Isaiah 42:1-9
Lesson Focus
Like Israel and Jesus, we are God’s Spirit-empowered servants who have been commissioned to go into the world enacting restorative justice.
Lesson Outcomes
Through this lesson, students should:
Understand that Israel is God's Spirit-empowered servant in the world, tasked with enacting restorative justice and being a light to the nations.
Recognize that God’s justice is restorative, not retributive.
Understand that because of our uniting with Christ through our baptism enables us to work as God's Spirit-empowered servants entrusted with the mission of delivering restorative justice in Jesus' absence.
Catching Up on the Story
By now, we should be well familiar with the book of Isaiah and his message to God’s people, Israel. Over the last few weeks, we've seen that this old message written to people who are long dead in a faraway land still has the power to speak to us here today. We've waited patiently with Isiah for the coming of God's anointed one, the Messiah, Jesus Christ. We have celebrated the dawn of God's light coming into our dark and dreary world. We even have dealt with the post-Christmas letdown - all the hype leading up to that big day, and then it’s all over and, what...?
This week, we turn the corner. Advent is done, and so is the season of Christmas. You'll notice that the colors have changed. We're in the season of Epiphany. We've all had an epiphany at one time or another. It's a sudden realization of something we hadn't known before. However, I should say that children have these experiences more than adults do.
Every year, Baptism of our Lord Sunday sits at the beginning of Epiphany. Every year, we tell the story of Jesus' baptism and the beginning of his ministry. All four gospels recount this story, and we've read it today, along with the text from Isaiah. In many ways, the story of Jesus' baptism and this bit of poetry from Isiah are connected.
The Text
Both texts have similar words from God. The Isaiah text starts with, "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights." Meanwhile, in Matthew's account of Jesus' baptism, we find these words as Jesus comes out of the water, "This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:17).
The Isaiah text's content, context, and tone have led scholars to understand the identity of this servant, who is referred to in the opening verse as Jesus. The ending portion of this passage sounds a lot like what Jesus reads in the synagogue in Luke's gospel, with its reference to opening the eyes of the blind and bringing out the prisoners from their dungeons.
So, we'd be on good grounds to connect these two texts, God's servant in Isaiah and Jesus of Nazareth. At the same time, however, I don't think that's all of it.
Let's leave Jesus out of this and look closely at Isaiah 42. We'll return to Jesus at the end.
To understand this passage correctly, we must go back to Genesis 12 and God’s calling of Abraham. When God calls Abraham, he promises that Abraham's descendants will be numerous and he'll have his land in which to live. God also told Abraham that it would be through Abraham's descendants that the whole world would be blessed. Of course, Abraham has Isaac, who has Jacob, whose name gets changed to Israel; he has a mess of sons who would be the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel, God's chosen people.
Well, God didn't just call Israel to be any kind of people; he gave them laws that outlined how they were to live in this world. Only Israel failed to live by these laws a lot of time, and so they ended up in exile, strangers, once again, in a strange land.
Israel's disobedience and its punishment, a natural consequence of their behavior, won't be the end of the story. Through Isaiah, God is reiterating his commitment to Israel.
While we can connect the servant in this passage to Jesus, for the contemporary readers of Isaiah's work, the servant is none other than Israel herself. So, it is with great hope that Israel hears the words, "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights..."
Even in exile, God still delights in Israel. I think our English translations miss the grandness of God's words here. God isn't just delighted, as in it's a fleeting moment of happiness brought on by a few words or a kind act or gift given. No, God's soul, the entirety of his divine being, delights and looks upon Israel favorably. It's the same type of delight that lovers experience when they contemplate their beloved or when a new mother gazes into the eyes of the baby she's carried in her womb for nine months. It's that kind of deep, abiding delight, the fullness of which is hard to put into words.
Because God is favorably disposed toward his wayward people, God has given his Spirit to Israel. In the Old Testament, anytime anyone is said to have God's Spirit rest upon them, it is for a reason, a purpose, a mission. God gives his Spirit so that we might do something that we could not otherwise accomplish without divine help.
So it is with Israel. They have been given God's Spirit. What will God's servant, Israel, do? Israel will "bring forth justice to the nations..." He won't cry or lift his voice and will not break a bruised reed or put out a dimly burning wick.
We're so accustomed to thinking about justice in a certain way. Often, we believe justice to be about offenders getting what they deserve. It's retributive justice. Certainly, this is the American way. If you commit a crime, you must suffer the consequences of your actions. We're bent toward exacting revenge. We want those who offend us to suffer like we have suffered because of their actions.
Yet, that's not God's justice at all. While it is true that God will allow us to reap the consequences for our disobedience, God's justice isn't retributive but restorative. Retributive justice demands payment. Restorative justice works toward the possibility of a new life and direction. Retributive justice is often violent, inflicting hurt and harm on the offender. Restorative justice is saturated with God's steadfast love, faithfulness, and grace.
Retributive justice cries loudly, crushes bruised reeds, and snuffs out dimly burning wicks. Restorative justice tends to the broken; it fuels the flames of life through the power of God's Spirit of grace. It seeks to reorder the world through the strength of grace and mercy.
Grace and mercy are always stronger than retribution because their power rests in love and faithfulness. It takes no courage to punish. It takes great courage to forgive and restore because it always leaves the door open for rejection. This is precisely what God's Spirit-empowered servant is sent to do.
Isaiah 42:5-9
While the first half of this passage tells us about God's Spirit-empowered servant, verses 5-9 speak directly to the servant and give some specificity to what exactly the servant will do.
God has called his servant in relational faithfulness, taking Israel by the hand, and has given Israel to the nations as a covenant. Remember, a covenant is a sacred agreement where two parties promise faithfulness to one another. God covenants with Israel to be their God, and they covenant with God to be his people. Now, God declares that Israel is given in covenant to the whole world, all people through all time, to be a light to the nations.
God's covenant people will work in the world to enact a new order, the Kingdom of God, where prisoners go free and the blind receive their sight. Being a prisoner in Isaiah’s day had more to do with economics than it did with criminal action. If you could not pay your debts, you went to prison. Once again, God’s servants go into the world to enact justice, justice that rights the wrongs and restores the broken.
So What?
Israel was always intended to be God's Spirit-enabled servant in the world. Israel was always intended to be God's covenant extended to the whole world. Israel was always intended to be the beginning of God's Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.
In the middle of the desperation in Exile, Israel is reminded of her calling and mission. Yet, we read this passage with different eyes, through a different lens. We read this passage knowing the story of Jesus, the Messiah, God's baptized and Spirit-anointed servant, and we cannot help but understand that Jesus has begun delivering restorative justice to the world.
At the same time, in Jesus' absence, he created and commissioned the church to participate in his Spirit-empowered mission. We hear these words that Isaiah relates to us, and we must understand that they are now spoken over us. As Israel was God's Spirit-empowered servant, as Jesus was and always will be God's Spirit-empowered servant, we are also God's Spirit-empowered servant because we have been united with Christ and his mission through our baptism. And God's soul delights in us as we go forth to enact his Kingdom of restorative justice.
Discussion Questions
How does the concept of God's servant in Isaiah 42:1-9 evolve from the historical context of Israel to the understanding of Jesus as the Messiah?
In what ways does the text challenge the common understanding of justice, distinguishing between retributive and restorative justice?
How does the imagery of God's soul delighting in Israel deepen our understanding of God's relationship with His people, especially in times of disobedience and exile?
What significance does the mention of God giving His Spirit to Israel hold, and how does this relate to the concept of divine empowerment for a purpose?
In what practical ways can believers today, as recipients of God's Spirit, contribute to enacting restorative justice in their communities?
Discuss the symbolism of Israel being given in covenant to the nations as a light and how this relates to the mission of believers in sharing God's love with the world.
How does being prisoners in Isaiah's day, tied to economic struggles, inform our modern understanding of justice and the mission to free the captives?
Explore the parallels between the historical context of Israel's calling and mission and the contemporary understanding of the church's role as God's Spirit-empowered servant.
Reflect on the challenges and courage involved in forgiving and restoring, considering the contrast between retribution and restorative justice.
How does the recognition that believers are given to the world through baptism influence our sense of mission and responsibility in promoting God's Kingdom of restorative justice?
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