God's Chosen Servant

Probing Your Own Heart

Where does God's Chosen Servant fit in your life?

What has He done for you of late?

Building on Some Foundational Concepts

The Father chose to send the Son.

The Father, Who with the Son and the Spirit, is the Eternal One, the only God and Creator of all that is and ever has been. Though three, They are an indivisible One. And thus, once again, our minds unsuccessfully stretch and strain to comprehend the humanly incomprehensible. Then this Triune One compounds the mystery by revealing that the Father chose the Son ("mine elect") and sent Him to us. Understanding how that can be is impossible for we mortals, so focus instead on enjoying the presence of the Son and the reality of His servant work in your life.

Jesus came to serve us as well as the Father.

In this prophecy we see Jesus clearly presented as the Father's servant. When Jesus finally came in fulfillment of this prophecy, He spoke clearly of His choice to serve the Father. This prophecy as well as His life also pull back the curtain to make another marvelous revelation: Jesus came to serve us also! Let Him do so in the ways described in Isaiah 42:3-7!

Those who know Jesus glorify Him.

Praise resounds from the lips of those whom the Master serves. Having experienced His grace, they return honor and glory to Him. They declare His wonders and sing of His deeds. Their own deeds exalt Jesus, resounding in a living witness to the praise of His glory. Their lives pay tribute to His life, for the life they live is His.

Questions and Responses

Is the Father superior to the Son?

In normal usage, words like son, servant, and chosen point to a lesser position relative to someone else. The father is "greater" than the son, the master than the servant, and the choice maker than the chosen one. Shall we understand the relationship between the Father and Jesus in a similar fashion?

No.

"I and my Father are one" (John 10:30).

"Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God" (Philippians 2:6).

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).

"God...Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son...Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person..." (Hebrews 1:1-3).

The Scriptures tell us the Father and the Son are one, which is puzzling enough to us. The Scriptures also reveal headship invested in the Father (1 Corinthians 11:3), which further compounds the confusion of our poor human minds.

Why not judgment upon the Gentiles (Isaiah 42:1)?

God promises that His Chosen Servant "shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles." The Gentiles had no part in the Old Testament covenant of promise, not having been chosen as God's people. They were heathen, pagan, and infidels awaiting the fierceness of God's consuming wrath upon sin and sinners. And yet this verse says to rather than upon. Is there any significance to that?

We must beware of attaching too much significance to preposition choices in our Bible versions. Perhaps Isaiah 42:1 is talking about Jesus bringing judgment upon the Gentiles. However, the context seems to suggest strongly that such is not the emphasis here.