I don't know, as you have been watching the news this election season, if you have come across the headline that God has conquered sin and death through his son, Jesus Christ. I haven't come across that in the Wall Street Journal or on CNN, any of the headline reports. They've really not been covering the greatest story ever told, how oppression and violence, sin, deprivation, disease have all ultimately been overcome in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm not downplaying the significance of God's care for us in this present age, this time between the two comings of our Savior. It's not unimportant. Our neighbor's existence is certainly of great concern to us as Christians as our own temporal existence and welfare is as well. And yet surely God looks down from heaven and sees all of our great plans and all of our pomposity as the work of so many grasshoppers. And that's what we're going to hear this morning from Isaiah 42 as we focus on the Lord's chosen servant, the one whom God has elected to the throne of heaven. Beginning at verse 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. He will not cry aloud or lift up His voice or make it heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break and a faintly burning wick He will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged until He has established justice in all the earth and the coastlands wait for His law. Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it. I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, From the prison, those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord. That is my name. My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them. In this passage, Isaiah draws our attention to God's elect one. And the elect one has several references in the scriptures. First of all, it refers to the servant of the Lord who will come as the warrior king. And this chapter is one of the great warrior songs of the servant songs in Isaiah. God himself, Yahweh, donning all of the implements of war, all of the armor of war, sometimes to fight against as well as for his people. And all of it takes place against the backdrop of this history, this struggle between the servant and the serpent. The servant, as the Messiah who was promised to Eve, the one who will crush the serpent's head and the serpent who is the one behind all of the great oppressors down through the ages who seek to destroy the royal seed and keep the Messiah from making his appearance in world history. And so even here there is confidence, even in the midst of Israel's idolatry and looking to the nations to try to be like the nations, There is hope because a servant is promised. One in whom God's soul delights. My chosen in whom my soul delights. This is why he says, behold. No longer something about which the people of God will hear. One day, this is something that the people of God will actually behold. They will actually see this. Promises are things that we hear. When we're told, behold, when we're told, look, it's an announcement of a fulfilled promise. And that's what will happen in the last days, Isaiah prophesies. Of course, the servant of Yahweh also refers to Israel. but when you think about it, especially at a time like this, it's got to be someone else. It's got to be something more specific than the nation of Israel because he says, my elect one in whom my soul delights. The whole reason the servant of the Lord is coming in judgment and deliverance is because his people are not his delight. His people are not faithful. And so there are really three reference in the history of redemption for the servant of the Lord. The first is Adam. Adam was the one who was supposed to cleanse the garden of God from all enemies of God. To drive the serpent out of God's paradise, out of God's temple. Israel was the servant of the Lord, supposed to drive the serpent out of the land. All of the idolaters that Israel failed to drive out of the land and instead looked to the idols of the nations. But finally, there is one who will arrive in whom God's soul delights. He is the elect one. Yahweh's election invests this servant with divine authority to bring about nothing less than the universal reign of God that Adam and Israel failed to bring about. In Isaiah, the servant does clearly refer to Israel at certain times. For instance, in chapter 41, verse 8, but you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen. You are my servant. I have chosen you and have not cast you away. Or chapter 42, verse 18, Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind but my servant? So clearly there it is referring to the nation of Israel. Who is deaf as my messenger whom I send? Do you see the sarcasm in God's language there? The sarcasm of a deaf messenger. Someone who cannot hear, supposedly taking the communication from the great king to the nations. But Israel will not listen. Who is blind as he who is perfect and blind as the Lord's servant? Seeing many things you do not see. Opening the ears, you do not hear anything. It also refers to Cyrus. In chapter 45, it very clearly refers to the king of Persia, which is remarkable to think that the servant of the Lord could be a pagan king. And yet it was Cyrus who brought a remnant back from Israel and Judah and allowed them to rebuild the temple. Brought them back heavy laden with precious materials for the rebuilding of the temple. and so Cyrus is sort of a short-term figure. But you know the way it is with biblical prophecy, it's sort of like a horizon with the mountains off in the distance and the closer you get to those mountains, you realize there is another range of mountains even higher behind it. Prophecy is never really directed at one immediate fulfillment. It's sort of like skipping a rock across the pond. There are a couple of fulfillments. And certainly Cyrus fits some of the bill, but not all of it. Certainly Israel, some of it, but not all of it. Jesus is like Cinderella, whose foot alone fits the glass slipper. There are a lot of people who can sort of be squeezed in there a little bit, but ultimately their feet pop the glass slipper out. Jesus is the only one who fits all of these prophecies perfectly. The Jewish Targum, which was basically an interpretation and translation of the Old Testament in Aramaic, in the time of Jesus, just before Jesus and some time after, identified the Messiah who is to come as the servant of the Lord in these passages. Isaiah himself says in chapters 7, 9, and 11 the following concerning the servant of the Lord. And you tell me if this has been fulfilled in anyone else in redemptive history besides our Savior. To be born of a virgin in Bethlehem. From the royal line of David. Long yet into the future. To be a new shoot or stem emerging from the stump of Jesse, David's father, long after God had cut down that mighty tree. To be no less than the mighty God and Emmanuel, God with us. He is to be endowed with the Holy Spirit to execute lasting judgment and righteousness. and he is to be the sin-bearing substitute for the failed servant people of God and afterward be vindicated by being raised to life by Yahweh himself. All of this is found in Isaiah as prophecies pointing to one who is to come. It's also said in our passage here that this is going to be the year of Jubilee. In the book of Leviticus, you have the rules laid down for an every seven-year anniversary where the land is to be given a rest. All debts are to be forgiven. Every prisoner is to be let out. Could you imagine every seven years this happening today? This is the year of Jubilee that was practiced in Israel. In fact, one of the reasons why Israel came under judgment and was exiled from the land was because she refused to follow these instructions. Refused to follow this law, which was pointing forward to a greater year of Jubilee to come in the future. I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from their dungeons, from the prison those who sit in darkness. That is the mission of this king in his kingdom. The year of jubilee, the cancellation of all debts, the liberation of all prisoners. And it culminated in all of its cycles, it culminated in the Day of Atonement. Yahweh is telling Israel through Isaiah here that His servant's kingdom will be an everlasting year of jubilee. A year of jubilee that will never end. Here the Father promises the Son the gift of the Spirit. You have an intimation of the Trinity here in this passage. 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. Yahweh is identified as nothing less than God himself, and yet it is Yahweh who is speaking of his son, the servant, who will be endowed with the Holy Spirit. Not only is it an anticipation of Trinitarian teaching more clearly amplified in the New Testament, but also it's universal, a universal kingdom. He will bring justice to the Gentiles. Justice is a two-edged sword, of course. He'll bring righteousness. He'll bring justice, both judgment and justification. And it's a benevolent kingdom. The great empires would measure their strength by how many captives they brought in their train through the triumphal arches to the cheering throngs of citizens. This general is cheered as he comes gently, refusing to break off reeds that are broken, refusing to put out candles that are barely flickering. No pomp and power in this kingdom. Think of the kingdoms of this world in this century especially. Their ruthless tyranny, their pageants. of horror, their mighty flags, their pompous and arrogant claims. And yet, just as Daniel prophesied in the vision of the statue in which the great empires of Babylon all the way to Rome would finally be crushed by the kingdom of Messiah, it wouldn't be by pomp and power and armies moving and the rattle of artillery. It would be rather through a gentle warrior proclaiming his grace to the ends of the earth. The irony here is that the servant's weakness will overpower the strong. His poverty will outspend the wealthy. His foolishness will outwit the wise. His great coronation day he will spend not in self-preoccupation but in opening prison doors, healing the deaf, opening the eyes of the blind, and bringing good news to the poor. That's how he's going to spend Inauguration Day. Unlike the boisterous clamor of conquering kingdoms, he will spread out his kingdom in peace and gentleness until that last day when he returns in final judgment and the meek will inherit the earth. A bruised reed he will not break, A flickering candle he will not put out. What a different king, a different kingdom this one is. And then finally in the New Testament, this king arrives in a kingdom of grace as Mary hears the good news about the king she is to bear and she breaks forth in song. Almost sounds like Isaiah 42. She bursts forth in Luke chapter 1. He has finally accomplished everything that He has promised. To those who are high up, He has brought low. Those who were low, He has raised. And look at me, I'm a perfect example of that. The Son of Man came eating and drinking. He came with the everlasting year of Jubilee in His train. We read in Matthew chapter 11, Jesus walking about cleansing lepers and opening the eyes of the blind and opening the ears of those who are deaf. And John the Baptist's disciples came to Him and said, We are on a mission to go back to John and tell him, yes or no, are you the one? Are you the servant of the Lord who was promised? And Jesus answered, go and tell John what you hear and see. What you see for yourself. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed? Shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in king's houses. What then did you go out to see? What he's pressing them on here is the fact that the people who went out to hear John's message were prepared for judgment. They were not prepared for king's palaces. They were not prepared for a message of health, wealth, and happiness and your best life now. They were ready to hear judgment. The coin. The coins that they had in their pockets had a picture of a reed. That was Herod's symbol for his kingship, the symbol of a reed. Why did you go out, see some shaking reed, some shaking king like Herod? Did you go out there to find someone in soft clothing and in purple, sitting out there in a throne, bringing you cocktails and hors d'oeuvres? yes I tell you and more than a prophet this is he of whom it is written behold I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you truly I say to you among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist yet the one who is least in the kingdom is greater than he from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence and the violent take it by force like Herod bad kings, violent kings who would bring about their own regime and call it the kingdom of God for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John and if you are willing to accept it he is Elijah who is to come he who has ears to hear let him hear but to what shall I compare this generation it is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates we played the flute for you and you didn't dance we sang a dirge and you didn't mourn for John came neither eating nor drinking and they say he has a demon the son of man came eating and drinking and they say look at him a glutton and a drunkard a friend of tax collectors and sinners yet wisdom is justified by her deeds see when Messiah comes it's time for the dance not the dirge John the Baptist was funeral day John the Baptist was a call to judgment a call to recognize that Israel was the tree that was about to be cut down but the Messiah's ministry was gentle not breaking off bruised reeds or putting out flickering candles but announcing the good news the year of Jubilee the gospel to the poor he's the physician for the sick not for those who are well and when he was baptized and when He was transfigured and when He went to Golgotha, He heard from heaven those words that were prophesied of Him in Isaiah 42. This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him. The apostles in Acts proclaim Him in this way to the Jews. Acts 3.26, to you first, God having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquities. And then in chapter 4, the apostles prayed for boldness in proclaiming Christ in spite of their persecution. When we read, by the mouth of your servant David, you have said, why did the nation's rage and the people's plot vain things? the kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers of the world were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ. For truly against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatever your hand and your purpose determined before to be done. And now look, Lord, look on their threats and grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word by stretching out your hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant, Jesus. Servant king, giving birth to a servant kingdom. Instead of calling down fire on their enemies, they were praying for boldness to preach the gospel even to those who were persecuting them. It's a kingdom of grace in the first half of Isaiah 42, but it becomes a kingdom of glory one day at verse 10. Sing to the Lord a new song. His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants. Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits. Let the inhabitants of Selah sing for joy. let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the Lord and declare His praise in the coastlands. The Lord goes out like a mighty man. Like a man of war, He stirs up His zeal. He cries out. He shouts aloud. He shows Himself mighty against His foes. You see the contradiction here? In the first part of chapter 42, He comes in meekness. He doesn't shout out. no one hardly knows he's around. He's kind of quiet. He's just going about doing his thing, preaching good news to the poor, bringing those who are mighty down, raising those who are low, giving hope to the hopeless, forgiving sins. Not exactly headline news. But when he comes again, he will come in glory. And so it's not a contradiction here. It's the two states of Christ's ministry. Right now, He is the King in grace. And when He returns, He will be the King in glory. He will come in judgment. And then He will not, He will not prop up the bruised reeds and put out the smoldering candles because the reeds will be healed and the candles will be everlastingly inflamed with praise and gratitude for what God has done. But he will put out the proud candles of the kings of the earth. This is why the apostles didn't get it until Jesus rose from the dead. Remember, when Jesus got closer to Jerusalem, they said, we like this kingdom, we'd like to be a part of this kingdom. Should we really be talking to the people Jews aren't supposed to speak to? Should we really be having dinner with the people we're not supposed to be having dinner with? Should we really be mixing and mingling out there with people whom customarily we're not supposed to meet with and have any kinds of associations with? And Jesus says yes, because He is the Son of Man. He is the servant of the Lord and he is bringing the year of Jubilee. Brothers and sisters, the good news for us gathered here is that even though it may not be the headlines on CNN, it is the headline of history that Jesus Christ is the servant of the Lord who has conquered sin and death and he is returning to judge the living and the dead. It wasn't September 11th that changed everything. It was AD 33. when Jesus arose triumphant over the grave, over the tomb. Other events, other dates are important, are significant, are remembered, and should be. But the real turning point in history is what God has accomplished in his Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. And that's what we're looking for. Elections on earth come and go. But Jesus is the elect one in whom the Father delights. And because of him, he delights in us. Let me conclude from a sermon. I'm not going to preach the whole sermon, you'll be happy to know. But just some closing remarks in a sermon that was preached just before the Revolutionary War. while a lot of sermons were being preached to sort of highlight the, you know, as if America was Israel driving the Canaanites, the British, out of the Holy Land, this was a very different sermon that a Presbyterian pastor preached with a number of founding fathers even in his congregation. You wonder whether everyone appreciated it quite as much. He said, In the context of the clash of European empires for our colonies, let us turn attention to Christ's kingdom as the best refuge from this boisterous world of violence and domination. Jesus did not deny that he was a king and that he had brought his kingdom to the earth but insisted that it was a spiritual kingdom that for now is not part of the kingdoms of this world. The Jews of Jesus' day failed to recognize David and Solomon were mere types of the coming king. No wonder Herod acted so rashly at the news by slaughtering Bethlehem's children. It is the mediatorial kingdom of Christ that is here intended, not that which is God he exercises over all the works of his hands. It is that kingdom which is an empire of grace, an administration of mercy over our guilty world. It is the dispensation intended for the salvation of fallen sinners of our race by the gospel. And on this account, the gospel is often called the kingdom of heaven because its happy consequences are not confined to this earth, but appear in heaven in the highest perfection and last throughout all eternity. Indeed, he says, the whole universe is put under a mediatorial head. But then, as the apostle observes, he has made head over all things for his church. That is, for the benefit and salvation of his people. His priestly ministry has conquered not only sin and death, but demons, powers, and Satan himself. Even ordinary providence in sending sunshine and rain is ordered ultimately to support and accommodate heirs for his kingdom. But Jesus reigns absolute and supreme over all the kings of the earth and over rules and controls them as he thinks proper and he disposes all the revolutions, the rises and falls of kingdoms and empires and nations so as to be subservient to the great designs of his mediation and their united policies and powers cannot frustrate the work which he has undertaken. He says, The kingdoms of Great Britain, France, China, Persia are but little spots on the globe. And we could throw America in there too. Our world has indeed been oppressed in former times with what mortals call universal monarchies Such were the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and especially the Roman. But in truth, these were so far from being truly universal that a considerable part of the habitable earth was not so much as even known to them. But this is an empire strictly universal. Jesus is equal to the immense province of an empire strictly universal. The laws of earthly kingdoms can reach only to the end of one's life in this world, but the laws of Christ's kingdom extend into the world to come. Human laws extend only to the outward actions, but these laws reach the heart and the principle of action within. Earthly kings have their ministers, but this king has heavenly angels and ministers of a humbler form who are appointed to preach his word, to administer his sacraments, and to manage the affairs of his kingdom. Their courts are adorned with a meek and quiet spirit and a life becoming the gospel of Christ, not with silver and gold. Earthly regimes have their armies, and so too the kingdom of Christ in heaven and earth, but His war leads to everlasting peace, salvation and blessing, not to perpetual war. Other kingdoms are often founded in blood, and many lives are lost on both sides in acquiring them. The kingdom of Christ was also founded in blood, but it was the blood of his own heart. Life was lost in the conflict, but it was his own life, his own life lost to purchase life for his people. Others have waited to empire through the blood of mankind and even of their own subjects, but Christ shed only his blood to spare that of his soldiers. Oh, the generous patriotism, the ardent love of Christ, the captain of our salvation. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you that you have elected the one who is to sit as commander-in-chief of our salvation in this life. In your kingdom of grace. And then one day to consummate his kingdom in power and glory. So there will be righteousness throughout the earth. Father, we pray as those who are often bruised reeds and smoldering candles. That during this period, that wonderful ministry of your son. In opening our eyes and ears, in having that gospel preached to us, and in sending us out to preach that gospel to others, this kingdom would expand, would grow like a mighty tree over the face of the whole earth. We pray all of this in the name of Christ, your servant. Amen.