“The Servant of the Lord”
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.”
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