The Mighty Saving Works Of God's Gentle Servant Series

The book of Isaiah is sometimes called ‘the fifth gospel.’ In the New Testament we have four gospels, of course: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These tell the story of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. Well, you could say that Isaiah does the same thing, because his book is such a great testimony to the Saviour. Where would the Christ come from? What would He be like? What would He do? Isaiah gives an amazing account—all the more amazing, because the Spirit moves him to write these things long before Jesus was born. It’s not the fifth gospel then, but the first!

Throughout Isaiah, there are many verses that point us directly to Jesus. Especially in the coming chapters, Isaiah will give a picture of someone who is going to be crucial to God’s plan, one who will take charge of the project of saving sinners. He is called the Suffering Servant. There are four passages about him, “Servant Songs,” where the prophet gives us a glimpse of the Christ. You can read them in chapters 42, 49, 50, and in chapters 52-53.

When we put these passages together, we get a portrait of the one who is going to rescue God’s people. The Suffering Servant will preach good news to the poor. He’ll heal the sick and mend the broken. More than that—and here’s the real mystery—this servant will himself be punished instead of God’s rebellious people. This servant will suffer in our place. He’ll redeem his people, but not from Babylon, and not from earthly discomfort. But from sin itself!

Our text is the first of these “Servant Songs,” and I summarize it for you on this theme,

God sends the chosen Servant to save His people:

1) the Servant’s gentle character

2) the Servant’s righteous calling

3) His people’s happy chorus

1) His gentle character: Our text begins with a ‘Behold!’ (v 1). That’s a word which calls everyone to take notice. One commentator says it’s like a blast of trumpets or a drumroll. It means we’re reaching a high point in Isaiah. There’s been misery, and there’s been judgment—just in the previous chapter we heard about a king coming from the north, Cyrus of Persia, who will squash the nations like a person squeezing clay in his hands. ‘But don’t despair,’ God says, ‘Behold my servant, and see what He will do.’

In the Bible, “servant” is a special title for someone who is called to carry out God’s will in an important way. And now also this Servant will come to save his people. What makes him so special is God’s close involvement in his life. “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold” (v 1). That word means to clutch, to grasp tightly—God is determined to preserve his servant for himself. And He’ll make sure that his Servant is able to carry out his calling, for He says, “I have put my Spirit upon him” (v 1). Through the Spirit, God’s personal presence will always go with him, to give wisdom, and strength, and courage.

You can tell that God doesn’t want his Servant to fail, because so much is depending on the work that He does. In coming verses, we’ll see just how much the Servant is expected to do. It would be far beyond the ability of any man, yet God will uphold him, equip him, and empower him so that his Servant can be faithful.

And God is also confident that He’ll be able to do it. See how in verse 1 He describes his servant as “my Elect One in whom my soul delights!” God chose him—elected him—as the critical piece of his saving plan. He is God’s choice for the job, and even before He has done anything, the Lord says that He is happy with him: He is the one in whom God delights.

This is probably a good place to pause a moment, and to think about who this Servant is. He goes ‘incognito’ in these chapters—his true identity is concealed. To us, it can seem obvious that this ‘servant’ is the Lord Jesus. For instance, it’s impossible to read Isaiah 53 and not think about Christ hanging on the cross.

But it’s not always so straightforward. In some of these passages, the servant is spoken about as a collective, a group of people—specifically, He is identified as Israel. Take Isaiah 41:8 for example, where God says, “But you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen.” And much of what God says about his Servant really should’ve been true of Israel as a nation. Israel should have been a light to the Gentiles. They should have established truth and justice. They should have walked in covenant with God. But we know how Israel failed to live out their calling. It’s the same calling in which we have often failed.