Isa 42:1-4 | KingComments | STEP | In Isaiah 40-41 it is about the greatness and majesty of the LORD God, but also about His mercy to redeem Israel. The question that remains is: How will God fulfill His promise of salvation? God’s answer is not primarily how it happens, but through Whom He will fulfill His promises. The answer is found in this chapter, in the first great prophecy and revelation in this part of the book regarding Jesus Christ. All promises of restoration and the blessing that follows find their center in Him ( ). Later on the question will be answered how He is going to do it: through His sacrificial death ( ). Now we see the joy of God the Father in Him and what remarkable things will be accomplished by Him. The light of the glory of His Person puts Cyrus in the shadow here, although more will be said about him later. Here comes Christ before us as the One Who blesses Israel and as the Savior of the nations. First the LORD speaks about the Servant to His people ( ); then He speaks to the Servant about His task ( ); finally He speaks again to the people as a final conclusion ( ). After the word “behold” as a call to look at the idols in their vanity in the last verse of the previous chapter ( ), here follows “behold” look at Him Whom the LORD has chosen ( ). From Israel, the failing servant of the LORD, our gaze is now turned toward the faithful and true Servant of the LORD, the Lord Jesus. Christ is called “My Servant” by the LORD. Even the people know, when the Lord Jesus has come, that the Chosen One of God is Christ Himself ( ) and not Israel – as many Jews today claim. By the way, the call “behold” is meant to introduce Him, to draw attention to Him, while Israel has been mentioned before ( ) and therefore does not need to be introduced. The LORD calls upon His people to look at Him. This first prophecy about ‘the Servant of the LORD’ begins by expressing the delight that God the Father has in Him. We get a glimpse into His life and what characterizes Him during His days in the flesh. We come into contact with His tenderness and also with His power and the great deliverance He will work. “Whom I uphold” indicates the trust God has in Him that He will accomplish His service. We uphold someone in whom we have confidence. Upholding means connecting yourself with someone’s destiny and giving him help and strength. In the quotation of this verse in Matthew 12, instead of “My Chosen One,” He is called “My Beloved” ( ), which reflects the other meaning of the Hebrew word. That meaning fits with the Father’s earlier statement in the Gospel according to Matthew ( ). He is the Chosen One in the counsel of the Father. The work to be done by the Servant cannot be done by anyone else. The delight is expressed in the Spirit Whom the Father puts upon Him. Delight already is there before the Father pronounces it at His baptism and on that occasion gives His Spirit (cf. ; ). The word “delight” is also a word that is often connected with the “soothing aroma” of the sacrifices in the book of Leviticus ( ) and is therefore also a reference to the character of the work that the Servant will do. Here in Isaiah we see the triune God. Christ takes on the character of Servant in order to fulfill the will of the Father, which He does in the power of the Holy Spirit Who is put upon Him by the Father at His baptism. The declaration “I have put My Spirit upon Him”, is the center of three great declarations concerning the Holy Spirit in Isaiah in connection with Christ. The first speaks of His incarnation ( ). The second, here, points to His baptism. The third refers to the beginning of His public performance ( ). The last part of , “He will bring forth justice to the nations”, suddenly leaps forward to the future, to His second coming and the millennial realm of peace, for that is not fulfilled during His life on earth. Through the gospel, His “justice” in the present time is revealed as a blessing. In the future it will happen in judgment as well as in the kingdom of peace afterward. How this will be fulfilled has been described in detail by the prophet earlier ( ). Yet even during His life on earth He brings forth justice, the right of God, to the nations. He has done so both in judgment and in grace for all who have bowed under this judgment. An example of the latter is the Syrophoenician woman ( ). When He is on earth, “in the days of His flesh” ( ), He does not draw attention to Himself ( ; ). People often do so in the three stages of voice raising, called “cry out,” “raise the voice” and “make the voice heard”. Conversely, His performance is quiet, friendly, and humble. The healed crippled at the bathwater of Bethesda does not know where He is ( ), nor does the blind born ( ). Several times He says to those who have experienced His goodness that they should not make Him known. He acts in perfection according to the word that charity should not be done “before men to be noticed by them” ( ). He does it for His Father. Is this also the mind of our hearts and the quality of our work? What He brings is sufficient and does not need to be confirmed by a flashy performance or a trumpeting ahead of Him. The Lord did teach in the streets ( ). “He will not cry out,” seems to contradict , “He will utter a shout”, but in both verses a different word for shouting is used. The first word has to do with His people, the second with His enemies. The first indicates His kindness and tenderness, the absence of a self-centered noisy demonstration. He does not impose himself. Nor has he come to unleash a revolution against the Romans. The second is His voice as Conqueror, causing the enemies of God to perish at the end of the age. Then in a series of promises, again in chiastic or reverse order (a,b,b,a; see at Isaiah 40:21): There is a. “a bruised reed” ( ) that He will not break. ---b. “a dimly burning wick” that He will not extinguish ( ) ---b. “not disheartened”, followed by a. “not … crushed”, in the sense of not being discouraged. He will not break “the bruised reed”, and He Himself “will not be crushed” (a + a), for He is in Himself the strong One Who cares of the bruised and crushed. He will not “extinguish” the dimly burning wick, which is the almost extinguished wick, and He Himself will not “extinguish” or “disheartened” (b + b), for He is in Himself the full light that brings light where it is almost extinguished. Thus He will ensure that His tested ones will share in His glory. We see here His loving care for us now and that should encourage us. If we sometimes feel like bruised reed, only fit to be broken off completely, or we feel that our light is burning so poorly, let us think of His desires for us. We may go to Him to be renewed in grace and receive restoration of strength from Him. There is nothing of value in bruised reed. It is reminiscent of the broken heart, trampled by rough treatment. Without any resistance it is thrown away. The bruised reed is a picture of humility ( ). A reed can be used as a staff, but a once bruised reed can no longer be used; on the contrary, it can injure you ( ). Normally you would throw away such a reed, but the Servant does it otherwise. The bruised reed is the epitome of weakness in a world where there is only room for those who are strong. Also in the church it is considered as nothing. But the Lord is able to turn this bruised reed into a musical pipe or a yardstick for the new Jerusalem ( ). He has come for those who are brokenhearted ( ). He does not impose an iron rod on them, but extends to them the golden scepter of His grace ( ). He Himself is broken or crushed ( ; ). The dimly burning or extinguishing wick hardly gives any light and warmth and is also no longer able to light someone else. It speaks of a small spark of faith found in the heart of a human who exclaims: “I do believe; help my unbelief” ( ). Often love burns so weakly in our hearts that only He Who knows all things also knows that there is still a glimmer of love present ( ). Thus, in seven weeks, He can change Peter from an almost extinguished wick to a flame that sets three thousand souls on fire on Pentecost ( ). Because He will not be bruised and extinguished, He will bring justice to earth. He will not nullify the law by compromise, but will execute it in faithfulness and according to the truth. He will see to it that by teaching the law the law is made known and upheld. In doing so, He is fulfilling the desire that there is for this teaching. Then the question: “Where is the God of justice?” ( ) will be answered definitively. Justice will be established in the earth at the return of the Lord Jesus to the earth ( ). The Lord Jesus is waiting for the hour of His Father. When satan offers Him the kingdoms of this world, He does not want to receive them ( ). The day will come when the promise of the Father will be fulfilled and He says to Him: “Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the [very] ends of the earth as Your possession” ( ).

‏ Isaiah 42:1-4

Introduction

In Isaiah 40-41 it is about the greatness and majesty of the LORD God, but also about His mercy to redeem Israel. The question that remains is: How will God fulfill His promise of salvation? God’s answer is not primarily how it happens, but through Whom He will fulfill His promises. The answer is found in this chapter, in the first great prophecy and revelation in this part of the book regarding Jesus Christ. All promises of restoration and the blessing that follows find their center in Him (2Cor 1:20). Later on the question will be answered how He is going to do it: through His sacrificial death (Isa 53:1-12).

Now we see the joy of God the Father in Him and what remarkable things will be accomplished by Him. The light of the glory of His Person puts Cyrus in the shadow here, although more will be said about him later. Here comes Christ before us as the One Who blesses Israel and as the Savior of the nations.

The Chosen Servant

First the LORD speaks about the Servant to His people (Isa 42:1-4); then He speaks to the Servant about His task (Isa 42:5-7); finally He speaks again to the people as a final conclusion (Isa 42:8-9).

After the word “behold” as a call to look at the idols in their vanity in the last verse of the previous chapter (Isa 41:29), here follows “behold” look at Him Whom the LORD has chosen (Isa 42:1). From Israel, the failing servant of the LORD, our gaze is now turned toward the faithful and true Servant of the LORD, the Lord Jesus.

Christ is called “My Servant” by the LORD. Even the people know, when the Lord Jesus has come, that the Chosen One of God is Christ Himself (Lk 23:35) and not Israel – as many Jews today claim. By the way, the call “behold” is meant to introduce Him, to draw attention to Him, while Israel has been mentioned before (Isa 41:8) and therefore does not need to be introduced. The LORD calls upon His people to look at Him.

This first prophecy about ‘the Servant of the LORD’ begins by expressing the delight that God the Father has in Him. We get a glimpse into His life and what characterizes Him during His days in the flesh. We come into contact with His tenderness and also with His power and the great deliverance He will work. “Whom I uphold” indicates the trust God has in Him that He will accomplish His service. We uphold someone in whom we have confidence. Upholding means connecting yourself with someone’s destiny and giving him help and strength.

In the quotation of this verse in Matthew 12, instead of “My Chosen One,” He is called “My Beloved” (Mt 12:18), which reflects the other meaning of the Hebrew word. That meaning fits with the Father’s earlier statement in the Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 3:17). He is the Chosen One in the counsel of the Father.

The work to be done by the Servant cannot be done by anyone else. The delight is expressed in the Spirit Whom the Father puts upon Him. Delight already is there before the Father pronounces it at His baptism and on that occasion gives His Spirit (cf. Isa 61:1; Pro 8:30). The word “delight” is also a word that is often connected with the “soothing aroma” of the sacrifices in the book of Leviticus (Lev 1:9 ; 13 ; 17) and is therefore also a reference to the character of the work that the Servant will do.

Here in Isaiah we see the triune God. Christ takes on the character of Servant in order to fulfill the will of the Father, which He does in the power of the Holy Spirit Who is put upon Him by the Father at His baptism. The declaration “I have put My Spirit upon Him”, is the center of three great declarations concerning the Holy Spirit in Isaiah in connection with Christ. The first speaks of His incarnation (Isa 11:2). The second, here, points to His baptism. The third refers to the beginning of His public performance (Isa 61:1).

The last part of Isa 42:1, “He will bring forth justice to the nations”, suddenly leaps forward to the future, to His second coming and the millennial realm of peace, for that is not fulfilled during His life on earth. Through the gospel, His “justice” in the present time is revealed as a blessing. In the future it will happen in judgment as well as in the kingdom of peace afterward. How this will be fulfilled has been described in detail by the prophet earlier (Isa 2:1-4).

Yet even during His life on earth He brings forth justice, the right of God, to the nations. He has done so both in judgment and in grace for all who have bowed under this judgment. An example of the latter is the Syrophoenician woman (Mt 15:24-28).

When He is on earth, “in the days of His flesh” (Heb 5:7), He does not draw attention to Himself (Isa 42:2; Mt 24:5 ; 23). People often do so in the three stages of voice raising, called “cry out,” “raise the voice” and “make the voice heard”. Conversely, His performance is quiet, friendly, and humble. The healed crippled at the bathwater of Bethesda does not know where He is (Jn 5:13), nor does the blind born (Jn 9:12). Several times He says to those who have experienced His goodness that they should not make Him known.

He acts in perfection according to the word that charity should not be done “before men to be noticed by them” (Mt 6:1-4). He does it for His Father. Is this also the mind of our hearts and the quality of our work? What He brings is sufficient and does not need to be confirmed by a flashy performance or a trumpeting ahead of Him. The Lord did teach in the streets (Lk 13:26).

“He will not cry out,” seems to contradict Isa 42:13, “He will utter a shout”, but in both verses a different word for shouting is used. The first word has to do with His people, the second with His enemies. The first indicates His kindness and tenderness, the absence of a self-centered noisy demonstration. He does not impose himself. Nor has he come to unleash a revolution against the Romans. The second is His voice as Conqueror, causing the enemies of God to perish at the end of the age.

Then in Isa 42:3-4 a series of promises, again in chiastic or reverse order (a,b,b,a; see at Isaiah 40:21): There is

a. “a bruised reed” (Isa 42:3) that He will not break.

---b. “a dimly burning wick” that He will not extinguish (Isa 42:4)

---b. “not disheartened”, followed by

a. “not … crushed”, in the sense of not being discouraged.

He will not break “the bruised reed”, and He Himself “will not be crushed” (a + a), for He is in Himself the strong One Who cares of the bruised and crushed. He will not “extinguish” the dimly burning wick, which is the almost extinguished wick, and He Himself will not “extinguish” or “disheartened” (b + b), for He is in Himself the full light that brings light where it is almost extinguished. Thus He will ensure that His tested ones will share in His glory.

We see here His loving care for us now and that should encourage us. If we sometimes feel like bruised reed, only fit to be broken off completely, or we feel that our light is burning so poorly, let us think of His desires for us. We may go to Him to be renewed in grace and receive restoration of strength from Him.

There is nothing of value in bruised reed. It is reminiscent of the broken heart, trampled by rough treatment. Without any resistance it is thrown away. The bruised reed is a picture of humility (Isa 58:5). A reed can be used as a staff, but a once bruised reed can no longer be used; on the contrary, it can injure you (Isa 36:6). Normally you would throw away such a reed, but the Servant does it otherwise.

The bruised reed is the epitome of weakness in a world where there is only room for those who are strong. Also in the church it is considered as nothing. But the Lord is able to turn this bruised reed into a musical pipe or a yardstick for the new Jerusalem (Rev 21:15). He has come for those who are brokenhearted (Isa 61:1). He does not impose an iron rod on them, but extends to them the golden scepter of His grace (Est 5:2). He Himself is broken or crushed (Isa 53:5 ; 10; Gen 3:15).

The dimly burning or extinguishing wick hardly gives any light and warmth and is also no longer able to light someone else. It speaks of a small spark of faith found in the heart of a human who exclaims: “I do believe; help my unbelief” (Mk 9:24). Often love burns so weakly in our hearts that only He Who knows all things also knows that there is still a glimmer of love present (Jn 21:15-17). Thus, in seven weeks, He can change Peter from an almost extinguished wick to a flame that sets three thousand souls on fire on Pentecost (Acts 2:14 ; 37-41).

Because He will not be bruised and extinguished, He will bring justice to earth. He will not nullify the law by compromise, but will execute it in faithfulness and according to the truth. He will see to it that by teaching the law the law is made known and upheld. In doing so, He is fulfilling the desire that there is for this teaching. Then the question: “Where is the God of justice?” (Mal 2:17) will be answered definitively.

Justice will be established in the earth at the return of the Lord Jesus to the earth (Psa 72:1-2). The Lord Jesus is waiting for the hour of His Father. When satan offers Him the kingdoms of this world, He does not want to receive them (Mt 4:8-10). The day will come when the promise of the Father will be fulfilled and He says to Him: “Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the [very] ends of the earth as Your possession” (Psa 2:8).