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“The Servant of the Lord
Isaiah 42:1-7

 

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas

The Baptism of our Lord–First Sunday after the Epiphany—January 10, 2016

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text is today’s Old Testament Reading from the 42nd chapter of Isaiah, which is a beautiful prophecy of the saving work of the Messiah. You are invited to follow along the sermon outline on the last pages of the bulletin as we look VERSE-BY-VERSE at the meaning of this majestic prophecy, and its application for you today.

Verse 1 —  “Here is my SERVANT, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight.” 

WHO IS the “servant” of the Lord whom the Lord is talking about in these verses? After describing the work of Jesus, the Gospel of Matthew says, “This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘Here is my servant.’” So, the servant in Isaiah 42 is none other than Jesus, the Christ, the promised Messiah.

But, why would the LORD Jesus be HIMSELF described as the SERVANT of the Lord? St. Paul explains in Philippians, “He made himself nothing, taking the very form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” Jesus put it this way, “The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” For our sakes, Jesus came down from heaven and became a man. The MASTER became a SERVANT, for your salvation.

“Here is my servant, whom I UPHOLD.” Jesus’ heavenly Father upheld and sustained him in his work. Once, the disciples were urging Jesus to eat some food. “I have food to eat that you know nothing about,” Jesus said. “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, MY CHOSEN ONE.” Only one individual could carry out God’s plan of salvation, only the one chosen by God to be the Savior, the God-Man, Jesus Christ. He is the only way of salvation, as the next chapter of Isaiah says, “I am the Lord, and apart from me there is no Savior.”  St. Peter says in the Book of Acts, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” And Jesus himself says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Put your faith, your trust, your hope for salvation in the only one chosen and appointed by God to be the Savior.

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one IN WHOM I DELIGHT.”  In the Old Testament, the lambs offered as sacrifices had to be without any blemishes or imperfections. Those ancient sacrifices pointed forward to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the final sacrifice who once and for all paid for our sins by his blood. Only God the Son could be such a sacrifice, acceptable to God the Father. For, only he is a perfect sacrifice, without the blemish of sin. And, so, the Father approves, accepts, DELIGHTS in the Lamb of God.

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT on him and he will bring justice to the nations.”  At Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon him as a dove. In the same way, in your own baptism God the Holy Spirit descended upon you. As St. Peter says in Acts, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” And St. Paul says in Titus, “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Just as the Sprit descended upon Jesus at his baptism, in your baptism the Lord put his Holy Spirit upon you.

“I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.” “The nations” in this verse means the entire world. Jesus Christ brings justice to the world in the sense that he suffers for the sins of the world the punishment divine justice demands.

There is a regular feature in Reader’s Digest called “That’s Outrageous.” Often the stories are about criminals given very light sentences or no punishment at all. We are rightly outraged when criminals don’t get the punishment they deserve; and, yet, we somehow think that GOD should simply overlook our own sin and guilt. The bad news is, divine justice requires that full punishment be meted out for our sin, that a horrible price be paid for our guilt. But, in his famous chapter 53, Isaiah tells the Good News: “Surely he took up our griefs and carried our sorrows. We observed him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

In your place, Jesus suffered all the punishment divine justice demanded for your sins. In your place, Jesus paid the entire penalty divine justice required for your guilt. “And the Lord had laid on him the iniquity of us all.”  St. Peter says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross.” As one of our Lenten hymns puts it, “The deepest stroke that pierced him was the stroke that justice gave.” It was to satisfy the requirements of divine justice that Christ died for you. The Good News is, your penalty is all paid; your punishment is all fulfilled; your sins are all forgiven. “I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.”

Verse 2 —  “He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.” Do you recall when Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate, being falsely accused of many things? Mark says, “But Jesus made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.” Isaiah 53 foretells this: “He was oppressed and aft1icted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a Iamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” Jesus put it this way, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” That is why Jesus did not fight or protest or struggle. That is why he said to Peter, “Put your sword back in its scabbard.” That is why Jesus did NOT call down more than 12 legions of angels to fight on his behalf. Instead, he humbly and willingly gave himself as a sacrifice for you.  “He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.”

Verse 3 —  “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,” or, as another version puts it, a “dimly burning wick” he will not snuff out. With a beautiful imagery these verse are saying: Jesus is not angry with you; he loves you, he has pity on you, he wants to help you.

Do you sometimes feel like a “bruised reed” or a “dimly burning wick”? A bruised reed is like a bamboo pole that is cracked and weak, about to break. A dimly burning wick is an exhausted oil lamp, running out of energy, about to burn out. These two images represent US, as we suffer the troubles, the struggles, the heartaches we face in this world. God takes no pleasure in your pain and problems. These things are in no way a punishment from him. Psalm 103 says, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities.” “CALL UPON ME in the day of trouble,” the Lord promises, “and I will answer you.”  “Cast your burdens upon the Lord, for he cares for you.”  God is on YOUR side. He promises to hear and to help. “Come unto me,” Jesus says, “all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest . . . for I am GENTLE and HUMBLE in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” “Whoever comes unto me, I will never drive away.”  “A bruised reed he will not break, and a [dimly burning wick] he will not snuff out.”

Verse 4 — “In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.”  In many homes there is special picture in a place of honor; you have seen it often: Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. Remember how he said to his disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death”? Remember how he prayed so earnestly that his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground? Remember how he prayed, “Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me”? No one else ever endured such agony of spirit; no one else ever experienced such torment of soul. For Jesus knew that soon he would suffer horribly, and die on the cross. And worse than the physical pain would be the spiritual affliction, as he endured punishment in his body for the sins of the whole world. But, in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, “He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth,” Jesus faces this impending doom and prays, “Yet not my will, but thine be done.”

Jesus did not turn away from the pain, he did not turn away from the suffering, he did not turn away from the agony, he did not turn away from the torture. He carried out his own cross to Calvary, for you; he carried out the plan of salvation, for you. “He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.”

“In his law the islands will put their hope.”  “The islands” in this verse means ALL the DISTANT lands of the whole world. Imagine the earth as one, huge ocean, with the continents as “the islands.”  This is Isaiah’s way of prophesying what Jesus himself says in the New Testament: “For God so loved the WORLD that he gave his only-begotten Son. . .  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all nations. . .  You will be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth.”

So, “In his law the islands will put their hope” is talking about you and me, and all the faithful, here in the island we call North America, and around the globe.  The most remote “island” of the earth recently received its first Christian church.  For, Russia went to great effort and expense to build the first Christian church on the continent of Antarctica.  In the middle of the desolate, frozen tundra, in the remotest part of the world, there now stands a large Christian church.

“In his law the islands will put their hope.”  The word “law” here means the entire Word of God, BOTH the Law, the bad news of our sin, and especially the Gospel, the good news of forgiveness which brings hope to the world.  So, “In his law the islands will put their hope” means, “In his Gospel the whole world will put its hope.”

Verses 5 and 6 —  “This is what God the Lord says—he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it.” God the Father, the Creator, addresses God the Son, the Redeemer. “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand.” The life and work of Jesus Christ is no accident of history. He is the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of the divine plan of salvation, of whom the Father proclaims at his baptism, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles.” Jesus is the fulfillment of the covenant given to Abraham and the Hebrew people: “Through your offspring all nations on earth shall be blessed.” Through Jesus, the descendant and offspring of Abraham, this covenant is fulfilled. Isaiah proclaims that Jesus is a covenant for the Hebrew people, “and a light for the Gentiles.” As Simeon sang out holding the baby Jesus in his arms, “a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.”  In these verses Isaiah prophesies that the blessings of the Messiah will be not only for the Hebrew people, but for the whole world.  “[I] will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles.”

Verse 7 —  “To open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”  Spiritual blindness, spiritual darkness, spiritual imprisonment in the dungeon of sin. A few chapters later Isaiah bursts forth in joy with this same theme: “ Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you!” St. Peter says, “Proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” St. Paul says in Ephesians, “For once you were in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”  “To open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.”

Isaiah chapter 42 presents a beautiful prophecy of the saving work of the Messiah, for YOUR salvation:

            “Here is my servant, whom I

                                    uphold,

                        my chosen one in whom I delight;

            I will put my Spirit on him

                        and he will bring justice to the

                                    nations.

            He will not shout or cry out,

                        or raise his voice in the streets.

            A bruised reed he will not break,

                        and a smoldering wick he will not

                                    snuff out.

            In faithfulness he will bring forth

                                    justice;

                        he will not falter or be discouraged

            till he establishes justice on earth.

                        In his law the islands will put their

                                    hope.”

            This is what God the Lord says—

            he who created the heavens and

                                    stretched them out,

                        who spread out the earth and all

                                    that comes out of it,

            who gives breath to its people,

                        and life to those who walk on it:

            “I, the Lord, have called you in

                                    righteousness;

                        I will take hold of your hand.

            I will keep you and will make you

                        to be a covenant for the people

                        and a light for the Gentiles,

            to open eyes that are blind,

                        to free captives from prison

                        and to release from the dungeon

                                    those who sit in darkness.”

Amen.

 

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