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January 13, 2008
Epiphany 1
Isaiah 42:1-7
Pastor Joel Zank

Justice Is Served!

(Isaiah 42:1-7)  "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. {2} He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.  {3}A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; {4} he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope." {5} This is what God the LORD says-- he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: {6} "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, {7} to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

In the name of Jesus, God’s chosen and anointed Servant, dear fellow redeemed.

How does the old saying go? “The wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine.” Every now and again you’ll pick up the paper and rediscover the truth of these words as you read about some 20 year old murder case being solved. Yes, sometimes it takes decades for the long arm of the law to catch a criminal and put him behind bars. But justice doesn’t mind the wait, not as long as it finally gets its day in court.

Nobody knows this better than our God. His justice waited not decades, not centuries, but thousands of years for satisfaction. In the greatest display of patience ever recorded, God watched as billions upon billions of sinners broke his laws and mocked his will. He saw it all, and yet he waited – not out apathy or weakness. No, he waited for just the right circumstances, for just the right moment in time, and then it happened – God’s justice got its day in court, and because it did, I’m hear to tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth – Justice Is Served.

First I want to tell you that justice is served by God’s Servant, the One to whom God refers in the opening words of our text where he says: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations” (Isaiah 42:1).  God, of course, has many, many servants. In fact, by his gift of faith to us, God has made even you and me to be his servants. But here God is talking about Someone very special to him–One in whom he delights. Isn’t that what we hear God say of Jesus at his Baptism: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17)? And wasn’t it there in the Jordan that God put his Spirit on Jesus when the same came to him in the form of a dove? So, when we hold these to passages of Scripture next to each other, Isaiah 42 and Matthew 3, we discover that Jesus, God’s eternal Son, is also Christ, God’s anointed Servant, hand picked by God to bring justice to the nations.

But why would the Son of God need to be anointed with God’s Spirit? Because at his birth, God’s Son became fully human. And while Jesus’ divine nature could certainly furnish him with all the power he needed to carry out his divine mission, the Scripture teaches us that, for a time, his mission required that he refrain from making full and constant use of his power as God. This explains why we find in the gospels a Jesus who grew hungry and tired, who needed food and sleep and even help from the angels that he himself created. 

God’s Son had to become human to carry out his mission of establishing justice on earth. He had to make “...himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant...” says St. Paul in Philippians 2:7. But don’t let looks deceive you. This would be no ordinary servant. While he would not spend his days showing himself to be God’s equal, nevertheless, anointed with God’s Spirit and power, he would carry out his mission without fail! So says the LORD God here in our text: “[My Servant] will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth..." {5} This is what God the LORD says-- he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: {6} "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness [to do the right thing]; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you...” (Isaiah 42:4-6b).

The reference here to creation reminds us of the power of God’s Word. When he speaks great things come to be! So when that same powerful word is given in a promise, that promise must and will be fulfilled. It cannot be otherwise. Jesus, God’s Servant would succeed in serving justice!

Jesus’ guaranteed success is good news, good news that is if you find yourself on the right side of justice. I should tell you that the word “justice” here is used to refer to a judgment based on a legal decision. The case in question is “God versus Humanity.” The complaint is that humanity has rebelled against God’s good and perfect will. The evidence in this case has been piling up since Adam’s fall into sin. The presiding Judge is none other than God himself. It is his job to weigh the evidence for and against all humankind, come to a legal decision in this matter, and then enforce his judgment.

As a member of the human race, you are on trial as a co-defendant in this case. Before I ask you how you plead, you need to remember that your testimony in this case is the life you have been living. All the thoughts words and actions of your lifetime serve as evidence in this matter. You, of course, can’t recall even a small fraction of that evidence. But God can. He’s able to play back every bit of it for the record. So what do you think? If these last twenty-four hours of your life are any indication of how things are going, are you feeling pretty good about your chances? Do you think justice will swing in your favor? You haven’t done great physical harm to anyone in the last day, have you? You haven’t robbed any banks, or phoned in any bomb threats, right? No, I don’t suppose so. But there were some things in your life this past day that you can’t be very proud of. There weren’t any bomb threats, but your temper blew, or it was about to. That anger of yours sure can cause damage, can’t it? And maybe you didn’t take a swing at anybody, but you landed some verbal punches that have left people’s spirits black and blue. And as for stealing – how about the peace you’ve stolen from your home by your constant nagging? How about the happiness you’ve taken from others because you’re so self-absorbed? These sins, like all your sins, can only earn you a verdict of “guilty.”

Oh, but maybe your thinking “There’s been some good in my life.” Sure there has been, but God’s justice does not seek a balance between good and evil; God’s justice has but one demand, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). Nothing short of absolute perfection can earn you a verdict of “not guilty.”

So where does leave us with Jesus? God sent him to establish justice on earth. Does that make him God’s “hired gun,” the “enforcer” sent to punish us rebel sinners? Maybe there are times in your life when you are quite sure that this is true. Maybe it feels that way right now – everything is going wrong for you, so you’ve decided that this must be God’s way of getting even with you for some terrible thing you’ve done. If that’s the case, my friend, then the news only gets worse. If God has decided to punish you for your sins, then the trouble you are experiencing now is only the beginning of what you have coming to you. For while it is true that we sinners deserve nothing but misery here on earth, sin’s real punishment is paid out only in hell. That’s the only place where sin’s eternal death sentence can truly be served.

This is awful news, isn’t it? But it’s not the news I bring you today.  No, I’m hear to tell you that Jesus would never hurt you. I’m here to assure you that he is not the cause of your troubles, not in any way. For concerning his Servant Jesus, God promises: “He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.  {3} A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;” Christian, you’re the bruised read, the smoldering wick of whom God speaks. God knows how fragile you are. He knows what a delicate thing your spirit is. He has no desire to see you suffer not in hell, not even here on earth. No, God says your soul must be handled with care. In fact so precious are you to God, that he will entrust your welfare to no one but his very own Son; because only God’s Son, his faithful Servant, the Christ, can bring forth justice for you in a way that will cause you no harm at all.

How can this be? How can God have justice in his case against us sinners and not destroy us? Our answer is found in the words God speaks to his Servant near the end of our text where God says, “I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people” (Isaiah 42:6).  A covenant is an agreement. In Bible times many covenants were signed in blood. This one is no exception. This is God’s agreement with all us sinners: He agreed to send, not a lawyer to defend us, but a Substitute, a Servant who would “step in” to our shoes and live a holy life for us, One who would take our place in hell to suffer there for every hateful thought we have, every angry word we speak, every selfish thing we do. This Suffering Servant would be found guilty in the sinner’s stead and in the sinner’s place endure wave after wave after wave of God’s anger, until every last sin was punished and all God’s wrath was spent. Friend, this is exactly what happened on Calvary. God’s covenant was carried out by Jesus and signed in his blood. As St. Paul explains in Romans 3:25-26, it was on Calvary that “God presented [Jesus] as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. God did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- {26} he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”  There is no greater news in all the earth. By punishing Jesus in the place of all those sinners who lived before, while, and since Christ walked the earth, God found a way both to satisfy his justice and declare us all not guilty at the cross of his own Son. Justice is served by God’s Servant. And be sure of this, justice is served for all nations.

That is such an important truth. Had God not told us otherwise, we might easily conclude that God’s Servant came only to serve and save his fellow Jews. But look, seven hundred years before Jesus was born, God said it so clearly, “I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations” (Isaiah 42:1), not nation, nations. And again God says at the end of our text that his servant will “...be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, {7} to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” It has always been God’s plan to save all people, Jew and Gentile alike. God does not play favorites; he is gracious to all us sinners. Look what his grace has done for you.  In the waters of Holy Baptism, God established his saving covenant with you in the most personal way. At your baptism God opened your eyes to see Jesus, not only as the world’s Savior, but as your very own Savior. And on that same day God’s Spirit gave you faith to trust that Jesus’ sin payment in hell is more than enough to free you from a lifetime of guilt and an eternity of punishment. Now, because you often doubt this, in the very same grace that made you his child, God keeps coming back to you through his Word, to renew his faith giving promises and to offer you in his Son’s Holy Supper, the very blood of the covenant that has earned you God’s forgiveness and a place with him in heaven.