Theological term
Servant of the Lord
2 sermons · All terms
A Question from a Prisoner
John the Baptist, imprisoned by Herod Antipas, sends disciples to ask Jesus whether he is the coming Messiah or whether Israel should await another. This sermon works through Matthew 11:2–6 in four parts — the situation, the question, the affirmation, and the beatitude — arguing that John's doubt was not a denial of Christ's identity but a struggle with the messianic agenda: why was the expected judgment not falling, and why was he still in chains? Jesus answers not with a bare 'yes' but by pointing to the fulfillment of Isaiah's servant-of-the-Lord passages, showing that the messianic age had arrived in healing, raising, and — most miraculously of all — the preaching of the gospel to the poor. The beatitude of verse 6 calls every believer, then and now, not to be scandalized by a Christ whose kingdom advances differently than expected, and to steady doubting hearts in the Scriptures rather than in the comforts of the world.
The Second Servant Song
Isaiah 49:1–13, the second of Isaiah's four servant songs, presents Jesus Christ as the divinely commissioned servant whose mission spans the salvation of Israel, the illumination of the Gentiles, the justification and sanctification of sinners, the submission of kings, and the cosmic restoration of the earth. The servant is identified as a true man, a prophet whose word is a sharp sword, hidden in the Father's hand until the fullness of time. His mission is too vast to be confined to one nation — God appoints him as a light to the ends of the earth, grounding both the Great Commission and the missionary enterprise of the church. The passage climaxes in a call to doxology: those who have received justification and the mercy of the servant ought to be the most fervent worshipers, gathering on the Lord's Day with glad and reverent hearts.