Isaiah 50:8
He who vindicates me is near.
Who then will bring charges against me?
Let us face each other!
Who is my accuser?
Let him confront me! (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 50:1-11 and Romans 8:31-39
We have entered a courtroom scene in verse 8. The Messiah is on trial and is being accused. God the Father is the Messiah’s defense attorney and also his judge. God is near like a defense attorney sitting next to the defendant during a trial. He will defend his Servant and vindicate him.
The Hebrew word for “vindicate” is ṣādaq is a forensic term expressing the idea of being declared righteous. The earliest occurrences of this word are set in court-like contexts:
- “’What can we say to my lord?’ Judah replied. ‘What can we say? How can we prove our innocence [ṣādaq]?’” (Gen 44:16).
- Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit [ṣādaq] the guilty (Ex 23:7).
- When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting [ṣādaq] the innocent and condemning the guilty (Deut 25:1).
- Now that I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated [ṣādaq]. (Job 13:18).
Jesus knew that he would be falsely accused. But he also knew that his Father would be near and would vindicate him. The implication of this verse is that Jesus is fully reliant on the Father to do the vindicating. Jesus was innocent. He could have rightly stood up and defended himself. But he didn’t because he relied on his Father to take up his defense.
Jesus came to earth as a servant and he maintained his status of a servant all the way to the end. He was the Word that created all things. He could’ve vindicated himself and declared himself righteous. But he was silent before his accusers: “As a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (Isa 53:7). Matthew recorded the trial of Jesus:
“When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor” (Matt 27:12-14).
Jesus was justified in his resurrection. When he rose from the grave, God not only declared Jesus innocent of all charges but justified him by declaring him to be exactly who he said he was – the Son of God:
- “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it… Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:32, 36).
- “Who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 1:4).
- “He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit” (1 Tim 3:16).
“Who will then bring charges against me?” or as in the KJV, “Who will contend with me?” The Servant now issues this challenge having been pronounced righteous. When he had put aside his rights to defend himself, he stood before his accusers in silence. Now that he has risen from the grave and God has declared him both Lord and Messiah, the Servant is calling for his accusers to try their case now. Will anyone step forward? Like the famous scene in the movie Troy, Jesus asks, “Is there no one else?”
We should have the same confidence if we are followers of Christ. We have a place in heaven for all eternity because God the Father has justified Jesus and he has saved us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God because of Jesus. In the courtroom of God, we stand accused and are declared innocent because of the blood of Jesus.
“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:31-39).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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