The Beloved Servant

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Isaiah 42:1–9 NKJV

1 “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 2 He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. 4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law.” 5 Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it, Who gives breath to the people on it, And spirit to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house. 8 I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images. 9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, And new things I declare; Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

Study

Who is the servant?

Servant is a term of great honor. The greatest of the Old Testament Prophets was Moses, and God referred to him as his servant. Joshua 1:1

Joshua 1:1 NKJV

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying:

The question here is “Who is this servant?”

Isaiah 41:8 NKJV

8 “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend.

The same terms are used - chosen. Friend. So on.

But here it seems to apply to an individual...

By the time we get to the NT, the Servant is identified as Christ.

Matthew identifies Jesus, not only as The Servant, but actually as the True Israel, the Seed of Abraham

In Jesus’ baptism, we have these words fulfilled

Matthew 3:16–17 NKJV

16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Matthew 12:16–21 NKJV

16 Yet He warned them not to make Him known, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: 18 “Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles. 19 He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; 21 And in His name Gentiles will trust.”

He is the Servant. And yet, Isaiah has not yet made that known. He blends the attributes of Israel and Messiah together. At times it is hard to separate them.

Christ so closely identifies with his people that they are one - and that is the heart of the gospel.

Genesis 3:15 NKJV

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

“Seed” can be collective. In the second clause it is ambiguous. But in the last, the collective moves to a singular. A seed. A servant.

A suffering Messiah.

The covenantal nature of our creation - two covenant heads, so identified with their seed that the fall of one is the fall of all; the righteousness of one is the righteousness of all.

But Isaiah hasn’t gotten there yet. Let him unfold it in his time.

In verses 1-4, we have the work that the servant will do.

In verses 5-9, Jehovah addresses the servant and commissions him.

Verse 1-4

My servant - the work of the servant is impossible, unless he is upheld by God. (The two natures of Christ)

The chosen one - Paul takes this and runs with it in Ephesians 1. God chose Christ, the second Adam, from all eternity to be so identified with his people that he and they are one flesh, of the same bone, and the same blood.

Without this understanding, our faith cannot make sense. How can Christ’s death benefit us? How does his resurrection benefit us?

2 Thessalonians 2:13 NKJV

13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,

Colossians 3:12 NKJV

12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;

But if he is the head and we are the members, then what happens to him happens to his people.

Thus - the great comfort of “in whom my soul delights”.

My spirit -

John 3:33–34 NKJV

33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. 34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

To each of us, Christ has then given the spirit by measure - none of us have the fullness. But he does. He has everything that he needs to be the head of the new creation, conquering sin and reconciling the world to God.

The spirit - understood by Israel as the anointing of God.

1 Samuel 16:13 NKJV

13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

So the Servant, anointed with the Spirit, as David was, but without measure - does the work of the king.

But his kingdom is nothing like anything on the earth.

This is contrasted to chapter 41 - the idols of the heathen. A lot of noise, but no power to bring salvation, deliverance, justice or peace. Just perpetual war. slaughter, torture, death.

In contrast, look at God’s anointed servant.

He doesn’t shout, he doesn’t do pageantry, he doesn’t crush and oppress the opposition.

When a nation was conquered, the new religion was enforced by might. But the Servant doesn’t work that way.

Justice, truth, law - a new order -

but it doesn’t come by threats, arguments, war. It comes gently - speaking, healing, encouraging

Bruised reeds and smoking flax - when the light in you is almost dying, when the darkness is growing and you fear it will overwhelm - you can call to him, for he never throws anyone out because they are too dim, too broken, too unclean, too weak.

In fact, it is the opposite - the full are sent away. The rich are sent away.

A bruised reed - a reed on the riverbank - when a wind blows, or a large animal passes, it is bent, broken. To be a broken reed is to be overwhelmed by forces greater than you are - this force, though - this king, doesn’t break the reeds. He heals and binds up.

Smoking flax - that is, the wick on the lamp, almost out. When the light is dying, when the pain of brokenness is too much, THAT is when your savior is the closest.

(rainbow)

And he will never get tired. He won’t get frustrated or discouraged. He won’t lose his temper.

He will reign until all enemies are put under his feet.

1 Corinthians 15:25–26 NKJV

25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

And the reign will be universal - justice over the earth.

The parallel is “the coastlands”, which to Israel, was everything on the earth.

Verses 5-9

And now the address of the Jehovah God to his servant.

These are the words of the creator and sustainer of all - a reminder of what has gone before.

It is not the idols of the heathen who have all power. It is the One who Created them. The Lord God.

The people are his. He created them, they bear his mark. They have his image imprinted on them and breath from his nostrils.

The essential attribute of mankind is the breath of God, his image imprinted on them, and therefore, because God loves his image, he will redeem his image-bearers.

This is the work of his servant, commissioned and anointed by God to redeem God’s people.

A covenant to the people - the new covenant with a new head - covenant of works with a second Adam

Romans 5:17–19 NKJV

17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

A light to the gentiles -

John 8:12 NKJV

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

He opens the eyes; he releases the prisoners.

Idols cannot give freedom from bondage. They cannot release a soul from the power of sin.

They cannot bring Israel back from Babylon.

And notice here - God’s plan of redemption is to reveal himself. It is his nature to communicate himself.

He begot the Son, he breathes forth the spirit, he reveals himself by his word and spirit and through that he begets the church.

James 1:18–19 NKJV

18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. 19 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;

And so God - who declared the former things. The captivity, the exile, the destruction of Jerusalem - also declares the new things.

A new era comes. And he brings it to pass by his word through his Servant…who is gradually being revealed