Monday

Isaiah 42:1-13

"Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope."
This is what God the LORD says—
he who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth with all that springs from it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:
"I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
"I am the LORD; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you."
Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who live in them.
Let the wilderness and its towns raise their voices;
let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice.
Let the people of Sela sing for joy;
let them shout from the mountaintops.
Let them give glory to the LORD
and proclaim his praise in the islands.
The LORD will march out like a champion,
like a warrior he will stir up his zeal;
with a shout he will raise the battle cry

and will triumph over his enemies.



Many years ago, I was watching the 60 Minutes letters section when Harry Reasoner read a letter from a man complaining that words of Isaiah were used in a news story to describe Jesus Christ. The letter writer argued that Isaiah could not have been talking about Jesus because he lived hundreds of years before Jesus. Reasoner answered simply, “Isaiah was a prophet.”

Jesus Himself agreed with Reasoner. In Luke chapter 4, Jesus read from the book of Isaiah and said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

In the centuries before Jesus came to earth, there was much debate among Jewish scholars as to who this “Suffering Servant” described by Isaiah could be. The best answer anyone could come up with was the nation of Israel. Jesus believed He Himself was the answer to that puzzle.

Pastor Ray Stedman wrote two commentaries on the book of Mark, The Servant Who Rules and The Ruler Who Serves. Those two titles quite aptly describe both the descriptions of this servant in Isaiah and Jesus as described in the Gospel of Mark.

What an extraordinary thing, that God sent Jesus, our Lord, to be our Servant.

DA