“THE SERVANT OF THE LORD”
The Baptism of Our Lord
January 10, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
“Behold My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen, in whom My soul
delights; I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice
to the nations.”
Isaiah 42:1 (ESV)
A very prominent Figure in Isaiah’s book of prophecy is Someone who
the prophet calls “the Servant of the Lord.” The book of Isaiah even
has four so-called “Servant Songs,” the first of which includes this
morning’s sermon text. This “Servant of the Lord,” according to
Isaiah, is Someone who acknowledges the Lord as His God and faithfully
carries out the Lord’s will. Skeptics throughout the centuries have
tried in vain to identify this Individual with some prominent person
in the Old Testament or with the nation of Israel itself. While it is
true that the expression “Servant of the Lord” occurs elsewhere in the
Old Testament in reference to Abraham, Moses, David, and even Isaiah,
no one in history consistently fits the description given in the
“Servant Songs” except Jesus Christ. That should come as no surprise
to those of us who believe in Biblical prophecy and fulfillment.
Jesus alone is the perfect “Servant of the Lord”--the One who Isaiah
was obviously writing about. No doubt that is why this first “Servant
Song” was chosen by the ancient Church to be read on this particular
Sunday--the Baptism of our Lord. Jesus’ Baptism by John in the Jordan
River, together with the miraculous signs that accompanied it, mark
the official beginning of the Messiah’s public ministry in service to
the Lord and His people.
It is fitting that as we remember the Baptism of Jesus we should also
think of our own Baptism. There is more similarity between Jesus’
Baptism and ours than we might think. Like that of our Lord, our
Baptism marked a beginning for us, for in Baptism we have also
received God’s favor and God’s Spirit. If Jesus’ Baptism inaugurated
Him as “the Servant of the Lord,” in our Baptism we have been called
to be servants of the Servant. Remembering our own Baptism as well as
our Lord’s, and our status as well as His, let us consider this
morning what the servant receives from God and the purpose for which
he receives it.
The prophet says that the Lord will uphold His Chosen One, delight in
Him, and put His Spirit on Him. These words were fulfilled with
amazing precision when our Savior was baptized. The Spirit descended
on Him in bodily form--the form of a dove--and the voice of the Father
spoke from heaven to express His delight in His beloved Son.
Obviously the Savior who God sent enjoyed the favor of His Father. We
enjoy God’s favor as well, but not for the same reason that Jesus did.
Jesus was the perfect Image of the Father. He came into the world
without sin and lived in the world without sin. God bestows His favor
on us for the sake of His perfect Son. It is because Jesus was
perfect in our place and because we are His by the faith that the Holy
Spirit has given us in Baptism that God accepts us with the same
delight that He has in His only Son.
The Spirit who descended on Jesus at His Baptism came into our lives
when we were baptized too. In the case of Jesus the Spirit came as a
testimony to who Jesus was, but when He descended on you and me, He
recreated us in the image of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
It always bothers me when I hear certain well-meaning Christians refer
to themselves as “Spirit-filled Christians.” That expression is
redundant. “Spirit-filled” and “Christian” mean the same thing. You
cannot be one without being the other. There is no such thing as a
“Spirit-filled” person who is not a Christian, nor is there any such
thing as a Christian who is not “Spirit-filled.” If you are a
Christian, you are Spirit-filled. You cannot confess with your lips
or believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord without being filled with
the Holy Spirit. We, the servants of the Servant, have received the
same Spirit who empowered the Messiah to be the Servant of the Lord.
So the Servant of the Lord and the servants of the Servant receive
God’s favor and His Spirit. But for what purpose is all of this
given? The Servant of the Lord and His servants possess all of this
for the purpose of serving. That’s something that a lot of people
have never quite understood. The disciples of Jesus were constantly
bickering over which of them was the greatest. Jesus told them that
in His kingdom greatness is synonymous with service. And He showed
them what He meant by taking on the servant’s role when He washed His
disciples’ feet. What a ridiculous scene that was according to human
reasoning: the “Lord” and “Master” performs for His underlings the
humiliating task of the lowliest servant. But that’s the purpose of
being a servant--to serve. As servants of the Servant, our ambition
should not be to gain for ourselves recognition and honor and glory
and all of the other things that the people of the world strive for;
our ambition should be to serve as the Servant of the Lord did and to
find our greatness not in ourselves, but in Him. In the Church of
Jesus Christ, power and authority exist only to enable those who
possess them to serve the Master by serving others.
Isaiah says of the Lord’s Servant that “He will bring forth justice
to the nations.” The Servant of the Lord came specifically to
justify. By His perfect life and His innocent suffering and death
Jesus Christ has righted all wrongs. He brings justice to us--not
overlooking our sin as if it didn’t matter, but dealing with our sin
perfectly and permanently by bearing its punishment for us. You and
I--servants of the Servant--have no ability to justify, but
nevertheless we have been called in our Baptism to proclaim the
Savior’s justification. We can’t right any wrongs, but we can tell
the world what Jesus has done to right them. We can’t save anyone,
but we can tell troubled sinners that they have been saved by the
Servant of the Lord. If we’re not willing to do these things, there
is no reason for us to have the blessings that we receive from Him who
called us.
Jesus’ status as the Servant of the Lord was proclaimed at His
Baptism. He showed His willingness to live up to that status in
everything that followed. The rest of His earthly life was spent in
service--bringing salvation to lost humanity. He convicted people of
their sin and then forgave them. He spoke the truth no matter how
unpopular it was, yet He spoke it in a spirit of love. He condemned
hypocrisy and even sent away those who wanted to follow Him but were
not serious about discipleship. At the same time, He sought out
people with real needs and met those needs. He encountered all kinds
of temptation along the way to steer Him away from His mission and He
resisted. He endured unfair criticism and abuse and still He “turned
the other cheek.” He who has identified with us in His incarnation
and has identified us with Him in our Baptism continues to bless us
with His Spirit, providing us with the willingness, the motivation,
and the strength to be servants of the Servant, living our lives in
service, bringing to lost humanity the Good News that He has
accomplished and has called us to proclaim. He uses us in spite of
our failings, forgiving us, strengthening us, encouraging us, and,
above all, accepting us as His own.
Amen.
May the God who caused light to shine out of darkness cause you to
increase and abound in love toward one another and toward all people,
as His love abounds for us; and may the glory of His Son be manifested
to you and in you, that you may be witnesses to all nations now and
until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is
faithful, and He will do it. Amen.