The Suffering Messiah

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. [For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but upon you the LORD will shine, and His glory will be seen upon you]" (Isaiah 60:1-2). This is what was said by the Holy Spirit through David, king of Israel: "For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light" (Psalms 36:10). With reference to whom did David speak this verse? He spoke it only with reference to the Assembly of Israel. They said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the universe, on account of the Torah that You gave me, which is called the fountain of life, I am destined to take delight in Your light in the time to come. What is "in Your light do we see light"? What light is this that the Assembly of Israel awaits? This is the light of the Messiah, as it is said: "And God saw the light, that it was good" (Genesis 1:4). This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, contemplated the Messiah and his deeds before the world was created, [and He hid it away] for His Messiah and for his generation beneath the throne of His glory. Satan said before the Holy One, blessed be He: [Master of the universe, the light that is hidden beneath the throne of Your glory, for whom is it? He said to him: For one who is destined to turn you back and put you to shame with a humiliated face. He said to Him:] Master of the universe, show him to me. He said to him: Come and see him. And when he saw him, he was shaken and fell upon his face and said: Surely this is the Messiah who is destined to cast me and all the ministering angels of the nations of the world into Gehinnom, as it is said: "He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces" (Isaiah 25:8). [In that hour the nations were agitated.] They said before Him: Master of the universe, who is this one into whose hand we are to fall? What is his name? What is his nature? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: He is the Messiah, and his name is Ephraim, My righteous Messiah, who raises up his own stature and the stature of his generation, and gives light to the eyes of Israel, and saves his people, and no nation or tongue can stand against him, as it is said: "No enemy shall exact from him, nor shall the son of iniquity afflict him" (Psalms 89:23). And all his enemies and adversaries flee, as it is said: "And I will beat down his adversaries before him" (Psalms 89:24). And even rivers cease in the sea, as it is said: "And I will set his hand on the sea, and his right hand on the rivers" (Psalms 89:26). The Holy One, blessed be He, began to make a condition with him and said: These who are hidden away with you, their sins are destined to bring you under an iron yoke and to make you like this calf whose eyes have grown dim, and they will choke your spirit with the yoke, and on account of the sins of these your tongue is destined to cleave to your palate. Do you accept this upon yourself? The Messiah said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Perhaps that suffering is for many years? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: By your life and by the life of My head, it is one week that I have decreed upon you. If your soul is grieved, I will banish them from now. He said before Him: Master of the worlds, with the rejoicing of my soul and with the gladness of my heart I take it upon myself, on condition that not one of Israel shall perish, and that not only the living shall be saved in my days, [but even those hidden in the dust, and that not only the dead shall be saved in my days, but even those dead who died from the days of Adam the first man until now,] and not these alone, but even the stillborn [shall be saved in my days], and not these alone shall be saved in my days, but [all those whom] it arose in Your mind to create and who were not created. This is what I want; this I take upon myself. In that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, appoints for him four living creatures who bear the throne of the glory of the Messiah. In that hour his enemies and the ministers of the kingdoms said: Come, let us slander the generation of the Messiah, that they may never be created. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: How will you slander that generation, which is precious and lovely, and in which I rejoice, and which I desire, and which I uphold, and which I want, as it is said: "Behold My servant, whom I uphold; [My chosen, in whom My soul delights; I have put My spirit upon him,]" etc. (Isaiah 42:1)? And how will you slander him? Behold, I will destroy all of you with the burning of fire, with kindled sparks, and one soul I will not destroy. Therefore it is said: "For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light." [They said:] In the week in which the son of David comes, they bring beams of iron and place them upon his neck until his stature is bent down, and he cries out and weeps, and his voice ascends on high. He says before Him: Master of the universe, how great is my strength, and how great is my spirit, and how great is my soul, and how great are my limbs? Am I not flesh and blood? Concerning that hour David wept and said: "My strength is dried up like a potsherd," etc. (Psalms 22:16). In that hour the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Ephraim, My righteous Messiah, you already accepted this upon yourself from the six days of Creation. Now let your suffering be like My suffering, for from the day that the wicked Nebuchadnezzar came up and destroyed My House and burned My Temple and exiled My children among the nations of the world, by your life and by the life of My head, I have not entered My throne. And if you do not believe Me, look at the dew that has settled upon My head, as it is said: "For My head is filled with dew, my locks with the drops of the night" (Song of Songs 5:2). In that hour he said before Him: Master of the universe, now my mind is at ease; it is enough for the servant that he be like his master.