Isaiah 49:5
And now the Lord says—
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord
and my God has been my strength. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 49:1-7
We read again in verse 5 that the Messiah confirms that he was formed in the womb as in verse 1. He will come to earth as a baby and live among us to accomplish his mission. We also learn in verse 5 that the Suffering Servant’s mission is to bring Israel back to God. He would come first to Israel and then to the world (vs. 6).
Jesus was sent on a mission to be Israel’s Messiah. We covered yesterday the rejection that Jesus faced from the Jews. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (John 1:11). The Jews were not looking for a Suffering Servant in their Messiah. They were looking for a Conquering King so they rejected Jesus and continue to do so for the most part today.
But don’t miss the mission of the Messiah. Yes he came for us Gentiles, but his mission was first to the Jews:
- “[Jesus] answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel’” (Matt 15:24).
- “For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed” (Rom 15:8).
- “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Gal 4:4-5).
Paul essentially re-writes Isaiah 49:5 in Galatians 4:4-5 that Jesus was sent, born of a woman, to redeem “those under the law” which is code for the nation of Israel. The Jews were God’s chosen people and the only people were bound by a covenant with God and under His law. Jesus came to them to redeem them. He was sent as a Jew, in the lineage of King David, to bring God’s chosen people back to Him.
Jesus will not fail in his mission. He is coming back again to fulfill God’s promise to Jacob (Israel). Jesus will complete his mission when he comes again:
- “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son” (Zech 12:10).
- “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity” (Zech 13:1).
- “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’ As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable” (Rom 11:25-29).
Paul pulls all the promises together given to Isaiah and Jeremiah in Romans 11 to remind the Jews that God has made a promise to them and His word is irrevocable. For now, the Jews don’t see Jesus as their Messiah – they have “a hardening in part.” However, Jesus will complete his mission. He will bring Jacob’s nation back to God because He promised that He would.
God is faithful. God always does what He promises. He knew that Israel would need a Messiah. He knew that we would need a Savior. Nobody has done anything that deserves God’s favor. But God promised to redeem Israel just as he promised to bring salvation to the Gentiles. “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (Heb 10:23). We are saved from sin and have the hope of eternity because Jesus came on his mission and he accomplished it just as God promised.
Christ in the Old Testament 
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