Isaiah
Study 4 – Finding Jesus in Isaiah (The
Servant/Saviour)
Isaiah
42 & 49
READ
the following passages:
Isaiah
42:1 – 7 Jehovah' servant who will bring justice.
“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.
“Whom
I uphold” can be read in either of two ways. “Whom I lean upon”
As if God places the full measure of His glory upon Jesus and gave
the work of Grace into His hands. That is if the passage is read
passively. But if read actively, “Whom I uphold.” Both are true.
The Father and the Son co-work and their glory is mutual.
And
he will bring justice to the nations – the Gentiles are no longer
excluded.
Here
is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight - Three
characteristics of the servant are revealed.
The
Lord Upholds Him – It is an affectionate embrace. He gives Him what
He needs in His Godly endeavours.
The
Lord has chosen the Servant. The Servant is responding to the Lord's
initiative rather than acting on His own.
The
Lord delights in the Servant. He isn't a mere tool, but is Someone
who brings joy to His heart. (Matthew 3:17,
17:5)
He
will bring justice – Justice and righteousness are related. This
means bringing people into a right relationship with God and each
other. If one is in a right relationship with God, righteousness
comes to one's life.
To
the nations – Israel takes pride in its covenant status with the
Lord, but He made it clear from the beginning that the covenant
involved blessing “All peoples on Earth” (Genesis 12:3)
and “All nations on Earth” (Genesis 18:18)
Ministry to the Gentiles was nothing knew, but rooted in the covenant
between God and Abraham.
2 He
will not shout or cry out,
or raise his
voice in the streets.3 A
bruised reed he will not break,
and a
smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will
bring forth justice;
Jesus
was gentle, retiring, meek and quiet. His testimony was very
powerful, but not noisy. He didn't seek honour among men. He
frequently forbade those He healed to tell of the miracles that had
taken place. It is often found that where there is quietness and
meekness there is also firmness of purpose.
Break
– Christ would not deal rigorously with those who come to Him, but
He'll be gentle, cherish the smallest beginnings of grace, comfort
and heal wounded consciences.
He
will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets – See
the contrast with traditional holders of power. The Servant does not
make an ostentatious display to gain a hearing, and His work is not
bombastic or pretentious.
He
will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets –
Jesus did not go out and seek people to minister to, they came to
Him. He ministered in a quiet, gentle way, not forcing His message on
anyone. Salvation is available to all who would become His followers,
but it is of their own free will that they decide to follow Him.
4 he
will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on
earth.
In his teaching the
islands will put their hope.”
Here
is my Servant – The Lord calls upon all people, those in Israel and
the coastlands and tells them to uphold, and focus upon His Servant.
Servant
is capitalised. The context demonstrates that this is a clear
Messianic reference. In addition Matthew quotes Isaiah 42:1-5, and
plainly states it is a prophecy that's fulfilled in Jesus. (Matthew
12:16 – 21)
So, the Lord commands all people to put their focus on Jesus.
Jesus
described Himself as a servant in Matthew 20:25-28,
Matthew 23:11,
Mark 9:35
and Mark 10:43 – 45.
In Acts 3 Peter refers to Jesus as His
Servant Jesus.
(Acts 3:13
and 3:26.)
However, Jesus isn't just a servant, He is The
Servant,
the one everyone should behold.
But
Jesus, the Servant, is more than an example to us. He is our Servant.
He serves us; not only in what He did in the past, but also He serves
us every day through His constant love, care, guidance &
intercession. Jesus did not stop serving when He went to heaven, He
serves all people more effectively than ever before.
My
Servant whom I uphold – This is definitely true for Jesus, but it
is also true in the way the Lord deals with all His servants. He
promises uphold His servants. When someone is the servant of another,
they are required to give full service and obedience to the master.
But the master is also required to take care of the servant. The Lord
can always say My Servant whom I uphold.
My
chosen one, in whom I delight – Jesus is the ultimate chosen one.
We are chosen in Jesus. See Ephesians 1:4. For
he chose us in
him before the creation of the world.
In Whom I delight shows that for God, this choice is not a cold,
calculating technical thing. It is connected with His love and
approval. When He chooses someone, He delights in them. If you are
chosen in Jesus before the foundation of the world, then He is saying
“I delight in you.”
Understanding
this helps us to receive God's favour. This shows us that it's by His
grace that He delights in us. It is His free gift, received by faith.
Many of us are trying to earn His approval by works, but He chooses
otherwise.
I
will put my Spirit on him – Jesus was filled with the Spirit and
did ministry in the power and flow of the Holy Spirit (Matthew
3:16).
He
will bring justice to the nations – The ministry of the the
Servant, Jesus would not be only to the Jewish people. He would also
have a ministry to all other peoples, the Gentiles, to bring justice
and righteousness to them.
He
will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice – This doesn't mean
that Jesus never spoke loudly. It refers to His gentle, lowly heart
and actions. He didn't make His way by bluster and loud overwhelming
talk, but by the Spirit of God upon Him.
“He
is not self-assertive: probably the three verbs here are cumulative,
stressing quiet, unaggressive demeanour, but shout ('shriek')
could suggest that he is not out to startle, cry out ('raise
his voice') not dominate or shout others down, raise his voice
('make his voice heard') not out to advertise himself.” (Moyter)
“Think
for a moment about the modesty of God. He is always at work. He
guides the sun, the stars, and the universe. He controls every
galaxy. He refreshes the earth constantly. But he works so quietly
that many people now try to make out there is no God at all … That
is the hallmark of reality in service. God's artists do not put their
signatures to the pictures they create. His ambassadors do not run
after the photographer all the time to get their pictures taken. It
is enough that they have borne witness to the Lord.” (Redpath)
A
bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will
not snuff out. - Another reference to Jesus' gentle character. A reed
is a fairly fragile plant, yet if a reed is bruised, the Servant will
handle it so gently that He will not break it. And if flax, used for
tinder to start a fire, does not flame but only smokes, He will not
snuff it out. Instead He will will gently blow on the smouldering
wick, fanning it into flame again!
We
often feel God deals roughly with our weaknesses and failures. Just
the opposite is true. He deals with them gently, tenderly, helping us
along until the bruised reed is strong and the smouldering wick is in
full flame.
“Think
again of that reed: something that has been crushed, or hurt by
unkindness, a life that is somehow bent and bruised and shattered,
without strength or beauty. There is nothing attractive about a reed,
and there is certainly nothing very pleasant about the circumstances
in which it lives! Usually it grows in a smelly, unsavory swamp.”
(Redpath)
“We
call ourselves Christians, but if you are like me, sometimes you are
desperately ashamed of how dimly your light burns. There is far more
smoke than fire: so little prayer, so little real testimony, so much
depression and discouragement. But the Lord says He will not
extinguish the smoking flax.” (Redpath)
“He
is not dismissive of others: however useless or beyond repair
(bruised
reed),
however 'past it' and near extinction (smouldering
wick)
they may seem. The negative statements imply their positive
equivalents: he can mend the broken reed, fan into flame the
smouldering wick.
The
former has been internally damaged, the latter lacks the external
nourishment of oil. The Servant is competent both to cure and to
supply.” (Motyer)
Jesus
sees the value in a bruised reed, even when no one else can.
He
wants us to have His heart towards the lowly, broken and hurting.
It's easy pass them by just as quickly as the priest and the Levite
passed the man on the road to Jericho. “The superficial Christian
worker ignores that kind of situation. He wants a sphere to serve
where it will be worthy of his talent, if you please. A task where
his abilities will be recognised and used, something that is big
enough to justify all the training he has undergone. In the eyes of
the Lord, the test of the real servant is, does he bend with the
humility of Jesus Christ over a bruised reed and smoking flax?”
(Redpath)
In
faithfulness he will bring forth justice;4 he
will not falter or be discouraged – The Servant is gentle, but not
weak. He will bring forth justice for truth. There aren't two ways
about it. It will happen, and the Servant will not be stopped by
failure or discouragement.
Isn't
it wonderful that Jesus never gets discouraged? Despite the job He
has to do, the obstacles He must overcome, and the tools He needs to
work with, He never becomes discouraged. It is because He has all
power and authority.
Till
he establishes justice on earth. In his
teaching the islands will put their hope. - The work of the
Servant will extend to the whole Earth, and all the peoples, no
matter where they are, shall serve Him.
He
will not falter or be discouraged – His sensitivity and kindness
manifest not weakness, but strength. He has the power to persist, and
He will. The work will not be easy, but He will not allow obstacles
to stop Him from accomplishing what he has come to do.
Till
he establishes justice on earth – He will not simply seek, or
work toward, justice. He will establish it, bring it about, make it
happen. It wouldn't be painless, as he is like a refiner's fire.
(Malachi 3:2b, 3)
The refiner's fire burns hot and most of us would prefer to avoid it.
But it burns away impurities to make us righteous before the Lord. It
can be prepared to a surgeon's scapal, which inflicts pain but also
gives life.
5 This
is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the
heavens, who stretches them out,
who
spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
who
gives breath to its people,
and life
to those who walk on it:
6 “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,
Thus,
God had commissioned Christ. He declared that the eternal power and
the Godhead backs Him up until the Gentiles know of His light, and
they shall be brought into covenant with God.
Called
you – He declares His righteousness and faithfulness.
A
light – Enlightening them with true and saving knowledge.
A
covenant for the people – The Servant is Himself a covenant. He
personifies salvation, the mediator of a better covenant than the one
with Moses.
7 to
open eyes that are blind,
to free captives
from prison
and to release from the
dungeon those who sit in darkness.
If one is
melancholy, or despairing that they cannot get out of the prison of
bad habits, or shake off the chains of sin, they should pay
attention. A Liberator has come, one who's business it is to open the
fast close cells of sin, and set Satan's captives free.
Isaiah
49:1 – 7 God's salvation through the servant.
Listen to
me, you islands;
hear this, you distant
nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
from
my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.2 He
made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in
the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished
arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
Listen
to me, you islands; - As the context shows, these words come
prophetically from the Messiah, the Servant of the Lord. Here, here
commands the islands – the distant lands of the Gentiles to listen
to Him.
Before
I as born the Lord called me – Jesus, revealed as the Messiah, was
called from before he was born. In actuality as shown in Micah 5:2,
He was called before he was conceived in Mary's womb.
He
made my mouth like a sharpened sword – This means that the
Messiah's very words have power and authority. While some might need
to brandish a weapon to show their authority, the Messiah only needs
to speak.
In
the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver – The Messiah prophetically
proclaims that He is like a carefully made and polished arrow in the
service of the Lord, ready to be used at the right time. This
probably refers to the “hidden years” of Jesus, when He lived in
obscurity, as a polished arrow in the quiver of the Lord.
He
made my mouth like a sharpened sword – There are no words so
piercing as the words of Jesus Christ.
3 He
said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel,
in whom I will display my splendor.”4 But
I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have
spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in
the Lord’s hand,
and my reward is
with my God.”
But
I said “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for
nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord's hand, and my
reward is with my God. - Considering what, and who, Jesus had to work
with during His Ministry, one of the great temptations He faced must
have been discouragement. This passage shows that even though He
ministered in difficult and discouraging circumstances, He never gave
into discouragement, but always put His trust in the Lord.
'Sword'
and 'arrow' are word pictures. They show that the message Isaiah's
delivering from God will have a profound effect on people's lives.
Like a sword or arrow, the words will be sharp (clear, sudden and
powerful.) The Lord has prepared Isaiah ahead of time to speak the
sharp words of God's judgement. And the Messiah will speak more
powerfully than Isaiah!
5 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[a] honored in
the eyes of the Lord
and my God has
been my strength—6 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 my salvation may reach
to the ends of the earth.”
7 This
is what the Lord says—
the
Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—
to him who was despised and
abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of
rulers:
“Kings will see you and stand up,
princes
will see and bow down,
because of the Lord, who is
faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has
chosen you.”
The
Redeemer and Holy One of Israel – An important part of the
Messiah's mission is to bring Israel back to the Lord. The Jews still
have an enduring place in God's plan, and that plan will be fulfilled
when all Israel will be saved
(Romans 11:26).
Kings
will see you and stand up, princes will see and bow down – In the
end, the Messiah will not be despised or abhorred. He will receive
the worship and honour He deserves, because He is the chosen of the
Lord.
In
Isaiah 42:1 – 4 the Servant is introduced. In Isaiah 49:1-6 His
person & work are more fully set forth.
(a)
Describe & discuss who the servant is identified as & his
titles.
(b)
What is the role of the servant?
Nation
of Israel. The Hebrew language allows the speaker to switch easily &
naturally from speaking about a community to speaking about an
individual & back again.
The
OT Israel could therefore be addressed by the singular “you” at
one time & by the collective “you” at another time.
Discuss
this in the passages.
Mission
declared:
*
to bring Israel back to God – they have the light but need
restoration
*
to bring salvation to Gentiles / light to Gentiles – need for
light & salvation
*
to display God's splendour
Identify
these aspects in the passages.
[Reflect
back to Acts13:46-48 in our Acts studies earlier this year]
46 Then
Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word
of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider
yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the
Gentiles. 47 For
this is what the Lord has commanded us:
“‘I
have made you[f] a
light for the Gentiles,
that you[g] may
bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’[h]”
48 When
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the
Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
Then
Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly – They had a zeal for the
things of God. They really believed the truth about Jesus, so they
wouldn't let this challenge go unanswered.
Since
you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life,
we now turn to the Gentiles – They rebuked those who were rejecting
Jesus, letting the Jews know that it was a privilege that the message
had come to them first, a privilege they were rejecting.
When
you want to tell others about Jesus, begin with your own group. But
if they don't receive it, or when they start rejecting it, don't stop
telling others about Him. Just find others to tell, who will listen.
When
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the
Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed – They
also responded with more evangelism to those with open hearts, now
directing their efforts to the Gentiles, obeying God's command
(Romans 1:16)
and in fulfilment of prophecy (the Isaiah 49:6 quotation).
The
Gentiles responded to Paul's invitation with enthusiastic belief,
learning joyfully that God didn't hate them, but offered them
salvation in Jesus.
Paul
showed wisdom in not spending all his time trying to persuade
hardened hearts. Even after he made the Gentiles the focus of his
evangelistic efforts, he was still praying earnestly for the
salvation of Israel (Romans 10:1),
but his missionary time was spent ministering to more open hearts.
Isaiah
42 speaks of Jesus being gentle, lowly in heart, tender, healer and
provider. Look for these qualities in Isaiah 42.
Isaiah
49. Discuss the following points:
Verses
1 and 2 – Messiah's call & preparation
Verses
3 and 4 – His confidence in the Lord
Verses
5 to 7 – the Messiah blesses Israel & the nations
Look
at the connections to the NT.
Isaiah
42:1 - Matthew 12:18
“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.
8 “Here
is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one
I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and
he will proclaim justice to the nations.
Isaiah
49:6 – Acts 13:47
6 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 my salvation may reach
to the ends of the earth.”
47 For
this is what the Lord has commanded us:
“‘I
have made you[a] a
light for the Gentiles,
that you[b] may
bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’[c]”
Isaiah
49:8 – 2 Corinthians 6:2
Give
examples of what Isaiah prophesied being fulfilled in the New
Testament.
What
names for God do you find in these passages?
Identify
some words that describe us.
How
do these bless you?
We
are His servants. How has this study spoken to you.
