St. Aidan’s Sermons
Winnipeg, Manitoba
The Rev. Canon Dr. Brett Cane, January16, 2011
Epiphany 2; 8:30 and 10:00 a.m. Holy Communion
The Suffering Servant #1:
“The Greatest Prophet”
Isaiah 42:1-9
Opening Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you came amongst us as the Suffering Servant; help us now, by your Holy Spirit, to see your role as the Greatest Prophet and grasp the implications of that for us that we might live as your servants to usher in the Kingdom of our Father in heaven. Amen.
Introduction
Have you ever wondered how Jesus discovered who he was and what his mission was to be? Do you think he saw visions or heard voices that told him? Was it a deep inner sense of certainty? Did he know it all his life? My belief is that Jesus discovered his identity and purpose by reading Scripture – especially passages from the book of Isaiah. Oh yes, the Sprit would have been active within him to reveal the Father’s heart and will – but I believe that Scripture was the basis of that knowledge. As Jesus read from the Hebrew Scriptures, the Spirit would have confirmed in his heart that this is who he was and what he had been sent to do. When Jesus questioned the teachers in the temple when he was twelve years old this is what he would have been asking about (Luke 2:41-50). The voice of affirmation at his baptism, as we shall see, is a conflation of two verses of Scripture (Psalm 2:7 and Isaiah 42:1). In his temptations that followed, his responses to the challenge to his identity “If you are the Son of God…” (Matthew 4:3, etc.) were all quotes from the book of Deuteronomy – which he was probably meditating upon during those forty days. Jesus received his affirmation from Scripture.
So it is important for us to know and understand these same Scriptures – not only to find out who Jesus was and what he came to do but also to see who we are and what we are called to do. One of Jesus’ final messages after his resurrection was, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 21:21). Now, that does not mean we are divine sons or daughters as Jesus was or that we will die for the sins of the world – but we are born of the Spirit as God’s adopted children and we are called to suffer – to take up our crosses (Matthew 16:24) – as we carry out the mission he has given us. It will help us to clarify our identity and mission as we see and clarify who Jesus was and what he came to do.
To help us do this, during Epiphany we will continue our Advent journey through the book of Isaiah. It was from this book that Jesus received much of his conviction as to his identity and purpose and especially from four passages known as “The Servant Songs” found in Isaiah 40-55.[1] We will look at all four during the next three weeks, beginning today with Isaiah 42:1-9, where we discover that the One to come, Jesus, amongst other things, is the Greatest Prophet.
Setting the Scene
In order for us to understand the Scriptures we are looking at, we need to set the scene. The first part of the Book of Isaiah (chapters 1-39) is warnings to the southern Hebrew kingdom of Judah to repent and turn back to God to avoid the disaster that came upon her northern sister kingdom of Israel which was annihilated by the Assyrians in 722 BC and its people taken off into exile never to heard from again. In chapter 39 a new enemy looms on the horizon, Babylon, and, to cut a long story short, Judah does not turn back to God and so she, too, is taken into exile – this time in Babylonia. The people are deported in three stages, the final one being in 582 BC.
It is in Babylon that the remnant of God’s people wake up and come to their senses spiritually and realize what they have done in defaulting on their God-given call to be his holy people so that the world might be blessed (Genesis 12:2-3). It is here that they receive messages of encouragement and hope from the prophets, which is the substance of Isaiah 40-55. These messages are partially fulfilled when Cyrus the Persian conquers Babylon in 539 BC and allows the exiles to return home, which they begin to do a year later, much chastened but with a renewed vision of God and his purposes for them. The final chapters of Isaiah (56-66) are promises of a new age of restoration.
Our focus is Chapters 40-55 with its message to the exiles in Babylon – to encourage them not to lose heart. They had every reason to be discouraged – the bulk of the people had been exiled – including the leadership – the intellectuals, nobility, etc. They were allowed to continue their own worship but now had no temple as a focus of worship. With the downfall of the state, the destruction of Temple, and the end of Davidic kingly line which was to be God’s means of action for his people – they felt that God had abandoned them. What’s more the new gods of Babylon that were all around them – the star gods, the moon and sun, with all their pomp and circumstance – seemed much more impressive than their comparatively simple and unadorned religion. Were these gods the true gods? Were they the strong ones? What about their God, Yahweh? Did he have the power to rescue them? Did he care? The “old faith” was in danger of losing its fervour – it seemed “old fashioned” and “not relevant.”
Many of us might see some similarities with our situation today. In the midst of all the so-called “advances” in society and morality, our faith seems old fashioned, small, and insignificant. We may have specific personal discouragements and be wondering, “Where is God?” “Why is he not acting?” “Why do others who don’t acknowledge God seem to prosper?” “Is God really there?” Through Isaiah 40-55 we hear that God is a God of mercy and grace – he reaches down to his people to comfort and rescue them; he offers a new beginning. God can and will act because he is Lord of Creation, History, and the Universe. He is the Mighty God (40:10) but also the loving, caring Father who cares for his people as a shepherd for his flock (40:11) and wants to help them in their hour of need (40:29-31). This is the message found in Isaiah 40-55 – it was the word of the Lord to his people then and it is his word to us now. And at the heart of that message is the mysterious “Servant of the Lord” who will come to reveal God’s grace and release his power in new and dynamic ways never before thought possible.
Who is the Servant?
Before we look at the first Servant Song, we need to ask the question, “Who is the Servant?” We could jump ahead to the New Testament and say, “It’s Jesus” – but that would be leaving out some vital steps. Remember that in Advent, when I spoke about interpreting the Old Testament, I said that one way of doing it is through typology. I said that typology has to do with models God uses or patterns of how he works – “types” – and that a type could be a person, event or institution that God uses as a picture of how he is going to work things out. The Servant in Isaiah 40-55 is such a “type.” Who could be the original model that God used and is this the actual Servant? Here are three possibilities that have been suggested:
1. Israel as a nation: Many say that Israel as a nation is the Servant. We read, “But now listen, O Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen” (44:1). And yet, Israel is chastised as a faithless servant, “Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send… you have seen so many things but have paid no attention, your ears are open but you hear nothing” (42:18-20). Israel is rebellious and wayward, like us, but, as we shall see, the Servant is faithful and true; what’s more, he bears the sins of the people (53:5, 6) – and so the Servant can not be the people.
2. Cyrus the Persian: Is the Servant Cyrus who sends the exiles home? There are strong affirmations given about him: “Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service?…Cyrus, ‘he is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please’… his anointed…Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of” (41:1-4; 44:28; 45:1). But Cyrus is just the beginning of deliverance and national renewal – the Servant gives much more. Also, he is different from Cyrus – the Servant makes no show – “He will not shout or cry out or raise his voice in the streets” (42:2) – unlike Cyrus’ triumph.
3. One of the Prophets: We have pictures of other deliverers with a prophetic ministry such as Moses, Job, Jeremiah, or even Isaiah himself – but none fits exactly. We will see that elements of the Servant’s ministry have been prefigured by all these – but the Servant’s person and task have a far greater impact than any who have gone before.
So what we are left with is the model of servant as imperfect individuals or the corporate image of the failed nation. We now turn to the first Servant Song which reveals this imperfect model of the past expanded into a new and far superior image.
The Servant as the Greatest Prophet
We will look first at the nature of the Servant and then at what he is called to accomplish.
1. The nature of the Servant: Verse 1 describes the nature of the Servant: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.” First, there is love and intimacy between the servant and God – “my chosen one in whom I delight.” The Servant is chosen or elect like Israel as we saw earlier. Choice and love are related concepts in Scripture. In Deuteronomy, it affirms, “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). To choose implies love – the Servant is beloved of God.
Secondly, the choosing of the servant also involves the gift of the Spirit: “I will put my Spirit on him.” In the Old Testament, Kings were anointed for God’s Spirit to come upon them with power and action. In Advent, we read in Isaiah 11(1) of the one who shall come from “the stump of Jesse” – the descendent of King David (Jesse’s son) – the new King to come. It says there that “The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him” (Isaiah 11:2). Here, in chapter 42, the Spirit rests on God’s Servant. So, Isaiah shows us that the Servant and the King are one.
In the New Testament, at Jesus’ baptism, the voice from heaven says, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17) and the Spirit alights on him in the form of a dove. Verse 1 of Isaiah 42 is used (with “love” substituted for “chosen”) and combined with part of a verse from Psalm 2 which describes God speaking to the king: “You are my Son, today I have become your Father” (Psalm 2:7). This unmistakably identifies Jesus as the Servant who has both a special relationship with God as Son (he is loved and delighted in) and also anointed with power (the gift of the Spirit) to be God’s King for his people.
2. The role of the Servant: Well, if this is who the Servant is, what is he called to do? We are told he is to establish justice and law: “He is to bring justice to the nations” (verses 1, 3, 4) and “In his law the islands will put their hope” (verse 4). The word “justice” (mishpat) means commandment; the word “law” (torah) means instruction. We are also told that he will bring about justice “in faithfulness” (verse 3) which means according to the truth – in other words the Servant will interpret to God’s people God’s decisions, God’s judgments – which is truth. Calling people back to God’s truth reveals the Servant’s role as prophet. The two words (mishpat, torah) are from the Books of Moses so, putting it all together, we see parallels with Moses here. The ministry of Moses as Prophet, Lawgiver and King-figure is the model or “type” for this Servant Song. Only here this is the new Moses he himself predicted: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your people” (Deuteronomy 18:15).
But the Servant is far greater than Moses. First, he doesn’t just give the law or call people back to it – he is the covenant: “ I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people” (verse 6). Secondly , his role is not just for Israel, but all nations: “and a light for the Gentiles” (verse 6). He is to bring justice “for the nations” (verse 1) and “the islands” (verse 4). The Servant is a universal Moses with a world-wide mission.
But there is more – the new Moses will have a ministry of grace: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out” (verse 3). Israel – and we – are the dimly burning wick and bruised reed – he will not quench us, but will give his own life for us. Justice demands that we be broken – but he will not break us. This is the triumph of grace. So this new Moses will be a prophet of the new covenant; he himself will be the covenant and it will be one of grace and truth for both Jews and Gentiles. It is no mistake that John’s Gospel tells us: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). So Jesus is the Servant and his job description is to be the Greatest Prophet – and this is where and how the Lord communicated it to him!
Our Call as Servants of the Servant
So, does the Lord have a communication for us through all of this? Yes he does! We, the faithless, failed servants, have been redeemed and rescued by The Servant, Jesus. We are the ones whose eyes the Servant has opened, the captives who have been set free, the ones that sit in darkness who have been released (verse 7). We have now received the Spirit that was upon the Servant who has “brought about our adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” (Romans 8:15). We are “A chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession” (1 Peter 2:9). If this is who we are, as adopted brothers and sisters of the Servant, then we also inherit his task – to bring justice and law, grace and freedom to the nations. We have the same world-wide mission that Jesus had – we are saved to serve.
However, like the exiles who heard this message, much of our present experience may lead us to despair of all this coming true for us. We may feel overwhelmed by our current situation. The final verse of our passage speaks to this. “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you” (verse 9). The exiles did not see their deliverance when they heard these words – but it all took place. God calls us to remember what he has done in the past – Israel’s past – the church’s past – your past: the “former things” – as the basis for knowing he will act again in the future. Even though the present makes no sense, take courage for the future – God will come through. He came through for Israel – he came through for Jesus – he will come through for you – his redeemed servant. The Servant – the Greatest Prophet – Jesus – will not let you down.
[1] Isaiah 42:1-9; 49:1-7; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12
