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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

The question here is “Who is this servant?”

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

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.

“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?

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 -

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.

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.

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

A light to the gentiles -

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.

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