Christ in the Old Testament

Isaiah 49:6

He says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” (NIV)

Today’s Reading: Isaiah 49:1-7

As we learned yesterday in verse 5, the Messiah’s mission was to bring Israel back to God. Not only would he set out for Israel to accomplish this mission, but that wouldn’t be his only task. He would also come for the Gentiles. But I can’t emphasize enough that Jesus came first for the Jews. The Suffering Servant couldn’t reach the Gentiles without first coming to the Jews:

• “These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel’” (Matt 10:5-6).
• “He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem’” (Luke 24:46-47).
• “Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed’” (Acts 3:24-25).
• “Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: ‘We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘”I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth”‘” (Acts 13:46-47).

Paul and Barnabas quote Isaiah 49:6 to prove their case that God sent Jesus first for the Jews and then for the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas were simply following in the footsteps of Jesus by first preaching to the Jews. Now that the Jews have rejected their message, they turn to preach to the Gentiles.

Paul would later write, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Rom 1:16). Jesus came and poured himself into a band of twelve Jews who would take his message to the ends of the earth. 

As Gentiles, our salvation is from the Jews. Jesus said, “You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). We (Gentiles) would not have heard the gospel if not for the Jews.

And what a cool statement for God to tell his Servant – bringing Israel back to Him is not a big enough task for Jesus. He can handle more than that! Saving only Israel is like child’s play for Jesus. He’s built different. He can handle way more than that. He needs to save the whole world!

So God will make him a light for the Gentiles too. Again, we come to this point that is easily misunderstood. Jesus is not like a light or a type of light – Jesus is the light:

• “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind… The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world” (John 1:4, 9).
• “[Jesus] said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’ (John 8:12).
• “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5).
• “Then Jesus told them, ‘You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light’” (John 12:35-36).

The word we translate as “light” is the Greek word phós. HELPS’s describes phós as “the manifestation of God’s self-existent life [and] divine illumination to reveal and impart life, through Christ.” This light is the saving truth and transforming power of God. This light came to earth in the form of a man to bring the Jews back to God first, and then also to the Gentiles.

But the application of Isaiah 49:6 is more than to simply understand that Jesus is the light of the world. This light is also Israel, Paul and even us as Christ-followers.

Recall back in Isaiah 49:3, God said to Israel, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” The nation of Israel would be a light to the Gentiles. It would be a light because the small band of twelve Jews would take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

But also by omission, because the nation of Israel as a whole rejected Jesus, the Gentiles were given the message and they accepted it. “When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. The word of the Lord spread through the whole region” (Acts 13:48-49). The gospel followed the path of least resistance and spread like a wildfire in the Gentile nations. The salvation of the Gentiles is due in part to the rejection of the Messiah by Israel.

Paul is considered the “apostle to the Gentiles.” Paul was called by Jesus to be a light to the Gentiles. “When I [Paul] returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance and saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me… Go; I [Jesus] will send you far away to the Gentiles’” (Acts 22:17-18, 21).

Paul embraced his mission to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Western civilization owes our faith in Jesus because Paul took the gospel and penetrated it deep into the heart of the Roman empire.

We, the Church, as followers of Christ, are also a light for the Gentiles:

• “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord” (Eph 5:8-10).
• “You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness” (1 Thes 5:5).
• “You are the light of the world… let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matt 5:14, 16).

If we are saved by the blood of Jesus, then we possess the light. We live in Christ and we have the Holy Spirit living in us. We are called to become less so that the world around us can see this light within us. Jesus calls us to let our light shine through our good deeds so that our Father can be glorified by those around us. That is our mission.

Today’s Prayer: Thank you Jesus for being able to handle more than just the mission to Israel. You could handle saving the whole world! Help me let your light shine from within me today in all that I do.