The text this morning is from the prophet Isaiah, the 49th chapter:
Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. 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. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” 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.” 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— 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.” Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers: “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.”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Isaiah’s writing today is all about Jesus. In fact, you should read it in the voice of God, that He Himself is speaking it, about Jesus. The Father sent the Holy Spirit to inspire Isaiah to write these exact words, words we especially pick up during this Epiphany season, about Jesus. Remember that the word Epiphany is referring to an appearing, a manifestation of something, and, in the Church, we celebrate the manifestation of Jesus to all the world. So, we’re just going to jump right into it.
First, God isn’t just talking to the people of Israel, but to the entire earth. The coastlands is the furthest you could possibly go. Remember, the whole earth at this time was bound together in one land mass. They hadn’t crossed an ocean yet. Isaiah was written well before the Romans came on the scene, but for comparison’s sake, we should just look at what they knew of the world. The Romans, whose empire spanned the furthest at that time, expanded east into India, up into the southern reaches of Russia, north toward the Scandinavian countries, down into Africa, as far as Ethiopia, and, of course, all of western Europe. It would take you time, but you could travel by road to all of these places. But, they all shared something in common: the could live no further than the coast. You can’t live on the water. So, when God is talking about the coastlands, He’s talking about all the people who live all around the world, tied together in one life together. Even though the may live a long way off, Jesus is calling out to all the peoples of the world.
He sets up His authority. From the womb, the Lord called Him. Literally, Jesus is putting the name of God, Yahweh, into His mouth. Whenever you see the word LORD in the Old Testament, and it’s all in capital letters, this is the name Yahweh. We write it that way as a holdover from Jewish tradition which dared not speak God’s name for fear of misusing it (which is patently absurd, since God gives us His name to treasure by using it), so they substituted the word Lord for God’s name. But, here, Jesus is saying that Yahweh, God, has called Him from the womb; even from when He was in His mother, God gave Him His name. Now, this is something. You have to remember, for most of human history, women didn’t always know right away when they were pregnant, and, more than that, they never knew the gender of their baby. But, that God gives Mary’s son the name Jesus in the womb is confirmation that God knows what He’s doing.
As an aside, none of what we’ve talked about or will talk about indicates in any way that the Son of God was created in Mary’s womb. None of this implies that Jesus wasn’t around before this moment. The Son of God has always been, never created. Yet, when He took on human flesh in the womb of His mother, Mary, flesh was joined with His divinity forever. I just needed to say that so that no one thinks I’m a heretic.
So here Jesus is, talking about how His Father did all of this before He was born; He’s setting up His authority and His call. And what is that call? What is He supposed to be doing? God has made His mouth like a sword, made to cut people down, though God preserved its usage until just the right time. He made Him to penetrate like a polished arrow, though hid Him until the right time. Either way, God has set Christ up to be for Him a weapon of words, that He might accomplish God’s will in this earth. And what is that will? To kill people and make them alive. Imagine a weapon that both can take life and give it back. That is Jesus, that in your sins He will destroy you. Yet, He shall remake all those who trust in Him and bring them to life and light everlasting in the glorious resurrection. By the weapon of His Word He can kill, and by that same weapon He will make alive. This is the glorious work of the Savior.
God calls Jesus Israel, the fulfillment of everything Israel itself could not be. Jesus is more than just Israel, He is Israel who glorifies God. Everything He does and everything He is the fulfillment of all of the Law of God, the perfect obedience which leads to righteousness. But, for Christ, He sees that all of this isn’t accepted by all. Many reject it. He labors in vain, He says. His strength is spent for nothing, His life is taken and people will still go to hell. But, Christ’s confidence is not at all in His self-worth, or how people receive His works, but in His Lord and God. This, too, is where our confidence should be–not in our works or in what people think of us, but in our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. The reality is that, no matter how we perceive our work, our Lord accepts it and uses it to bring Him honor. Through His work, He becomes our strength, just as He is for Christ.
But notice now, for Christ, that God is pleased by Christ’s work and so honors Him by making Him a light to the nations. It’s not enough that Christ should die in some Roman backwater; God will elevate Him before the entirety of the earth. He will draw, as Christ has already said He would, all people to Himself. His salvation shall run to the ends of the earth and back. Though Christ would be stricken, despised, abhorred, even by God’s own people, kings will see His light and they shall come. Princes shall worship the despised one. The Lord has chosen this for Jesus Christ.
So, we’ve broken out some of the text, but I want you to remember this in light of Epiphany. This is the season in which we celebrate the fact that Christ has been made manifest to the Gentiles, where the wise men from the East have come to worship Him, and where all the nations are drawn to Him. This has been foretold from well before Christ’s birth and it continues to happen today, that the Christ who has obeyed the Lord perfectly in all He does and says has done this that all might be saved through Him.
This faith that we have today is no different than the faith that Isaiah had. The same Jesus He foresaw is the same Jesus we now worship. The Jesus He waited for is the Jesus who has come. The Jesus who was promised for Him is the same Jesus who made promises for us. This faith in Christ has been the same since Adam and Eve first walked upon the earth, we only now have it fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus who sits at the right hand of the Father. And it should please us that we are here as Gentiles in the middle of a faith first given to a people set apart.
Yet, now Christ has set us apart, making us His Church, that we may be His, grafted into the tree which is Himself. He has glorified His Father, and now He is in us, that we might bring glory to Him, also. He is the weapon of God, cutting people down in their sins, but making them alive in Himself. He is the one vindicated by God, glorified and made a light to the nations that all people may be drawn to Him. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is the Holy One of Israel, chosen by God, who chooses you for life and immortality. May it be yours now and always. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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