Jesus as the Servant in Isaiah
Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 44:51
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Light Imagery in the Bible
Light Imagery in the Bible
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Light is a regularly occurring image throughout scripture
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
What is the word showing us?
The right way of life
The character and glory of God
3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!
Light is parallel with truth
It shows things as they truly are
It guides to a specific destination - God’s house
21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
It indicates the presence of God
Who instructs his people
Who leads them to the promised land
Is a sign of God’s glory among the people
An Israelite would assume that it was their job to shine that light to the nations (Romans 2:17-19)
To demonstrate the right way of life
To show what humanity is supposed to be
To guide people to God and demonstrate his glory
Light in Isaiah
Light in Isaiah
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, 3 and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. 5 O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
God is going to establish his mountain above all other mountains
Mountains were how you got close to the divine in the ancient mindset
If God or the gods are up there, a mountain is the closest place to them
God rides on the clouds - some mountains take you above them
Israel worshipped idols on the high places
God’s temple is on Mt. Zion
What will happen on God’s mountain?
Nations will flow to it (2-3)
They will be taught his ways and paths
The law goes out from Zion - how?
Those ways will result in universal peace
What would our world look like if the $2.7 trillion on weapons and defense were put to peaceful ends?
If you spent $1 million every day since the birth of Jesus, you still have enough money to do that for another 5,300 years
It ends in an invitation: Walk in the light of Yahweh with me
The implication is that Jacob/Israel was not walking in the light of the Lord
Pretty obvious when reading their story
Instead of showing the world God’s glory they rejected it
So from among God’s people God will raise up a servant to do the Job Israel failed in
The Servant in Isaiah
The Servant in Isaiah
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. 5 Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: 6 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. 8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. 9 Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
This is explicitly quoted about Jesus in Matthew 12:17-21
He’s doing the job described in Isaiah 2
He brings justice
To all nations
He is light to the nations
This is our connection with John 8:12
He is given as a covenant
Parallel with give as a light
The light will be the justice of God
He succeeds where Israel failed in showing the glory of God to the nations
Now everyone can now walk in the light of the Lord
1 Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. 3 And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” 4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.” 5 And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength— 6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” 7 Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
Who is the servant?
Israel | 3
Someone who saves Israel? | 5-6
Both: Someone who embodies Israel
What’s his job?
Gather Israel
Bigger - gather the nations
8 Thus says the Lord: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, 9 saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture; 10 they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. 11 And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be raised up. 12 Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene.”
Given as a covenant
Freeing prisoners and those in darkness
Taking them somewhere
Feed ‘along the way’
He’s guiding them and making roads
They shall come from afar
Where are they going?
Sounds like Isaiah 2:1-5. The mountain of God!
Walking ‘in the light of the Lord’ is to walk after this servant - the way of God’s glory
The way of the servant is further detailed in Isaiah 53
10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
The servant brings justice and righteousness to the nations by bearing our iniquities
He bears our sin and makes intercession
He dies for us
Summary
Jesus is showing us the way to God
He’s showing us the glory of God
He’s showing us who we are - sinners
He’s showing us what we could be
He’s the way to God’s mountain in Isaiah 2:1-5
We’re the Servant
We’re the Servant
47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
Paul is quoting from Isaiah 49
We’re confident that’s about Jesus
Paul says it’s about ‘us’
We have the same job as Jesus - to show them all the things that Jesus has shown to us
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Past all of the metaphor of being salty and light, how do we bring glory to God?
Good works
What are good works?
Anything that is done for the glory of God
Plenty of people do nice things for other people - but they aren’t doing them for God
Glorifying God goes beyond reading our bible’s and avoiding cuss words. In everything we do we are to show the world “This is what God would look like if he were a person. This is what Jesus looks like. This is what it means to be made in his image.”
What is Jesus afraid will happen to our light?
We’ll hide it!
Why? Because of what he’s just said in the Beatitudes:
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The persecution and reviling comes from:
Being righteous
On account of being associated with Jesus
Being like Jesus will get us the same treatment as Jesus
He was literally a perfect man
And they beat him, tortured him, and murdered him
Why do they hate Jesus?
Same reason they hated the prophets
Godly behavior holds them accountable
Our temptation will be to hide what makes us different from people
It defeats the purpose for which we were made - to shine
that doesn’t give God glory - it robs him of it
To glorify God is to take him in consideration above all other factors
I value obedience to God more than my own personal comfort
