The Servant of the LORD
1 Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the LORD called me;
from my birth he has made mention of my name.
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
4 But I said, “I have labored to no purpose;
I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.
Yet what is due me is in the LORD’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.”
5 And now the LORD says—
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD
and my God has been my strength—
6 he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
7 This is what the LORD says—
the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—
to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you and rise up,
princes will see and bow down,
because of the LORD, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
Restoration of Israel
8 This is what the LORD says:
“In the time of my favor I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
9 to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’
“They will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill.
10 They will neither hunger nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
11 I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be raised up.
12 See, they will come from afar—
some from the north, some from the west,
some from the region of Aswan.”
13 Shout for joy, O heavens;
rejoice, O earth;
burst into song, O mountains!
For the LORD comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
My Understanding: This passage of scripture is a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ, our Messiah, yet much of it applies, as well, to us, the church, i.e. to those who are true believers in Jesus Christ, because Christ now lives inside us and we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ ministry continues on through us, his servants; his chosen ones.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God the Son, was called of God the Father before he took on human flesh and was born as a baby. Psalm 139 speaks of how we are formed of God in the wombs of our mothers and how all the days ordained for us were planned of God before one of them came to being. God told Jeremiah that even before he was formed in the womb that God knew him and that God set him apart for a specific ministry. I believe with all my heart that God has a plan for each one of our lives that he has always known, and that he places each one of us in the families he has designed for us, to make us into the people he wants us to be for the very purposes he had planned for us before we were even on the radar in our parents’ minds. I, thus, believe that I was born to be who I am and to do what God has me do each day, and that this was the very purpose for which I was created. To do anything less than this would be to deny God’s design, purpose and mission for my life.
Jesus’ mouth was made like a sharpened sword. The sword of the Spirit is the word of God, which is one piece of our spiritual armor that we are to take up each day in order to fight off the attacks of the evil one against us. The word of God “is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). “In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance” (Revelation 1:16). Many people have this image of Jesus that he was all peace and love, yet he overturned the moneychangers table in the temple of his God and used a whip against them, and he is not only our Redeemer, but he is our judge. He said he did not come to bring peace, but a sword, for his words convict hearts and expose sin, and they show people where they need to change directions. The world hated him because he told them the truth about themselves, and he told them the truth about what was required of them in order for them to enter the kingdom of heaven.
The world, including the worldly church, will hate us, too, when we stand for righteousness and when we teach the truths of God’s word, which the world and worldly Christians do not want to hear. We will face strong opposition to our ministry, as well, if we are speaking the words Christ spoke, and we will suffer the same kinds of rebuke, rejection, persecution, false accusations, reproach, mocking, misunderstanding, etc. as Jesus faced during his ministry on the earth. It may even appear that our lives and ministries are a complete failure in the eyes of man, and we may not see presently much fruit for our labor. Yet, one day we will receive our reward in heaven when we see the lives that were touched by our ministry that we may not even know about while we are on the face of this earth.
That is where Jesus was, too. He was despised and rejected of man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and suffering. He was mocked, criticized, even accused of being of the devil and of being crazy. He was an embarrassment to his family members, and he ended his life with his closest friends and companions deserting him, forsaking him, denying him and/or betraying him and his trust. He died on a cross as a common criminal, although he had done no wrong. Yet, he did all of this for us so that we could go free from sin and to no longer live according to the pattern of the world or to be controlled by our flesh natures. Though the world at that time did not recognize who he was or the purpose for which he died, his death and resurrection has meant life and liberty for us, and we are his reward.
Jesus’ ministry was two-fold: 1) To bring Israel (the Jewish people) back to God via faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah, and 2) to bring salvation to the Gentiles (non-Jews). Our ministry, as believers in Jesus Christ, is also two-fold. In one respect we are to minister to our fellow believers in encouraging, comforting, and edifying them (instructing and teaching for the purpose of helping them to grow in faith and to improve in their walk with the Lord). In another respect we are called to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the world, thus continuing Jesus’ earthly ministry in sharing the gospel with the people of the world. They thought they had finished Jesus, but not only did he come back to life, but he continues to live within us and out through us, so his death just brought about more life.
Jesus Christ died on the cross, taking upon himself the sins of the entire world, having crucified and buried our sins along with himself, and then he rose from the dead, triumphing over hell, Satan, death and sin. He did this so that we could be free from the ultimate penalty of sin (eternal separation from God in hell) and so that we could be free from bondage to and the control of sin on a daily basis. So, when we come to faith in Jesus Christ and in what he did for us on the cross, we come to him in repentance, turning from our sin. As well, we come to him in obedience in turning to walk according to the ways of the Lord, no longer choosing to walk according to the ways of our flesh. This is what it means to believe in Jesus Christ, i.e. to repent of sin and to choose to walk in obedience to God.
So, Jesus’ message was one of repentance and of obedience to God, and this message of the gospel was carried on by Jesus’ followers, his disciples and the apostles, which is evidenced by the teachings concerning the gospel message in the New Testament. Jesus is calling out to all who are being held captive by sin’s deceitfulness to “Come out,” and to those in the darkness of sin, “Be free!” He is saying this, not just to those who have not professed faith in Jesus Christ, but to all who profess to have faith but yet are still walking in darkness and are still living in captivity to sin. He died and he went through all the suffering he went through so we could be free, not just in theory and not just in position or in “belief”, but in practice, which is where real faith comes into play. The Bible is real strong on the teaching that if we say we are saved yet we continue to live sinful lifestyles, then we are not genuinely saved. The fact that Jesus’ ministry was one of calling out to us to come out of captivity, and to be free, says to us that faith in Jesus Christ means that we are to come out of our captivity to sin, and we are to live as though we are free from sin.
Then, when we are in genuine relationship with Jesus Christ through practical faith that applies what Jesus did for us on the cross to our daily lives, we receive the Holy Spirit within us to comfort, to guide, to lead, and to direct our paths in his ways. He then fills us to overflowing with his Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives to fill all our needs and longings and desires and to allow him to now meet our needs with his love, comfort and compassion.
Thank You, Lord / An Original Work / May 19, 2011
Thank You, Lord, for saving me;
From my sins set free.
Crucified and risen Lord,
They hung on a tree.
They thought they had finished You.
You came back to life;
Triumphed over hell and sin;
You gave eternal life.
Thank You, Lord, for victory
Over all my sin,
So that I might live with You;
You cleansed me within;
Filled me with your love and pow’r;
Give me strength each day,
So that I might live for You,
To love You and obey.
Thank You, Lord, for your return.
Soon You will arrive
To receive Your bride to You;
Meet You in the sky.
You’ll wipe away all our tears;
Free us from our fears;
Crown our heads in victory.
We’ll praise You with our cheers!
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
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