The Gospel According to Isaiah, Part 6:
God’s Promise of a Messiah, Offered and Rejected
Isaiah 9:2-7
Palm Sunday, April 1, 2012
Rev. Stephen Aram
Bethel United Methodist Church
On that day when Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem he presented the crowds with a bit of street theater. He mounted a donkey. He usually just walked, so that caught their attention. He encouraged the crowds to chant Old Testament prophecies about God’s promised Messiah. He allowed them to honor him with the waving of palm branches, and even by laying their cloaks in the dust of the road for the donkey to walk over.
The people were ecstatic, sure that he was going to make his move, start a revolt against the Romans and make Israel strong and wealthy and free again. And they were right that he was the Messiah. They were right that he had come to start a revolt. But they totally misunderstood how he was going to do it. So, when you read about it in Luke’s gospel you see that while everyone else was all happy and excited, Jesus had tears in his eyes because he knew they really didn’t understand.
Many Christians, when they read their Bibles, underline favorite verses, passages that they want to remember. If you do that and read the same Bible for many years there can be quite a few passages marked because the Bible is just full of treasures and you can read the same passage 20 times over 20 years and still see new things in it.
But often times the passages we underline and focus our attention on are the passages about God blessing us and it’s all too easy to skip over the passages that describe our responsibilities to God, the parts that he calls us to do. It’s a good idea for people who underline favorite Bible passages to make a point of reading between the underlines from time to time and look at the difficult passages.
The crowds at the first Palm Sunday needed to read between their underlines. Their heads were full of the Old Testament passages about God sending the Messiah, who would do everything for them. They didn’t seem to notice the parts that called them to respond with holy lives and loving hearts. Sure, they were happy to receive from God. But they overlooked the parts about giving back to God by entering into his plan for the world.
The 66 chapters of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah are just riddled with teasers about what God was going to do some day to redeem the mess that Israel had become. In general, the first 39 chapters talk about God sending a great leader who would someday make Israel strong again and prosperous. Those were the parts that the crowd loved. “God make us strong, happy and prosperous. That’s all we want.” But Isaiah saw that God’s plans went a whole lot farther than that. God’s plans required that something be done about the weight of sin that Israel had accumulated, that something be done about the injustice in their society, and, most importantly, that Israel needed to accept its call to not just squander God’s blessings on themselves, but invest them in being a light to the whole world.
Our first scripture text is from the 1st part of Isaiah, chapter 9. It talks of an amazing, great leader who was coming to Jerusalem. It was probably written when the terrible King Ahaz had a son, Hezekiah, and it expresses hope that Hezekiah would bring reformation and peace to Judah. But as Isaiah prayed to express what God was doing, and wrote out what God laid on his heart, it became something more than just a reforming king. Hezekiah did grow up to be a great reforming king. But Isaiah heard from God the promise of much more.
Now hear the word of God from the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 9, verses 2-7.
2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness –
on them light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.
4 For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors
and all the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it with justice
and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Wouldn’t that be music to the ears of a people who had suffered conquest and occupation by an oppressive enemy, whether the Assyrians in the Old Testament or the Romans in the New Testament? It’s God’s promise of a time of peace. All generations long for that. It’s God’s promise that a son will be born who will bring true justice and righteousness to God’s people. And you can’t have real peace without building it on a foundation of justice and righteousness.
But can you see that this goes far beyond any normal son of a king? Verse 7 tells us that this child will be named “Mighty God.” Wait a minute, that’s not just a normal human child. And the Jews were very, very careful about how they used God’s name. The child will also be called “Everlasting Father” and verse 7 says his authority will continue forever. That was a lot more than Ahaz’s baby son, Hezekiah.
And so, on that day when Jesus was part of the crowd of pilgrims cramming the roads into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast, they started calling out to him, urging him to be that kind of a King, a strong man who would whip the Romans, who would make them all rich. Those were the parts they would have underlined in their Bibles, except that in their day the scriptures were hand written on scrolls and they were way too expensive for most private people to have at home and they would never dare to mark them.
What were they missing? This morning we’ll look at one passage that they were overlooking and then in our Good Friday service we’ll look at another passage from Isaiah that is even more important.
Today we’ll also look at Isaiah 42: 1-4. It talks about God’s special servant. It tells us that the peace he brings will not be just for Israel. It’s for everybody. And it tells us that he won’t bring that peace by military might. The crowds on the first Palm Sunday missed that.
So here is another glimpse, a teaser of what this mysterious Messiah will be, from Isaiah chapter 42.
1 Here is 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 or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.
In verse 1, for whom will he bring justice? It’s for the nations. It’s for everybody, not just God’s chosen people. This is a big problem for Israel today, desperate for security and peace, but often trampling on their Arab neighbors to get it. And there is a never ending stream of grievances and reactions on both sides. But where is it going to end? There is no peace without justice.
Being chosen by God is a great privilege, but it’s an equal responsibility. He blesses us with revelation of who he is so that we can share it with the world and demonstrate it in our lives. God planned for Israel to be a light to the world. God plan is for us to be a light to our world, here in Shannon and in every place where the gospel is not known and lived out. That’s why it’s important for us to do things like inviting friends and family to join us. That’s why it’s important for us to do our Make a Difference Day on June 16, to demonstrate to our community that it’s not about what I can get for myself. Life is about what we can do for others.
On that first Palm Sunday, Jesus rode across the top of the Mount of Olives with the crowd around him all excited, down into the Kidron valley, then up into the city of Jerusalem. He went straight to the temple, his father’s house, the one place on earth above all where the Son of the God of Israel should be acknowledged, welcomed and honored. And what did he find? Well, when you first go in you come to the court of the Gentiles, the place that God had set aside for people who were not born Jews, who had not yet converted fully to Judaism to come and worship the God of Israel. Do you think that was important to God? You bet. It was written right into the original blueprint of the temple. This was for people who spoke other languages, who ate different food, who maybe didn’t understand a whole lot about the Bible yet. And God had made sure that there would be a place for them in his temple. Is there a place in our hearts for people who are not connected with the people of God, people who may hungry for something more in their lives?
So when Jesus walked into the Court of the Gentiles, did he find worship going on, people being warmly welcomed and loved into the Kingdom of God? No, he found that the temple establishment had allowed the local Jews to set up business there, changing money for travelers who had come from other countries and selling animals for them to sacrifice. And there was no way anyone could pray in all the chaos of the animals and business going on. And, to make matters worse, the people who did that business were notorious cheats and profiteers. When you brought your Passover lamb to the priest for slaughter, it was supposed to be a spotless lamb. But the priests had a reputation for refusing lambs that people brought from their own flock and only accepting lambs bought from their business partners in the temple. And did it cross the minds of those who sold animals in the temple that this was an opportunity to jack up the prices and really take advantage of those sincere worshippers who had come to worship God. You bet it did. They were terrible! And Jesus was furious. And you know the story. He tipped over the moneychanger’s tables, scattering the coins across the courtyard. He opened the pens of the sheep and set them free. He chased the crooks out of his Father’s house.
And that was probably the last straw that set the plot to kill him into motion. People who see their religion in a self serving way get angry when you call them to be open and generous to others. It’s the same today.
And then, in verse 3, how will the Messiah do that? While he is establishing justice he won’t break a bruised reed or quench a dimly burning wick. That doesn’t sound like a military conquest does it? That doesn’t even sound like a political campaign to get the Christian guy elected by demolishing his opponent. This sounds like a non-violent Messiah, a Messiah who would turn the other cheek, who would forgive when people hurt him, who would go the extra mile for others, even when they don’t deserve it.
That’s the kind of Messiah that Jesus came to be. Sure he started a revolution. But it was a revolution of the Spirit, a revolution of peace, a revolution that won hearts by love, that called hearts to submit to God, not to force bodies into submission. It was a revolution of love and a revolution of holy living, not violence, and certainly not for greed and selfishness.
And when people saw that he wasn’t going to be a winner, he wasn’t going to be the dominating strongman, what happened? They dumped him.
When Jesus came to Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday he did not come as the person the people wanted. He came as the Messiah they needed.
And he comes to each of us in the same way. We can look to God with the expectation that it’s his job to bless us, to keep us prosperous and happy. And if that’s our approach there will probably be a day when we are really disappointed in him and many days when he will be really disappointed in us.
But if we look to him and confess, “It’s not about me. You are God and I am your servant. Use me, Lord to bring justice. Use me Lord to live a life that will bring you glory by my love for you and for others.” Then we’ll recognize Jesus for who he really is and we’ll discover the deepest blessings of life.
Now this leaves a really big question. How can God change the world without pushing people around, without taking power and control? How can love conquer evil? Isaiah saw the answer and Jesus lived it out. And this Friday, Good Friday, we’ll look at God’s plan, as Isaiah saw it centuries before it happened in one of the most amazing passages of the Old Testament, Isaiah 53.
