The Lord’s Servant: Four Songs of Jesus
Jack Klumpenhower
1/20/2012

If you’re a Christian, you’re God’s servant, right? That should be plain. You don’t get to do just anything you like. Even everyday believers like you and me are supposed to live for God and work for his cause in the world. Though it is servanthood, there is great honor in this.

It’s also hard. I regularly fail to follow the standards God has set for his servants. I live for what’s wrong instead of what’s right. I sin instead of doing what’s good.

There is help for me—and you—but it starts with seeing that when the Bible speaks of God’s servants, it usually isn’t talking about us ordinary believers. God’s servants are special leaders like Abraham (Psalm 105:6) or Moses (Psalm 105:26). They are priests in the Temple (Psalm 134:1), kings like David (Psalm 78:71), or prophets like Isaiah (Isaiah 20:3).

It’s Isaiah who provides the fullest picture of this servant concept. In a series of four songs, Isaiah speaks of the coming Messiah, the Savior, calling him God’s “servant.”

Gentle. In the first song, the servant is shown to be gentle and caring: “He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged” (Isaiah 42:3, NLT).

Strong. In the second song, God commissions the servant to be strong and save the world: “I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6, NLT).

Obedient. In the third song, the servant is a man of faith. He declares his confidence in God, and this empowers him to obey God despite beatings and mockery: “I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will. And I know that I will not be put to shame” (Isaiah 50:7, NLT).

Suffering. The fourth song may be the most exquisite picture of the Savior anywhere in the Old Testament. Here the nature of his grand mission is revealed. He will be punished for sin—not his own but ours: “He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed” (Isaiah 53:5, NLT). And God is pleased with the work of his gentle, strong, obedient, and suffering servant: “When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins” (Isaiah 53:11, NLT).

I see beautiful foretastes of Jesus in all four songs. What Isaiah said in poetry, the New Testament writers tell us in their historical accounts of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. He’s the gentle healer filled with compassion. He’s the strong ruler reclaiming territory from demons he has cast out. And he’s the exceedingly obedient servant, determined to follow the Father’s plan to redeem the world even though it means dying on the cross.

It is amazing that such a great guy would also suffer. He might have chosen to rule in comfort. In fact, his disciples expected it. But Jesus explained that his rule was one of service to us who were lost—and not just any service. It was service that gives everything. He said, “Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45, NLT).

So the idea of being God’s servant is not first of all about you and me. It’s about Jesus.

In 1 Peter 2, Peter explains how this helps you and me be good servants, too. He says that God has called us to do good even if it’s hard and requires suffering. Then he composes his own song about Jesus in 2:24. It’s based on Isaiah’s fourth song but has some extra flourishes.

“He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.”

We can be dead to sin, Peter says. We can live for what is right. We can be good servants of God because of the Servant.

In this single verse I see three ways how Jesus’ death in our place helps us live as servants of God.

First, he carried our sins. Our punishment has been taken. None of our failure sticks to us and gets us down, and none of our success goes to our heads as something we have earned. We know that God is forever satisfied solely because of Jesus, just as Isaiah said. So our service brims with joy and confidence.

Second, sin is dead in us. It’s no longer an uncontrollable force in our hearts. Jesus is in charge instead. There is power from God to live as good servants if we live through Jesus, constantly relying on him.

Finally, the kind of person described in Peter’s song simply calls for poetry and singing. As we see more of him and come to know this incredible Servant, we will come to love him. Then serving him gets easy.

This article is part of a series on the names of Jesus. Next time: Jesus the Destroyer.

Jack Klumpenhower is a writer and children’s ministry worker living in Colorado.