calvin on Isaiah 52:13-53:12, the fourth “Servant Song” emphasizing his death for the sins of many.

Within the book of Isaiah, there are four passages speaking of “my servant,” often called the “Servant Songs.” They are among my favorite texts in Isaiah, having heard or read several expositions of these passages (and given a set myself!). They build up to the pinnacle of the last and most memorable of these, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, beginning with the words, “Behold My Servant.” While there have been many speculations about the identity of the servant (Israel? Cyrus?) most Christians believe that somehow Isaiah had a sneak peak at the life, death, and vindication of Jesus.

That was certainly John Calvin’s thinking. From Robert White’s introduction, we learn that Calvin preached daily. On Sundays, he usually preached from the New Testament or Psalms. On alternate weeks, he preached from Old Testament books. The seven sermons in this book were preached on Saturday, June 18 and Monday June 27 through Saturday July 2, 1558.

Before going on, I want to say a note about those hesitant of reading Calvin. Many fear he is too intellectual or obscure. Far from it! I spent a summer reading The Institutes, which was both intellectually and devotionally one of the richest reading experiences of my life. Calvin has both the razor sharp mind of the lawyer and a devotional warmth of one who is passionately caught up in what he writes. But read him in a good translation!

This is a good translation. And one of the first things I noticed is the directness with which Calvin addresses his listeners. For example, on Isaiah 53:4-6, writing on “by his wounds we are healed,” he pleads,

“Accordingly, let us learn to come to this source and fountainhead, so that we may draw from him all that we lack, Our Lord Jesus Christ has sufficient to satisfy all of us. We should not fear that the fullness of grace which he possess will ever run dry; he will give us his part and portion to each one who comes seeking it in him. Let us come boldly, then to our Lord Jesus Christ” (p. 53).

The sermons unfold the text as follows:

  1. The Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 52:13-53:1)
  2. The Rock of Offense (Isaiah 53:1-4)
  3. Stricken for Our Iniquities (Isaiah 53:4-6)
  4. A Lamb to the Slaughter (Isaiah 53:7-8)
  5. Seed for Many Generations (Isaiah 53:9-10)
  6. The Travail of His Soul (Isaiah 53:11)
  7. Our Advocate and Intercessor (Isaiah 53:12)

Calvin portrays the suffering of the Servant Jesus, that he was despised, knew grief, physical and mental anguish. Beyond this, he unfolds what the text reveals of the Servant’s mission is that necessitates this suffering. Specifically, sermon by sermon, he elaborates the Servant’s atoning sacrifice. He sprinkles us with his blood. He bears our weaknesses and sorrows as one stricken by God. And he bears our iniquities. We glimpse the scope of his saving mission. Finally, throughout these sermons, Calvin invites us to ‘come to Jesus Christ” — in humility, and continuing gratitude and trust.

In addition to the rich, substantive expositions of Isaiah’s text, Calvin concludes each sermon with a prayer. I found it a blessing to pray these aloud, agreeing with my brother across nearly 500 years. These sum up his theme for each text and lead us to appropriate the truth found within.

Another feature I would note is Robert White’s Introduction. Not only does he set the sermons in historical context. He also introduces key themes the reader will encounter. All in all, I would highly commend this series of messages, which whet my appetite to read more of Calvin’s sermons.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: We Do Not Part

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Cover image of "We Do Not Part" by Han Kang

We Do Not Part, Han Kang, translated by E. Yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris. Hogarth (ISBN: 9780593595459) 2025

Summary: Kyungha makes a harrowing journey through a blizzard to save a friend’s bird, confronting the reality behind her nightmares.

The nightmares began a few months after Kyungha, a historian, published a book on a massacre. She is making her way in a blizzard through a field of erect torsos like tree stumps as the sea behind her rises…. In the years since, she has struggled with depression and considered suicide. But she shared her dream with Inseon, a photographer who collaborated with her on documentaries. Inseon, who has become a friend, agrees to create an installation that will remember the massacre that was the source of the dreams. Kyungha is not so sure about this idea and asks her friend to drop the project.

Then she receives a text from Inseon, asking her to come to a hospital. Inseon, a woodworker, cut off the tips of a couple fingers and is undergoing a gruesome set of treatments that will last weeks to try to save the tips of her fingers. She has a favor to ask of Kyungha. In the rush to get her to hospital, she left behind her bird, that will soon die without food or water. Inseon lives on the island of Jeju in a remote location by a remote village. Getting there involves flights, bus rides, and hiking a trail up to her remote home. There is no one back home who she can ask to do this.

There are some things you do not deny a friend of twenty years. Kyungha departs immediately only to discover that she is flying into a blizzard. She is not adequately dressed. She manages to get the last bus to the village. Then, in a blinding storm, she has to make her way up to Inseon’s house. Kyungha gets lost, falls, yet miraculously makes her way. She is cold with soaked shoes. She soon begins to feel feverish.

This sets the stage for the second half of the novel, which reads like something of a fever dream. She finds Inseon had not abandoned their project, having cut one hundred logs for the installation. More than that, through a series of visions/dreams/hallucinations, Inseon recounts her mother’s personal accounts of the massive genocide that occurred on Jeju in 1948-1950. The South Korean government, with assistance from the United States, embarked on an effort to cleanse the island of Communism, resulting in the deaths of over 300,000 people [this really happened].

Kyungha confronts the nightmare reality of which her dreams were but a figment. It’s a personal account of Inseon’s mother, father, and extended family, many of whom died. But she experiences something else–the bond between her and Inseon of which the title speaks. Han Kang juxtaposes unspeakable violence and enduring friendship. She captures something of both the unspeakable evil of which we are capable and the nobility that breaks through the darkness. The imagery of dark stumps, rising seas, blizzards, light, and flame powerfully convey that juxtaposition.

Han Kang was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 2024 for her earlier body of work: The Vegetarian, The White Book, Human Acts, and Greek Lessons. While I’ve not read her earlier works, the combination of imagery, the plotting, and the juxtaposition of a friendship with a horror of history reveals Han Kang’s skill and artistic vision.