TEXT: Isaiah 42:1-4

SUBJECT: Christ in the Old Testament #26: Gentle King

Today, with God’s blessing, we’ll proceed in our study of Christ in the Old Testament. Lately, we’ve spent a lot of time looking at His Lordship. Over and over we’ve seen that Jesus Christ is King.

And what a King He is! He’s an exalted and almighty King; a just and peaceful King; a King who rules all things and forever. The Apostle had it right. He’s

If you were in His place, how would you treat other people? It’s easy to say you’d treat them well, but would you? I suspect that—if you didn’t need anyone—you’d be demanding, intolerant, and unforgiving. I know that about you because…that’s how I’d be.

Power has a way of going to your head. It makes you proud of yourself and it causes you to look down on others or mistreat them. We’ve all been abused by people who have some power over us. Maybe it was a big brother or a parent; perhaps a teacher, a boss or a pastor; cops are famous for this and nobody is more intimidating than an agent of the Internal Revenue Service. Power has a way of making you mean and harsh.

"Power tends to corrupt—said Lord Acton—"Absolute power corrupts absolutely".

Is he right? Yes he is. With one Exception.

V.1 tells us who He is. He’s called God’s Servant. The word, "servant" doesn’t sound very impressive, and of course, it isn’t—if he were some kind of flunkey.

But that’s not what it means here. Isaiah consistently uses the word to denote very important men, men like prophets, and priests—and most of all, kings. That’s what it means here: The Servant of God is the King.

We know that because of what He does. He "Establishes justice in the earth and "The coastlands await His Law".

God’s Servant, therefore, is the King.

But which one? He was someone future to Isaiah’s time. Only three good men would rule God’s people in the years to come. Hezekiah and Josiah were two of them. These were fine men and successful kings, but they don’t quite fit the bill. For neither man ruled over the Gentiles. Which this King will do.

The third candidate, therefore, is the right one. Jesus Christ. Everything Isaiah says about God’s Servant is fulfilled in our Lord. He is the One God "upholds" in a special way, the One in whom His "Soul delights", God’s "Spirit was upon Him" and He became

If that doesn’t satisfy you, maybe Matthew 12 will. There, we have the Lord healing thousands of sick people, and instead of commanding them to tell everyone what He had done for them, He forbids them to say a word. Why? V.17 explains,

That’s followed by the quoting of our text. God’s Servant, the King, therefore, is Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ rules. That is necessary for the sermon, but not its theme. What I want to emphasize is not—Who rules—but How He rules.

Vv.2-3 tell us,

The first two lines should be taken literally. Jesus Christ was no loud-mouth! He wasn’t an agitator, a trouble-maker, a rabble-rouser. He didn’t crave attention or make a spectacle of Himself.

The other two lines are figurative. They mean He’s so kind that He wouldn’t harm a fly.

What the verses teach, in short, is The Gentleness of Christ.

That shouldn’t surprise you. The Old Testament often depicts Him that way. He’s something like,

• A good shepherd, "He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm., and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young" (Isaiah 40:11).

• A caring father, "As a father pities His children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him" (Psalm 103:13).

• A loving mother, "…He will quiet you in His love; He will joy over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).

All the pictures are beautiful, of course. But the third touches me most deeply. It has a sleepy child who won’t go to sleep. He tosses and turns, thrashes and cries, kicks and screams…until his mom holds him to her breast and puts him to sleep with lullabies. Is anything more tender than a loving mother’s care? Yes, the Gentleness of Jesus Christ.

What’s hinted at in the Old Testament become clear in the New Testament. Before, we depended on word pictures. But now,"The Word is made flesh" and we see Him as He is!

What do we see? We see a Real Man. There’s nothing sissified about the Lord Jesus. No one is braver than He is; no one is less given to indecision and whining.

Yet this man’s man is also the tenderest Man. He’s kind to children. When the disciples are shooing them away, the Lord is calling them back. He’s kind to women. When Simon is sneering at the Fallen Woman, the Lord is accepting her worship. He’s kind to people in need. For the poor, blind, sick, bereaved, and lonely, He is "moved with compassion".

Two other things about Him are very encouraging. And convicting too.

One is His incredible patience with annoying people. Are there people who just get on your nerves? Who don’t respect your privacy? Who won’t leave you alone? A man used to drop in on me after work about once or week. That’s not so bad, of course, except for one thing: He worked the swing shift! He came by at midnight and wanted to talk for hours about his problems, his fears, his frustrations, his needs—on and on it went. He never took my advice, but he sure liked to get it.

Herman Hoeksema was a famous pastor in Grand Rapids. He had a lady in the church like my friend—except she didn’t come by a midnight—she called every day at dinner time. The pastor asked her to call at some other time, but she wouldn’t. Every day, when the dinner bell rang, the phone rang too. One day, the aggravated man, just put the phone down and ate dinner. A half hour later, he picked it up and she was still talking!

If you read the New Testament, you’re struck by how patient the Lord was with aggravating people. Mark 1 is a fine example. He starts His public ministry and is mobbed by the people. Every house He goes to is soon jammed with uninvited visitors. The come in waves, even at night. They’re waiting for Him at the crack-of-dawn. If He slips away before sun up, they hunt Him down. If He hides in remote places, they track Him down and don’t give Him a moment’s rest. Yet, despite their rude and self-centered ways, the Lord is still gentle to them.

Another way He showed His gentleness was with His rebukes. No one could speak more sharply than our Lord. Yet, even when He chided people, He didn’t reject them. He called Peter "Satan", but He didn’t turn him out. Why? Because even the hardest words came from the softest heart.

Jesus Christ is not only the most powerful of kings, but He’s also the most tender.

The gentleness of Christ must be admired. We ought to think about it, thank God, and praise the Lord for it. What would become of us if He were as impatient or unkind or moody as we are? I shudder to think of it.

Admire His gentleness, by all means. But don’t stop there. Go on to imitate it.

You start with self-examination. Honestly, in the fear of God, what kind of husband or wife are you? Are you gentle or rough? What kind of parent are you? Are you soft-hearted or hard? What kind of brother or sister are you? Are you kind or mean? What kind of person are you at work? Are you good or ugly? In short, how do you treat other people? Answer that honestly and the job is half done.

Next, you meditate on the Believer’s Code. How are Christians to treat people? The way they deserve to be treated? Or, the way you’d like to be treated? The believer’s code is not justice. It is love! On the cross our Lord could have justly demanded the damnation of His enemies. But He didn’t! He prayed for their salvation! He tells us if we want to be His disciples, we must, follow Him.

Then you pray for Grace and obey the Word even when you don’t feel like it. Pastors often say, "Repentance starts in the heart". At times, it does. But most of the time, it starts in your actions. You start obeying God and, before you know it, you start wanting to obey Him.

When you fail—and you will over and over again—you confess your sins and you start over. That’s not very creative, but it’s true.

Jesus Christ wants you to be gentle. Most of us would say that’s fine in theory, but we live in the real world. If you’re gentle, people will walk all over you. That’s true—and also part of following Christ!

But the more serious objection is this one: If I’m gentle, nothing will get done. If I don’t berate my husband he won’t keep the lawn mowed; if I don’t yell at my kids, they won’t do their homework. And so on.

Is that true? Is meanness the way to get things done? Is hardness the key to effective leadership? David didn’t think so. He attributed his greatness to something else altogether, Psalm 18:35,

The tenderness of our Lord did not undermine His authority, but made it stronger. At the foot washing, He said, "You call Me Lord and Master and rightly so, for I am. But if I, your Lord and Master, wash your feet, you wash one another’s feet".

Now go do it. For Christ’s sake. Amen.