Song of the Servant
.
Isaiah 49/ JS
Song of restoration
- Mimics the call of the prophet
- Links to Jeremiah in v. 1 / God's plan
Addressing the Judeans:
1. Turn & repent / but also,
2. Magnitude of salvation
v.2 readiness ... v.4 opposition faced
- like a prophet, no fruit yielded
If Isaiah sets the servant as a prophet
then maybe the people will listen.
v.3
He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
Israel: always intended to represent God
- Recurrent theme, Israel as deaf & blind
Isaiah 29:18; 35:5; 42:18-19; 43:8
- ended up in exile due to their rebelious nature
How will Israel fulfil their function?
- The perfect Israel : how God would redeem & rescue His people
v.6
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
There's never been a Plan B;
the Plan A was always Jesus
v.7 Christ: the servant of rulers
“Kings will see you and stand up,
princes will see and bow down..."
Jesus: not just words spoken, to point the way
but also the embodiment of salvation itself.
______________________________
Isaiah 50: 4 - 11 / SJ
The servant's obedience → discipleship
→ imitators (1 Thessalonians 1:6)
v. 4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
In the face of ridicule & abuse, tenderness from the wonderful Counsellor - Jesus is sensitive to the fates of his followers
Is. 42:3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
Also, toughness :
v. 5 - 7 I have not turned away./ I offered my back to those who bear me. ... Therefore have I set my face like flint
Luke 9:51 foreknowledge: As the time approached...
Jesus set out resolutely for Jerusalem.
. . . . .
v. 4 (ii) He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
* Jesus healing the deaf & mute man (Mk 7:31)
note: the order of healing - Jesus heals the ear first
* Psalm 40:6 "an ear you have dug out for me" (ESB)
An unbending face to obey
Christ: sacrifice vs. hardhearted human effort
* Daniel - tracing his boldness back - from the writing on the wall
- to the first chapter; decision not to eat from the king's table (v. 5, 8)
That to walk in darkness, trusting in God is better than
walking in one's own light, trusting only in yourself.
Dietrich Bonoeffer: The Cost of Discipleship
cheap grace - ' they lost their grasp ' .... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living & incarnate.
vs. costly grace - obedience in following the Master.
Isaiah 49/ JS
Song of restoration
- Mimics the call of the prophet
- Links to Jeremiah in v. 1 / God's plan
Addressing the Judeans:
1. Turn & repent / but also,
2. Magnitude of salvation
v.2 readiness ... v.4 opposition faced
- like a prophet, no fruit yielded
If Isaiah sets the servant as a prophet
then maybe the people will listen.
v.3
He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
Israel: always intended to represent God
- Recurrent theme, Israel as deaf & blind
Isaiah 29:18; 35:5; 42:18-19; 43:8
- ended up in exile due to their rebelious nature
How will Israel fulfil their function?
- The perfect Israel : how God would redeem & rescue His people
v.6
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
There's never been a Plan B;
the Plan A was always Jesus
v.7 Christ: the servant of rulers
“Kings will see you and stand up,
princes will see and bow down..."
Jesus: not just words spoken, to point the way
but also the embodiment of salvation itself.
______________________________
Isaiah 50: 4 - 11 / SJ
The servant's obedience → discipleship
→ imitators (1 Thessalonians 1:6)
v. 4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
In the face of ridicule & abuse, tenderness from the wonderful Counsellor - Jesus is sensitive to the fates of his followers
Is. 42:3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
Also, toughness :
v. 5 - 7 I have not turned away./ I offered my back to those who bear me. ... Therefore have I set my face like flint
Luke 9:51 foreknowledge: As the time approached...
Jesus set out resolutely for Jerusalem.
. . . . .
v. 4 (ii) He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
* Jesus healing the deaf & mute man (Mk 7:31)
note: the order of healing - Jesus heals the ear first
* Psalm 40:6 "an ear you have dug out for me" (ESB)
An unbending face to obey
Christ: sacrifice vs. hardhearted human effort
* Daniel - tracing his boldness back - from the writing on the wall
- to the first chapter; decision not to eat from the king's table (v. 5, 8)
That to walk in darkness, trusting in God is better than
walking in one's own light, trusting only in yourself.
Dietrich Bonoeffer: The Cost of Discipleship
cheap grace - ' they lost their grasp ' .... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living & incarnate.
vs. costly grace - obedience in following the Master.