‘BEHOLD! MY SERVANT’ – Isaiah 42:1-4

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on November 3, 2019 under 2019 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; November 3, 2019 from Isaiah 42:1-4

Theme: Christian maturity means that we rightly discern what God’s gifts are for … and when they are to be used for His glory

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

Click HERE for the audio version of this sermon.

Communion Sunday is always a good day to focus our attention upon the Lord Jesus. And so this morning, I ask you to look with me to the Old Testament book of Isaiah. We couldn’t do better than to hear what God the Father had to say about His own beloved Son; and in Isaiah 42, God Himself speaks and tells us much about Him.

In 1-4, God the Father is speaking and declares:

“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” (Isaiah 42:1-4).

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Now; this is the first of four ‘Servant Songs’ in the Book of Isaiah in which God the Father refers to His Son as His “Servant”. The other songs are found in Chapters 49, 50, and 52. And in this one, God invited the ancient people of Israel to ‘behold’ His Servant.

And there was a good reason why they needed to take up this invitation. At the time when Isaiah was given these words, the people of Israel were in desperate trouble. They had turned away from the God who had formed them for Himself; and had turned instead to idols. The false gods that they had been trusting, however, would never be of any help to them. The northern tribes of Israel had just been carried away by the dreaded Assyrians because of their disobedience to God. And now, the threat of the Babylonian captivity was looming over the southern kingdom of Judah. The kings who had ruled over Judah had sometimes been godly and repentant; but just as often, they had been extremely rebellious and wicked. Earthly kings were proving untrustworthy. The ungodly kings around Judah were continually threatening them; and even the trust that they had been placing in Egypt was going to prove to be a tragic let-down. All of the alternatives to trusting in God that they were turning to were showing themselves to be useless and destructive.

Now; the times in which we are living are a lot like theirs. God has always held His hand out to them back then; and He is holding out His hand out to us today. He has always been ready to help us if we would just ask Him. But so few seem willing to ask. So few seem interested in listening to Him. So often, we turn to other alternatives that will not help us. And in the face of it all, dear brothers and sisters—as followers of Jesus sitting in the midst of it all—don’t we long for wise and godly leadership to lead us in an honorable way? Don’t we look to the day when truth will really prevail once again? Don’t we yearn for justice and righteousness to be genuinely established for all?

The remnant people of Israel were also longing for such things. Those yearnings they felt were yearnings for something real—something that we were all genuinely made for. When your stomach grumbles and you are hungry, it’s evidence that there is a real thing out there called food that you need. And in a similar way, our yearning for truth, and for justice, and for righteousness show that there really are such things out there to be had … and that we were made for them and need them.

And so; in the midst of that deep yearning for justice and righteous and truth that the ancient people of Israel felt—that longing that frustrated them because of the ungodliness and injustice and falsehood that seemed everywhere—that yearning that we also feel in our day—then came God’s invitation. He said to Israel, “Behold! My Servant …!” In Isaiah 42:1-4, God—our Maker—let’s us know that that we truly do need a godly, righteous, truthful, and just government. He Himself has made us to have this need. And He has made us to have that need met through no other source than Himself. He has promised that there is a Ruler coming from Him who will fulfill these deep longings. Those longings are pointing us to this promised Ruler—God’s Servant. His name is Jesus.

In this morning’s passage in Isaiah 42:1-4—in the light of all of the failures of human government and human efforts to bring about the peace and truthfulness and justice on earth that we long for—God lifts up our hearts by giving us the invitation, “Behold! My Servant …”

Let’s take up His invitation this morning. Let’s behold His Servant Jesus.

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Notice first, in verse 1, that we’re told …

1. WHO HE IS.

God says; “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights!” (v. 1a). And what a wonderful name it is for this promised Ruler—this King of kings—this One who is the answer to all our hopes! He is God’s ‘Servant’.

Jesus once told His disciples;

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—“ (Matthew 20:25-27).

That is the pattern His people are to follow. And then He held Himself up as the great example;

“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (v. 28).

That’s what Jesus said He came to do—that is “to serve”. And that’s who God the Father says that Jesus is—“My Servant”. He came to serve and give His life a ransom for many. God says that He is His ‘Elect One’; meaning not merely that God just happened to have chosen Him from out of among many options, but rather that He is the only One—the choice One—the most excellent One of all—the Chief of humanity—God’s Servant. The apostle Paul tells us that He,

being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:6-11).

And note further that God says that He is the One “in whom My soul delights”. Do you remember when the Lord Jesus was baptized?—how after He came out of the water, the voice of the Father was heard saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17)? God didn’t say this just once—but twice! When Jesus was with three of His disciples on the holy mountain—and when He was transfigured before them and was displayed to them in His kingly glory—the voice of God the Father again said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” (Matthew 17:5).

This is God’s promised Ruler! This is who He is! He is God’s ‘Servant’—His ‘Elect One’—the One in whom God’s soul ‘delights’! There never has been, nor ever can be, another ruler on earth like Him. He’s the Ruler that our hearts truly long for. He’s the Ruler we need.

* * * * * * * * * *

And as the Ruler who is promised by God—as God’s choice ‘Servant’ —look next at …

2. WHAT HE IS AUTHORIZED TO DO.

God says of Him; “I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles” (v. 1b).

Now; look at those words, “I have put My Spirit upon Him …” When we read this, we might naturally think of the story of His baptism by John the Baptist. In Luke 3 we’re told,

When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22).

John the Baptist witnessed this. He said that because of this, he knew—without question—that Jesus was the Son of God. But God’s words here in Isaiah 42 are meant to be more than a prediction of what would happen later at Jesus’ baptism. In saying He would put His Spirit upon Jesus, the Father is telling us that He will anointed Jesus and authorized Him to be One who will meet our need for a just and righteous Ruler. In Isaiah 61:1-3, the Lord Jesus prophetically speaks and says;

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” (Isaiah 61:1-3).

The Lord Jesus once quoted those very words in the synagogue to the people of His hometown of Nazareth; and declared that—that very day—they were fulfilled in their hearing.

And notice what God the Father says this authorized Servant would do. He will do what no other ruler has ever been able to do. “He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles”—that is to say, to the nations. Three times in this passage, the word “justice” appears. The bringing about of justice in this world is what we’re told God’s Servant is authorized by Him to do for us.

Oh; how we need justice! True justice for all! And Jesus is the One God has authorized to bring it about for us when He rules upon this earth.

* * * * * * * * * *

Now; the next thing to notice is …

3. HOW HE WILL DO IT.

So many ‘rulers’ in this world have sought to bring about justice by the force of law. And very often—since their efforts cannot result in the transformation of the heart—they have sought instead to bring justice about by the law of force. That doesn’t work either. In the end, all of our efforts to bring about justice for ourselves have failed. That’s because we ourselves are sinners—unjust to the core. Our efforts to bring about justice seem, instead, to result in more injustice.

So; how does God’s anointed and authorized Servant bring about justice to the nations? First—amazingly—we’re told that it is with meekness. God Himself tells us, “He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street” (v. 2). So many of the rulers of this world—or the would-be rulers of this world—shout and cry in the streets very loudly. They crank-up their megaphones and make a great noise about themselves. They take possession of the media. They out-yell and out-debate their opponents. They write, and broadcast, and televise, and post, and debate, and get publicity, and win the ear of the populous. There are times—quite frankly—when we wish they’d be quiet for a while.

But that’s not how God’s Servant will do things. Jesus doesn’t obtain His rule over people that way. Do you remember that there was a time when Jesus was going around healing people—and people were flocking around Him? It was a moment when anyone else might have tried to take advantage of it all and garner more publicity. Anyone else might have given a speech and gathered a following. But instead, the Bible tells us;

Yet He warned them not to make Him known, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

“Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen,
My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased!
I will put My Spirit upon Him,
And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.
He will not quarrel nor cry out,
Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench,
Till He sends forth justice to victory;
And in His name Gentiles will trust” (Matthew 12:15-21).

Those words sound familiar; don’t they? They’re the words of our passage in Isaiah 42. The are words about Jesus—who did not quarrel or cry out or make a loud noise in the streets. He brought justice about through meekness.

Second, we’re told that He will bring about justice for the nations with tenderness. God says of His Servant, “A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench” (v. 3a). Sadly, very few of the rulers of this world—or the ‘would-be’ rulers of this world—have resorted to tenderness in order to establish their rule. Instead, they have crafted their plans for world peace and then run them forward over everyone like a steam-roller. They break-up and destroy old forms of government or old forms of culture in order to establish their new vision for the world on top of the old. There have been many ‘cultural revolutions’ throughout history; and they are almost all soaked in blood.

That’s not how it is with Jesus. If there is a bruised reed—almost ready to break, He will not harm it in establishing His rule. If there is a flax burning dimly as a wick—almost ready to burn out, He will not extinguish it. Instead, He comes to serve … and to give His life a ransom for many. He doesn’t establish His kingdom rule by putting others to death; as so many other rulers have done. Instead, He establishes it by dying on the cross for others. He does not come to condemn the world; but rather, that the world through Him might be saved. If He has a conquering declaration to this world at all, it is this:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Jesus changes this world one heart at a time—by dying on the cross for our sins and by giving us new life in Himself.

And He does all of this in a perfect way before God His Father—that is, with integrity. So few of the rulers of this world operate with integrity. They are one thing before the adoring public, and another thing behind closed doors. So many of them seek to bring about their own version of ‘justice’ in this world through their own version of ‘truth’—without regard to whether or not either are really just or really true.

But that’s not how it is with Jesus. God says of His Servant, “He will bring forth justice for truth” (v. 3b). Another way to translate that is to say that He brings about justice in a way that is in full accord with faithfulness to God’s truth—so that His rule is established upon truth. I love what it says about the promise of Jesus’ rule upon this earth in Isaiah 11:3-5;

His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist (Isaiah 11:3-5).

* * * * * * * * * *

So; Jesus is God’s Servant—authorized to bring about justice for the nations—who does so with meekness and tenderness and faithfulness to the truth. And finally, notice …

4. WHAT HE WILL ACCOMPLISH.

God the Father promises this about His Servant: “He will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands shall wait for His law” (v. 4). The ‘coastlands’ speaks of the borders of the lands far away from Jerusalem—separated by the seas. It’s a phrase that’s meant to speak of the whole world—all the nations that cover the surface of the earth. We’re told that He will ‘establish’ or ‘set-down’ or ‘ordain’ His law in all the earth; and that the peoples from around the globe will make their way to Jerusalem—where He will rule; and they will listen to His wisdom and His teaching and His judgments and His law.

Look at how it tells us about this in Isaiah 2:2-4;

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
Many people shall come and say,

“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”

For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
And rebuke many people;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore (Isaiah 2:2-4).

Don’t you long for that? It may sometimes seem far away; but God tells us that Jesus “will not fail nor be discouraged” until it is done! And we can be absolutely sure that it will be done; because our Savior died, and was raised, and is ascended victoriously to the Father—with the promise that He will return.

* * * * * * * * * *

I started off this morning by suggesting that this is an invitation from God the Father to “Behold! My Servant …” But having looked through this passage—and seen the promises that God has made to us concerning Jesus—couldn’t we consider it to be something more than that? In the midst of all the chaos and injustice of the world around us—and even as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and commemorate the sacrifice Jesus made to secure all of this for us—shouldn’t we look at it as a command to be kept?

“Behold! My Servant!”

Click HERE for the audio version of this sermon.

EA