Epiphany 1: Isaiah 42:1-9

Last Thursday, we finally ended our celebration of Christmas. Our neighborhood this year were incredibly prompt with taking down their Christmas decorations. Melanie and I returned from my sister’s house on the 27th, and all the lights were gone, all the inflatable Santas had been put away. And then there was our house, shinning with Christmas glory. And it continued to shine until this week - though, to be honest, it was not because I’m a principled Anglican; but I’m a notorious procrastinator and it rained a lot. But if you are looking for yet another benefit to being Anglican, you’ve got a perfectly legitimate excuse to leave up your Christmas decorations long after the 25th.

But as I said, on Thursday the church celebrated the Feast of Epiphany and officially stepped into the Season of Epiphany, which will last until the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Now, just what is the season of Epiphany all about? Well, the word epiphany comes from the Greek word epiphaneia, which means “appearing or manifestation.” In 2 Timothy 1:9 we see the word used to describe the manifestation of Jesus:

2 Timothy 1:9–10 (NIV)

This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

The season of Epiphany is all about the glory of Jesus appearing or being made manifest to the whole world. Remember, Jesus did not immediately come out and declare that he was the Messiah or King of Creation. Instead, as we read the gospel stories, we find that the glory and identity of Jesus was revealed gradually over time, like a sun making its appearance at dawn. We don’t see the full blazing ball of light right at 7:05 in the morning. Instead, we see the darkness of night begin to change hue. We see a dull light right on the horizon line, and gradually the world around us grows lighter, until at last we see the sun itself, crawling higher and higher in the sky.

In the same way, the light of Christ dawned gradually upon the world. In fact, there are still many places in the world and even more human hearts in the world where the light of Christ has still not appeared - at least not in full. They still live their lives in darkness, without the light of Christ to brighten their days. And so during this season, the church remembers her mission to take that light into every square inch of creation, so that everyone might know his glory and grace.

The essence of Epiphany is seeing and experiencing the glory of Jesus, and it always begins with the story of Christ’s baptism; because at his baptism, something remarkable happens. Jesus goes out into the wilderness by the Jordan River where his relative, John the Baptizer, is ministering. And he, like many of his countrymen, was baptized by John in the Jordan. But unlike any of his countrymen, when Jesus is baptized, the sky was torn open, and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended from the sky to him, and the voice of God declared from heaven to Jesus: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The baptism of Jesus was a choreographed moment intended to unveil the identity and mission of this man from Nazareth. In choreography, every movement has a purpose, and so it is with this scene on the bank of the Jordan River. Both the dove-like Holy Spirit and the Father’s choice of words in his heavenly declaration had a specific purpose. He wanted everyone who saw or heard this scene to think about the 42nd chapter of the scroll of Isaiah - the first line of which reads:

Isaiah 42:1 (ESV)

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.

If I were to say, “Luke, I am your father,” what do I want you to think of? Star Wars! If I were to say, “You shall not pass,” what do I want you think of? Lord of the Rings! If I were to say, “We’re going to need a bigger boat,” what do I want you to think of? Jaws. So we are familiar with the idea of saying a single, famous line with the intention of drawing the mind to a much larger idea. That is what is happening here at Christ’s baptism: God is drawing our minds to a much larger idea: namely, that Jesus is the one spoken about in Isaiah 42.

At the very beginning of his ministry, for those who are listening, God is beginning to reveal who Jesus is and what he has come to do. So let’s follow the connection that God wants us to make, and look at this chapter in Isaiah - so that we may also discover who Jesus is and what he came to do. Isaiah 42:1:

Isaiah 42:1–4 (ESV)

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.

What did Jesus come to do? Well, it’s hard to miss it; because Isaiah tells us three times. Verse 1: He will bring forth justice to the nations. Verse 3: He will faithfully bring forth justice. And Verse 4: He will not grow faint until…he has established justice in the earth. So what did Jesus come to do? He came to bring justice to the world.

So what does that mean? What does it mean to establish justice? Because there are a lot of ways to think about justice. Most commonly, we think about justice in the legal sense. In this country we have a justice system, and even a department of justice, and they are tasked with ensuring that people follow the laws of the land.

There are other ways to think about justice. When someone wrongs us, we seek justice for that offence. If someone steals from us, we want justice - which can mean several different things all at once. It might mean that we want balance to be restored by claiming a compensation for what was lost. We want the money back. Or it might mean that we want to see the perpetrator pay for their crime through some form of legal punishment, whether that’s a fine or jail time. This is justice.

In recent years, many people have begun to think more broadly about justice in light of the racial justice protests that swept the globe in 2020 or even before that with the MeToo movement that seeks justice for victims of sexual harassment or abuse. In that context, justice means some kind of societal change or cultural change that would undo harmful patterns that disadvantage certain populations of people like women or minorities. Justice would be the implementation of new patterns and systems where everyone is treated fairly.

There are countless ways to think about justice, but our question in approaching the Bible isn’t, “what do I think justice means?” The question that we must always bring is “what does justice mean to the author who wrote these words?” What does justice mean to Isaiah? When Isaiah says that the Servant of the Lord will bring forth justice to the nations and establish it in the earth, what does he mean? And the wonderful truth is that what Isaiah means makes our ideas of justice seem like pennies. Time and time again, we discover that in light of what God has promised us, we want far too little.

For Isaiah, justice is nothing short of the life-giving order that exists only when Creation is functioning as the Lord intends. I’ll say that again: justice is the life-giving order that exists only when Creation is functioning as God intends. Justice is every aspect of life on earth operating exactly as God designed. Justice is creation ordered properly according to the Lord’s will.

It doesn’t take much to see that the world is out of order. Child poverty, homelessness, racism, sexual abuse, hunger, human trafficking - all of this is evidence that creation is not functioning as God designed. But the problem is actually much worse than you or I can see. Because each of us has been raised to see certain ways that creation is out of order, but we are blind to other areas where things are not in alignment with God’s design.

I’ll give you an example of this from history. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, Christians were gravely concerned with the sexual integrity of their neighbors, because they knew that sex outside of the covenant of marriage was contrary to the ways of God - ways that they believed in the core led to life and joy. So they readily saw how creation was out of order in this area, but at the same time they were completely blind to the injustice of enslaving men, women, and children for financial gain. Some of the greatest Christian thinkers, preachers, and pastors during that time period - men who loved Jesus, were filled with the Spirit, and who did a lot of good - and yet their hearts were blind to the horrors of slavery.

The truth is that the problem of injustice is far greater than what any of us can see or recognize. The reason that Jesus brings forth justice to all nations and establishes it in all the earth is because all things are out of order. Including you and me. Our hearts are out of order. We are a part of the injustice in creation - an injustice that Jesus has come to deal with.

The pages of history are filled with people rising up with proud proclamations of justice, heroes who have risen up out of the chaotic din of history to bring order where there was none - and they’ve done it by smashing the old world and building a new one. Their greatness was measured by how swiftly they could eliminate their opponent, organize a new government, and bring the populace into submission to the new order of things. But Isaiah tells us that Jesus will be radically different. He is so far from conquering by force that in his quest for justice, he will not even break the reed that is bent over and cracked. He won’t even puff out the candle on its last millimeter of wick.

There was a house near mine that had these tall stalks of reed in their yard. As a child I had a love/hate relationship with them. They were like six feet tall and had a feathery end at the tip, which made them the perfect spear for vanquishing imaginary foes. At least, they would have been perfect, if they didn’t break so easily. You could hardly swing them or they’d snap in the middle, and so all of your play fights had to be in slow motion. It was like doing taichi with a spear.

Isaiah says that the way Jesus will establish justice on the earth - the way that he will bring the earth back into order - it will be so non-violent that a bruised reed would not break. God’s answer to the oppressors of the world is not more oppression. His answer to arrogance is not more arrogance. His answer to violence is not more violence.

His answer is the cross. How does Jesus establish justice on the earth? He takes all of our evil, all our wickedness, all our injustice, all our violence, all our hate, all our sin. He takes it all into himself, and he returns to us only grace, forgiveness, and a new heart that yields to Jesus as its king.

God sent Jesus to accomplish this. Isaiah 42:6:

Isaiah 42:6–7 (ESV)

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.

Commentator John Oswalt put it this way:

We are not locked in to the inevitable results of our inheritances and our choices. The transcendent one can enable us to transcend all of those, by absorbing into himself all the wrongs we have done and giving us back the selves we were created to be.

What did Jesus come to do? He came to bring justice.

Each and every week, the ancient liturgy of our service is an act of justice. Through worship, we are brought into the rhythms of life that are in keeping with God’s intentions for us. Think about it: we have gathered around Christ’s table to confess our sins, to be forgiven, to pray for our neighbor, to proclaim our faith, to sing his praises, to find nourishment in his body and blood, to receive his blessing, and to be sent in the Spirit’s power to bless all those we meet this week. Here, we are recalibrated. Here, we seek justice.

And because we find justice at Christ’s table, we are then empowered to pursue justice in our homes, on our streets, in our neighborhoods, and in our city. We do not function on our own strength, but just like Christ was, we are supported at all times by God - that same God who when looking upon us who have been washed in the blood of the Jesus, and sees his deepest satisfaction and delight. How is that possible? Well, because Jesus has brought forth justice.