“This is my Servant, I strengthen Him, my chosen one, I delight in Him; I have put Spirit in Him. He will bring justice to the nation” (Isaiah 42:1).
Rev. Marvelous Kalu
Rev. Marvelous Kalu
In our text above, the Servant in context is Jesus Christ – the Messiah. Other passages of the Bible like Isaiah 49:1-7, Mark 20:28, Jn. 13:15-17 make reference to Him in the same spirit of servant-hood and meekness of heart.
Here, Isaiah pictured His revelation to humanity and to the Church, using Israel of old as a representative and as His kingdom of priest.
The Bible rightly describes Him as “My Servant”. In the royal terminology of the Ancient Near East (The Bible community of the era), servant meant something like a “trusted envoy” or a confidential representative, a chosen one, one appointed. He did not choose nor appoint himself.
As in the case of Jesus Christ, every servant is an appointee. He is not self-arrogated.
His appointment places a huge demand of service on him. He is not an impostor, nor a self-styled servant; rather, his appointment proceeds from a source.
Therefore, a servant is selectively and carefully chosen from a super-natural source.
– He does not have a self-agenda
– He is not in his own service.
– Rather, he is in the service of the one who called him
– He does not operate in his own spirit. Therefore, he operates in the spirit of the one who chose him.
– As a servant unto someone, he does not have any platform of his own. By this too, his job specifications are derived. This implies that the source of his servant-hood defines his operations.
– In totality, his activities, utterances, the carriage of his person (humble appearance) and ways of life are the delight of his master. In this circumstance, the master happily prides himself in this glorious image of the servant.
In our text above, the Bible talks about God putting His Spirit in the Servant. This way, the yoke of service becomes light. Service often becomes burdensome because we operate in our own spirit. We must operate in the spirit of the one who called us. When we operate in self-spirit, we miss the hallmark of service.
A servant must not mortgage service for self-gratification.
Every servant is called to serve unto righteousness. The spirit of God in him galvanises courage in the servant to render service with passion and love, and genuine concern over the affairs of humanity whom he serves.
A servant sacrifices precious values to render an acceptable service. This is where the word “servant-hood” comes to play. A sense of servant-hood entails absolute compromise of one’s credentials and any other value considered dear.
It means stooping so low, even lower than the level of those you serve. It is the model of service that the scripture recommends for our society. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, those who are qualified for appointment as leaders among the people of God are always appointed to serve.
Whether appointed as prophets, priest, kings, as governor or president of nations, they are not to lord it over God’s people but to serve them – Matt. 20:25-27.
The great feat that Solomon recorded in his epochal reign emanated from his foundational request to God: “That He might grant him wisdom and discerning heart, so that he might serve God’s people with justice and equity” (1 Kings 3:9-10).
Our society needs men and women whose minds and heart are set on service to the people, not on the glory of the offices they occupy. The church needs servants; those whose calling hinges on service not on prestige.
In all, both Church and society needs those who delight themselves in the proper nomenclature, “servant of God” not Men or Women of God. The Church needs men and women whose service speaks for, not those who hide under the cloak of religion to do evil in the course of service.
