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Well I would invite you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 42. My sermon text this morning is Isaiah 42 verses 1 through 9. You’ll find that beginning on page 715 in your pew Bibles. I’m actually going to start reading back in chapter 41 verse 21 to kind of fill out the context. We need to remember that The chapter and verse divisions were added later that they’re not part of the, they’re not inspired, but they help us to navigate the scriptures. And I think you will see that these two sections tie together. Isaiah chapter 42, one through nine, again, is my sermon text, but we’ll begin reading in chapter 41, verse 21.

Friends, this is the word of God, hear it with reverence and awe. The Lord says, set forth your case, says the Lord. Bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob. Let them bring them and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome or declare to us the things to come. Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods. Do good or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified.

Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing. An abomination is he who chooses you. I stirred up one from the north, and he has come from the rising of the sun. And he shall call upon my name. He shall trample on rulers as on mortar. as the potter treads clay. Who declared it from the beginning that we might know, and beforehand that we might say, he is right? There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed, none who heard your words. I was the first to say to Zion, behold, here they are. And I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news. But when I look, there is no one. Among these, there is no counselor who, when I ask, gives an answer. Behold, they are all a delusion. Their works are nothing. Their metal images are empty wind.

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. 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 will wait for his law.

Thus says God the Lord who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it. 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 of the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, that is my name. My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let’s pray for the Lord to bless the preaching of his word. Heavenly Father, you tell us in the scriptures that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. We pray that as we hear your word this morning, that by your spirit, you would enable us to hear your word with faith and to respond with hope and love and obedience. We ask, Lord, that you would set a guard over my lips, that I, your unworthy servant, might only speak forth that which is faithful to your word and edifying to your people. Be with us now, Lord, bless the proclamation of your word and may Jesus be exalted in our hearts and in our midst through the proclamation of your word. In Jesus’ name we pray and all of God’s people said. Amen. You may be seated. Behold my servant, that is the title of my sermon today. And children, I’d encourage you to listen for these three words, the words identity, manner, and mission.

Well, my dear listeners, the gospel message declares the good news that Jesus of Nazareth, the promised Messiah, the divine Son of God and Lord incarnate, is the savior of sinners, the savior who died on the cross as a sacrifice for human sin and who rose from the dead to secure the salvation of his people.

The gospel call summons all people everywhere to respond to this wonderful good news by turning in repentance from their sins and by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ alone to save them from their sins. To put it another way, Instead of looking to ourselves or to our own good works or to man-made idols for our salvation, the gospel call summons us to look, figuratively speaking, to look with the eyes of faith to Christ and Christ alone. We are to behold with the eyes of faith Jesus Christ and Christ alone as our only hope of being made right with God. As our Lord Jesus says in John 6, verse 40, for this is the will of my Father that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. There Jesus uses the terminology of looking on the Son of God as a picture of faith and what faith does.

What a wonderful, comforting, amazing promise that is. But that raises the question in light of our passage for today, what about the covenant people of God who lived before Jesus, the promised Messiah, arrived onto the scene of human history, such as the prophet Isaiah himself and Isaiah’s contemporaries? What were they or who were they to behold or look to as objects of their faith, as the object of their faith and trust?

Well friends, the witness of the Old Testament Scriptures is that they too were to look in faith to the true and living God and to the promised Savior and Messiah that He would send. You see, there is this misconception out there, in some Christian circles even, that in the Old Testament they were saved by keeping the law, but now that Jesus has come, we’re saved by trusting in him. But no, salvation has always been in one way and one way only, by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, apart from works of the law. That was true of believers under the Old Testament, under the Old Covenant. They too were saved by trusting in the Messiah, Jesus. They didn’t know his name yet, but they were revealed, they had revealed to them in the shadows and types of the old covenant law, they had Christ revealed to them in the sacrifices and ceremonies of the old covenant. And they were to look to Christ alone, the promised Messiah. We are saved by looking to the Messiah who has come, but it’s the same Messiah, the same Savior.

But speaking of Isaiah and his contemporaries, or speaking rather of his contemporaries, sadly, many among the professed people of God in Isaiah’s time had turned away from trusting in the true and living God and his promised Messiah. And instead, they had turned to behold the empty, non-existent so-called gods worshiped by their Gentile pagan neighbors.

As a result, God would judge them for their idolatrous treachery by basically kicking them out of the promised land and sending them off into exile in Babylon. But what’s amazing about our passage for this Lord’s Day morning is that it indicates that those exiles, they’re not in a hopeless position. Yes, God had kicked them out. Yes, the curses of the covenant were coming upon them and they were thrust out of God’s land, the promised land.

But God did not abandon His people. God remained faithful even though His people were faithless. Our passage for this Lord’s Day morning indicates that there will be hope for God’s exiled people. And not only will there be hope for the exiled Israelites, But even for the furthest reaches of the Gentile world, and the furthest reaches of the Gentile world is represented in our passage in verse four by the coastlands, where it says in verse four, he will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth, and the coastlands wait for his law. Beloved, there is hope.

The Israelites had abandoned their fidelity to the Lord. They had looked in faith to idols for deliverance from the Babylonian threat, but their idols had failed them miserably. Yet even though they had sinned so grievously and treacherously against the Lord, God would graciously use the Babylonian exile to chasten and to humble a chosen remnant among the exiles. And our passage for today would have served as a great comfort and encouragement to them, as it should serve as a great comfort and encouragement to those of us today who by grace have been humbled as we’ve seen the reality of sin in our own lives.

In our passage for this morning, we are urged to behold God’s chosen spirit-endowed servant, for it is he who will bring forth justice to the nations, as we’re told in verse one. So as we turn our attention to our passage for today, let us first, brothers and sisters, consider the messianic identity of God’s servant, the messianic identity of God’s servant.

Isaiah begins this passage with the word, behold. He says, behold, that means basically children. That means pay attention. This is important. And turn your attention to this. Behold, who? My servant, the Lord says, 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. Behold my servant.

Now it’s interesting, I’d mentioned before that the chapter and verse divisions were not there in the original, and that’s important to realize in this particular context because the behold of chapter 42 verse 1 is related by contrast to the behold of the last verse of chapter 41. In chapter 41, verse 29, the Lord had said, behold, they, meaning the idols, the idols worshiped by the Gentile nations, behold, they are all a delusion. Their works are nothing. Their metal images are empty wind.

But then in contrast to the empty wind of idolatry, the Lord directs his people to behold the one whom he describes as my servant, whom I uphold. In other words, instead of trusting in the empty, worthless images that they had worshipped, instead, let them behold God’s chosen, Spirit-endowed servant.

Now, if you’re familiar with this section of the book of the prophet Isaiah, this latter section of Isaiah has, as one of its prominent themes, the servant theme. The servant theme is very prominent in this later section of Isaiah. In fact, many scholars view this particular passage as the first of the so-called servant songs in this latter section of the prophet Isaiah. As we consider this so-called servant song, it’s important to understand that in the ancient Near Eastern context in which Isaiah ministered, this servant terminology, friends, was not a denigrating term.

It was not an insult to call someone a servant. It was not an insult to call someone a servant, nor was it an indication of a low social status, for this is a term that actually had royal connotations or associations. And as one commentator points out, in the royal terminology of the ancient Near East, the term servant meant something like trusted envoy or confidential representative. The servant of the Lord is not, it’s not like, oh, you’re only a servant, you’re of a low social status.

No, he’s the servant of the Lord, the servant of the Lord. But that still does not answer the question, who is this servant? We need to consider exactly who is this chosen servant of Yahweh in this particular passage? What is the identity of this servant?

And that brings us to an interpretive consideration of Isaiah’s prophecy that is a bit tricky. You see, sometimes in Isaiah, the servant of the Lord is clearly a reference to God’s covenant people, corporately considered. That’s the case back in chapter 41, and we considered a passage where Israel was called the servant of the Lord. If you go back to chapter 41, and let me just read verses eight through 10, Notice who the servant is identified with in that passage. But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend, you whom I took from the ends of the earth and called from its furthest corners, saying to you, you are my servant. I have chosen you and not cast you off. Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

So clearly, in that passage, the servant of the Lord refers to God’s covenant people, the Israelites. We see this also in the end of here in chapter 42. At the end of this chapter, if you turn down to verses 18 and 19, it says this. Hear you deaf and look you blind that you may see. Who is blind but my servant? Again, he’s addressing the people of God, the professed people of God. He’s saying, who’s blind but my servant? Or deaf as my messenger whom I send? Who is blind as my dedicated one? Or blind as the servant of the Lord?

However, friends, at other times, Isaiah in this section, this latter section of his book, seems to use this servant of the Lord language to refer not to God’s people corporately considered, but to an individual, an ideal Israelite who carries out the servant mission that the people of Israel had failed to carry out.

In other words, at other times, the servant of the Lord is a reference to the promised Messiah. And so friends, the servant figure in our passage for today seems clearly to refer to the promised Messiah. And if we had any doubt about that, if we had any doubt about the messianic identity of this servant that we read about here in Isaiah 42, we simply need to compare scripture with scripture.

And the author, Matthew, the disciple Matthew in his gospel explains who this servant is as he quotes from this passage. Once again, I read this earlier in the service, but let’s go back again to Matthew 12 and look at verses 15 through 21. Matthew chapter 12, verses 15 through 21. after Jesus had shown himself the servant of the Lord by graciously healing this man with the withered hand. It says this, Jesus aware of this withdrew from there and many followed him and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. These words should be familiar. because Matthew is quoting from our passage for today.

Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not quench until he brings justice to victory. And in his name, the Gentiles will hope.

But why does Isaiah sometimes apply this servant terminology to Israel and at other times apply it to the Messiah? How do we explain that? I mean, it’s almost like he kind of bounces back and forth. Sometimes he’s talking about God’s people corporately considered, other times he’s referring to the promised Messiah. Why does he do that? Well, friends, He does it because of the covenantal solidarity that exists between the promised Messiah and his people. There is a covenantal solidarity.

See, Jesus is the true Israel of God. He is the faithful servant of the Lord. Israel, as a nation, had often been unfaithful. They had been covenant-breaking. They were blind, they were deaf to the things of the Lord. But Jesus, the true Israelite, he who represents his people. He was faithful to his servant mission.

We see examples of this covenantal solidarity reflected in Paul’s language in the New Testament, where Paul loves to talk about being in Christ. We are righteous in Christ, not in ourselves, but in Christ, our covenant head and representative, Christ the promised Messiah. We are sanctified in Christ, we were chosen in Christ, and so forth. And Jesus himself also points to this covenantal solidarity between himself and his people. in the language that he uses, for example, in Matthew 25, verse 40, that passage where Jesus gives a vision, a picture of the final judgment day, where Jesus says to the righteous on that day, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.

What is done to the Messiah’s people is, in essence, done to the Messiah himself. And so again, there is a close connection, a covenantal solidarity of the Lord as the promised Messiah and the servant’s people, the people of God. And notice in our passage for today, it says, behold my servant whom I uphold. That is to say God sustains his messianic servant. And this servant is also described by the Lord as my chosen. Jesus is the ultimate chosen one, and we, brothers and sisters, are chosen in union with Him. This is reflected, for example, in passages like 1 Peter 2, verse four. 1 Peter 2, verse four. Let me start reading here in verse four.

As you come to Him, speaking of Jesus, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God, what? Chosen and precious. You yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and so forth. So this messianic servant, he is chosen of the Lord. He is upheld by the Lord. But not only that, it says, the Lord says of his messianic servant, in whom my soul delights.

This reminds us, for example, of what the Father said about Jesus on the occasion of our Lord’s baptism. If you look at Matthew 3, verses 16 and 17, Matthew 3, verses 16 and 17, at the baptism of Jesus, it says this. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son, what?

With whom I am well pleased, the father and the son. is well-pleased in His Son, His servant, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is endowed by the Spirit to fulfill His servant mission, and the Father delights in Him. And because the Father delights in His Son, the Father delights in those who are united to His Son.

And then it says of this messianic servant, he will bring forth justice to the nations. God’s kingdom, his messianic reign of grace and salvation is gonna be brought to the nations. This is about the kingdom of God when he speaks of bringing justice to the nations. What does that justice ultimately refer to? It refers to Christ’s kingdom, his reign of grace and salvation. Well, dear listener, have you received the King, the Lord Jesus Christ, who brings the kingdom to man?

So we see the identity, the messianic identity of God’s promised servant, his chosen servant. But what is this servant like? What is his manner of conducting his servant mission? Well that brings us to verses two and three as we consider the manner of God’s servant.

It says here, 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. In these verses, beloved, we have a wonderful picture of the gentle, kind manner of God’s servant, the promised Messiah.

Dr. E.J. Young writes of verse two, he says that this verse describes the unostentatious and unobtrusive working of the servant. He stands in sharp contrast to the loud worldly conqueror who proclaims to all his deeds. In ancient times, when a new religion was presented to the people, it was introduced by their conqueror who forced it upon them. The servant does not act like such a conqueror, nor does he seek to force upon anyone a particular program, It is simply because of his own great confidence in God and his quiet manner of working that he succeeds in the most difficult of missions. This servant of the Lord, he’s not gonna be violent. He’s not going to be oppressive. He’s going to be gentle. He’s going to be kind. He’s going to care for those who are weak.

Reminds me of what the Lord Jesus says of himself in that very familiar passage of Matthew 11, 28 to 30. Jesus says, come to me all 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.

The manner of God’s chosen messianic servant, the manner of the Messiah, is expressed well in the second stanza of that hymn, Lead On, O King Eternal. Part of that stanza reads, for not with swords loud clashing, nor roll of stirring drums, but deeds of love and mercy, the heavenly kingdom comes. So the manner of the Messiah is mildness, gentleness, As it says in verse three, a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. What’s it talking about? What’s this imagery of a bruised reed referring to? Well, beloved, this refers to someone who is weak.

Praise God that our Savior does not despise the weak. Indeed, our weaknesses are actually an opportunity for Christ to display the transforming power of His amazing grace in our lives. Christ did not come to violently conquer or destroy. He came rather to heal and restore. I think of that wonderful hymn, Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven. There’s a line in that hymn that says, ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven. That is what Christ came to do.

Yes, he will come back in glory and he will conquer all of his and our enemies at that eschatological final day. But right now, his kingdom spreads not through force or violence, but through the power of the word of God. Again, Dr. Young writes, the servant does not destroy such weak men. Rather, he takes pity upon their lowest state. His actions are in strong contrast to those of earthly conquerors. And then he goes on to say, a faintly burning wick. A faintly burning wick he will not quench. What is that faintly burning wick a picture of? Well, according to one commentator, this represents people who are close to losing faith and hope.

Christ does not drive away the discouraged or the doubting who cling to him. I think about, for example, I think about doubting Thomas. Remember? The first time Jesus appears to his disciples behind closed doors, Thomas is not there. And the disciples, they say to Thomas, the Lord has risen. And what does Thomas say?

Not gonna believe it unless I see, unless I’m able to touch him. Unless I see the nail prints in his hands and can put my hand in the wound in his side. I’m paraphrasing, of course. We get the impression that Thomas was deeply hurt by the crucifixion of his Lord. And he was weak in his faith. But Jesus didn’t abandon him. Jesus shows up the next week and basically says, Thomas, here I am. And Thomas responds, my Lord and my God. Praise God, he does not drive away those who are weak in their faith, those who are discouraged.

He is a gentle savior to those who know their need. While there were times when our Lord Jesus issued stern rebukes and spoke sharp words to obstinate, unrepentant sinners, if you study the Gospels carefully and consider Jesus’s interactions, especially with those who knew themselves to be sinners, you will find, beloved, that the overall tone of our Lord’s ministry was one of gentleness, one of tenderness, one of kindness.

And that’s important for us to take to heart today. Beloved, in an age when social media encourages us to strut about with an attitude of snark and to deal with perceived opponents with harshness, with nastiness, sometimes even with cruelty, the manner of God’s messianic servant must come to the forefront of our mind. We who claim to be followers of Jesus should strive to imitate the manner of the Lord’s messianic servant, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We should seek to do so both in our daily lives and especially in our witness for Christ. And this is reflected, this call to imitate the gentleness of the Lord’s messianic servant, our Lord Jesus Christ, is found in numerous passages in the New Testament. For example, 1 Peter 3, 13 through 17, As the Apostle Peter urges his readers who faced persecution for their faith to be gentle, Peter says this.

Now, who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. But in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. It doesn’t stop there. He doesn’t just say, be ready to defend your faith. We should be, yes, but he goes on to say, yet do it with what? With gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

Or think of what Paul, the apostle, urges Timothy, Pastor Timothy, in his conduct of his own ministry to do. In 2 Timothy 2, verses 23 through 26, Paul writes to Timothy, well let me start at verse 22. He says to Timothy, so flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies. You know that they breed quarrels. and the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.

God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will. Or think of what Paul writes to the Colossians in Colossians 4, verses five and six. Paul says, walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Jesus, the promised Messiah, was the servant of the Lord, the messianic servant of the Lord. His manner was a manner of kindness and gentleness. Let our manner be such as well. But what is the mission of this spirit-endowed, chosen messianic servant? Well, the mission is summarized, especially in verse four, but throughout the rest of this passage as well. But we’ll focus especially as we close our time in the word on verse four.

It says, he will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands wait for his law. Though God’s messianic servant is gentle and kind, He is not weak. Gentleness is not the same thing as wimpiness. Kindness is not the same thing as cowardice. The Lord Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, God’s chosen, anointed, spirit-endowed servant, was kind and gentle, but he was not weak. He was not weak because, as it says, he’s upheld by the Lord. After all, he has been anointed and endowed by the Holy Spirit to carry out his servant mission. And what is that mission?

To establish justice in the earth. Now there’s lots of different ideas about justice out there in the world today, but the kind of justice that is being spoken of here, beloved, it’s important to understand that justice here is ultimately a reference to the establishment of God’s kingdom, his reign of grace and salvation to earth. And that reign of grace and salvation has come in the person and saving work of God’s chosen, spirit-endowed, messianic servant, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

So ultimately, this foresees the spread of the gospel throughout the earth, resulting in the conversion of both Jews and Gentiles. And when this happens, even the coastlands, the coastlands representing in that ancient Near Eastern culture, representing the furthest corners of the earth, of the known world, even the coastlands will wait for the servant’s law, his Torah, his covenant instruction. And this law of the servant is ultimately a reference to the gospel, the gospel message. For this gospel brings light for the nations, as verse six tells us the messianic servant will bring. This gospel opens the eyes that are blind and sets the prisoners free, as verse seven tells us the servant will do.

No idols could have predicted the servant’s mission, but the true and living God is able to declare these new things, as we’re told in verses eight and nine. I am the Lord, that is my name. My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare. New things, new things like the new covenant, like the coming of the promised Messiah. New things the Lord declares in advance. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

That’s something the idols couldn’t do. Predictive prophecy was not a characteristic of the idols worshiped by Israel’s pagan neighbors. Only the Lord, the sovereign Lord over history, could declare things before they come to pass. And he has declared that his servant is on the move and is coming to accomplish his work.

My dear friends in Christ, as we make our pilgrim journey through the wilderness of this present life to the heavenly glory that the Lord Jesus has prepared for us, let us behold with the eyes of faith God’s chosen, Spirit-endowed, messianic servant, the one who is later revealed in Isaiah as the suffering servant, the suffering servant who atones for sin and who now reigns victorious as the risen Lord.

Let us not grow weary, but instead let us continue to throw off the weight of sin and run with endurance the race of faith, looking unto Jesus and to Jesus alone. As we close our time in the word today, I leave you with what the author of Hebrews writes in Hebrews 12, one and two. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. the founder and perfecter of our faith, for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Let us look to Jesus.

Let us behold the Lord’s messianic servant. Amen. Heavenly Father, We would ask, oh Lord God, that by your spirit these truths that we have considered today would find a lodging place in our souls and again would bear much spiritual fruit in our lives. We thank you for Jesus, your son, your chosen servant, the Messiah, our Savior.

And we ask Lord that you would give us the grace to imitate him out of gratitude for your gift of salvation and to carry forward his mission We ask these things in Jesus’ name and all of God’s people said, amen. Friends, let’s rise and respond to what we’ve heard by singing together 282. I greet thee who my sure Redeemer are, 282.