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The Humble Servant
A Sermon on the Servant Song from Isaiah 50Wednesday July 15, 2009 Preached at Brother Bryan Mission
Tonight, we will be looking at the third Servant Song from Isaiah 50, if you would turn with me there. You will remember that the Servant Songs were written 800 years before Jesus, but point us so clearly to the Lord Jesus Christ who came not to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. In the first Servant Song from Isaiah 42, we learned that this Servant was chosen by God to bring forth Justice to the world, to strengthen the weak and needy, and that because He is supported by the Lord God, He will not fail. In the Second Servant Song from Isaiah 49, we learned that this Servant is God’s instrument, not only to redeem Israel, but to redeem, and bring light to every corner and dark place, of the entire earth.
In the Third Servant Song which we will be looking at tonight, I want us to see that Jesus Christ is an obedient Servant, even to the point of massive humiliation and death. And I also want us to see that it is because of this obedience that He can support the weary, and bring salvation to sinners like you and me.
I want to first look at this Servant Jesus, and then conclude with a few thoughts about what this Servant might mean for us.
First, this Servant is a radically obedient Servant who sustains the weary.
Please read with me in Isaiah 50 verse 4 where we find the Servant Himself speaking:
“4 The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.”
We mentioned before that a Servant is one who does the will of his master. But here, we have another picture. This Servant, Jesus, is like a disciple. But what is a disciple? A disciple is one who learns from his teacher just like the disciples of Jesus learned from their teacher. And since this Servant learns from his teacher, he also speaks like his teacher.
Jesus Himself said in John 8:28, “I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.” Jesus was the One who perfectly learned from the Father—He was the perfect disciple of the Father. And we see in our passage that this learning and obedience was not good one day, and bad the next, but that it was “morning by morning”—that is, every single morning of His life, He was obediently listening to the Father.
But this passage tells us a couple reasons why Jesus was obedient as a disciple. It says that “the Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.” Those of you who trust in Jesus Christ know how true this is. The Lord often sustains you with a word—with His Word.
A few years back, I was in the greatest crisis of my life. As I sat in prayer with my eyes closed, I saw the Lord Jesus. And as He wrapped His arms around me, I could sense Him saying, “I love you…I love you.” Tears streamed down my face as I accepted this truth, and in an instant, the “love of God was poured within my heart through the Holy Spirit” and I was healed from some of my distress.
Jesus says, “Come unto Me all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Are you weary from the troubles of this world?
Weary from sickness and the pains of your body
Weary from the toil of work which you endure
Weary from debts and worries about money
Jesus says, “Come unto Me, all you who are weary! And I will give you rest.”
Are you weary of trying to live within your own righteousness?
Weary from trying to show people how good you are?
Weary from trying to prove to God how good you are?
Weary from pretending to be better than you are?
Jesus says, “Come unto Me, all you who are weary! And I will give you rest.”
Are you weary of striving against sin?
Weary of fighting against your addictions and perhaps losing?
Weary of the promises you make against sin and then falling back into those sins?
Weary of fighting against the devil?
Jesus says, “Come unto Me, all you who are weary! And I will give you rest.”
When you come to Him, He will speak to you these tender words of hope, for Scripture tells us that He has been anointed “to preach the Good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed.”
He sends His perfect, timely Word to those who are poor in material as well as spirit.
He sends His perfect, timely Word to those held captive by the devil to do his will.
He sends His perfect, timely Word to those blinded and in darkness of this world of sin,
He sends His perfect, timely Word to those who are oppressed by this world.
And He sends His perfect, timely Word of salvation to us who believe.
So if you are weary, draw near to Jesus, for He has words to speak to you to give you life. It is true what the Lord says: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Turn your ear to Him and listen—obey!
Now, as we look back at our text, we see that this Servant Jesus not only sustains the weary in His obedience, but Second, He obediently suffers humiliation in order to bring salvation to you and to me. And He endures this humiliation because He knows that the Lord God will help Him accomplish His perfect plan.
Read with me verses 5-9:
5 The Lord GOD has opened My ear; And I was not disobedient Nor did I turn back.
6 I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.
7 For the Lord GOD helps Me, Therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have set My face like flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed.
8 He who vindicates Me is near; Who will contend with Me? Let us stand up to each other; Who has a case against Me? Let him draw near to Me.
9 Behold, the Lord GOD helps Me; Who is he who condemns Me? Behold, they will all wear out like a garment; The moth will eat them.
Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ was fully God and was the very creator of the world. But how is it that in this text, we find that the God of the universe suffers humiliation? It is for no other reason than that He decided to humble Him-self. Philippians tells us that He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant. He could have chosen to turn back from humiliation and death, but He remained obedient to the Father. He did it, because as He looked upon you and me, He knew that the only way to save us from certain destruction and eternal death was to die for you and for me.
Consider with me, the end of the life of Jesus and the fact that He suffered humiliation, and ultimately death which we will see in the next two weeks in the Fourth Servant Song, to bring salvation to you and to me because He loves you.
The Gospels tell us that Jesus told His disciples exactly what was going to happen to Him. He would enter into Jerusalem, be taken, and He would “be mocked and mistreated and spit upon, and after they [had] scourged Him, they [would] kill Him;” He would be humiliated, tortured, and killed. Still, Luke tells us that Jesus set His face to go. / He did not have to go. He could have stayed outside of Jerusalem and lived a long life.
But He knew that His Father sent Him into the world and that He would help Him that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. And He did not turn back. And He was not ashamed.
In Jerusalem, Jesus was praying with His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prayed that His Father would deliver Him from this fate, but it was the only way. So He accepted it. His first humiliation came when His own disciple, Judas, betrayed Him for a little money. The religious leaders came to arrest Jesus. But the Lord of Hosts had the power to be free. When His disciple, Peter, pulled out a sword to fight, Jesus rebuked him, and proclaimed that if He had wanted, He could “appeal to [the] Father, and He will at once put at [His] disposal more than 70,000 angels.” He did not call on those angels. He did not turn back.
Jesus knew that His Father sent Him into the world and that He would help Him so that in His humiliation and death, you and I might be reconciled to God (Rom. 5). He did not turn back. And He was not ashamed.
When Jesus was taken to the authorities to be questioned, His disciples stayed behind. But Peter, one of His closest disciples followed close behind. When Peter was waiting outside the place where Jesus was being questioned, he was asked if he knew Jesus. But Peter denied that he knew Jesus three times.
Jesus knew that He would be betrayed by Judas, and left by some of His closest friends and disciples. He was left alone to endure for Himself.
But He did not turn back. For He knew that His Father send Him into the world and that He would support Him in order to bring back wayward and sinful disciples like Peter, and like me and like some of you that we might be used as precious stones to build the kingdom of God. And He was not ashamed.
Jesus was taken before Caiaphas, the high priest and people were trying to humiliate Him with false charges. And then when Jesus revealed His true identity as the Promised Messiah—the Christ, they took Him to be killed. And the Gospels tell us that “they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him,” and mocked Him. Jesus, who was the very Lord God, did not need to put up with this. He could have brought fire down from heaven, or had angels come to release Him,
But He did not turn back, for He knew that His Father sent Him into the world and that He would help Him, because His death and resurrection [the Gospel] is the power of God for salvation for you and for me who believe (Rom. 1:16). And He was not ashamed.
Jesus was taken before the Roman Governor, Pilate. But Pilate could find no fault in Him. And Jesus remained silent, not defending Himself against the charges against Him. But Jesus, who, Scripture tells us, spoke the world into existence, surely could have spoken His way out of this. But He remained silent.
The people did not remain silent, however, as they cried out, “CRUCIFY HIM! CRUCIFY HIM!” and He was seemingly humiliated before the crowd.
But He did not turn back, for He knew that His Father sent Him into the world and He would help Him so that He might “rescue you and me from the domain of darkness and transfer us to the kingdom of His beloved Son in whom we who believe have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13). And He was not ashamed.
And the Gospels tell us that Pilate would release one prisoner a year for the Jews. When Pilate asked the people whether they wanted Barrabas, a murderer, released from punishment, or Jesus who was completely innocent, they humiliated Jesus further by choosing the murderer to be released. Certainly, He who will come to judge the living and the dead could have judged Barrabas then and there and freed Himself, but He did not.
He did not turn back, for He knew that His Father sent Him into the world and He would help Him so that you and I might be “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a payment for sin in His blood” (Rom. 3:24). And He was not ashamed.
And so Pilate took Jesus to be scourged—to be whipped. Roman whipping was called by one author of the day, “the Horrible whip.” The whips had three pieces of leather, with interwoven pieces of bone and bits of metal on the ends, so that when Jesus was hit with the whip, it dug into His flesh. And as they tore the whip away, His flesh would tear off. We do not know how many times Jesus was whipped, but we do know that the person who administered the whipping would decide when to quit—sometime before the victim died, but many times the victim would die during the scourging. The scourging of Jesus would continue until His flesh hung down in bloody shreds.
But He need not have endured such treatment and humiliation. Surely, Jesus, who had healed multitudes of people from their diseases, and was the very way and the truth and the life could find His way out of this treatment.
But He did not turn back, for He knew that His Father sent Him into the world and that He would help Him so that in Christ you and I who believe might “have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavishes on us” who believe (Eph. 1:7). And He was not ashamed.
And after they were done scourging and whipping Him, the guards mocked Him by putting a royal robe on Him, and a crown of thorns on His head which probably dug into His skin. And they brought Him once again before the crowd, mockingly saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Surely, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords need not wear such pathetic and humiliating clothing. Indeed, it is He who is crowned with glory and honor and will wear the crown which rules over all the nations, and He is the King to whom every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD!
But He did not turn back, for He knew that His Father sent Him and would help Him give you and me who believe the crown of life (Rev. 2:9) and make us into A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” (I Peter 2:9). And He was not ashamed.
And finally, Jesus was forced to carry His own cross up to Calvary—but He was so worn from the flogging and scourging and the mocking and the hitting and the slapping, that He could not make it on His own. So they forced Simon of Cyrene to bear the cross the rest of the way. Surely, Jesus, who before He was sent by the Father into the flesh could hold all the waters of the Sea in the palm of His hand—surely He could muster the strength the bear His own cross and use it as a weapon against His enemies and be free. But no!
He did not turn back, for He knew that His Father sent Him and would help Him as they lifted Him on the cross that He might demonstrate to sinners like you and me His love for us and that He justify those of us who believe by His blood, and save us from the wrath of God (Rom. 5:8-9). And He was not ashamed.
He was not ashamed, for what seemed to the religious leaders and political leaders and to Satan as a victory was really their final defeat. They would and will wear out like a moth-eaten garment, for the King of kings, and the Lord of lords has accomplished His task. For the Crucifixion of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the power and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:23-24).
We will look in the next two weeks at the Fourth Servant Song which describes the Crucifixion, so I will not continue tonight. But Isaiah still has some questions for us. Read with me in verse 10.
10 Who is among you that fears the LORD, That obeys the voice of His servant, That walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.
I have spent some time tonight declaring the excellencies of this Jesus who sends a perfect and timely Word to you, and how He obediently suffered humiliation in order to bring you life. Why would you not trust in the name of the Lord Jesus? If you have not, do so tonight. Call on the Lord while He is near.
If you have trusted in the Lord Jesus, I want to give you a few words of encouragement. Jesus tells us that in this world, you will have trouble, just as He did. People will ridicule you for your faith, and some of you may even be persecuted. But remember Jesus. When people at lunch ridicule your faith, Remember Jesus. When people at work ridicule your faith, Remember Jesus. When family or friends ridicule your faith, Remember Jesus.
In 1 Peter 2, we are comforted, “you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,
22WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;” Remember Jesus.
But for those who will not believe, Isaiah gives you one final word. Read with me in verse 11.
11 Behold, all you who kindle a fire, Who encircle yourselves with firebrands, Walk in the light of your fire And among the brands you have set ablaze. This you will have from My hand: You will lie down in torment.
The picture here is of a person who is trying to find his own way, trying to make his own light. But Jesus Christ is the only light of the world and the only One who can save you from the coming Day of Judgment. If you try to find your own way, to light your own fire, to depend on your own goodness, or rely on other gods or people—the Lord tells us here, you will be burned by your own flame, forever. So trust in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.