The True Servant is Revealed
Isaiah 42:1–9
NKJV
“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”
Thus says God the Lord,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:
“I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the Gentiles,
To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
I am the Lord, that is My name;
And My glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
This Sunday on the Christian calendar is Baptism of the Lord Sunday in which we remember Jesus coming to John for Baptism. It immediately follows the Christian celebration of Epiphany. a celebration which celebrates the opening of the promises of God to the Gentiles (all non-Jews) as it had to the Jews. This was predicted by the prophet Isaiah in several places:
Isaiah 11:10
NKJV
“And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.”
Isaiah 9:2
NKJV
The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
Isaiah 60:1–3
NKJV
Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.
Isaiah 62:2–3
NKJV
The Gentiles shall see your righteousness,
And all kings your glory.
You shall be called by a new name,
Which the mouth of the Lord will name.
You shall also be a crown of glory
In the hand of the Lord,
And a royal diadem
In the hand of your God.
And in the text we read from Isaiah 42 this morning.
These are not all the texts that could be quoted from Isaiah, no less than that the promise of God would come to the Gentiles in other places into the Old Testament. It can be summed up in Matthew 12:21 “And in His name Gentiles will trust.”” Matthew is often claimed as the Gospel given to “Jewish” believers in Christ. This is quite erroneous. Matthew quotes promises which are given to the Gentiles often. The Genealogy of Jesus emphasizes several Gentile women who were ancestors to the promised Christ. There is no narrative about the presentation and circumcision of Jesus. Matthew emphasizes baptism and not circumcision. Jesus was circumcised as all Israelites were. And Jesus was presented in the Temple which was also required. Luke, which was supposedly written to the Gentiles includes these events. But Matthew, instead. has the coming of the three Magi bringing gifts to the infant Jesus. Jesus also command in the Great Commission to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles and make disciples of them. So the great promise from Isaiah 42 this morning must be understood in this light, that Isaiah’s message, even though it fully includes native Israelites is equally a promise to all nations. Believing Israelites do not lose their privileges given to believers. Rather the same privilege is granted to all nations. So when Jesus comes to Jordan to be baptized, he is being revealed as the promised servant of the LORD who comes to save all who believe on Him.
Jesus Himself pointed out that all of Scripture testifies of Him. John 5:39
John 5:39
NKJV
You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
Here we see that the testimony of Scripture to Jesus is the means of eternal life.
Luke 24:25–27
NKJV
Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Here Jesus tells the Emmaus disciples that testimonies that prophesied of Christ’s sufferings could be found throughout what we call the “Old Testament.” Isaiah 53 and the Psalms 22 speak to this, but it can be found in many other places as well.
Luke 24:44–49
NKJV
Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.
“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
This morning’s passage from Isaiah 42 is one of the passages quoted by Christians as a prophecy pointing to the coming of Jesus Christ. It is one of several passages in Isaiah known as the “Servant Songs.” They occur in the second half of Isaiah and points a time of judgment and then restoration of Israel. Many see these servant songs pointing to the people of Israel. It is Israel as a whole whose sufferings somehow bring in the Gentiles. But we, as Christians must understand that these songs point to a specific person and not all the individual people as a whole. When Yahweh promises to Abraham that in his seed (singular) shall all the nations of the world be blessed, he is not addressing just Israel but to one particular Israelite who is the promised seed. This is what Paul tells s in Galatians 3:16
NKJV
Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.
Also we read in Galatians 3:7
"Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham."
There was no nation of Israel at the time this promise was made to Abraham. Israel did not begin until his grandson Jacob wrestled with the angel and had his name changed to Israel. This would be many decades later. Before this, Abraham would have Ishmael and six other sons other than Isaac. Does not the promise given to Abraham apply to them as well? And Isaac had another son, Esau. Is he not a physical descendant of Abraham? Do not the promise given to Abraham apply to him as well. Does not the promise “I will bless them that bless thee” also mean all these and their descendants? So, indeed, the promise is given to physical Israel, but not only to them. After thousands of years, the vast majority of people on this earth are descendants of Shem and are, therefore, Semites. We are all Gentiles. We are all Jews. Even Judah’s surviving sons were by Tamar, a Canaanite Gentile. So every Jew is half Gentile as well. The seed of the ten lost tribes of Israel mixed their seed among the nations
Finally, in Genesis 3:15, when Adam and Eve represented the entire human race a promise was given that through the seed of a woman, Satan’s head would receive an incurable wound. In the process, this seed would be bruised in his heel. This was a special seed, who is Jesus Christ who had nails driven through his feet, but by this bruised Satan in the head.
This has been a long excursus, but it was necessary to understand that the servant which is revealed in Isaiah 42 and the other servant songs is none other than Jesus. And everything which is revealed here speaks about the special servant Jesus.
The song starts with the command “behold!” The Gospel of John used this word when the Baptist says Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) We are commanded to pay attention to the special servant that the LORD has chosen. There is also the idea of paying attention to what this Servant does and says. Because the LORD delights in His servant, we who say that we love the LORD must delight in His Chosen One as well.
This passage tells us that the LORD placed His Spirit upon Him. This we see at Jesus’ baptism where the Holy Spirit descended as a dove upon Him. We note the word “upon.” This indicates a physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus as a witness to Him. Jesus, as the Eternal Son is from all ages equal with the Father and Son. Jesus was not a man that was adopted and becomes the Son of God. The Gospel of John asserts that this Jesus was the eternal Word by whom all things were created. Colossians adds that all things were created in Him, by Him, and for Him. This witness was not for Jesus’ sake. It was in part for John the Baptist’s sake as the Lord had told him that whosoever he saw the Descend and remain upon was the One who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. We hear the Spirit at Jesus’ baptism proclaim to us that this Jesus was His beloved, the elect one. This is how we see Isaiah 42 fulfilled at Jesus’ baptism, even though this prophecy was over 700 years old when it was fulfilled this day.
Isaiah also tells us that his mission was to bring justice to the earth and victory. This victory would not be by violence and the sword, but rather as the actions of a humble man who set an example by the way He walked upon this earth and His humble submission to death on a cross. Is also says that he would not be discouraged in this task. Even when He cried out “My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me?” he was not discouraged. We must realize that Jesus was quoting the first verse of the 22nd Psalm to point out that this was the fulfillment of the entire Psalm. He was trying to tell us the significance of the cross. One must also realize that the 22nd Psalm ends in exultant victory and not despair. One must read all the psalm to avoid misunderstanding. He was victorious over the cross. In His death, He becomes the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He rose and ascended and is coming again to proclaim the eternal victory. He has brought judgment into the truth of His victory. For His return we await the time of our eternal victory in Him.
We read that God the LORD has created us for righteousness, for which Jesus came to make us righteous. We remember that He is the creator to bring His judgment to the farthest coast, even unto all the Nations (Gentiles). He holds Israel by His covenant love in this mission to reach out to the nations in the palm of His hand. To some extent, Israel did this. By the time Jesus came, there were synagogues all over the Roman Empire. There were many proselytes from the Gentiles as well as God-fearers. This prepared the way for the Gentiles to receive the Gospel. We can be critical, as Jesus Himself was, of many faults in the message of Judaism, principally, not extending the full hand of fellowship to the Gentiles as well as misinterpreting the Law and not understanding the mission of this Servant which The LORD had sent, but they also served this useful purpose as well. Eyes would be opened and prisoner freed, something which Isaiah says in more detail in Isaiah 61:1-4 which Jesus comments upon n Luke in the synagogue of his hometown Nazareth. At first, they considered His words gracious, but when He applied these words and His mission would extend to the Gentiles as well, they were enraged. When Jesus reminded them that it was a Gentile widow whom God used to preserve Elijah in Zaraphath, in the backyard of Jezebel, they were ready to stone Him. They were ready to receive the promises of the LORD for them, but not to the Gentiles. This is a terrible tragedy.
We remember that John the Baptist came to baptize and not circumcise. Luke tells us that tax-collectors responded to the message to repent and believe on the One who was about to come. Tax-collectors, especially those who were ethnic Jews were utterly despised. They were considered as excluded from Israel and the Covenant. We also read in Luke that soldiers (Romans) came to Jesus for baptism. So from the beginning of the Gospels, the message of the Gospel came to the Gentiles. To the Jew first and also to the Greek did not begin with the Apostle Paul.
When Jesus came to Jordan to be baptized by John, he was identifying with all the human race and not exclusively to the Jews. We should remember that Jesus was baptized in the region of Gilgal where more than 1000 years earlier, the Israelites who were not circumcises coming out from the wilderness had to be circumcised before they could come into Israel. Even though they were the descendants of Israel (Jacob) they were not Covenant children. God required circumcision for Abraham and all his male descendants, not just Isaac. Not only this, it was required of all the male servants (slaves). If they did not, they were cut off from the covenant. Circumcision of the flesh ruled unto this time, but the prophets tell us that God was more interested in the circumcision of the heart. Baptism replaces circumcision, because it is more than a physical mark upon the foreskin of males. What circumcision pointed to was that anyone who would be a covenant child must be one in his or her entire being. This entire love of mind, body, and spirit is enshrined in Deuteronomy 6:4-6, which every Jew was to quote and apply.
Baptism applied to women, too, who could not be circumcised. This promise of becoming a covenant child was for everyone who believed. Without faith, no one can belong to the covenant, even if one can claim genetic descent from Abraham, which nearly every person living today is.
Jesus commands us to go into all the world and make disciples (talmudim) of all nations (Gentiles), “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” We are to teach them to observe everything He taught. We must remember that as the Son, He appeared to Abraham as well as Moses, through whom He dictated the Law. We must not be guilty ourselves of making distinctions between peoples and nations. The Gospel is for everyone. Let us proclaim this as obedient children of the New Covenant until He comes.
