Sermon Tone Analysis
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Copyright July 10, 2022 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche
We all need to be rescued.
Some of us know it and some of us don’t.
We may feel we need to be rescued from a bad circumstance or a bad relationship.
Maybe we need to be rescued from financial debt or an unbearable job.
But our greatest need for rescue is actually in an area of which many people are unaware.
We need to be rescued spiritually.
This morning we are going to look at God’s rescuer.
In Isaiah 49 we see the second of the servant passages in Isaiah that describe the coming Messiah (or Jesus).
This passage will give us some noteworthy (I hope) insights into God’s plans for His followers.
The Words of the Rescuer
1 Listen to me, all you in distant lands!
Pay attention, you who are far away!
The Lord called me before my birth;
from within the womb he called me by name.
2 He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword.
He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand.
I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel,
and you will bring me glory.”
4 I replied, “But my work seems so useless!
I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose.
Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand;
I will trust God for my reward.”
5 And now the Lord speaks—
the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant,
who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him.
The Lord has honored me,
and my God has given me strength.
6 He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.
I will make you a light to the Gentiles,
and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
On the surface it is difficult to know who is doing the talking in first six verses.
But as you read on it is apparent this is the suffering servant we find periodically in Isaiah.
We know this servant to be Jesus.
This is partially because of things Jesus said about Himself, and also how He fits the description.
The Jews at the time of Jesus did not pick up on this.
They did not see that these verses were pointing to a different Redeemer than the one they were anticipating.
Let’s look at what He tells us about Himself.
First, He says He was called to His position before He was born.
He was called even while He was in the womb.
In the story of the first time John the Baptist encountered Jesus, we are told John jumped in the womb of His mother in excitement and honor to be in the presence of the coming Messiah.
We need to understand that this is spoken in what is called phenomenological language.
This means that the words are written from the standpoint of how we experience what happened even though it is not necessarily a full picture of what actually happened.
For example, we talk about the sun rising and setting.
Of course the sun doesn’t move, the earth does.
When it comes the suffering servant, by all appearances He is summoned while in His mothers’ womb.
We know (from what the Bible teaches us) that Jesus is the Son of God in human form.
The Son has always existed and is part of the Trinity or the three-part perfect unity that we call God.
The plan of redemption was planned in the counsels of the Trinity before creation.
It is much more understandable saying he was chosen in His Mother’s womb.
Second, we are told He would be compelling in the way He spoke.His words would be like a sharp sword.
He was given a divine authority.
We read this in the Gospels that the people marvelled at Jesus because He was One who spoke with authority, whereas the scholars and teachers of the day QUOTED authorities.
Frequently, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said . . .
“ (quoting an authority) and then He added, “But I say to you . . .
“ The words of Jesus are the Words of God!
Third, the Messiah (Jesus) did not get discouraged over the apparent failure of His mission.
The suffering servant almost sounds dejected.
Jesus came to earth and was rejected and executed.
Yes, this was necessary for our salvation but from the human side of things, it appeared His mission had failed.
His followers ran away and denied Him.
He was executed by the very people He came to save.
From all appearances, His mission had been an abject failure.
However, the suffering servant entrusted Himself to the Lord.
Jesus knew God was working in all circumstances.
He may not (in His human frame) have known what the Father was doing through all that was happening, but He trusted Him.
Aren’t you a little encouraged by these words?
There have been times for all of us when we felt life was falling apart and we were a big failure.
Pastors often feel this way and I suspect you do too.
You try to do the right thing, but it just doesn’t seem to work.
· In your marriage
· In your business venture
· In your attempts to witness
· In raising children
· In your hunger for holiness
· In teaching the Word of God
This is when we must learn from our Lord . . . in spite of appearances we must trust God.
Keep doing what is right and working to communicate well.
The end of things is often not known until much much later.
There are Sunday School teachers who feel like they failed who, years from now, may hear from a child who tells them (or someone else) how much their teaching meant to them.
Our job is to do what God has called us to do.
It is up to Him to bring the impact.
Fourth, His work would extend the call of God even to those outside of the Jewish community.
Up until the time of Christ, the work of God was mostly tied to the Jews.
When Jesus came on the scene, the work of God’s forgiveness and grace was now extended to non-Jews (like us)!
The salvation God offers is for anyone who will receive it.
That includes both you and me.
Thanks be to God!
God’s Words to the People
In verses 7-13 God the Father speaks to the Suffering servant.
He tells Him several things.
First,
He said, there is coming a time when this suffering servant will be exalted by all.
We read this in Philippians 2,
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
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