0930 talk: Isaiah 42: 1-9 9 January 2011
This passage is a prophecy written about 2700 years ago: that’s to say, at the time of writing it hadn’t happened yet. It’s picked up in the New Testament in the gospel of Matthew where the writer relates it to Jesus. For many of us therefore it’s a very familiar passage, and the danger with all things we know well is to read back into it the things we know that follow, and it all seems very obvious. But as I’ve been thinking about this passage, I’ve become aware how little I know about the background, and some of the terms used. So this is not the definitive talk on this passage – rather, I offer it as a work in progress. See what you think, and come back to me afterwards. I want to consider 3 questions:
- What would the first hearers of this prophecy have understood?
- What did Matthew understand when he was writing about Jesus?
- What do we understand today?
1 Original setting for these words. Book of Isaiah quite long and thought by scholars to have been written by several people over time. First bit – up to chapter 39 - refers to series of events when kings in charge in Judah; second bit – second or deutero-Isaiah – refers to a time about a century and a half later when kingdom had been overthrown, a remnant left in the land around Jerusalem, some had gone off to Egypt and some had been taken to Babylon. They are in the wrong place – away from Jerusalem, and they feel totally cut off from and abandoned by God. We’ve talked about this time before – this is the era of Daniel which we looked at a couple of years ago, and it ends with a change of regime, as Babylon is defeated by Medes and Persians, and Ezra and Nehemiah restoring the walls of Jerusalem, which we looked at before the summer. So here at this point, the exiles are longing for liberation and hoping it’s going to come soon but not holding out any immediate hopes since they’ve been waiting a long time. And then they get this glorious prophecy – start of chapter 40 – comfort, comfort my people says your God; speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her service has been completed and her sin has been paid for. This glorious promise is for them, the refugees living in what they must have seen as an evil empire. It goes on to talk about a helper coming for Israel from the east and the north, and then it’s our passage – the chosen servant.
So who did they understand this servant to be? Scholars have different views: possibly it refers to Israel itself, since the chosen people of God is spoken about as a servant elsewhere. Alternative view is that it refers to Cyrus, king of Persia, who took over the Babylonian empire, ended repression and opened up new opportunities for the Israelites – a king who, even if he didn’t know God, came to fulfil his purposes. Third view is that it refers to the Messiah – the one who was to save Israel from all its sins. This is the view that Matthew takes up.
So let’s look at the passage.
Two parts: v 1-4 God talks about the servant; v 5-9 God talks to the servant, and we are able to listen in.
V1. Servant is announced and commended. Here is my chosen one – I delight in him. Echoes here of kingship – like David being anointed by Samuel when he was chosen in 1 Kings 16:13; echoes too with current coronation liturgy –sirs, I present to you Elizabeth, your undoubted queen. Honoured and recognised – appointed to a task. What’s this particular honour for? – to bring justice to the nations. It’s like that when someone gets a great promotion isn’t it? We see the honour and status: they see the work that lies ahead.
Good – everyone thinks – now we get what’s rightfully ours. Cue prince on a white charger coming to sort things out pesky Babylonians, or later the pesky Romans. In the film Bruce Almighty, Bruce is given divine powers by God – he physically enhances his girlfriend, teaches the dog to use the toilet, ridicules a rival to get his job. When challenged by God, he says he’s been ‘righting a few wrongs in my own life.’ But look at the next verse: the model of kingship here is absolutely not that. ‘He will not shout or cry out or raise his voice in the streets...’ It’s not assertive at all. It’s centred instead on grace and mercy and it describes a king who is gentle. V 3 - if people are described as smouldering or dimly-burning it means they’re at the end of their inner resources, struggling; if they’re bruised they are bent by pressure and weakened. This is where the servant brings justice – in alleviating the burdens of those who can’t go on.
This king is gentle – but not weak. Described as ‘faithful’ – keep going, see it through. V 4 - words used for ‘falter’ and ‘discourage’ are actually the same words as used for ‘dimly burning’ and ‘bruised’ earlier. People may falter – but he won’t. He comes to minister to those whose strength is failing but he won’t give up ‘until he establishes justice’. (v 4)
I was determined to put in a cricketing reference to this sermon, and this is it. Thought for the Day: demands of long Test series requires considerable mental strength; David Shephard – professional cricketer turned bishop – valued the mental discipline and experience that playing cricket had given him when he was faced with the many demands of being Bishop of Liverpool. Used to not giving up, even when going was tough.
How did writer of Matthew’s gospel see this? For Matthew there is no question that this passage relates directly to Jesus as Messiah. Matt 3: 17 baptism of Christ – this is my beloved Son; with him I am well-pleased – clear echoes of verse 1 here. Furthermore in Matt 12: 15-21, Matthew talks about Jesus healing and warning everyone not to tell who he was, and quotes this passage directly. How does Jesus bring justice for Matthew? By dealing directly with those on the margins of society – the women, the lepers, tax collectors – and restoring them. How did he do this? – by opening himself to become broken and extinguished. I found it quite a challenge to work out what was meant by justice here: I felt my original interpretation was too narrow, too closely linked to law. It seems here that justice is linked closely to salvation. In this, Jesus has already helped us in greatest way imaginable by dying for us. At end of his life, final words are ‘it is finished’. Mission accomplished, you might say.
Verses 5-9 God addresses his servant. Reminders of who God is, and his greatness are peppered through the text; I created this; I am the Lord; I’ve done all this and now I’ve called you. Servant will show what God can do
Shows the closeness of God with his servant: I have called you … take your hand… keep you… The purpose is to ensure that the servant will be effective in his task: v 6 and 7 - in regard to the covenant, and in setting people free.
Covenant: like that given to Moses on Mount Sinai; but two significant differences. You will be the covenant, and also – not just for Jews this time but for Gentiles – all people including us!
Freedom from blindness and darkness: lots of references to Jesus as light – we’ve just had one of most famous passages as Christmas gospel – where we hear ‘In him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not understood it.’ Similarly in John 12:46; ‘ I have come as a light into the world so that no-one who believes in me should stay in darkness’. What does justice mean here? Freedom and clarity.
We’re listening to God speaking to his chosen servant, and we find they’re talking about – us!
What does this mean for us then?
1 - Clear that God’s kingdom is not yet fully established on earth. Jesus came for a mission and he fulfilled it, but we’re still seeing the outworkings of that final battle. Just as the Jews felt overwhelmed in Babylon and in first century Palestine, we can feel overfaced by the forces working around us: credit crunch, job losses, global warming: all of these are real concerns and we would like to know how it’s going to go and how will we get through this? Spoke at beginning of the convenience of looking back – in 100 years we might know it will be fine, but we can’t know now.
And yet – God is Lord of History, and Geography, and Economics. The spiritual and the real are not separate categories for him. James said something that really struck home at Christmas when he talked about the messiness of the world – having Jesus and Santa and mistletoe and Coventry carol all bound up together in Christmas – Jesus doesn’t just come to redeem part of our world but all of it. He’s a very hands-on Messiah and God is in charge.
2 - Jesus identified with us through his baptism. We’ve looked at Jesus’ baptism by John several times in recent years which is why we decided to focus on the other passage this time. You may recall that people were coming to John to be baptised and Jesus came too. John even objected – why do you come to me? But Jesus persuaded him that it needed to be done as a sign. Through his baptism the Messiah became one with his people; we share in his baptism. We are one with him.
3 - And we share in his task. We too are called to righteousness, to justice, to bring the message of salvation and hope to those who haven’t heard it; wherever we are, we’re called on to fulfil it. We do this with our whole selves as integrated people, not just with the Sunday churchy bits: don’t separate the ‘spiritual’ from the real. Salvation means the freedom to be the person God made you to be: think for a minute about what that might mean for you. I don’t mean this as a gospel for active supermen or women, but we have a task. Sure, God accepts us just as we are, but his vision is for people who develop. We are told to work our salvation in fear and trembling – doesn’t sound like sitting still to me. Not sure what this might mean for you, but might involve you being useful in ways you may not have dreamed of yet. Someone I know, diminutive Scottish lady, found herself visiting men in prison: had to ‘psych’ herself up to go, but did it nonetheless. Someone else made a vow to say ‘yes’ to every reasonable request of him during Lent – that was a brave commitment.
I suggest to you that it might be good to get past what we know we can do, and to take a risk – just having a go, trying it out. And I offer this as an example – this is not where it begins or ends: at start of 9 30 service nearly 14 years ago, those who were asked to do things ‘had a go’ because it had to be done. It didn’t matter that we made mistakes because that’s how we learned, but it did matter that we doing the best we could. I remember someone saying at the time – this is such a supportive congregation because they know that next week it’ll be them. We can, especially in these highly professional and trained days, make a prison of doing things properly. But it can also be the case that by trying, we gain confidence in something and that this enables us to do something else elsewhere. I love examples like that.
Best of it is that we are not on our own in this. We’re not making a bid to improve ourselves, like the latest rush of self-help books and New Year diets that seem to be everywhere at the moment. We’re on a mission with our Lord and Saviour, guided and strengthened by the same Spirit who sustained him, and God is telling us that he delights in us. What a thought. What a great place to start a New Year.
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