Sat, 17 June, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Isaiah 49:1-6

¹ 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.
² 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.
³ And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
⁴ 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.”

⁵ 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–
⁶ 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.”

Isaiah tells us of the servant of the Lord, called and formed from the womb to serve.

What do we learn from this?

There is a corporate nature to this servant of the Lord. He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” This servant is Israel. In our New Testament context, we understand the servant of the Lord is the church. The church is appointed to serve, and to bring the light to the nations.

The church is God’s representative in the world. We bring the gospel to the people around us, telling them the problem of sin and the salvation that is in Jesus Christ. We have been formed for this very purpose: to serve God.

Where is Christ in this passage?

Although there is a corporate nature to this servant of the Lord that clearly refers to the church, yet there is also a clear reference to Jesus Christ, the King and Head of the church. He came as the great Servant of the Lord, who served as God’s appointed Savior to win the salvation of God’s people.