some so-called “prophets” of the past 50 years.
people like Jeane Dixon, astrologer to the Reagans, and the “Amazing Criswell” among others.

 Dixon made hundreds of predictions in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, and wrote a horoscope book for dogs. According to mental_floss magazine (November-December 2006),

 Dixon was most famous for foreseeing the assassination of John F. Kennedy — in 1956, and she also said a Democrat would win the 1960 election and die in office.

But her record was far from perfect. She also said that World War III would break out in 1958, cancer would be cured in 1967, and peace would cover the earth in the year 2000.

In today’s text, God delivers a message through the prophet Isaiah, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights” (Isaiah 42:1).

Isaiah is a mouthpiece for God, and through him the Lord announces, ‘I have put my spirit upon him’ (v. 1)

… He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching” (v. 4).

Isaiah is speaking about a servant of God, and is making clear that this servant is chosen by the Lord, full of God’s Spirit, and known for his justice and his teachings.

Mishpat and torah are the marks of this servant — that’s Hebrew for justice and teaching.

 The prophet Isaiah is announcing that God’s servant is bringing justice and teaching right into the middle of all the chaos and confusion of day-to-day human life.

But just exactly who is this servant of the Lord?

Isaiah doesn’t say. Like most prophets — both bad and good — he leaves the details vague. Jeane Dixon predicted that a Democrat would win the 1960 election and die in office, but she didn’t say that it would be Kennedy. In fact, in the heat of the presidential election, Dixon said that Kennedy would lose.

So prophets, like inventors, soothsayers and charlatans, are wise to leave themselves a little wiggle room.

But not Isaiah. No wiggle room.

Isaiah speaks the truth about Israel. Isaiah is probably talking about the nation of Israel when he speaks of God’s servant.

He is reminding them that they are the Lord’s chosen people, with a mission of sharing God’s teachings with the world and establishing justice on the earth.

 “I have given you as a covenant to the people,” says God through the prophet, “a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind” (vv. 6-7).


Isaiah speaks the truth about Jesus. Here’s where Isaiah’s prophecy gets really interesting.

 It may have first revealed a truth about Israel, but it later unveiled the true nature of Jesus the Messiah.

When Jesus was baptized by John, the Spirit of God descended like a dove and a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

 These words could have come straight out of Isaiah 42, in which God says, “Here is my servant … my chosen, in whom my soul delights” (v. 1).

Clearly, what Isaiah got right is Jesus. He’s the servant of the Lord with God’s “spirit upon him” (v. 1), the one who “will faithfully bring forth mishpat — justice” (v. 3).

Jesus will be “a covenant to the people, a light to the nations” (v. 6), a savior who will “bring out the prisoners from the dungeon” (v. 7).

 Isaiah sensed what God was up to, and he spoke the truth about Jesus, the Messiah of God.

This reveals a key fact about good prophets, one that we need always to keep in mind.

They’re not supposed to be fortune-tellers who predict precisely what will happen in the months and years to come.

 Instead, they’re supposed to be truth-tellers who speak clearly about what is happening right now!

A good prophet paints a clear picture of the state of the world, with all its pain and brokenness, sin and selfishness.

A good prophet speaks the truth in love, and points people to where God is at work in the middle of all our human failings and flailings.

A good prophet is a truth-teller, not a fortune-teller.


Isaiah is a good prophet because he paints a clear picture of the state of the world. He speaks the truth in love, and points people to where God is at work. He doesn’t predict details of the arrival of the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, but says that God’s servant will “open the eyes that are blind” and “bring out the prisoners from the dungeon” (v. 7). Isaiah sees the world’s problems, and identifies God’s solutions.

That’s truth-telling, not fortune-telling.

Walter Brueggemann in his book, The Prophetic Imagination (Fortress Press, 1978), presented and defended the following hypothesis about prophecy:

 “The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.

” Following Brueggemann’s logic, one would have to conclude that a prophet is essentially countercultural.

Most people wish to serve God — but in an advisory capacity only.

—Anonymous.

Isaiah speaks the truth about us. Even better, this kind of prophecy steers us in the direction that we need to go.

Isaiah doesn’t just get right that God’s servant is coming — he creates a template that we can use for our own actions and attitudes.

Bringing forth justice and being a light to the nations are not just the responsibility of Jesus the Messiah — they’re also part of the job description of anyone who follows Jesus.

The prophet is speaking about us, right along with Jesus. What Isaiah got right is the need for servants of God to bring forth mishpat justice in every time and place.

True story: A homeless man named Ben walked into a Virginia church one afternoon, asking to see the pastor. He was suffering from kidney stones, and had a prescription for a painkiller — but no money to pay for it. Ben asked if the pastor had funds to fill the prescription for him.

Now Rev. Mike, let’s call him, had a ton of stuff to do that afternoon, and Ben’s predicament was way down on his to-do list.

But Rev. Mike just happened to be studying Isaiah 42, and had just read an important line about the character of the servant of God

— “a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice” (v. 3).

Homeless Ben was a bruised reed, a dimly burning wick. Rev. Mike knew that health care is a constant struggle for the uninsured poor of our country, and sensed that he really needed to do something.

 If he was going to be God’s servant, and “faithfully bring forth justice,” he needed to help fill that prescription.

The next morning, the two of them went to the pharmacy, looking like a rather strange couple — Ben, all covered with tattoos, and Rev. Mike in dress shirt and a cheap Sears tie.

They picked up the painkillers, and then on the car ride back to church Ben told his story:

 He had grown up on a dairy farm in Ohio, with an abusive father who ended up shooting Ben’s mother and then killing himself.

Ben had served in the military and worked as a truck driver, and now he was meeting with a mental health counselor to get himself into a group home.

When they said goodbye, Rev. Mike wished Ben well and invited him to worship. He was glad that he had been God’s servant that morning,

doing what he could to bring forth a little bit of mishpat justice, and offer a ray of light to a man who was dwelling in deep darkness.

What Isaiah got right is that servants of God exist. In the nation of Israel. In Jesus Christ. In each of us. May we live our days in ways that make this prophecy come true.