“Behold 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.” Isaiah 42:1 ESV
Reflection: how are you serving the Lord?
Today we have to wrestle with a difficult topic for us – namely that of “service”, or being a servant. Perhaps partially, as being a servant might seem so degrading, even associated with slavery. As humans, we naturally resonate with the ideas and ideals of freedom, of independence, of individualism. And, more so as a Christian, it is easy for us to talk about the freedom we have in Christ, but not so much about what we are free from. And, certainly not so easy to talk about obedience and service to God as that seems to in a way go directly against the whole idea of freedom. So, perhaps we start with a question to ponder. As a Christian,
Are we more free than Christ Jesus, who is our Lord, our Master and Teacher?
In Isaiah 42, the Lord God “tips His hand”, giving us insights into how He plans to bring His law and justice to the nations. We read “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”” Isaiah 42:9 ESV. Now, why would He tell us beforehand, or “before they spring forth I tell you of them”? Probably so that we could know, and we could confirm that it was His plan, His doing, when it finally happened, and give Him the glory for it. And, the focus verse today, we see the outline of the plan. He says “Behold 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.” Isaiah 42:1 ESV. That the Lord God would bring forth His chosen one,
His servant.
And, he goes on describing His servant in more detail, “He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.” Isaiah 42:2-4 ESV. His servant would not be as the world might image the chosen one of Jehovah to be. And, the Lord continues to describe His plan through His chosen servant, ““I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” Isaiah 42:6-7 ESV. So, who is this servant?
It is Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah.
Now, we are also seeing what the Lord God was going to achieve through His servant. We read that the Messiah would be a new covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to bring people out of captivity, out of darkness. In other words, to bring freedom. And, this accomplished ONLY by the Lord Himself, to whom all the glory belongs, as He also declares “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.” Isaiah 42:8 ESV. It is His doing alone. And, Jesus fulfilled the Lord’s marvelous plan by being obedient, a servant of the Lord, by which He purchased our freedom. Freedom from the darkness.
Not freedom to sin; no it is freedom from sin.
Jesus was obedient to the Lord God, fulfilling the law and the prophets such as what we read in Isaiah 42. He gave us a new covenant in His blood, for the forgiveness of our sins, our debt. Jesus, the Son of God, was fully faithful to His Father, trusting in Him regardless. And, we see throughout the Bible many who were faithful to the Lord, such as Jacob (Israel) who the Lord also called His servant.
The problem really is therefore how we see and understand the idea of service, of being a servant. Jesus said “But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” Mark 10:43-45 ESV. Let’s change our own definitions and perspective of being a servant, to be the highest honor, to be
a faithful servant of the Lord.
Modeling after our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Then someday we will hear Him say to us, “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” Matthew 25:21 ESV
