Scripture: Isaiah 50:4-11
I. Jesus is your example of listening to and speaking God’s Word
A. Who interrupts God’s conversation with Israel in vs. 4? We wait until verse 10 to find out. There we read, “Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant?” This is the servant of the LORD speaking beginning in Isa. 50:4. This is Jesus. The word taught (vs. 4) can be translated with the word discipled. When Jesus came to earth, we know He made disciples. But Jesus was also a disciple – a learner from God the Father.
B. In verse 5 Jesus says, “I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.” Jesus did not rebel against what God said. Jesus did not back off when God was speaking to Him. Jesus’ commitment to obey God’s teaching and teach it to others was total – unlike Israel’s. Jesus then is our example as a disciple. He heard the word of God, He obeyed the word of God and then He taught others the word of God.
II. Jesus is your example of leaning on God in suffering.
A. “I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting” (vs. 6). This is what Jesus experienced in Matthew 27:27-31. We also will suffer. John 15:18-20: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world… the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”
B. But God is on your side in suffering. Romans 8:31, 34: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? …Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
III. Jesus is your Savior who trusted in God alone.
A. At the end of the Servant song in vs. 10, we are called on to follow the Servant’s example. But Jesus is not just our example to follow as disciples. Jesus is also our Savior. We need to trust Jesus alone to save us and not in ourselves. No one else can do a DIY project to save us. Revelation 5:5 “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, can do what no one else can. Jesus can save us from God’s judgment.
Application:
Trust in Jesus alone to save you in the darkness. Don’t DIY when you need salvation.
Sources:
The book of Isaiah
Commentaries by J.A. Motyer, Tim Chester, Bob Fyall, David Jackman & Derek Thomas
Sermon Discussion Questions:
1) What did Jesus, the servant of the Lord, obey and teach? What did it cost Jesus to obey? What will it cost you?
2) What promises from God enabled the servant to set his face like a flint in the midst of suffering? How do the promises of Romans 8:31-39 help us in a time of suffering?
3) What are the two choices you have in terms of your trust in a time of darkness? In what ways are you tempted to kindle your own fires in a time of darkness?