Isaiah 50:4-9 - The Third Servant Song

Let's take our Bible and go to the book of Isaiah.

The book of Isaiah.

If you don't have a Bible, you might find one in front of you, a little red one like this one, and if you go to page 600, you'll see the beginning of the book of Isaiah.

And if you can just flip over several more pages, you'll find Isaiah, chapter 50.

Isaiah 50 · chapter mention

And an invitation to you if you don't have a Bible, and you need a Bible please feel free to take that one that's in front of you as a gift from us.

If you already have a Bible, just use your own Bible.

History is filled with a lot of remarkable individuals, people of courage, conviction, compassion.

We admire their resolve, we admire their sacrifice.

We admire even their brilliance.

I think about people like Abraham Lincoln, with his moral clarity to lead our country through a time of civil war.

I think of Winston Churchill, who rallied the West in order to fight the axis of evil.

Those men, their clarity and resolve, stand as testimonies to what it means to be firm under pressure.

History has also given us a number of examples of compassion.

Florence Nightingale, for instance, would walk the dim corridors of wartime hospitals with a lamp in her hand and tend to those who were wounded with care and compassion.

Her nightly rounds earned her the name the Lady with the Lamp.

What a glorious statement.

Tireless in her pursuit of hygiene and her reforms led to a drop in mortality rates in those wartime hospitals from 40 to 2%, and her work has reshaped modern nursing to this day.

But even the courage or the compassion that we see in these individuals, as noble as it is, is not enough to fix the human condition, or the compassion that we see in these individuals, as noble as it is, is not enough to fix the human condition.

Compassion and courage and conviction, beautiful characteristics, all but not enough.

Even the noblest of lives, those who are marked truly by sacrifice, by wisdom, by resolve, by compassion, cannot fully accomplish what we were ultimately designed to be and to do.

Our best efforts, as Westminster Confession speaks, fall short of glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.

No matter our effort, no matter how noble, no matter how purposeful it might be, we find ourselves faltering.

Our obedience can waver, our courage can bow, and that's why the introduction to the theme that we're going to be looking at today in Isaiah 50 is so striking.

We're going to be looking at the servant in Isaiah's song here.

It's a small section that runs from verses 4 to 9 of chapter 50.

But in it we're introduced to a figure who embodies perfect obedience, who endures suffering with dignity and, more vitally, lives life wholly within divine purpose.

He speaks with wisdom, he listens with humility, he walks a path of submission and his life leads to that of vindication.

And as we go through this passage, we're going to learn more about this servant of the Lord.

Before we do, however, we need to discover just who we're looking at here.

When we read the book of Isaiah, we're introduced to this idea of someone and some people being the servant of the Lord.

Isaiah, the prophet's called the servant of the Lord, cyrus, a Persian king, is called the servant of the Lord, and the nation of Israel also is called the servant, and in this section that we're looking at that started in chapter 40 and runs to chapter 55, the word servant occurs over 20 times in these chapters and often it refers to the nation of Israel.

For example, isaiah 41 and verse 8.

Let me just read it for you.

But you, israel, my servant Jacob, whom I've chosen.

Obviously clearly, israel is the servant in that passage.

But when we read chapter 40 to 55, we also learn something else about the nation of Israel.

Chapter 42, they're called blind and deaf.

Chapter 42, in verse 22, they're called plundered and exiled.

And in chapter 43, we 42, isaiah 49, here in Isaiah 50, and Isaiah 52, 53, these known as the servant songs we meet someone else, we meet an individual who stands with Israel and yet also stands apart from Israel.

In these four poetic passages, the servant is no longer the nation but an individual.

This servant listens, the servant obeys, the servant suffers and ultimately this servant obeys, the servant suffers and ultimately the servant succeeds.

And what Isaiah is doing with these four servant songs is extremely profound and we shouldn't miss this.

Back in the book of Genesis, god spoke promises to one man named Abram, and those promises passed from Abraham to his son, to his grandson and on, until those promises became embodied in promises to a nation.

Here the story turns.

The identity of servant that the nation was to be is now moved from national identity to individual responsibility.

Here it moves from a failing nation to a faithful son of Israel, the servant of the Lord.

This servant comes from Israel and yet stands apart from Israel in order to represent Israel and also to rescue Israel.

And this one will succeed where the nation has failed.

This one will rescue and redeem, wonderfully, not only Israel but the world.

In Isaiah, chapter 50 and verses four to nine, we're going to hear his voice, a voice that sustains the weary, a voice that obeys without resistance, a voice that trusts the Lord with unwavering resolve, despite the opposition and the suffering.

Isaiah 50 · chapter mention

This is, as I will argue, christ, the true servant, the faithful son, the redeemer that all of us need.

And this is why Isaiah's servant is so compelling.

He's not here merely to display human greatness.

He's here to embody divine purpose, and that purpose is to save those of us who aren't faithful, who aren't obedient, who aren't trustworthy.

He is the faithful son who accomplishes what Israel could not.

And in Isaiah, chapter 40, verses 4 to 9, we're giving a rare and intimate glimpse into the servant's own voice.

Isaiah 40:4–9

Let's read it and listen to it.

Let's read it and listen to it.

The Lord has opened my ear and I was not rebellious.

I did not turn back.

I gave my back to those who beat me my cheeks, to those who tore out my beard.

I did not hide my face from scorn and spitting.

The Lord, god, will help me.

Therefore, I have not been humiliated.

Therefore, I have set my face like a flint and I know I will not be put to shame.

The one who vindicates me is near.

Let us confront each other.

Who has a case against me?

Let him come near me.

In truth, the Lord, god will help me.

Who will condemn me?

Indeed, all of them will wear out like a garment A moth will devour them.

Garment a moth will devour them.

This is not Isaiah speaking, and this is not even a general declaration from the Lord.

This is the servant himself, describing his mission, describing his mindset and describing his unwavering trust in the Father.

And as we listen to him, we're going to trace seven qualities that mark his obedience and reveal his heart.

We're going to see wisdom of speech, a receptivity of heart, a willing spirit, submissiveness to suffering, a trusting frame, a focused determination and a confident boldness, and all of it leading to a vindicated life, a life not crushed by suffering, a life that is crowned with God's help and approval.

So let's walk through this passage.

Obviously, I'm going to move through each of these points fairly quickly, but they're glorious to examine.

Let's listen to what the servant says about himself.

Glorious to examine.

Let's listen to what the servant says about himself.

First of all, wisdom of speech, found in verse four in the first part.

The Lord has given me the tongue of those who are instructed to know how to sustain the weary with a word.

Isaiah's servant here says that he's not given mere eloquence of speech, but divine insight and restorative compassion to sustain the weary with a word.

His words are not simply given to him to be ornaments of beauty, but rather are meant to be medicinal.

He knows how to speak to the weary and he knows how to do so, not because he simply observed them, but he's entered in to those sufferings.

And this, of course, finds its fullest expression in Christ himself, even at the beginning of his ministry.

In Luke, chapter 4 and verse 22, the people there in the synagogue listening to Christ speak from the book of Isaiah said that they were all speaking well of him and all amazed with listen to this, the gracious words that came from his mouth.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

His speech, even at the beginning of his public ministry, was marked by grace, truth and yes, authority.

In Mark, chapter 1, verse 22, the people listening to Christ were astonished at his teaching because he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as the scribes.

Mark 1:22

But Christ's speech was more than just informational.

It was meant to transform, to be able to speak to those who are weary.

And we see a great example of that in John, chapter 4, where Jesus speaks to a woman at the well.

John 4 · chapter mention

She came to that place alone, shunned by the rest of the village.

She came burdened with shame and isolation, and Jesus began a conversation with her, not with condemnation, but to awaken her to her real need by speaking about her physical desire for water.

And so he moved from the physical to the spiritual and offered her the living water of Christ himself.

And his words moved her heart.

And his words moved her heart, and at the end of that conversation she left her jar behind and ran to tell others and said Come, see a man who's told me everything that I've ever done.

See, jesus spoke to her in such a way that she welcomed what he had to say.

He sustains the weary.

Now let's think about ourselves for just a moment.

We often speak words that wound rather than help the weary.

Our tongues, rather than being instruments of healing, are often, too often, instruments of pride and selfishness, deceit and even destruction.

The book of James says the tongue can no man tame, and he gives a rather poignant conclusion to what the tongue is.

It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Instead of lifting up the broken, we silence them.

Instead of speaking truth, we trade in flattery.

Rather than offering hope, we speak words of cynicism.

We don't naturally know how to speak words to the weary that give them hope.

But Christ does.

He speaks not only correctly with speech, but he also speaks to redeem our hearts.

And Isaiah here presents Jesus as one who is a well-taught disciple, a learned person, a scholar, who is wholly devoted to God.

And how different he is from those that we find in places of politic and rule around the world.

There are very few philosopher kings in the history of humanity, but here the servant of the Lord is given the tongue of those who are taught the instructed tongue, and Isaiah is pointing us to a servant who is wise, who knows the ways of God, who's not only loving but competent, who's wise enough to know how to help us when we are at the lowest point of our life.

And for us who are believers, this means that Christ's current ministry is here for us, to continue to sustain us when we feel dry or distant.

That same voice who calmed the storms and who called Lazarus out of the grave, is the same voice that speaks the word into our hearts.

Lazarus out of the grave is the same voice that speaks the word into our hearts.

He knows what to say and he says it with love.

And if you're here this morning and you don't know Christ as your Savior, this same voice speaks to you with invitation.

You hear a lot of voices, I'm sure, a lot of voices reverberating in your history and perhaps speaking into your present, and they could be voices of shame, voices that are trying to confuse or voices that are trying to manipulate you.

But I can tell you something about Jesus he will never do any of those things.

His voice is the one true voice that can restore the weakest and the most broken among us.

Where everyone else fails, he is able to sustain the weary with a word.

When we find ourselves broken by our sin or the sins of others, when we find ourselves wearied with life and all of its pressures and hardships, he is able to uphold the weakest among us.

Jesus is here not to crush us but to call us to himself, and he knows our weariness and he knows how to give us rest.

And this is why he said with such wondrous invitation Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

The second thing that this servant says about himself is that he has a receptive heart.

Look at chapter 50 and verse 4.

In the last part of this verse, the Lord has given me the tongue of those who are instructed to know how to sustain the weary with the word.

But listen to the last part.

He awakens me each morning.

He awakens my ear to listen, like those being instructed.

What is the servant saying about himself here?

He's saying that his strength is not self-generated, that it flows from the posture of daily dependence upon God.

Morning by morning, his ears are awakened and he listens to God, not as some casual observer, but as one careful to tune himself to God, who's willing to bend to his will and words, who's attentive, humble and teachable.

And this is not weakness, this is a foundation of divine wisdom and obedience.

Weakness, this is a foundation of divine wisdom and obedience.

And in the life of Jesus that receptive heart is unmistakable.

He gave himself fully to the ministry of submitting his heart with attention to God.

Mark, chapter 1, verse 35, very early in the morning, while it was still dark.

Mark 1:35

He got up, went out and made his way to a deserted place and there was praying.

And every time when you read the Gospels you find Jesus about to enter into a major event.

The Gospel writers are careful to record that Jesus would pray before those things.

He sought the Father before engaging the crowds.

He sought the Father before choosing the twelve.

He sought the Father before facing the cross.

He set his heart in a posture of humility and dependence to listen to the Father.

We're not naturally teachable people.

We're prone to self-reliance and spiritual deafness.

Isaiah 30, verse 9, speaking about the nation in visual, said that there are people who are rebellious, unwilling to listen to the Lord's instructions.

Isaiah 30:9

What an indictment.

But all of us, we prefer our own wisdom, we prefer our own way, we prefer our own voice, and our ears are often closed to God's Word and our hearts are often hardened to the work of the spirit.

But Jesus listened perfectly.

In John, chapter 5 and verse 19, he said this the son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the father doing.

John 5 · chapter mention

For whatever the father does, the Son likewise does these things.

There's not even a paper width of difference between what the Father wanted and what the Son was willing to open his heart to.

He listened, he discerned, he obeyed and his heart was aligned with the Father's will.

And his ministry flows from this communion and this compassion that we see in this fourth verse.

And this is so vital to us today, because we need a ministry that seeks to sustain and supply, in which thought and study and insight come.

But we're filled with examples of condemning ministries.

And, believe you me, a finger-pointing ministry is easy to have.

But to be able to serve in such a way that you supply care and wisdom and grace means that you need to be thoughtful, dependent, humble and attuned to God and His Word.

And here Jesus is in every way.

One striking example of that is found in John 11, where, before he brings Lazarus alive out of the tomb, he prays and he says Father, I thank you that you heard me.

I know that you always hear me.

Even in moments of miraculous power, he's offering himself in dependence to the Father and operating from his supply.

We're invited into that same rhythm, morning by morning, with our ears awakened and our heart attuned.

You see, christ's receptivity is for us as his mission, but it's also there for us as believers, as our model.

As our model, because in a world of noise and distraction and finger pointing at every level and at the highest level of our society and politic that's full of posturing and self-reliance, there needs to be a people on earth that have cultivated a listening posture, who move from God's word to this world's society.

See, scripture is not just a resource, but it's a necessary link for us in our relationship with the Lord and our relationship with others.

And if you're here this morning and you don't know Christ, know this Christ is not aloof or detached from your situation at all.

He's deeply engaged in the Father's will and that Father's will includes you, the Father's will, and that Father's will includes you.

His attention to the Father means he knows your name, he knows your need, he knows your story in every twist and turn of it, and he has listened to the Father so that he might be the instrument of life for all who believe on Him.

Let's keep moving.

Verse 5, a willing spirit.

A willing spirit.

The Lord, God, has opened my ear and I was not rebellious.

I did not turn back.

The servant here is saying that his obedience is not forced but freely offered.

He obeys without resistance, unlike us.

From Eden on we have been resistive to the will of God.

We resist his commands, we question his goodness, we choose our own paths.

No wonder the book of Romans says all we have turned away and alike have become unprofitable.

There is none who does good, no, not one.

It's an indictment that we all share together.

Our wills are bent inward.

But Jesus did not turn back.

His ear is open not just to hear but to respond, not to retreat, not to give himself in passive compliance, but in active surrender to the will of God.

And so the servant here says that he's embracing the will of God with a spirit that is willing in every way.

And in the life of Jesus we see this most vividly.

In Gethsemane, that little garden, and as the weight of the cross pressed upon him, he said there, father, if you're willing, take this cup from me.

Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.

And that moment was a moment of holy resolve.

He didn't turn his back.

He chose obedience, knowing full well what it would cost him.

Hebrews, chapter 10.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

He speaks about himself there.

See, it is written about me in the scroll.

I have come to do your will, o God.

His entire life shaped by that kind of willingness.

From his birth to his baptism, to his final breath, jesus lived in full submission to the Father.

For us, this gives us great assurance.

Jesus obeyed perfectly, not reluctantly.

He obeyed willingly, and his obedience is credited to us.

How can we stand accepted before a holy God?

Not because we are that willing or we are that submissive, but because he is.

And wonderfully, the Spirit now works within us to shape and to mold these once rebel hearts into receptive ones, to take this heart which was once full of stone, and turn it into the malleable workings of flesh.

The Spirit does that in the new covenant.

But here's something else I want you to hear.

If you're here this morning, you don't know, christ is your Savior.

Jesus was not only attentive to the cries of the Father and the speech of the Father.

To do those things, he's also extending himself to the broken, to the outcast, to the unclean.

And one leper came to him in Matthew, chapter 8 and said Lord, if you're willing, you can make me clean.

Matthew 8 · chapter mention

And what did Jesus say to him?

I am willing.

Jesus bowed to this weak cry for help and said that's exactly why I'm here.

You see, you don't have to earn your way to God.

Jesus has already walked that path.

His willingness means you're welcome and you find everything in Him.

And you find everything in him.

I could stop on each of these and preach a whole sermon, but I've told myself I was going to move through them.

So move we must.

Verse six a submission to suffering.

I gave my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who tore out my beard.

I did not hide my face from scorn and spitting.

This is a rather vivid prophecy, isn't it?

But it's a prophecy of voluntary suffering, voluntary suffering.

The servant here is seen not resisting the abuse but offering himself to it, and he's not flinching or fleeing.

He's actually submitting to it, and he's not doing it as a helpless victim either.

You can feel, even in these words behind it, that there's a purpose behind all of that.

His suffering is not incidental and, as we'll see, it's meant to be redemptive.

In Matthew, chapter 26, verses 67 and 68.

Matthew 26:67

Speaking about the kind of suffering Christ himself received, it says they spat in his face and beat him.

Others slapped him and said prophesy to us, messiah, who was it that hit you?

Mockery, humiliation, violence.

It all unfolded just as Isaiah said it would.

Mockery, humiliation, violence it all unfolded just as Isaiah said it would, but Jesus never retaliated.

In John, chapter 10 and verse 18, he reveals his heart of submission.

John 10 · chapter mention

No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own.

I have the right to lay it down and I have the right to take it up again, and I've received this command from the Father.

You see, the mocking, the humiliation, the violence, they weren't in control.

There's a powerful example of that is Jesus stood silent before Pilate, matthew 27.

He did not answer him.

Jesus did not answer Pilate Even on one charge, so that the governor was quite amazed.

Now remember, this is the one who could have called a legion of angels and I don't mean those cute little cherubs, you know, with little harps and white robes and tiny wings flubs.

You know, with little harps and white robes and tiny wings fluttering.

You know, angels in the Bible mean warriors of God.

He could have called 12 legions of warriors, but instead he chose to endure the injustice.

You see, his silence was not weakness, it was strength under control, it was submission with a purpose.

And Jesus submitted himself to that suffering, dealing with the bitterness and the despair that others were trying to foist upon him, but we we were.

We recoil from pain, we demand comfort, especially in America.

If there's one word to describe the American culture, it's comfort.

Try parking in England, you'll understand.

And we question God's love whenever things don't go the way we thought they should.

We don't suffer redemptively, we suffer resentfully, and in the Bible we see that Job's friends misinterpreting what's happening, israel grumbling in the wilderness, all kinds of examples.

Interpreting what's happening, israel grumbling in the wilderness, all kinds of examples.

But Jesus bore our griefs and carried our sorrows.

He took suffering in order to invite us into himself, even when our path is dark.

He knows, for all of us, the sting that comes from betrayal.

He knows what it means to feel that gnawing, irreconcilable ache of injustice, and he knows how the weight of shame lays upon all of us.

But he submitted himself to suffering so that we might be received, because he was suffering not just as an example and not just as a caregiver, but as a substitute for us, in order to receive all the wrath that God would justly lay upon each and every one of us, so that we might hear these wonderful words there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, wow.

And so he walked through affliction in order to bring us to glory.

His pain was not pointless.

It was purposeful for our salvation.

He did not hide his face from scorn so that the Father might receive us with joy.

He bore the shame so we could be restored.

He suffered for sinners so that they might be counted as righteous in the eyes of a holy God.

He was bruised so we could be healed.

This leads us to verse 7.

In a trusting frame, the Lord, god, will help me.

Therefore, I've not been humiliated.

Jesus entrusted himself to the father.

We, we struggle to trust, we're anxious, we're fearful and we're often quick to rely upon ourselves.

In Psalm 78, the Lord there recounts Israel's failure to trust God, and the indictment in verse 22 of Psalm 78 says this they did not believe God or rely upon his salvation.

This they did not believe God or rely upon his salvation.

I want you to listen well to this, because this marks this passage.

We often measure God's goodness by our circumstances.

Do you hear that we often measure God's goodness by our circumstances, not His character?

Right, jesus marked God's goodness by His character, not the circumstances.

Jesus here is trusting perfectly, even in betrayal, even in injustice and even in death itself.

And it's that trust that secures our hope, that invites us to rest, because he is obedient and submissive to the full for every one of us who believe on him.

Now notice when he did give himself to that.

He did not retaliate.

The Lord will help me.

Therefore, I've not been humiliated.

The Lord will help me.

Therefore, I've not been humiliated.

He didn't retaliate with power and he didn't defend himself with words.

He trusted the Father to eventually vindicate his righteousness, and there's a striking example of it from Pilate In John, chapter 19,.

John 19 · chapter mention

Pilate says where are you from?

Jesus doesn't answer.

Pilate says don't you know that I have the authority to release you or crucify you?

What did Jesus say?

You have no authority over me at all if it hadn't been given you from above.

Wow, imagine that saying that to the governor of New York.

Imagine that saying that to the governor of New York.

He trusted the Father's sovereignty perfectly, even when he was face-to-face with the most powerful person in the land at that moment, and when he was on the cross.

Instead of saying why me, father, into your hands, I commit my spirit, even with his last breath, even in death, he rested in the Father's care For all of us.

This is the anchor of the kind of confidence we can have with God, because in Christ, in this perfect servant, in this representative of what Israel was meant to be, not only the people of Israel but people from all over this earth can find hope and life and welcome and redemption.

You see some of the implications of this.

Our dignity is not defined by the world's accolades and welcome.

Our dignity is defined by what we secure in Christ, as he gave himself to the Father.

But again, a sermon that needs to be preached.

Let's continue.

There's not only this trust, but a focused determination found in verse 7.

At the very end of it I have set my face like a flint and I know I will not be put to shame.

Now here's again this flavor of resolve that the servant is not distracted by the opposition, he's not discouraged by the suffering.

His face is set like a flint, unyielding, unwavering to the mission that's in front of him.

And he knows that path is costly, but he walks it with purpose.

His determination is not fueled by pride.

The beginning of the verse tells us that it is by trust in the one who will vindicate him.

And boy does this find direct statements in the gospels, in Luke, chapter nine and verse 51.

When the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up, he determined a journey to Jerusalem.

He set his face toward Jerusalem.

Exactly what this verse is saying.

We're easily distracted.

We're easily discouraged.

We can waver in our convictions.

We can compromise under pressure.

We can abandon mission for comfort.

We can be like Demas, who loved this present world.

Israel turned very quickly to idols.

None of us are resolute like this, but Jesus is.

Jesus is resolute, with a determination fueled by love and anchored in trust in the Father, and he doesn't swerve.

He sets his face like a flint to Jerusalem, knowing what lays ahead of him Betrayal, mockery, crucifixion, death.

And yet he doesn't shrink back.

His heart was set on what Redemption.

Who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame.

And even if those who would seek to shake and rattle him were as close as his dearest friends, he was resolved to continue on.

And in Matthew, when Peter rebuked Jesus, after giving one of the most glowing confessions about who he was, jesus said to him get behind me, satan.

You're a hindrance to me, because you're not thinking about God's concerns, but human concerns.

Even the most well-meaning objection of his closest friend could not knock him one degree off of his resolve to go to Jerusalem and the cross.

And so we follow a Savior who did not waver.

We follow one who walked the road of rejection, who was determined to give us encouragement.

So, brothers and sisters, whenever we face trials, whenever we face distractions, whenever we face discouragements, remember God is not calling us to be the forerunner blazing the trail.

Jesus has already done that.

He's simply calling us to walk in His steps.

Done that.

He's simply calling us to walk in His steps, to follow Him.

And how much easier it is to walk a path already worn than it is to try to break one that's never been touched.

And if you're here this morning and you don't know Christ, this is the Savior's determination to save undeserving people.

He has made a mission of bringing himself to the cross.

It's not an accident, terrible as it was.

It was meant and purposed by God and carried out by his Son.

He has set his face toward that cross so that he might free sinners, just like every one of us are.

This leads us, in verse 8, to a confident boldness the one who vindicates me is near.

Who will contend with me?

Let us confront each other.

Who has a case against me?

Let him come near me Now.

That's boldness, not arrogance.

We've already defined what brought this boldness.

This confidence is rooted in God's closeness and proximity to him, in his obedience and dependence and ear and submission to the Word of God, and he invites the accusers to step forward, not because he's trying to puff out his chest in some manly arrogance, but because he's innocent and he's going to be up his chest in some manly arrogance, but because he's innocent and he's going to be upheld by God, the Father and in his trials.

This is seen very clearly in John 18, jesus, knowing that everything that was about to happen to him, went out and said to those in the garden who were about to arrest him who is it that you're seeking?

Jesus of Nazareth?

They replied.

And what did he say?

I am he.

Judas, who betrayed him, is also standing there with them.

And when Jesus told them I am he, they stepped back and fell to the ground.

Why?

Well, probably because, like any of us, he probably would have turned tail and ran, or would have told some lie or tried to obfuscate in some way in order to hide himself from what was about to happen.

But Jesus stood there and said you're looking for me here.

I am Right here Again, before Pilate.

Pilate's comment don't you know?

Don't you know that I have the power to release or crucify you?

And Jesus said yeah, no, you don't.

You know that I have the power to release or crucify you?

And Jesus said, yeah, no, you don't Any power you think you have, and that you actually have.

Came to you from the Father, and I trust him.

He didn't plead, he didn't protest, he didn't speak the truth with compromise, but with determined composure, knowing that he would be vindicated by the Father.

We are not like that.

We are fearful when judgment comes.

We hide our failures, we shift the blame.

We are like Adam and Eve.

As soon as we discover something's wrong, we run and we try to grab some little fig leaf and think that covers all of the problem.

But it doesn't.

Peter denied we're not naturally bold, but Jesus here, unashamed, unafraid, standing before Pilate, before the Sanhedrin, with divine assurance, and because we're united with Christ, we can do the same.

In Romans, chapter 8, paul poses this question who can bring an accusation against God's elect?

Romans 8 · chapter mention

God is the one who justifies.

Who is the one who condemns Jesus?

Christ is the one who died even more, who has been raised.

He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.

We don't have to cower in our culture today.

We don't have to give in to the confusion.

Yes, it may be as costly as what Christ suffered, but there's vindication to come.

And if you're here as an unbeliever, it's only right for you to fear judgment, especially if that judgment comes from a holy God and speaks to your eternity.

You have every good reason to be afraid of that.

But you also should see this that God sent His only Son, the Servant that we're looking at here, so that whoever believes on him should not perish but have everlasting life.

He is offering the grace of reception and forgiveness.

But the day will come when that voice of salvation which is happening today, that voice of salvation which is happening today, will be closed off and there will be no other option but to give an account to that, that holy God, that you were good enough or better than, or sincere enough or did enough to reconcile yourself with him.

But if you say my hope, my only hope, and the only thing I bring is Christ and Him alone.

I guarantee you that whoever is in the Son has life, but whoever is not in the Son does not have life.

And this leads us, these seven characteristics that the servant is speaking about himself leads us to the final one, in verse 9, of a vindicated life.

In truth, the Lord will help me.

Who will condemn me?

Indeed, all of them will wear out like a garment.

A moth will devour them.

The servant has spoken from his heart about himself, and here he speaks about his life being finally and fully vindicated, not by human approval but by divine affirmation.

Though he's scorned and opposed, he will not be condemned.

His enemies will fade and yet he will stand.

The servant knows that his vindication will not be immediate, but it will be ultimate, and that is important.

Here and when we see the life of Jesus, we recognize that his vindication came in the resurrection.

We recognize that his vindication came in the resurrection.

The apostles preaching about him in Acts, chapter 2, said God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death, because death wasn't the victor over him.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

The cross was not the end, it was a means to bring deliverance and death was not the destruction of Jesus.

The resurrection was only the beginning of his vindication.

And that's why in Philippians 2 it says For this reason, god has highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus.

Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father.

All of his enemies sin, death, satan.

None of them will stand before him as victor.

They're all defeated in Christ, and he defeated them in his weakest moment, death itself.

This is the foundation of all of our hope.

This is why the scriptures tell us there's no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, because if we are in Christ, yes, we fall into wonderful covering of his perfect obedience and his submissive death, but we also fall into him and union with him in his glorious resurrection and his vindication throughout eternity.

And this is why, when the father received Jesus from the grave, putting his stamp of approval over all of his life, his submissive death, so he puts his stamp of redemption and reconciliation and vindication upon all his children.

Because Christ rose, we too shall rise.

We've listened to a voice, we've spent time hearing him.

Christ himself speaks with wisdom, obeying with humility, suffering with purpose and trusting with unwavering resolve.

He didn't turn his back, he didn't hide his face and because of it all we can stand in the Lord's presence without condemnation.

But I want to tell you something this is not just a portrait to admire.

We didn't just walk into a museum and say what a beautiful picture of Jesus.

Isn't that wonderful?

What would you like to do for lunch?

You know this is not what this is.

This is a savior to trust.

Isaiah is not just describing some idealized humanity, a human figure, a moral example, something that we might be able to aspire to.

No, he's unveiling the character, the one who is utterly faithful for us who are the utterly faithless, who speaks with wisdom and listens with humility and obeys without resistance and suffers with purpose.

For us it's not just a mirror of virtue, it is salvation in Christ himself.

His faithfulness stands in two ways it exposes us, but it also welcomes us.

There's a reason why Peter, when he got a better understanding of who Jesus was, it also welcomes us.

There's a reason why Peter, when he got a better understanding of who Jesus was, says depart from me, lord.

I am an unworthy, wicked man.

But there's also a reason why Peter said to whom else shall we go For?

You have the words of life, and I hope all of us have felt both of those things this morning, because Jesus is that glorious, but Jesus is also that gracious, it's magnificent.

Receive him, live in him, wonder in him and praise him.

Let's pray, oh, father, thank you.

Thank you for this servant, your son, the Savior, who speaks to the weary with sustaining words, who listens with humble heart and who obeys with an unwavering resolve.

Father, we praise you for his wisdom, his willingness, his submission, his trust.

We marvel at his determination, his boldness, and we're so grateful for his vindication.

We thank you that Christ endured shame so that we might be clothed with grace, that he was willing to be condemned so that we might be declared righteous, that he was forsaken so that we might be brought near and that he was ultimately vindicated so that we might be able to stand under shamed ourself.

Father, we pray that, as believers in Christ, we would learn to listen as he listened, to speak as he spoke and to walk as he walked, that his life would shape ours and, father, I pray for those that haven't yet trusted him today.

Pray for those that haven't yet trusted Him today.

May they see Christ not just as a teacher and a model, but a Savior, a Redeemer.

I pray, father, they would rest in the promise that no one can be condemned who comes to you through Christ.

Jesus and Father, we pray this in His name, amen.