“BEHOLD, MY SERVANT!” – HOW TO IDENTIFY HIM
Preached at Emmanuel, Workington on Sunday, 26th March 2006
Reading: Isaiah 52 verses 12-15 and 53 verses 1-12.
Text: Isaiah 52 v 12, “Behold, My Servant!”
Occasion: First Easter Ministry.
The text for my Easter ministry is taken from Isaiah’s great Servant Song, Isaiah 52 v 13, “Behold, My Servant!”
Can you give me the NT summary of Isaiah’s Servant Song? How would you summarize the Song? It’s central message is that “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all! He was wounded for our transgressions” What does that make Him?
Now can you give me the NT summary of Isaiah 53? It came from the lips of John Baptist when he looked at Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.” He is God’s Servant and His task was to take away the sin of the world. There is no better summary of the content of Isaiah 53 than that.
GOD’S SERVANT DESPISED and REJECTED.
Let us behold, let us look at God’s Servant, through the eyes of Isaiah 53. Isaiah was acutely aware that many would look on Christ and reject Him! Isaiah asks, 53 v 1 “Who has believed our report?” Few! Thousands followed Jesus and later deserted Him! His own disciples defected from Him: Judas betrayed Him; Peter denied Him with curses; all the disciples fled from Him. On one occasion, so many disciples defected that Jesus asked the Twelve, John 6 v 67, ‘Do you also want to go away?’ They stayed for one reason: “You have the words of eternal life!” It was the truth that kept them! Today people select which church to attend by the singing rather than by the truth taught.
Isaiah predicted it all! Few believed the report! Few desired Him because He was not outwardly attractive, Isaiah 53 v 2, “He has no form or comeliness; when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” Indeed, it was off-putting that people “despised and rejected” Him; He was “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” – a failure! A man heading for a fall! “And we hid our faces from Him; He was despised and we did not esteem Him.”
That is a fair commentary on the situation today in Britain and here in Workington. Few bother to look upon Him and when they do they do not desire Him; they hide their faces from Him and avoid His Word; they despise and reject Him and do not esteem Him! Our society has been deluded and deceived, blinded by Satan lest they should see and be converted! Let us buck the trend; let us obey the command, “Behold My Servant” and it may be that God’s Spirit will open our eyes to see “the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.”
1st MARK OF GOD’S SERVANT - PRUDENCE
What were people meant to see when the Son of God dwelt on earth among them? Isaiah 52 v 13, “Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently.” The first mark of God’s Servant that Isaiah mentions is His prudence, wisdom and understanding!
No doubt, many a servant rendered his master blind service; without thought or intelligence; unthinking, unquestioning submission; outward conformity often masking hatred and bitterness within. Not God’s Servant, not the Son of God. He rendered God thoughtful, intelligent, discerning service from the heart. He obeyed the Father deliberately, willingly, gladly, sincerely, lovingly, from the heart - prudently!
It reminds us of the Mosaic law that allowed for a slave who loved his master to have a hole punched in his ear as a mark of perpetual, loving service. God’s Servant renders intelligent, wholehearted, authentic service. Those who met Jesus in the flesh were deeply impressed with His prudence; ‘never man spoke like This Man’!
2nd MARK OF GOD’S SERVANT – MAJESTY
The second mark of God’s Servant identified by Isaiah is His majesty! We do not usually associate majesty with servants. Isaiah says, 52 v 13 “He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.”
In Hebrew, repetition is significant; it denotes the superlative! God’s Servant is the highest of the high! The Hebrew uses 4 words: 1‘height’ or exaltation - like king Saul who was head and shoulders taller others! 2‘to be carried’ or lifted up for all to see! 3‘to make high’ or to exalt like the high mountains! And the Hebrew adds the word ABUNDANT, MUCH, EXCEEDING! The Servant is taller than the tallest; He is carried higher than any king; He is exalted to the heavens and all to the nth degree, abundantly, exceedingly, to the greatest extent possible!
That is Jesus, if you have eyes to see it! John speaks for true disciples when he says, “We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace of truth!” The remarkable thing is that on occasion, even His enemies saw His majesty! Even at the cross, the Centurion crucifying Him saw it! God give us eyes to see it!
3rd MARK OF GOD’S SERVANT – MARRED MORE THAN ANY MAN
The third mark of God’s Servant predicted by Isaiah is His suffering! He pays the highest price for serving God. Everyone latches onto this point at Easter. Jesus suffered terribly. Films portray His passion, His sufferings. We are encouraged to sympathize and empathize with Him; out hearts go out to Him and fill with compassion for Him and affection for Him. Poor Jesus! But that is not the point made by Isaiah or the Gospel!
Isaiah saw and dwelt upon the majesty of His Person before he saw His sufferings! H was no helpless victim of man’s cruelty to man! He had the power to deliver Himself and overthrown His enemies! He had the power to bring down fire upon His enemies or strike them blind! He had the power to come down from the cross at will!
Isaiah positions us on the mountain top to see the exuberant majesty of God’s Servant before showing us His shame! We are not meant to sympathize with the poor victim Jesus, but to ask the question WHY?
Those who perceive His majesty and glory will be astonished at the extent of His sufferings! It is not so much that His sufferings were worse than the suffering of any other person! It is rather that He came from so high to so low! It’s the extent of His fall from riches to poverty, from glory to shame, from majesty to the cross that is truly astonishing! That is unique! No righteous man ever suffered as He suffered!
Now don’t we have to explain what we see? We see the Servant of God, the Son of God, crucified, dead and buried and we must explain that! How can it be? All the usual explanations are ruled out by His glorious majesty! We normally say, ‘he must have sinned!’ Or, ‘God must be against Him!’ Isaiah 53 v 4 says, “We esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted!” How do you explain what happened to God’s Servant, the Highest of the high?
We will come to that when we get to Isaiah 53 vs 5,6! “He was wounded for our transgressions!”
4th MARK OF GOD’S SERVANT – HIS GLOBAL MISSION
The fourth mark of God’s Servant identified by Isaiah is His global mission! Isaiah 52 v 15 “So shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider.”
The thing that offended the Jews about the Early Church more than anything else was its mission to the Gentiles, to the nations of the world. They ought not to have been surprised had they listened to Isaiah! Indeed, the Gentile mission – “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all nations” – is fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy and proof that God’s Servant is none other that the Lord Jesus Christ!
What will happen? Isaiah 52 v 15, “He shall sprinkle many nations.” The word means sprinkle means to spurt, to spray. It includes 2 ideas: as rain spurts to cleanse, refresh and renew the ground; as in the Temple blood was sprinkled upon the people, so God’s Servant will cleanse, refresh and renew all nations upon earth! Also the word means to startle because animals are startled by a sudden spurt of water. Both meanings apply here.
The ministry of God’s Servant both cleanses the nations and astonishes its rulers. “Kings shall shut their mouths at Him!” Rulers may say, ‘You are not preaching that Gospel here to my people!’ Even so, the Gospel is to be preached in King’s courts, to the highest authorities in the land. Whether they like it or not, the Gospel will be preached to their people! And the rulers of this world will be silenced before the authority of the King of kings.
Didn’t Jesus appear before the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate and before Herod Antipas? Paul stood before King Agrippa, the Governor Felix and Festus and the Roman Emperor Nero! That was no accident. God has ordained that the Gospel be preached to principalities and powers in heavenly places, even to men who exalt themselves to heaven and put themselves in the place of God.
Everything Isaiah predicted came to pass. Let us hear his message this Easter: “Behold My Servant!” God give us eyes to see His wisdom, His majesty, His shame and His kingdom come on earth. Friends, when He comes, make sure you are not cast out! Be ready to rejoice at His coming as His blood-bought people! Amen.
