Lesson 23: How Does God Operate in People?

Lupe from Bolivia in the Lesson 20 comments wrote: “The grain of sand has no notion of the beach, the drop of water has no notion of the ocean. They are, for a certain period of time, and so are we. That we suffer and are aware is a gift, of course, with consequences for us, not for Creation. Cannot is to limit creation. To have brought something into existence and set it in motion -for a reason- and leave it to develop and mature, is something else altogether. Look at Hubble Ultra Deep Field photographs.”

With that, let’s turn to how God operates through people. The answer is again difficult, because some who claim to be Christians act in ways that do not seem Gospel-centered.

However, the Bible helps when from beginning to end it uses the word “servant” to designate who acts for God. It might well describe every one of the biblical heroes this way. Interestingly, Jeremiah applies it even to Nebuchadnezzar (25:9, 27:6, 43: 10). And Paul makes clear the title applies also to us when we do God’s will. (I Corinthians 4: 1-5)

One of the early Christians’ most difficult tasks was explaining how Jesus of Nazareth could be God’s messiah if he was executed as a criminal. Messiahs were supposed to be victorious military and political leaders. Jesus suffers what appears to be defeat. They found their answer by using the rich and beautiful definition of servant in Isaiah’s famous four hymns. (42: 1-4, 49: 1-6, 50: 4-9, 52: 13-53:12).

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.”

Justice here, as throughout the Bible, means not only fairness but also care for the weak. The primary mission of the Servant is to take that justice to all people, not a special few. He does this with words (“His mouth like a sharp sword”), not weapons. In this world she will be persecuted, but she will persevere so that her sufferings come to benefit others.

“He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Obviously, the early Church believed these words perfectly described Jesus. Are working for justice, caring for the weak, using only words not weapons, and suffering for God still the standards we should use to evaluate who works for God? Next week we’ll look how “servant” plays out in the New Testament.

Tags: messiah, servant, suffering servant