Servant Songs Part I - Behold My Servant! (Is 42:1-9)

This is now the Second Sunday of Advent, the time of year when we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christmas; the season of the year in which we recall the Incarnation of our Messiah. This time of year is an opportunity to enter into the shoes of our forefathers who for so many generations awaited the coming of Jesus.

The questions before us in the next several weeks will be as follows: What should our forefathers have expected? And why is it that Jesus had such a different conception of His calling as Messiah from that of His contemporaries? Why does He call Peter’s notions Satanic, the traditions of men? Where did Jesus derive such a clear sense of the nature of His calling?

To answer these questions we will be looking at the Servant Songs of Isaiah, four (or five) songs in Isaiah 40-66 that praise a coming Servant, One who would be instrumental in rescuing Israel from her exile - indeed, not only Israel, but the entire world.

We’ll find as we consult these Servant Songs remarkable descriptions of the life of our Lord. As we consider them, we will find that these are the things that he meditated upon for thirty years prior to beginning his ministry; these are the things that shaped his self-identity, shaped his conception of the kingdom. These are the things, among others, that the Pharisees, the disciples, and many others in Jesus’ generation completely missed; until, that is, Jesus lived them out before their eyes, fulfilled them, and then explained them – and then some at least got the message; their eyes were opened so that they could see it all clearly, and they worshiped the Lord in awe.