The prophecy of Isaiah is a glorious book from beginning to end. From the first chapter where God invites Israel to repentance and salvation (Isa. 1:18) to the final promise of a New Heaven and New Earth (Isa. 66:22-23), God is revealing His covenant love, compassion, judgment, and promise for redemption to His wayward people.
Isaiah is one of the most-quoted Old Testament books in the New Testament and provides the New Testament writers with a great background for their theology of Christ’s fulfillment of God’s promises.
There are a number of passages in Isaiah that speak of God’s “Servant”. These are called the “Servant Songs”. This article will kick off a short series examining these passages and what they teach us about Christ Jesus and who we are in union with Him.
Behold My Servant
The first passage we will examine is Isaiah 42:1-9. This passage of Isaiah’s prophecy is actually quoted directly in Matthew 12:15-21, where Matthew applies this prophetic passage to Jesus.
The chapter begins with God’s proclamation of His Servant:
Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
Isaiah 42:1, ESV
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
In this very first verse of the passage we see important characteristics of YHWH’s Servant.
First, of course, He is a servant. The Hebrew word used here is ‘ebed which is used throughout the Old Testament to refer to servants or slaves. God’s Servant is called to serve. Jesus Christ is the only God who serves His creation. No other idol, false god, or pagan deity serves its worshippers. In the words of Isaiah 64:4, YHWH is a God “who acts for those who wait for Him”.
Second, we should note that this Servant of YHWH is upheld by YHWH. Just as God acts for His children, He has also called us to serve Him. It is our rightful place to honor and serve our God. But even in this, God is the one upholding us. And in Jesus Christ’s human life on earth, He was upheld by God. God upholds and supports us, just as He did for Christ.
Third, the Servant is chosen. God has set apart and sanctified Him for a purpose. We know from later verses that this purpose is to bring justice to the nations and light for the nations (vv. 1b and 6b). Christ Jesus was chosen by God to accomplish our salvation. He was sent on a mission to redeem a people and He decisively completed this mission with a cry of “It is finished!” (John 19:30). And, in Him, that is in union with Him, we are also elect and chosen for God’s love and purposes (Eph. 1:4).
Fourth, God delights in this Servant. The Father expresses His delight for Christ in numerous passages in the New Testament with the proclamation that “this is my Beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased” (Matt. 17:5, Mark 1:11). Through our union with Christ, that delight is true of us as well. Colossians 3:12 describes Christians as “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved”. This reflects our union with Christ who is chosen by God and beloved by the Father as we have seen so far in Isaiah 42:1.
Fifth, the Servant is anointed with the Holy Spirit. There are a number of Old Testament passages that prophecy that the Messiah will be filled with God’s Spirit (e.g. Ps. 45:7, Isa. 61:1, Isa. 11:2). This Messianic expectation was fulfilled in Christ’s baptism when the Spirit descended on Him “as a dove” and empowered Him for His earthly ministry (Matt. 3:16).
Sixth, we note that the Servant has been appointed to bring justice to the nations. In Hebrew, mishpat can refer to judgment and righteous judicial decisions. It is striking that this term is used in reference to Abraham in Genesis 18:19 where the themes of God’s election and blessing for the nations is also present: “The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” Abraham, as a type pointing to Christ, will be a judicious chosen instrument of God to bring blessing to the nations. So will the Servant of Isaiah 42.
Isaiah 42:6 has many parallels with verse 1:
“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;
Isaiah 42:6, ESV
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,”
Here, YHWH proclaims His divine calling and election of the Servant (“I have called you in righteousness”), His upholding of the Servant (“I will take you by the hand and keep you”), and the global purpose for which the Servant is sent (“I will give you as…a light for the nations”).
These verses reveal the character and calling of YHWH’s Servant. But what will His temperament be? How will He bring forth justice to the nations?
Meek & Mighty
He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
Isaiah 42:2-4, ESV
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.
The verses that follow Isaiah’s introduction of the Servant reveal who this figure will be and how He will act. These verses give us a picture of a figure who is both meek and mighty.
We may have negative associations with the word “meek” but this association is unfortunate. The word “meek” is actually a great word which speaks of gentleness and power combined. Meekness is not weakness. It is far from it. Meekness speaks of gentle power. This is exactly what the Servant will express. He will be gentle so as not to break bruised reeds or quench faintly burning wicks. These are both pictures of things that are weak, fragile, and vulnerable. The Servant will deal gently with such people. He will bring justice to the weak. He will not destroy them.
On the other hand, He will not be without power. He is both gentle and mighty. His power will accomplish awesome deeds (Ps. 45:4). He will not grow faint or be discouraged. Despite the challenges that face Him in His God-given mission, He will persevere until all is completed. Furthermore, He will rule the nations justly, with great power and might. The coastlands will wait for His law.
The composite picture we get from these first four verses in chapter 42 of Isaiah’s prophecy display a Servant of YHWH, chosen, upheld, and anointed by Him for the task of bringing righteous rule and justice to the whole earth. He will do this with meekness and might. And in v. 7, we are given an even more explicit picture of what this redemption will look like.
Sight For the Blind, Freedom For Prisoners
to open the eyes that are blind,
Isaiah 42:7, ESV
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.
This verse follows the recapitulation of God’s commission to His Servant in v. 6 (see above). And it explicitly describes the results of this Servant’s fulfilled mission.
Now, this description is both symbolic and “literal”. It is symbolic of illumination and spiritual enlightenment for the nations who had been lost in darkness. YHWH declares, “I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind,” (vv. 6b-7a). This spiritual enlightenment to the previously-darkened Gentile nations is also referenced in Isaiah 9:2, which reads, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” This tells us that the Servant will have a revelatory role. He will reveal God and the truth to spiritually blind and darkened hearts. He will also set His people free from captivity, ultimately their captivity to sin.
This verse also has a literal fulfillment of course. Isaiah 42:1-4 is quoted in Matthew 12 in the context of Jesus healing many. Other passages of the Gospels bear witness to Jesus’ opening the eyes of the blind and restoring their sight (John 9:1-7, Matthew 11:5, Luke 7:22, Mark 10:52). Furthermore, one could even say that the later half of Isaiah 42:7 was literally fulfilled in Acts 16:25-26 when God releases Paul and Silas from prison through an earthquake or in Acts 12:7 when God sends an angel to release Peter from Herod’s prison!
Conclusion
All in all, Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah’s Servant Song in chapter 42. He is God’s chosen Servant, in whom is God’s delight and on whom is the Spirit’s anointing. He has successfully accomplished His mission of bringing light and freedom and justice to the nations and He invites us into this mission as the power of the Cross continues to work out in history.
As we seek to apply this first of Isaiah’s Servant Songs we can ask ourselves what role we play in this mission. We follow our King as He spreads justice. While we ourselves are bruised reeds in our weakness, we are endowed with His power through the presence of His Spirit. We have work to do in the world as He has called us to spread His Gospel forth to all tribes, nations, and tongues. With the power of God on our side, there is no chance that this work will not end in success. By His power we can resolve to not grow faint, until He works through us to bring justice to victory.