Reading: Isaiah chapter 50 verses 4-11.
• 700 years before Jesus came to the earth;
• In his prophecy Isaiah spoke about him.
• This is especially clear in what are referred to as servant songs;
• There are 4 servant songs in the book of Isaiah (42,49,50, 52-53),
• And as you would expect;
• The word of God portrays and shows us various insights concerning this servant
So far we have noted:
• In chapter 42 Isaiah brings to our attention the servants call;
• Jesus the servant is referred to as God’s ‘chosen one’.
• Called & set apart for a special purpose
• In chapter 49 Jesus is seen as a prophet;
• Jesus the servant is described as having a ‘mouth like a sharpened sword’.
• His message would be uncompromising and would strike at the heart of the problem.
• In chapter 50 the servant is seen as a martyr;
• Verse 6: ‘I offered my back to those who beat me’.
• In this passage we are told the servant is a willing victim.
• Next W&W Isaiah chapter 53;
• The servant is seen as the saviour (chapter 53 verse 5)
“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”
• So in chapter 50; we are told that the servant willingly suffered.
• Then in chapter 53: we are told WHY he needed to suffer.
This morning we are looking at the third of the Servant Songs of Isaiah;
• Which is found in Isaiah chapter 50 verses 4-11.
• Jesus the martyr.
4 things to note regarding this servant:
(1). A ready tongue (vs 4):
“The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.”
ill:
• The classic movie, ‘A Christmas Story’,
• Is a nostalgic look at growing up in Gary, Indiana,
• Through the eyes of a boy named Ralphy.
• One scene depicts playtime in the middle of winter.
• Two boys surrounded by their classmates are arguing;
• Whether a person’s tongue will stick to a metal pole in below-freezing weather.
• Eventually one of the boys succumbs to the infamous “triple-dog dare.”
• Hesitantly he sticks his tongue out and touches it to the school flagpole.
• Sure enough, it gets stuck.
• Then the bell goes to resume lessons.
• Everyone runs into the school building,
• Everyone except the hapless victim.
• When the teacher finally looks out the window,
• She sees the boy writhing in pain, his tongue frozen to the flagpole.
• While few of us have been in that predicament,
• We all know what it’s like to have our tongues get us in trouble.
Isaiah informs us that God’s servant will be different from all other people:
• His tongue will not get him into trouble;
• In fact the very opposite, it will provide help to others.
• In contrast to the last servant song in chapter 49 when we noted;
• “He made my mouth like a sharpened sword”
• Indicating to us the powerful & incisive preaching ministry that Jesus was going to have;
• Isaiah now tells us that this servant will speak a gentle and appropriate word!
Various English translations of the Bible interpret that little phrase "the tongue of those that are taught" very differently.
• In the New International Version ("NIV") it is "an instructed tongue."
• The New English Bible translates it "the tongue of a teacher."
• The New American Standard calls it "the tongue of a disciple."
• King James says, "the tongue of the learned."
Note: The Hebrew word used (‘lamad’) means all those things and more:
• That Hebrew word suggests speech that has become a part of the nature of the one speaking.
• It suggests disciplined learning, not a haphazard experience.
• The Teacher didn't make it up as he went along.
• He had learned God's word and it flowed out of his life.
• It suggests that truth had been internalised & as a result his speech was very penetrating.
• It affected people very directly, and the hearts of his hearers were opened.
Isaiah has in view here:
• The teaching, preaching, and speaking ministry of Christ.
• And this ministry would bring comfort and strength to the weary.
Question: And just who are the ‘Weary’ that are in mind?
Answer: The ultimate answer has to be people who are trapped in their sins.
• The Jews were weary; because they were labouring under the demands of the law,
• Being never able to satisfy its holy demands.
• The Gentiles were weary; as they were devising their own ways to God,
• Trapped in a never-ending, never truly satisfying cycle of idolatry.
The weary in mind are also the ‘weary’ in a general sense:
• Those burdened and weighed down by life and its troubles.
• Those who are getting a raw deal out of life!
• Those whose difficult circumstances are pulling them down.
• And causing them to feel depressed and worn out!
I wonder if Jesus had these verses from Isaiah in mind when he said:
• “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”
• Matthew chapter 11 verse 28:
And the New Testament is full of person after person;
• Who came to Jesus ‘Weary and burdened’ and found his peace and forgiveness.
• Ill: Luke chapter 8.
• Dramatic story of Jairus’ daughter (raised back to life from death).
• To the unspectacular story of a widow woman with the constant bleeding (inner healing).
Notice:
• The key to his speaking a word in season to those who are weary;
• Is his having an instructed tongue.
• The key to Jesus’ effective preaching, teaching, & speaking ministry,
• And his ability to say the right thing at the right time, was his having an instructed tongue
• Jesus had been disciplined learning the word of God.
• He didn't make it up as he went along.
• He had learned and continued to learn God's word;
• And this then flowed out of his life to the blessing of others.
Quote: Deuteronomy 18:17-19 speaks of this
“I will raise up for them a prophet like you Moses from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account”
Quote: John 7:14-16 speaks of this
“Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.”
Quote: John 8:28 speaks to this as well, saying
“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be, and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.”
What amazing verses! Jesus spoke the right words to people at the right time,
• Words that sustained and lifted up the weary,
• Because he spoke the LORD God’s words to them.
(2). An open ear (vs 4b-5):
“He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.
5 The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back”.
When Jesus chose to be born as a man and share our humanity:
• He put aside his attributes of omniscience;
• He put aside his divine attributes and grew in knowledge like any other human being.
• That meant he had to study the Old Testament scriptures.
• Just as we have to study the scriptures.
• And he pored over the Old Testament Scriptures,
• He had the greatest teacher of all, God the Father opened them up to him.
• Increasingly,
• Jesus saw himself more and more in those Scriptures as he studied:
• His identity, his calling, his work, his mission,
• And the message he was supposed to bring.
• God unfolded these things to him as he spent years (30) in preparation,
• Before God the Father would use him as his spokesperson.
Notice:
• Learning requires listening;
• It requires submissive attention to the source of wisdom.
• Before Jesus had anything to say, he had to listen.
• Verse 4 says that his Father God was his teacher, like a personal tutor.
• “Morning by morning”, Isaiah informs us, the servant was taught,
• Which implies learning by repetition.
• The fact that it was first thing in the morning;
• Suggests it was first priority for the servant of God was to learn from his Father.
It was done in seclusion. And the gospel records show that to us.
ill:
Mark chapter 1 verse 35:
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up,
left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed”.
ill:
• Luke chapter 5 verse 16:
• “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed”.
Ill:
• Jesus practiced what he preached;
• e.g. Lord’s Prayer “Give us this day our daily bread”
• He daily waited upon God for instructions;
• And he daily waited for his ‘bread’, to have his needs met by the Father!
(3). A surrendered body (vs 6):
“I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting”.
The Message:
“6I followed orders,
stood there and took it while they beat me,
held steady while they pulled out my beard,
Didn't dodge their insults,
faced them as they spit in my face.”
Notice:
• In verses 4-6, there is a logical progression of (1). hearing truth,
• Of (2). studying truth, and (3). Being obedient to the truth he knew,
• This gave him authority when he then spoke the truth.
• It all flowed together.
Ill:
• This is the same progression that the scribe Ezra experienced,
• In the book of Ezra chapter 7 verse 10, he is described this way (C.E.V.):
“Ezra had spent his entire life STUDYING & OBEYING the Law of the LORD
and TEACHING it to others.”
• Jesus also studied the truth, obeyed the truth,
• Then taught the truth
And because Jesus was obedient to the will of his Father.
• It meant him experiencing rejection,
• Physical abuse, pain, torture and psychological humiliation,
Ill:
• We have been shocked and saddened by pictures on T.V. regarding hostages.
• Well Jesus knows how they truly feel because he has been there!
• He experienced mental and emotional abuse,
• He experienced verbal insults, the humiliation of being spat on.
• He experienced the beard being pulled from his face
• He would (as we will see in chapter 53) experience the worst that man could do to him!
Ill:
• Sir Edwin Landseer (British painter, 1802-73)
• He specialised in animal paintings & designed the lions in Trafalgar Square, London
• On one occasion he was a guest in a Scottish mansion.
• All the guests were gathered in a freshly decorated room;
• When a jug of soda water was accidentally spilled on the newly decorated wall.
• It left an unsightly stain, and the owners of the house were obviously upset.
• When the family went out on the moors
• Sir Edward Landseer stayed behind.
• With a piece of charcoal he used the stain as the outline for a beautiful waterfall,
• He bordered it with trees and wildlife.
• Sir Edward Landseer was able to take something that spoilt and was unsightly;
• And turn it into something precious and a thing of beauty.
I am sure you can see the application:
• The ugliness of what men did to God’s Son;
• Has been taken by the master and transformed into something beautiful!
(4). A determined face (vs 7-11):
“Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame”.
• The servant of the LORD is here pictured as standing firm and trusting God.
• Exercising great faith in a time of difficulty.
Gods servant would have the attribute of determination:
Ill:
• There is a parallel verse in the New Testament;
• Luke chapter 9 verse 51 says
“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven,
Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem”.
Many scholars have referred to this third servant song as ‘the servant’s Gethsemane’:
• At the beginning of his ministry when he was tempted by the devil for 40 days & nights;
• To the end of his ministry as he prays alone in the Garden of Gethsemane.
• Jesus was determined to ‘finish the work that he was given to do’,
• And so he prayed those incredible words: “Not my will but thy will be done!”
Question: How could he face such an awesome task?
Answer: We are give three insights in verses 8-11:
“Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.
8 He who vindicates me is near”.
Three things come out of these verses:
• (a). The person of God was the resource on which he drew (vs 7).
• “Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced”
• (b). The power of God at work was what he trusted in (vs 7)
• “Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame2.
• (c). And the presence of God with him is what he relied on.
• “He who vindicates me is near”
• In verses 7 & 9 Jesus tells us it is the ‘Sovereign LORD’ who helps him.
• In Hebrew it is the two names Yahweh and Adonai.
• It speaks of the greatest power and the supreme authority of God
• This awesome God was the one that Jesus drew his strength from.
And finally:
• As you scan through verses 8-11:
• The servant is convinced that God will help him,
• That one day God will vindicate him,
• Exonerate his name and save his reputation.
• He is confident that God will triumph over evil and those who oppose his mission;
• Nothing can stop that mission; because God is at work in his life
Paul picks up on this theme in Romans chapter 8 verses 31-39:
“What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us? 32God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won't he freely give us everything else?
33If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? 34Or can anyone condemn them?
No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God's right side, [5] speaking to him for us.
35Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death? 36It is exactly as the Scriptures say, "For you we face death all day long.
We are like sheep on their way to be butchered."
37In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. 38I am sure that nothing can separate us from God's love--not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, 39and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God's love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!”
