Here is My Servant
Isaiah 42:1-7

January 13, 2008
The Baptism of Our Lord

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There is no doubt that it is primary season. The party candidates are touring around the country and trying to get their message out to the people. Each one has his or her own idea about taxes, the war in Iraq, health care, the economy, and so on. They want to say, "Here I am and this is what I am all about." It is also the time in the political year when organizations and individuals announce that they are endorsing a candidate and want you to vote for the one that they like. The job of President of the United States is an important position, and the person that is elected can have a great impact on our country. The choice of a good candidate is important. God created an important position too. It is the position of Messiah, the Savior of the world. This position requires the right person. God introduces us to this person, his servant. He has God's full support and he comes to bring justice.

Listen to God's endorsement of the Messiah, "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him." The world needs him. The world has been waiting for him. Israel was waiting for him. It is as if God sets him up on a pedestal and points to him and says. "Here he is. Here is the one that I promised in the garden." God has had many other servants, Abraham, Job, Noah, and David. But this servant is different.

The decision as to who would be the Messiah was not decided by a committee. It wasn't open for a general election. God says that he is the one who chose this servant and rightly so. Here in Isaiah we God presents his servant to us in prophecy, we don't get to see exactly who it is. We go on faith that God has chosen the right person for the job. Then when God's time was right, we meet him. We go to the Jordan river and there he is. Matthew tells us, "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. A voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'"

So that there can be no doubt that Jesus is God's chosen servant, Matthew tells us that the Spirit of God descended like and dove and lighted on him." Here God fulfilled his promise in Isaiah and not only marked Jesus as the servant he promised, but also gave him the gifts that he needed to be the Savior. He told us what those gifts were also in Isaiah, "The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD." It is no wonder God wants us to see him, he is proud of him. He delights in him, because he is the Savior that the world needs.

When it comes to the President of the United States, it often takes a few years to know whether a candidate might have been the right choice or not. After time people can ask, "Are his policies working?" With our Savior God gives us the promise that he will not fail. God says, "He will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth."

You often hear of someone who says that they need a change. They have been working the same job for quite awhile and are stuck in a rut. They aren't productive anymore and they feel that they need a change of scenery. Perhaps no one had a tougher job in front of them than the Savior. Not only would he face the rejection of people. But he would have to fight against the attacks of demons and of Satan himself. Satan would tempt him and torment him until we find him in the Garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion praying, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." He does not falter, and God keeps his promise to uphold him and sends an angel to strengthen him.

His enemies would try to crush him and make him fail. Remember Satan tempted Jesus out in the wilderness, trying to get him to turn away from God. The devil promised him the world if he would just bow down and worship him. Again Jesus did not falter, but said, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" Again, God keeps his promise to uphold him and sends angels to attend him.

Here he is the candidate God endorses, more than that has chosen. Jesus Christ, he is your Savior. There can be no doubt that the baby born in Bethlehem is the one. He has grown and God has marked him as the Savior.

Candidates all run on a platform. These are the things that they are going to do for you. Their platform tells you how they are going to deal with the issues that matter to you. God's servant Jesus had a platform. Isaiah says, "He will bring justice to the nations." Sounds like a good platform doesn't it? We all want justice. I am tired of the rich taking advantage of the poor. I am tired of those who have power abusing those who have none. We need some justice in this world. Ah, but this is not the justice that God's servant comes to bring.

Justice in this verse does mean a judgment based on a legal decision, like the correct verdict being made in a trial. However, the justice that Jesus brings is God's announcement that he has declared the whole world right, holy, and innocent. That is good news because the whole world stands condemned before God because of sin. He comes, not to punish us, but to declare us not guilty.

Isaiah shows that this is true even more clearly when he speaks of what the servant would do. He says, "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." This is not faith healing and radical rebellion, but different ways of describing rescuing sinners from the hopelessness of sin. This was Jesus' mission and it began at his baptism when the Father marked his Son, Jesus Christ, as the long promised servant.

The candidates are holding rallies all over the country to drum up support for their run toward the White House. They are on stage screaming their message to their audience and anyone else who will listen. They can't appear to be humble or gentle but must show themselves to be tough and the right person for a tough job. Jesus, the Servant, carries out his work in a different way. Isaiah says, "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."

Jesus quietly and humbly brought the message of the gospel to this fallen world. He didn't run through the streets, screaming like some zealot, but preferred to work in small groups and face to face. He took aside the man who was deaf and mute away from the crowd and healed him. He withdrew from the crowds to quiet places. The gospel writer Matthew quotes this prophecy about Jesus when he tells us about Jesus telling the people not to spread the word about who he was.

Jesus also comes, not to crush and destroy, but to heal. He comes to heal broken faith and to strengthen faith that is faltering. To those who faith is slipping, he brings renewed hope that will not disappoint. To those whose faith is being crushed by overwhelming guilt, he brings freedom from guilt. He does not come to rule and destroy, but to rescue.

Dear friends, here is your Servant, he is God's delight. He is the perfect man for the job. He is the perfect man to rescue you from the dungeons of sin, and he has. He came not just as God's servant, but as yours. He came and said, "Don't fail anymore at keeping God's law, I will do it for you." He came and pushed you aside from hell and suffered it in your place. He came to serve you, perfectly, in righteousness and with the justice that can only come from God: the forgiveness of your sins.

I hope that you have a better understanding of God's Servant, your Savior. He is the only candidate God endorses. But he was more than a candidate, he was the one. His baptism begins the servanthood that Isaiah said would happen, and we are thankful for that. Our relationship with God, our forgiveness, our eternal well-being is all tied up in him. He does not disappoint.