Israel will save Israel, and the Gentiles, too

Sermon for Midweek of Trinity 2

Isaiah 49:1-13

Isaiah 49 begins the middle unit, the second unit of 9 chapters in this last part of Isaiah’s book. And what a beginning it is! This middle unit focuses more on the Messiah than the other two units do, with the famous chapter 53 right in the middle of it all. But this first chapter of Unit 2 begins with an undeniable prophecy about the coming Christ and His work, where He is named Israel, who will be sent to save Israel, and the Gentiles, too.

Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar.

The coming Christ speaks to the coastlands, that is, to the nations in the farthest reaches of the world. This message is to be heard by everyone!

The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away.

Now, the Person of the Son of God was with the Father from the beginning. That’s why He’s able to speak right now through the prophet Isaiah, because He already existed. But what He’s prophesying here is what would happen 700 years in the future, at the time of the virgin Mary. When the Lord sent the angel Gabriel to tell Mary that she would conceive and bear a Son, He literally “named the name” of the child who was to be born: Jesus. He speaks of Himself here as an arrow, hidden away in the Father’s quiver, ready to be shot at the devil, and at all the enemies of God.

Then He says something we really have to take note of: And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” God the Father speaks to the Christ as His servant. That’s nothing new in Isaiah’s prophecy; we’ve seen Israel referred to a few times already as the Servant of the Lord. In the other instances, it could refer to the nation of Israel itself. But not here, as we’ll see in just a moment. Here it refers exclusively to the coming Christ, in whom God the Father would be glorified. As Jesus spoke of His impending crucifixion and death, He said, Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. God the Father was glorified in Jesus, because Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world, together with His resurrection from the dead, showed the grace and goodness of God, His power over sin, death, and the devil, and has caused generations of believers to glorify the name of God for the mercy He has shown us through His Son, our Savior.

But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God.”

Here’s a prophecy about how Christ would not be accepted by most in Israel. Yes, for a time, He had multitudes of people following Him. But as you heard in the First Lesson this evening, Jesus spoke the harsh reality to those multitudes: If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And many of them began to turn away, so that, by the time Holy Week was over, there were only about 120 believers left in the whole land of Israel. It seemed as if the Messiah had labored in vain.

But He knew it hadn’t been, that it wouldn’t be. He could see past Holy Week, down through the ages as thousands, millions of people would be drawn by the Holy Spirit to believe the word of the Gospel. That future success is what’s depicted in the following verses.

And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength—

Now we see it clearly. The nation of Israel is not the true Servant of the Lord. The nation of Israel isn’t the Christ, as modern Jews will sometimes claim. No, we see it clearly stated that Israel, the Servant of the Lord, was being sent to Israel to “bring Jacob,” to “bring Israel back to Him, that Israel might be gathered to Him.” The Christ is the ideal Representative of Israel, who was honored in the eyes of the LORD. As Jesus said, It is My Father who honors Me. He was the Israel who came to save Israel.

But not only Israel! He says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

We often cite this verse from Isaiah, because it so clearly prophesies the expansion of the Church of God to include the Gentiles, to include you and me. It’s this verse that Simeon was alluding to when he sang about Jesus as “a Light for enlightening the Gentiles, and for bringing glory to Your people Israel.”

Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers:

There’s another reference to the Christ’s rejection by the nation of Israel, that He would be despised and abhorred by them, and that He would be made a “servant of rulers,” as He was subjected to injustice at the hand of Pontius Pilate and of King Herod.

But He wouldn’t remain their servant! “Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” After Christ’s victory over the cross, many kings and earthly rulers would eventually bow down at His name. That’s rarely the case anymore in our world, where most rulers despise Jesus again. And even those who claim to be Christian represent, for the most part, a false Christianity and a fake version of Christ. No matter. In the end, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

Thus says the LORD: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you;

This is still the Lord speaking to the Christ, promising to raise Him from the dead and to exalt Him over all His enemies. But St. Paul quotes this verse in 2 Cor. 6 and makes an application of it to believers: We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Back to God’s words to the Christ: I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ Christ is the New Covenant God made with the people of Israel. But the covenant wasn’t to let the Jews hold onto the land of Israel forever. It was to apportion them, and the Gentiles, a place in God’s kingdom. It was to rescue all men from the devil’s prison and from the dungeons of hell, and to give us an eternal home with Him after this earthly life is done, all through the coming Christ.

They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their pasture; they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.

We’ll close this evening with this beautiful prophecy of God’s Servant Israel, the Christ, as a Shepherd who leads His flock, made up of both Jews and Gentiles who believe in Him. Israel will be sent to save Israel, and the Gentiles, too, through faith in Him. The peace, safety, and abundance of His pasture are pictured here, but the book of Revelation cites this verse and reminds us that, while the Church of Christ experiences peace, safety, and abundance in spiritual things now, the perfect peace, safety and abundance promised in the book of Isaiah are reserved for us in heaven, where He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Amen.