Well, the roster for the Canadian Olympic men’s hockey team was announced last week. Not surprisingly hockey enthusiasts are debating the selection of athletes. It was a no-brainer of course to include Sydney Crosby on the team, but was it wise to leave off a veteran like Joe Thornton? In anticipation of questions like these the selection committee explained that, to make a run for the gold medal, it picked the “right” players rather than perhaps the “best” players this country has. Come end of February we’ll learn if the selection committee made the right choices.
Long before Tuesday’s introduction of the men’s Olympic hockey team, God made an important announcement of his own. He introduced to the world the one he had picked to be Messiah – that is the one appointed to secure the golden streets of heaven for sinners like us. The Israelites who were the first to hear this particular announcement given through the prophet Isaiah may have had some questions about God’s choice. The Messiah, as described in this announcement, didn’t sound tough enough to accomplish the mission. We know of course that he was. Jesus, the Messiah, is just the Savior we need. Today’s sermon text will help us appreciate that better, for as we take a close look at God’s ancient announcement, “Meet the Messiah!” we’ll see how it delivers contemporary comfort.
The strange thing about this ancient announcement is that God did not reveal the name of the Messiah. He simply called him “my servant” (Isaiah 42:1). Yet we know that God was speaking about Jesus because he said that he would put his Spirit on his servant (Isaiah 42:1). Think of how that happened in a dramatic way at Jesus’ baptism. After the heavens were opened and the Father said about Jesus, “This is my Son whom I love,” the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove. It was this mark that assured John the Baptist that Jesus was in fact that promised Messiah (John 1:33).
Filled with the Holy Spirit and having been marked as the Messiah, you would expect Jesus to start his ministry with a bang, like a Sydney Crosby hyped up for the gold medal game and ready to skate through his opponents to secure the victory. But what did Jesus do at the beginning of his mission? He wandered off alone into the wilderness for 40 days where he was continually tempted by Satan with no one to observe the contest except wild animals and the angels (Matthew 4)! Even when Jesus continued his ministry among the people, it was for the most part low key with most of his time spent in small towns. Imagine a breakout artist continuing to play gigs in Morinville and Stony Plain rather than in Toronto and Vancouver where the fame and money is. But this fits the description of the Messiah, for God said through Isaiah: “He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets” (Isaiah 42:2).
Oh God was not saying that the Messiah would be totally invisible. Jesus made his presence known through the miracles he performed and through his powerful preaching. But through all that it was obvious that the Messiah was not only a servant of God, he was servant of sinners. Listen to how else God described that aspect of Jesus’ ministry. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out” (Isaiah 42:3a).
According to God’s ancient announcement the Messiah would be kind and caring. He would not appear for the purpose of snapping in two the lives of those the rest of society considered broken – like the woman caught in adultery whom the Pharisees brought to Jesus for judgment (John 8). OK. Jesus treated that woman with kindness and offered her forgiveness when no one else did, but how do you explain the way in which Jesus treated the Canaanite woman who wanted him to drive out a demon from her daughter? (Matthew 15) At first Jesus ignored her and then called her a dog when he said it wasn’t right to take blessings meant for the Israelites and give them to the non-Jews. It seemed as if Jesus was trying to snuff out any little bit of faith that woman had! This woman may have come to Jesus as a smoldering wick, but she went away a blazing fire. By seemingly putting her off, Jesus was pressing her to hold more firmly to the promises she knew about the Messiah, that he had indeed also come for the non-Jews.
Jesus still treats us this way, doesn’t he? Your plans for retirement don’t pan out. Your health gets steadily worse. Friends and family treat you with contempt. You’ve prayed for Jesus to take all the pain and loneliness away but it just seems to keep piling up! “And I thought you wouldn’t snuff out a smoldering wick,” we cry. “Instead it feels like your trying your best to blow out my faith.” And then it hits us. How do you save a dying fire? You blow on it. You fan it. You feed it oxygen so that the fire will grow and spread. That’s how Jesus uses adversity in the lives of believers – not to snuff out faith, but to bring it to life by pushing us back to his promises. Friends, can I encourage you to commit to memory these words from Isaiah? “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out” (Isaiah 42:3a). Say it with me. “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out” (Isaiah 42:3a). Hold on to those words as to a life preserver when adversity hits so that you never doubt that your Messiah is your friend.
While the Messiah is gentle, God made sure the original listeners of our text understood that he would be no wimp. God said through Isaiah: “…he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth” (Isaiah 42:4a). The justice that the Messiah would bring was not economic equality, but forgiveness. And we know how that wasn’t easy for Jesus to secure. Satan tried to thwart him at every turn. The religious leaders who should have been Jesus’ biggest allies were determined to kill him almost from day one. And yet Jesus would not be deterred. He was determined to go all the way to and through the cross so that our sins would be paid for and so that we would not have to be afraid of God’s punishment anymore. Our text assures us of that through the words God the Father addressed directly to the Messiah: “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6).
“I will make you to be a covenant …” Ponder that sentence with me. Why didn’t God say to the Messiah, “I will use you to establish a covenant”? Covenants are like business deals and you would expect them to be written down on paper. And yet here God said that the Messiah himself would be the covenant. What does that mean? Perhaps a quick history lesson from the Viking age will help us appreciate what God is saying. When the Vikings invaded Britain they did not have enough warriors to occupy the land they had taken. So how could the Vikings guard against rebellion? Each defeated British lord was forced to pledge allegiance in exchange for his life. But could his word be counted on? What would stop the British lord from attacking the Vikings as soon as they turned their backs? What the Vikings did to ensure peace was to take hostage one of the sons of these British lords. The message was clear: rebel and your son will be the first casualty. In other words, the covenant between the Vikings and British was not written on paper; it was embodied in the flesh and blood of a son.
Do you see where I’m going with this? God the Father wants peace with us rebellious sinners. But how is he going to secure it? By having us a sign a piece of paper which says we promise to give up our sinful ways and live for him? Sure, go ahead and make such a pledge. You won’t be able to keep it, not even for a few seconds. God himself must secure the peace. And he does so in the person of his Son Jesus who lived obediently for his heavenly Father, and then died to pay for our rebellion. Because this Jesus is also true God, he doesn’t have to keep dying every time we sin. His sacrifice on the cross pays for all sin for all time. This is how Jesus, the Messiah, is the covenant of peace between God and us. Isn’t it fun to study this ancient announcement about the Messiah? It really does bring contemporary comfort. Because Jesus is God’s covenant, you and I no longer have to carry around the guilt of our sins. All the stupid things we have said and done and for which God should send us to hell, have been taken care of by Jesus.
So are you among the millions of Canadians who can’t wait to see the men’s Olympic hockey team in action? They should do pretty well, but will these hockey stars bring home the gold? Tuesday’s team roster announcement can’t guarantee that. On the other hand God’s ancient announcement about the Messiah did guarantee success. In the verses after our text God said: “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols. 9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you” (Isaiah 42:8, 9). When God promises he always delivers. Jesus, the Messiah, accomplished everything his heavenly Father said he would. Put your trust in him even when it feels as if he’s trying to break you. He won’t, for, what’s that passage again? Say it with me: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out” (Isaiah 42:3a). Amen!
SERMON NOTES
Our sermon text from the Old Testament book of Isaiah is a prophecy about the Messiah. How do we know that this prophecy was actually about Jesus when God only called the Messiah, “my servant” in these verses?
(A follow up question to do at home.) Throughout the book of Isaiah, God refers to the people of Israel as “my servant.” However, “my servant” cannot refer to the people of Israel in Isaiah 42:1-7. How does the context make this clear?
God said that the Messiah would “not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets” (Isaiah 42:2). What does that mean, considering Jesus did preach and draw attention through the miracles he performed?
The Messiah would be kind and caring, or as God said through Isaiah: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out” (Isaiah 42:3a). The sermon listed Jesus’ treatment of the woman caught in adultery (John 8) as an example of this gentleness. List three more examples from Jesus’ ministry (not mentioned in the sermon).
But Jesus doesn’t always seem kind and caring! What’s he up to when he allows us to suffer?
What does it mean that God would make the Messiah to “be a covenant,” rather than to “establish a covenant”?
(Not included in the sermon.) Our text said regarding the Messiah, “In his law (or word) the islands will put their hope.” Why is that significant? (Hint: Why didn’t it say, “In him the islands will put their hope”?)
How did today’s text, God’s ancient announcement about the Messiah, bring you contemporary comfort?
