Thoughts for the Day

The Lord called me before I was born,
while I was in my mother's womb he named me.
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.
And he said to me, 'You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified.'...

And now the Lord says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him...
'I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the
ends of the earth.'

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Today I want to remind us all of the 'Servant Songs'. If you have not come across them before they are four (or perhaps five - the latter one doesn't mention the word 'servant' though) poems found in Isaiah. They give us a picture of a figure called “the Servant of the LORD”, and describe his calling, identity, suffering, and ultimately his triumph. The Servant Songs have been understood in their day and also now as pertaining to the Messiah, who was to come and rescue God's people. We might recognise some of their language from Handel's 'Messiah' in phrases like 'All we like sheep have gone astray', and 'He was despised and rejected'. The words in today's reading, above, are part of the second 'Servant Song' from Isaiah, but I have listed the others below.

As mentioned before, biblical scholars cannot agree whether the book of Isaiah was written by more than one person, but these songs could come from 740 BCE onwards during the last days of King Hezekiah and into the reign of the evil King Manasseh. He foresaw the exile to Babylon and their return years later, as well as the rebuilding of the Temple. The servant songs also continued to offer hope centuries later. When the country was under Roman control and the people were looking for a Saviour Isaiah's prophecies continued to give hope. Jesus himself was to stand up in the Synagogue in Capernaum (Luke 4.16-21) and quote the words of Isaiah, effectively saying that he was the expected Messiah. There are many other such references in the New Testament,. One of the most notable is the incident of Philip and the eunuch (Acts 8.26-35).

The Servant Songs in Isaiah are a powerful proclamation of God's work in our world, and bring together the Hebrew scriptures and our own New Testament. They show us a Servant who suffers, who saves the people, and who ultimately reigns as King, and whom we believe to be Jesus Christ. It is this King for whose return we wait!

Heavenly Father,
we thank You for the work of Isaiah,
who sought to bring the people back to You.
We thank You for his prophecies -
of Your offer of salvation to the whole earth.
We thank You for the work of Your Son, Jesus,
who in His life and death sought to reunite us with You.
May we continue His work today
in seeking to take Your gospel of love to all people.
Amen.