A Light to Gentiles
Isaiah 42:1-11.
"1 Behold My Servant, Whom I uphold; Mine Elect, in Whom My soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth Judgment to the Gentiles.
2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench: He shall bring forth Judgment unto Truth.
4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set Judgment in the Earth: and the isles shall wait for His Law.
5 Thus saith God the LORD, He that created the Heavens, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the Earth, and that which cometh out of it; He that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
6 I the LORD have called Thee in Righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep Thee, and give Thee for a Covenant of the people, for a Light of the Gentiles;
7 to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
8 I am the LORD: that is My Name: and My Glory will I not give to another, neither My Praise to graven images.
9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and His Praise from the end of the Earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains"
(Isaiah 42:1-11). Thus far, we have been given to understand from the Hebrew Scriptures that the Messiah will come out of the Jewish Nation, deliver the Believing Hebrew, but now Isaiah tells us that the Gentiles also "shall wait for His Law"
(Isaiah 42:4). In particular, the Messiah will be "a Light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house" (Isaiah 42:6, 7).
If Jesus were truly the Messiah, great works must follow in His steps. History richly attests to the good and great works of Jesus, works that only God could do.
"30 And great multitudes came unto Him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and He healed them:
31 insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel"
(Matthew 15:30-31). The testimony of the Christian writers of the New Testament Gospels are to be believed, because they are affirmed now by the living writers of narratives, such as this-- "We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the Spirit of Truth, and the spirit of error"
(1John 4:6)-- but, even more important, the Gospel accounts are to be believed because the Holy Ghost has set His seal upon them as true. "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost"
(2Peter 1:21). Anyone who is willing to do the Will of God will certainly find their testimony concerning Jesus to be true. "If any man will do His Will [i.e., is willing to do His Will], he shall know of the Doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I [Jesus] speak of Myself"
(John 7:17). Is it not instructive that Jesus was not convicted by the Jewish Sanhedrin for any apparent wickedness for His miracles or healings-- which miracles, the Messiah must perform-- but for the blasphemy of claiming to be God-- as the Messiah must be?
"61 But He held His peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, and said unto Him, Art Thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of Power, and coming in the clouds of Heaven.
63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?
64 Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned Him to be guilty of death"
(Mark 14:61-64). So, the Messiah would not be the Messiah of the Jew only, but for the Gentile, as well, delivering all from their prisons of bondage. Hallelujah!