Church Sermon - January 16, 2005

Rev. Bernt P. Tweit

Epistle Lesson; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Gospel Lesson; John 1:29-41
Sermon Text; Isaiah 49:1-6

During the Children’s Sermon this morning, I held up that illustration of a herald. You might recall what the job of the herald was, back in the days when there was the town square. The herald would go to the town square and he would blow his trumpet, to get the attention of the people. And then, he would say something like this, "Hear ye, hear ye". Then, he would proclaim the important news for the day. He would speak to everybody who was in listening distance.

Today, it is Isaiah the prophet who is that herald, who is speaking to you this morning. The important news and notes that Isaiah has to say are speaking about who this servant of the LORD is. Isaiah reveals to us that the servant of the LORD is Jesus. There are three things that come out in our scripture reading for today that Isaiah has to say, the important things that Isaiah has to say about Jesus, the servant of the LORD.

I. The servant of the LORD speaks God’s Word.

Isaiah, the herald this morning, identifies who this servant of the LORD is. Isaiah says He was called before He was born. That should remind us of the angel Gabriel coming to Mary. This is what the angel Gabriel said to Mary, "You will be with child and will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name, Jesus."

After Jesus was born, scripture tells us, "On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him, before He had been conceived."

Seven hundred years before Jesus, the servant of the LORD, was born, Isaiah identifies who He is. But, not only does Isaiah identify who the servant of the LORD is, but also Isaiah proclaims what the work of the servant of the LORD would be. The work of the servant of the LORD would be to speak God’s Word, to speak that message, that truth of the redemption that we have. We have been bought back from our sin. We have been bought back from death. We have been bought back from the devil. The instrument that Jesus the servant of the LORD would have is that sharpened sword and that polished arrow that our text is talking about this morning. It is that sharpened sword of Jesus’ mouth and the polished arrow of His mouth that cuts directly into our hearts.

Now, there are only two reactions that we can have, when God’s Word is spoken.

Or, we can reject Jesus as being the servant of the LORD.

Let’s just look at two examples from scripture, of Jesus, the servant of the LORD, speaking God’s Word. Very early in Jesus’ ministry, Jesus was in His hometown of Nazareth. As was His custom, He went into the synagogue. Jesus rose up to speak God’s Word. The selection for the day was from the book of Isaiah. After reading those words from the book of Isaiah, Jesus rolled up the scroll and said, "These words are fulfilled in your hearing."

The people were enraged at Jesus. They drove Him out of the synagogue. They drove Him out of town. They drove Him to the brow of a hill and were ready to throw Him over that cliff. But then, Jesus walked through their midst. Jesus, the servant of the LORD, had spoken God’s Word. One of two reactions happened. They rejected that Word. They wanted to kill Jesus.

On the other hand, we have the two disciples, on Easter evening. Those two disciples were walking on the road, to Emmaus. Jesus meets up with them on that road. They did not know it was Jesus at the time, though. Jesus asked them what they were talking about. They told Him they were talking about what had happened this last weekend - the events of Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday, how Jesus had died on the cross, how He was buried, how the women had run to the tomb to see Him, and how they had gone back and told the disciples that He had risen from the dead! But, they were still confused.

Jesus went on to share with them this thought. He said, "How foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken. Did not the Christ have to suffer these things, and then enter His glory?" Then He went on to say, "Beginning with Moses and all of the prophets, He explained to them all that were said in the scriptures, concerning Himself."

When they got to the city of Emmaus, Jesus was going to keep going, but those disciples asked Jesus to come into their home. While they were eating and breaking bread, those disciples realized that it was Jesus. Scripture says, that those disciples looked at one another and said, "Were not our hearts burning, when He talked with us on the road?"

Jesus disappeared from them. Those disciples ran seven miles back to Jerusalem to share with the other disciples that they had seen the risen Jesus! As Jesus had spoken God’s Word to them, the reaction of their hearts was the confessing of their sin. The reaction of their hearts was the acknowledging of their need for a Savior, and seeing that Jesus, who had spoken to them, was their Savior.

Those two reactions continue to be the same two reactions that are held by people today. In my years here at Holy Cross, I have done many funerals and I have done many weddings in which I have seen those two reactions. During the wedding address or the funeral address, as God’s Word is spoken, I have seen people shaking their head up and down. As God’s Word is spoken there, they are realizing their sin, they are recognizing their need for a Savior, and they are seeing in Jesus that He is their Savior.

On the other hand, I have seen people shaking their heads back and forth. People have come up to me and have shared with me how they simply can’t believe what God’s Word is saying to them.

As God’s Word is spoken today, as that sharpened sword of God’s mouth, as that polished arrow of God’s mouth is proclaimed, those two reactions continue to be held – that of accepting Jesus as our Savior, or that of rejecting Jesus as our Savior.

II. The Servant of the Lord came to Display God’s Splendor

Isaiah also tells us in our text for today, that Jesus the servant of the LORD came to display God’s splendor. Now, one of the names that are given to Jesus is one that we don’t think about very often and it is the name Israel. Usually, when we hear the name Israel, we think of the Nation of Israel, or we think of the person Jacob, who was given the name Israel. Remember, after Jacob had wrestled with God, he didn’t want to let Him go until He had blessed him. When God blessed Jacob, He gave him a new name, Israel. The name Israel simply means, "struggling with God, striving with God, or wrestling with God". And so, Jesus the servant of the LORD, whose name also is Israel, came to be what the Nation of Israel could not be. Jesus, the servant of the LORD, came to be what the person Jacob could not be. Jesus, the servant of the LORD, came to be what we could not be. God tells us to be perfect therefore, as your Father in Heaven is perfect. We, like the Nation of Israel, and we, like the person Jacob, are laden with sin, laden with shortcomings, falling far short of what God expects of us. Jesus, the servant of the LORD, came to be what we could not be.

And, He came to be our substitute. It is Jesus, the servant of the LORD, who is true God, who is almighty, who is everywhere present, who is all knowing, who also reveals Himself in our text for today as a man. We see Jesus, the servant of the LORD, speaking to His Father, saying, "I have labored for no purpose; I have spent my strength in vain."

It is there that we can relate to Jesus, the servant of the LORD, as He is in the Garden of Gethsemane. Remember how Jesus, on Maundy Thursday had celebrated the first Lord’s Supper with His disciples. And then, as was their tradition, they went to retire in the Garden of Gethsemane, where they went for an evening of prayer. It was there that Jesus had told His disciples to watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation. And, then Jesus went on a little farther to pray by Himself. He said, "Father may this cup be removed from me, and yet not my will but yours be done."

There we see Jesus, the servant of the LORD, speaking as a man, knowing that He was going through the sorrow of suffering and death on the cross. And yet, we see Him saying, "Not my will but yours be done." He did not have His own selfish interests in mind, but He had the interests of you and me – that our sins are forgiven, that we have a home with Him, in Heaven.

We do the same thing every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, when we come to the petition, "Thy will be done", knowing the sufferings we will go through here in this life, and yet, not with selfish intentions, but asking that God’s will be done, asking that God’s splendor would be displayed in everything we say, and that God’s splendor would be displayed in everything we do, as well.

III. The Servant of the Lord Will Bring Back His People

The final thought that Isaiah has in our text for today is that Jesus, the servant of the LORD, would come to bring back His People, Israel. But, notice what God says here through Isaiah, the herald. He says it is too small a thing to come only for the Jews, but also here to come for the Gentiles. That is what we are. We are Gentiles. Jesus, the servant of the LORD, has also come for us, as well. It is Paul, in the New Testament, who says, "There is no Greek or Jew, there is no barbarian or Scythian, there is no circumcised or uncircumcised, but Christ is all and is in all".

Before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He told His disciples to go forth, to teach, and to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is known as the Great Commission. Here in our text for today, we have what is known as the Great Commission of the Old Testament, "That you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth".

Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, Isaiah was a herald. Isaiah proclaimed to us the servant of the LORD. He explains to us that the servant of the LORD is Jesus, who comes to speak God’s Word, who comes to display God’s splendor, and who comes to bring back His people, both Jews and Gentiles. As we have heard the herald sound the trumpet this morning, and as we have heard the herald proclaim to us, "hear ye, year ye," may we hear the important news and notes that He has come to bring to us. Jesus, the servant of the LORD, came to win for us our forgiveness, He came to give to us eternal life in Heaven. May we go forward, just like heralds, and proclaim that same message to others!

Amen.

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