Isaiah 41,42; Romans 7

Scripture:

Isaiah 42:1  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.
2  He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
3  a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
4  He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law. (ESV)

Observation:

The book of Isaiah is filled with Messianic prophecies. This is one such passage. In the midst of discouraging words and issues of sin there is this promise that some day a Person will come — a servant no less — to make things right. Now things are not right, but when justice is established on the earth things will be right. N.T. Wright — Bishop of Durham — gives us reason for why things are not right. He writes:

Every human relationship ends in tears. Think about it. People meet and fall in love and then fall out of love and tears are shed. Or, people meet and fall in love and are married for 52 years and then one of them dies and there are tears. Wright states that this is evidence that things aren’t right. This isn’t the way it was meant to be. Sin has entered the world and things are broken. Even in the best of circumstances things are broken. So we need Jesus to help us put things back right. Although Christ-followers experience loss and tears, there is the promise that some day Jesus is going to make all things right including this issue of death. We’ll have no more tears or troubles and will live with him in eternity. 

Things are not right, but God has promised a servant who came once and is coming again who will set all things straight. That includes the injustices we see all around us and that we have experienced ourselves.

Application:

So how do we deal with the injustices we see around us? Do we follow the lead of the Great Servant who even laid down His life for us all or do we just move on through life without thinking about God’s call for justice and putting things right? Are you daily looking forward to the time Jesus returns and puts things right for ever? I know I’m not. In this matter we need to follow the lead of Jesus our suffering servant.

Prayer:

Father God we thank you for the promise of things being set right some day. It might be today only God the Father knows. We commit our lives to You in such a way that we are always watching and while we watch we are your agents of justice & reconciliation in this world. We pray these things in Jesus Name, Amen!

dmbaldwin