mrcrowder.com

“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Isaiah 49.6

+ Commentary

In his poetic way, Isaiah is giving prophetic vision to the future of God’s work among humanity.

As I write this, in that eerie space between the death and resurrection, what he’s prophesying is being acted upon.

Movement is happening.

There are two things I want to point out about this passage:

1. Don’t just read it in the past. Salvation is something that is working itself out and the effects are reoccurring. Isaiah isn’t writing as if someone gave him a crystal ball that predicts the future. His writing reflects a prayerful, endeavored life of seeking and speaking the truths of God. Salvation is active, and the utter truths of God are both perpetually on our horizon while we are also in the midst of them.

2. You can’t be sure when and if he’s talking about the coming Messiah or the nation of Israel as the people of God. That’s because he’s talking about both. When Isaiah reveals that this is bigger than Israel, he’s not disregarding Israel. In the same way Jesus fulfills the law, Isaiah is prophesying a fulfillment of Israel’s Mosaic and Abrahamic covenants—the transformation of one nation into a “light for the nations.” So while Jesus is that light, his people are also that light. Jesus and his people are becoming synonymous the way the Old Testament narrative reveals God intended his people, Israel, to become synonymous with Him.

The servant of God referenced here can be the Messiah or the nation. As we take time today to contemplate that haunting space between death and resurrection, think about how it’s both.

About how Jesus tomorrow will resurrect from the dead and lead the reach of God across humanity.

About how tomorrow, we will resurrect and reach across humanity.