“Steadfast Love”

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Luke 9:51: When the days drew near for [Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

Isaiah 50:4-9a (The Message): The Master, God, has given me a well-taught tongue, so I know how to encourage tired people. He wakes me up in the morning, wakes me up, opens my ears to listen as one ready to take orders. The Master, God, opened my ears, and I didn’t go back to sleep, didn’t pull the covers back over my head. I followed orders, stood there and took it while they beat me, held steady while they pulled out my beard. Didn’t dodge their insults, faced them as they spit in my face. And the Master, God, stays right there and helps me, so I’m not disgraced. Therefore I set my face like a flint, confident that I’ll never regret this. My champion is right here. Let’s take our stand together! Who dares bring suit against me? Let him try! Look! The Master, God, is right here. Who would dare call me guilty?

[prayer]

Isaiah, more commonly known as II Isaiah in biblical interpretation circles, had to preach to a tough crowd. The Babylonian captivity is coming to an end. God was working in and through the political events of the day to take his exiled children home to Judea. This was good news – this was great news – but the people weren’t buying it. Isaiah was being ridiculed. He was being physically assaulted. People were spitting in his face. They were pulling on his beard, a vulgar form of insult and humiliation. There were rumors of a pending lawsuit.

In spite of all this Isaiah, a faithful prophet of God – an obedient servant of the Lord – continued speaking God’s Word with integrity and conviction. He was fiercely loyal to God, setting his face like a flint. He had answered a call to preach God’s truth, and he would not be deterred from his task. He knew that what he was doing was right. He knew that he was doing God’s will. Even if nobody listened he still had to speak. Even if his speaking resulted in suffering he still had to preach the good news of deliverance.

Today’s text is one of several Servant passages in Isaiah. Sometimes the Servant is understood to be a faithful-at-all-costs Israel. Sometimes, as in today’s verses, the Servant is understood to be the prophet himself. But in every case, the Suffering Servant is interpreted by Christians to be the role carried out by Jesus. He was beaten. He was insulted. He was spat upon. He was humiliated. He was dragged into court and falsely accused.

And although his Father God was always on his side, Jesus was found guilty and put to death. There was no vindication in court. On the cross he even experienced an absolute abandonment by the very God he had so willingly served. In the Reformed understanding he experienced hell itself on the cross. He was the ultimate example of suffering servanthood.

On this particular Sunday every year we celebrate again our Lord’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem on what has come to be known as Palm Sunday. We also solemnly mark this day as the beginning of Passion Week. Jesus had set his face toward Jerusalem knowing that suffering and death awaited him there. He had his moments of doubt, but ultimately he lived through that week and died at the end of it with a fierce sense of obedience. Like Isaiah he had set his face like a flint.

I try, in one form or another, to say what I’m about to say every year at this time. We have to be very careful not to jump from the palm waving happiness of Palm Sunday directly to Easter Sunday’s celebration of resurrection. Between the palm branches and lilies something very important happened: crucifixion. Our Lord was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell. Only then did he rise from the dead on the third day.

But if we insist on joyfully celebrating today and then again next Sunday without saying something about the crucifixion, then we will have missed a major chunk of our salvation history. That’s especially true if we don’t come to the Maundy Thursday and Tenebrae Service later in the week. That’s why the paraments are red rather than purple today. Yes, we do celebrate the Kingship of our Lord Jesus. We do not, however, ignore the bloody events of Good Friday.

As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though, he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.”

He humbled himself. He took the form of a slave, of a Suffering Servant. He obediently died on a cross. Only then did the hymn Paul was quoting continue, “Therefore God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

There was vindication. There was triumph. There was glory. But not without an unwavering obedience, even to the point of suffering and death. Jesus was the Messiah. He is the Christ. He will eternally be King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but first he had to become the Suffering Servant.

The fact that he became that servant is in itself a reason to celebrate. No crucifixion, no resurrection. No atonement. Not paying in full the price of our sins. We have to celebrate that. Just as the Lord God maintained a steadfast love toward the children of Israel, taking them home from their long exile in a foreign land, in Jesus Christ our Father God has maintained a steadfast love toward us, doing what it took to deliver us from our dark exile into sinfulness. So, yes, let’s celebrate. Let’s wave those palm branches. Let’s lift high our voices in song. And next Sunday let’s come into this place proclaiming that, “He is risen! He is risen indeed!”

But as this week unfolds before us let’s not forget the price our Lord paid in order to maintain his steadfast love toward us. Let’s also not forget that servanthood is a two-way street. Let’s not forget what Jesus said about picking up our crosses and following him – about being willing to die in order to live. Let’s not forget that the people God loves so much can often be unlovable and unloving. Let’s not forget that some people hear good news as bad news. Let’s not forget that living obediently in this world as Christ’s servant and prophetic church can sometimes lead to unpleasant experiences.

While folks love hearing about God’s grace, mercy, and steadfast love, and while they love all the pomp and circumstance of Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, they sometimes don’t cotton too well to words about servanthood, stewardship, humility, faithfulness, and obedience. The necessity of honest confession, true repentance, and changed lifestyles is rarely found among most folks’ top ten things they want to talk about. While most people love the thought of deliverance from exile, many balk at the change such deliverance entails. God’s steadfast love is a wonderful thing until folks realize that this love goes both ways.

As disciples of Christ we have Good News, the best news ever, to proclaim – to share. But we must never be surprised when some of those who are literally dying to hear it not only reject it but also reject those who deliver it. And when we are rejected, we don’t have the luxury of quitting. Sometimes we must set our faces like flint and continue on to whatever or wherever our Jerusalem is. And when we are tempted to give up, we must remember Isaiah’s obedience. More than that we must remember why our Lord Jesus rode into Jerusalem.

In a moment as we gather at the Lord’s Table we will be reminded up two things: the immeasurable grace by which we are welcomed at that table and the steadfast love that will be physically demonstrated in the breaking of the loaf and pouring of the cup. We will be reminded of our Lord’s servanthood and suffering on our behalf. Amen.