The Glorious Servant Series

Several years ago, the Tokyo Times carried a report about a 19-year-old man who was desperate to get to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. So he hopped a bus and demanded that the driver take him there.

He was hijacking the bus, but few of the passengers were concerned. For one thing, the hijacker wasn’t holding a gun, waving a knife, or carrying a bomb. He was completely unarmed. For another, the bus he wanted to hijack was already headed to Haneda Airport, so everybody on the bus stayed calm.

Some said the man was drunk, others that he was disturbed, but the harmless hijacker was quickly arrested. The Tokyo Times commented that the man “just wanted to make a scene. Which if nothing else, he did manage to do successfully” (Hopeless Hijacker, www.Tokyotimes.org, 3-24-05; www.PreachingToday.com).

Anybody can claim success if they set their goals low enough, but is that really success? What about those who have big goals but fail to achieve them right away? Are they any less successful than the one who achieves little, insignificant goals?

If you have your Bibles I invite you to turn with me to Isaiah 49, Isaiah 49, where we see what true success looks like in the coming of the Messiah to this earth. This is the 2nd of Isaiah’s servant songs where he describes the ministry of God’s Servant who had huge goals, but seemingly failed to achieve them in the short term.

Isaiah 49:1-2 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. 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 (ESV).

This is what God’s Servant says to the world, yes even to us in the middle of Kansas. He says, “Listen to me, because God gave me a pointed message.” You see…

JESUS CAME TO SPEAK, so you better listen.

Jesus came with a specific and direct word from God, so you better pay attention to what He has to say.

His words were like a polished arrow or a sharpened sword. From the very beginning, His message was very pointed: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). And for those who didn’t heed that message, even if they were religious leaders, his words were even more pointed.

In Matthew 23, he says to them, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves… Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness… You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?” (Matthew 23:15,27,33).

Oh my goodness, Jesus avoids any politically correct language for the direct approach.

In John 6, Jesus describes himself as “the Bread of Life,” and tells a crowd of over 5,000 people that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have eternal life. As a result, the last part of the chapter says, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (John 6:66). Everybody left him, except 12; and soon after that, one of those 12 started looking for a chance to betray Him. Jesus asked the 12, “Do you want to go away as well?” And Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life (John 6:67-68).

You see, when Jesus preached, people either got mad and left or they believed and were forever changed. He didn’t mince words or pull any punches. He came with a specifically prepared message from God, and it pierced the soul.

Hebrews 4 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

Soren Kierkegaard once said, “Christian truth itself has eyes to see with. In fact it is all eye. That's very disquieting. Think of looking at a painting and discovering that the painting was looking at you. Precisely such is the case with Christian truth. It is looking back at me to see whether I do what it says I should do (Soren Kierkegaard, Leadership, Vol. 6, no.2; www.PreachingToday.com).

Jesus’ words were very pointed, staring with piercing eyes back at our souls, so you better pay attention to what He has to say. You can’t just pass His words off as “nice” and ignore them. No! Jesus’ words demand a response!