Jesus - God's Gentle Servant

Isaiah 42v1-2

14^th December 2018

This is the first of three studies of the first three verses of Isaiah Chapter 42:

Isaiah 42v1-3
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.

It begins with God the Father's affirmation of Jesus Christ, in a prophecy given 700 years before He was born:

Isaiah 42v1a
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him

God the Father describes Jesus as "my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight" and promises that "I will put my Spirit on him".

This was fulfilled in Matthew 3v13-17, when, before Jesus began His ministry of preaching the good news, healing the sick and performing miracles, He was baptised in the Holy Spirit. He went down to the River Jordan to be baptised in water by John the Baptist and, as he came out of the water, the Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove, and the voice of God the Father spoke from heaven, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him l am well pleased".

It's instructive for us to remember that even Jesus chose not to do anything for God apart from the Holy Spirit. Nor should we. So much of our discouragement comes from trying to do things in our own strength. We can never build the kingdom of God, but the Holy Spirit working through us can achieve anything.

God the Father promises:

Isaiah 42v1b
he [Jesus] will bring justice to the nations.

The nations don't really experience much justice today but, compared to 2,000 years ago, there's a lot more justice than there used to be. Perfect justice will only be achieved on the Day of judgement. Then perfect justice will be done, and will be seen to be done. But I believe that progressively through history, from the Cross onwards, more justice is being done. More righteousness is being lived out. It's still awful, but it's not as bad as it was, and not as good as it will be. And when Jesus returns it will be perfect.

Have you been cheated, lied to, hurt? Of course you have. On that day you will get justice.

Isaiah 42v2
He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.

When God says through Isaiah that Jesus "will not cry out" here, He doesn't mean Jesus will not cry out in pain; He means Jesus will not make a noise. He will not stand on a soap box at the corner of the street. He will not shout his opponents down. He will not argue.

Jesus is our example. He's the perfect man. And Jesus didn't get into arguments. Jesus didn't raise his voice. Jesus didn't make a fuss. And I hope I can say with reverence that Jesus didn't try to achieve anything through the force of His personality. Everything Jesus did, He did with kindness, gentleness, grace and patience. He spoke softly, as should we.

I know there was a moment when Jesus cleansed the temple with a whip, but if we consider the overwhelming majority of His life, we see that He was truly the Prince of Peace. Even when His opponents were clearly wrong or behaving badly, He didn't give them a hard time. When He spoke in criticism of others, I'm sure He did so in sorrow, not in anger.

And Jesus is gentle with us. We deserve God's wrath but through Jesus we receive God's mercy. We deserve condemnation but through Jesus we receive eternal life. Jesus loved us so much that He paid for all our sins when He died for us. When I pray, I sometimes sense God's disappointment at my sin, but I never sense any anger.

No matter what you've done, Jesus will always be your friend. He will always welcome you back. He will never shout at you, and He will never give up on you.

Jesus told us:

Matthew 11v28-29
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls"

The kingdom of God comes through gentleness, kindness and godliness. It comes through the meek, not the strong. It comes through those who will forgive, not those who hold on to resentment. It comes through the softly spoken, not the arguers and the shouters.

Jesus exemplified this. And we should follow His example. And if we do, we will be much more fruitful in His service. We can only build His kingdom His way.