The Servant of The Lord pt.1

Introduction

We are now going to move from our series of Beginnings into a time of preparation for Easter. We will be considering multiple passages that focus on the works of Christ on the cross. For our first few messages, we will be taking passages from the Old Testament under consideration that point to Jesus’ work on the cross. We have the beautiful privilege of seeing how all of Scripture points to Jesus including those of the Old Testament. The book of Isaiah is full of Messianic prophecy, and this week we will begin to look at a major theme of Isaiah’s prophecy, and that is the theme of the Servant. From Isaiah, we can begin to see how God was sewing seeds of prophecy into the Jewish scriptures hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. Isaiah’s prophecy reminds us that God’s plan was to bring redemption, not through political power, but through an act of humility. If you were here last Sunday evening, you will remember that we talked about Paul’s charge to the church to have the mind of Christ that is rooted in humility. Our passage this morning will cover three phases of Christ’s work as the Servant of the Lord. We will first look at the fact that the servant will be exalted, then we will move to the means by which God will exalt His Servant, and finally we will consider the results of the Servants exaltation. Please stand with me as we read Isaiah 52:13-15

Isaiah 52:13–15 KJV 1900

Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. As many were astonied at thee; His visage was so marred more than any man, And his form more than the sons of men: So shall he sprinkle many nations; The kings shall shut their mouths at him: For that which had not been told them shall they see; And that which they had not heard shall they consider.

The Exaltation of The Servant v. 13

Let’s first consider verse 13 which tells us that the Servant will be exalted.

Isaiah begins this section of our passage by say “Behold, my servant”

This is a shift of thought from the rest of the chapter.

Before this, God was preparing His people for the redemption that was to come.

Now, God is introducing the One who will bring that redemption.

Note that the One who will bring redemption will be recognized primarily by the fact that He is a servant.

He comes not to take immediate control, or to act as some political redeemer.

Israel was under Babylonian captivity at this time. They were not expecting God to act in this way.

This is helpful to us because we must recognize that God’s plan is not always inline with our own expectation.

God knows that our needs go beyond political turmoil; we are in need of spiritual renewal.

Next we see that the Servant will “deal prudently”

This means that all that the Servant does will be done in wisdom and godliness

The actions of the Servant will be prosperous actions because they are the will of God.

All that Jesus did while He walked this earth were perfectly inline with the will of the Father.

Finally we see that the Servant will be “exalted and extolled, and be very high”

The way in which Jesus acted according to the will of God caused Him to to be exalted.

Jesus began His life on earth in the form of a servant, and the conclusion of that servanthood is the promise of His exaltation.

The description of the Servant’s exaltation calls us to recall a few passages found earlier in the book of Isaiah

Isaiah 6:1 KJV 1900

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

Isaiah 33:5 KJV 1900

The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: He hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.

Isaiah 33:10 KJV 1900

Now will I rise, saith the Lord; Now will I be exalted; Now will I lift up myself.

The exaltation of the Servant means that He is recognize on equal grounds with Yahweh.

This means that the Servant cannot be any earthly man or nation as many interpret these passages.

The Servant is non other than God Himself taking the form of a Servant.

The Means of Exaltation

Verse 14 tells us the means by which the Servant will be exalted.

Now I must not that many of the detail of these means will be fleshed out in greater detail in the coming chapter.

Isaiah first calls the reader’s attention to how the nation of Israel has been rejected by the other nations

King James Version Chapter 52

As many were astonied at thee;

He compares the eventual rejection of the Servant to the present rejection of the nation.

Note here Church that those who act on behalf of God have always been rejected by the world

The nation of Israel dealt with this rejection as a shadow of what was to come; and we will deal with the same rejection in light of what has already happened.

This verse tells us that His “visage (or appearance) was so marred more than any man”

This marring does ultimately speak of the physical agony that Christ will endure on the cross, but there is also something to say about the fact that Jesus was not recognized by most as anyone of great stature throughout the entirety of His life on earth.

Matthew 13:54–55 KJV 1900

And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

The men of the synagogue did not recognize anything great in Jesus that would give Him the power to teach and preform miracles the way that He did.

But ultimately Jesus would suffer a gruesome death on the cross.

His suffering, along with His life of accomplishing all that the Father willed for Him would be the means by which He would be exalted.

The Results of Exaltation

We find the results of the exaltation in verse 15.

The first result that is mentioned is that He will sprinkle many nations.

This is most likely a reference to the way in which the blood of the sacrifice would have been applied to the alter in the Old Testament.

The priest would drain the blood from the sacrifice and then sprinkle in onto the alter.

Isaiah is stating here that the sacrifice of Jesus would have wide reaching implications.

Isaiah looks forward to a time when salvation extends beyond the walls of the Israelites to all the world.

God sought to bring blessing to all the world through this Servant.

By sprinkling many nations, the Servant will purify those who are sprinkled.

The next result we see is that “Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him”

The kings will be speechless because of both the humble estate of the servant and the exalted position that He receives.

The humiliation and exaltation of Jesus goes totally against expectations.

The nation of Israel received prophecy to teach them what to expect of the Messiah, but the world’s nations did not have this same information.