Word of Salvation – Vol.41 No.46 – December 1996

 

The Servant King

 

Sermon by Rev S Bajema on Isaiah 42:14

Scripture Readings: Matthew 3:13-17; Isaiah 41:1-16; 42:1-4

Suggested Hymns:

BOW 96:1-3, 5; 286; 72B; 357:4

 

Congregation of our Lord.

It has been said that this book of Isaiah is all about the Messiah.  So, in a more particular way than any other Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, the son of Amoz, seven hundred years before Christ was physically born and lived for a while among us, gives us a very clear view of what would happen.

In fact, if you were to read the whole book through, you couldn’t help but be overwhelmed by the accurate detail and vivid prediction of Christ’s life.  This book could be a biography of Christ’s life, couched though it is in prophetic language.

What’s even more, brothers and sisters, this is an autobiography.  Who wrote it, after all?  True, we can well say Isaiah of Amoz; but as we know, all Scripture is God-breathed.  Though it will have the personality and time of the author shown, it is still, however, God’s Word, the Living Word recorded for us!

Now, our text for this morning has long been known as the first of the so-called Servant passages.  Another such passage is Isaiah 53.  And in between these two texts there’s also chapter 49 verses 1 to 13, and chapter 50 verses 4 to 9, all drawing out this particular part of Christ’s life.  I say, “this particular part of His life” for a reason.  You see, in following the nature of a biography, Isaiah has already spoken about Christ as a child and what this child was destined to do.  But now Isaiah describes Christ in His ministry.  “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight.”

Ah, we know this echo, don’t we?  We even read it earlier in the actual eye-witness account of Christ’s Life, in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 3.  There in verse 17 we heard, “And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” You’ll find this same account also in Mark and Luke, and very much the same phrase is spoken by God the Father at the Transfiguration found in Matthew, Mark and Luke.

But, congregation, we do need to look a little more at this title Servant.  We know from passages such as Matthew 12:18 that it refers directly to Christ; indeed, what we’ll hear further convincingly shows this.

Still, that title ‘servant is also used to describe the nation of Israel.  Just in the chapter before our text, Chapter 41, we read in the verses 8 and 9 of how the LORD God chose and brought Israel to be His servant.

So which one is it here, then?  You know, a lot of sincere Christians ask that question today.  They look back at the Old Testament, they read those stories about Israel and especially about how bad she became, and believe me, she was bad! – and they cannot see any connection with Christ.  In fact, they even take it further and say that those Old Testament Jews had a different gospel; that’s why they failed, they say, it’s a gospel of works, not grace.  You see, they speak about how the Israelites had to obey the Law, and because they couldn’t, God sent Jesus.  For them Israel was the servant who failed, Christ is the Servant who succeeded.

Naturally, this isn’t covenantal.  There’s no sense of a historical flow.  And especially that would have made no sense to the believers of Isaiah’s time, nor to Isaiah himself.  But if we describe this aspect of verse 1 this way …  THE CHOSEN SERVANT IS GOD’S GRACE THROUGH ISRAEL, everything becomes part of a divinely developing picture.

Think of being in a darkroom while a print is being developed.  You know that the picture has been taken, you know that it’s soon going to be clearly seen, but there is still a time through which the photograph will move from being a blank piece of white photographic paper to the fully shown image.  If we don’t see this kind of flow we miss the picture altogether, and, as we’ve seen at times in church history, Christ that way gets omitted from many a picture.  A few verses from chapter 49 help us here.  There, in verse 3, we find Christ being spoken to by the Father: “He said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendour.”

The identification is clear, THE CHOSEN SERVANT IS GOD’S GRACE THROUGH ISRAEL.  And further, in verses 5 and 6, “And now the LORD says – he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honoured in the eyes of the LORD and my God has been my strength – he says: ‘It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept.  I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth’.”

Do you hear that?  How Messianic can you get?

F Delitzsch draws another illustration to help our understanding.  He shows how this ‘Servant of the Lord’ idea is like a pyramid.  The base of the pyramid was Israel as a whole.  The central section was that Israel which wasn’t just physical Israel, but spiritual Israel as well; with the apex, the top of the pyramid, being the person of the Mediator of salvation springing out of Israel.  And, of course, it’s at the very top, that the light shines the brightest and furthest.  Once Christ had come to that point, He was the ‘Light to the Gentiles.’

SO, THE CHOSEN SERVANT IS GOD’S GRACE THROUGH ISRAEL.

Though then we must go on, for THE CHOSEN SERVANT IS GOD’S GRACE THROUGH ISRAEL…  IN WHOM THE SPIRIT POWERFULLY WORKS.  “I will put my Spirit on him…” God says.

Again, there are those ‘flash-forwards’ to our Lord Jesus coming up out of the Jordan river, and the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him.  For this Spirit, too, is a Spirit of power, of equipping for the task, because He will bring justice to the nations.

Now we know that in times past God did empower for certain tasks and occasions with His Spirit.  When that happened His power showed a little of what would happen when He would come in all power.  They were the foretastes, the glimpses, the hints, of what would yet come through Israel.  So, when the Spirit comes with all His fullness upon the ‘Servant,’ everything would come to a head; all those hopes, aspirations, deepest desires and faith would be fulfilled.  No wonder that all the heavenly hosts sang with all their might on that first Christmas morn!

But, especially it is the Father’s ringing endorsement, the echo of this text, which sets the scene for Christ’s ministry of reconciliation itself.  “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Never has one had such a divine declaration made about Him.

The result of this is told at the end of verse 1: “…and he will bring justice to the nations.”  The power of the Spirit in Christ will be such that all people will come under His rule.  I mean, how can he bring justice if He is not the Judge?  And how can He be the Judge if His Law is not known?  Leupold says that this “justice’ means: that all the nations need for their salvation is the blotting out of their spiritual ignorance.  That’s why His Way must be known; the Way, the Truth and the Life who is Christ Jesus our Lord.

Congregation, isn’t this what we sing?

Christ shall have dominion over land and sea,
earth’s remotest regions shall His empire be.
They that wilds inhabit shall their worship bring;
kings shall bring their tribute, nations serve our King.

And it’s happening!  All around us now, across the face of this earth, Christ’s Kingdom is on the move.  Yes, Christ is in Her, Christ is with Her, Christ is Her!  Oh, friend, is that true for you?  Do you know the Spirit of the LORD resting upon you – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD (Is.11:2)?  These are what you share in Christ’s Spirit; indeed, by His perfect sacrifice, His doing, dying, rising and now His reigning at God’s right hand, the empowering of the Spirit has come in fullness upon His Body.

In this sense we’re different than the believers before Christ; those who were Isaiah’s original hearers.  But how much more doesn’t it obligate us congregation?  For we, who have been entrusted with much, must also show that much!  The One IN WHOM THE SPIRIT POWERFULLY WORKS is also the Church of Christ today.

And yet, how are we in Him, dear Christian?  To what extent are we so moved by His Word?  How much are you committed to being part of the Church, the way through which the blessings of the Spirit come?  Will the LORD be able to bless you here today, too?  Go on – you think about it!

Our text continues next with what the ‘Servant does: “He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.* This is actually quite a contrast.  The previous chapter has portrayed a conqueror who is ruthless and cruel, trampling the vanquished ones under his feet.

But the true work of the One with God’s Spirit couldn’t be more different.  For if He is the very peak of what Israel is meant to be about, the ones being vanquished are those who are so rich and proud in themselves.  Well might they think they are powerful now.  It’s those whom Isaiah points out, already in chapter 1: “Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean.  Take your evil deeds out of my sight!  Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!  Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.  Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” (vs 15c-17)

You see, He’s just so different!  I mean, of whom else could it ever be said that he won’t shout or cry out or raise his voice in the street?  Who else, brethren, but the One who is so sure of Himself and of the cause He represents that he knows His message itself will survive every test.  How often during His ministry doesn’t Jesus shun publicity, even though He’s bringing the gospel to all men!  The Spirit will not leave Him now; though He may well have left Israel in the past.

Of this Isaiah has these words from the LORD in chapter 59, “As for me, this is my covenant with them.  My Spirit who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever.” And that Spirit won’t ever go!  As Christ quoted Isaiah at the beginning of His ministry: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour” (Luke 4:18ff).

There you go again!  He will bring justice, “Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.” The ultimate level playing field!  That’s what Israel was chosen to be through the greater Son of David!  It’s what happened as the sacred seed of Eve crushed the head of Satan.

And then there’s the next verse; a verse universally known among believers; a verse which among all verses pictures so vividly the love of God for His people: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.”  It’s a scene of weakness.  That which is least able to care for itself is specially cared for; that which has just about been broken is saved.

The “bruised reed” is cracked, near broken, but not yet!  The “smouldering wick* is barely alight.  But it will keep glowing.  In fact, not only will the LORD save it from going out, He will save it to keep going forever!

What a harmony this is with that very first Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Or in those words of David, which Isaiah himself would have sung from Ps 51: “a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (vs 17).

You might remember that part in Matthew 25, as when Jesus speaking of the sheep and the goats, mentions how those who did the Father’s will were the ones who fed the hungry, gave lodging to the stranger, clothed the naked, looked after the sick, and visited those in prison.

And then there are those marvellous words showing the gentleness of our Lord, in Matthew 11: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (vs 28-38).

The very ones who can least look after themselves are so often the ripest fruit of the gospel.  Jesus said it in Mark 2, “it’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I haven’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  After all, aren’t you saved?  And, further, dear believer, you won’t ever be lost.  Because what you’re a part of now is something which cannot stop.

That word “faithfulness” brings flooding back all the covenantal connections; this is God’s promise that truth will prevail!  And though the Servant faces the most herculean task, “…he will not falter or be discouraged…!” They’re actually the same verbs used for those He helps.  And as they picture part of what He will need to do, the prophecy of a ‘Suffering Servant’ begins to come through.

Not that it can or will stop Him!  No way!  “…till he establishes justice on earth…” again shows how powerfully His Spirit is working all things.

Here’s the same theme as the end of Ephesians chapter 1, “And God placed all things under Christ’s feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

The remnant is being preserved for the greater purpose of God in His Son.  The middle section of the pyramid is being used to bring forth the very highest!  In the earlier words of Isaiah, chapter 11: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit” (vs 1).

And what fruit it is!  “In his law the islands will put their hope.”  Which law can this be than the law of love, the gospel about Jesus Christ, which some may frown upon and totally disassociate from the Old Testament, but hasn’t Isaiah just showed us how rich these Scriptures are?

Is it any surprise that though the Bereans of Acts 17 only had the Old Testament, yet those zealous people for the truth could use that to test the credentials of even the most intellectual of apostles, Paul himself?

Congregation, may we so also continue growing in knowing His law; the Law of Love; the rule in the hearts of God’s Kingdom which He is using to bring about His fulfilment.  The greatest thing is that we are nothing apart from being something in Christ!  Picked up off the scrap heap of life, the Lord has chosen to use us!

So let’s be used – not misused or abused; you know God doesn’t operate that way – rather, to be His servants now to preach this gospel in our time today.

That, dear believer, is His way; the fulfilling of the mighty plan of the most glorious God comes through the One the world least expects it from.

Amen.

PRAYER:

Dear Lord Jesus, how we bow before You, our King.  What a grace You have worked in us; that despite who we are and where we’re from, You picked us to be Your very own.  Please restore to us the joy and energy of that first love.  Then we can go forth even more, with less faltering and with less discouragement.  And make us point all those around us, family, friends – whomever we might meet – always to You the Author and Perfector of our faith.  Amen.

HYMN (in response to the Word):

In response to the preaching of God’s Word, let’s sing the hymn we heard so appropriately describing Christ’s rule, which is 72B.