The Essential JesusSample

Chosen Servant

PRAY: Spend some time confessing your sins to God and then thanking him for his forgiveness.

READ: Isaiah 42:1-9

REFLECT: Our reading today is the first of the four "Servant Songs" that we find throughout the book of Isaiah (see "More Prophecies About a Savior"). At the time Isaiah uttered this prophecy, no doubt he was thinking of the nation of Israel. But God used Isaiah's words to also communicate something about the coming Messiah. So what do we learn about this unique servant?

He has been chosen by God (v. 1). Israel had been chosen by God long ago when God promised to make Abram's family into a "great nation" (Genesis 12:2). Isaiah prophesied that one day a Savior would come who would be uniquely chosen by God.

He is God's instrument of salvation (v. 6). From the very birth of the chosen people, God's intent was to bring blessing to all people through them (Genesis 12:3). Isaiah builds on that theme and says that the servant would be filled with the Spirit of God and would establish justice for all, including the weak and downtrodden (the "bruised reeds" and "smoldering wicks" [Isaiah 42:3]).

At his baptism, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16); by his death and resurrection, he provided the way of salvation for all people. Jesus himself said that he was the fulfillment of this passage (Matthew 12:15-21). When the Pharisees were plotting to kill him, Jesus took his disciples aside and used this passage to explain who he was-_God's promised Messiah.

Woven through the Old Testament is the story of the Savior God planned to send, the one who would save people from their sin and give them a real relationship with the living God. By the time we get to the New Testament, we'll learn that the Savior was none other than Jesus Christ. The more you read the Bible, the more you discover that the Bible is "his story."

APPLY: Who are the weak and downtrodden--the "bruised reeds" and "smoldering wicks"-in your world? How could you be God's instrument of justice for them?

PRAY: Lord God, there are so many areas of injustice in this world. I ask that you would give me the courage and conviction to work for justice in one situation in the days ahead.