“I won’t stay the night here,” said a Western mission leader about the student housing that had been provided for him for his visit to our developing-world ministry context. And this was after the students had spent hours cleaning and beautifying the space. The message was obvious to all, and the students did not fail to notice. Or what about the candid comment from a developing-world mission leader, “I don’t know why Westerners are so concerned about leadership, when Jesus was so concerned about service.” Or the paternalism that so many non-Western mission leaders have experienced when interacting with Western mission partners.
These are examples of a heartbreaking reality: our Western cultural moment is ambivalent about humility as a virtue, and not just when it comes to relating to other cultures. Humility, obedience, and submission are not among the virtues praised in Western culture. And the church has not escaped unscathed.
Of course, evangelical celebrity culture and marketing haven’t helped. But even in some quarters where theology is robust, self-promotion has subtly become part of the job description if you want to be involved in doing anything of “substance.” And sometimes the cultural cues that are sent in our Sunday worship gatherings (whether it be laudatory introductions, exotic lighting effects or applause after preaching) are not cues that are generally used in our culture to denote lowly service. They don’t tend to send us the message that “something humble is about to happen here,” whether it be the musical worship or worship through the Word. Of course, we should not be miserly with our encouragement of others, or have lighting that frustrates the audience and the one speaking. However, our gatherings are called services for a reason.
Much of this presentation seems so far from our Savior who said that he was among us, “as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). Instead, it feels quite a bit closer to the requests of James and John, “Allow for us that, in your glory, one of us might sit at your right hand and one of us at your left” (Mark 10:37).
In light of our cultural moment and the ever-present tendencies of our own hearts, this article seeks to explore servanthood in three parts. To begin with, it will provide a brief introduction to Isaiah’s Servant of the Lord. From there, it will demonstrate how fundamental the Servant of the Lord was to Jesus’ identity. Finally, it will reflect on how Jesus’ Servant identity shapes our own identities and actions.
Isaiah’s Servant of the Lord
In the book of Isaiah, there is more than one Servant of the Lord. Israel is a failed servant, spiritually blind and disobedient (Isa 42:19-21), and so not useful to accomplish God’s good purpose. Cyrus, the pagan, is more successful (Isa 45:1-7), but his mission is limited to the geographic restoration in Israel. However, there is a prophesied singular Servant of the Lord, who will go far beyond Israel or Cyrus in his role. He is described at length in Isaiah 42:1-9; 49:1-12; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12; and 61:1-9. If you are not familiar with these passages, they are worth pausing to read them in their entirety before reading on.
The Servant has several key characteristics. He is empowered by the Spirit (Isa 42:1, 6; 61:1-9) for obedience as a Servant, fulfilling God’s purpose (Isa 42:2; 49:4; 50:4; 52:13, 53:10). In this, he is a herald of comfort and prophet of judgment (Isa 42:2-3; 61:1-2; Isa 50:10-11; 61:2). He is both an advocate of justice (Isa 49:2; 50:4) and he brings physical and spiritual restoration, making Israel holy (Isa 42:7, 49:5, 8; 61:3, 6). However, he also has a redemptive purpose for the nations (Isa 42:6; 49:6; 52:15; 53:12; 61:9). He suffers in the place of others, cleansing and interceding for them (Isa 49:5, 7; 50:6; 53:4-6, 12, 15). Despite this suffering, he knows he will be vindicated by God, exalted beyond his suffering (Isa 50:7-9; 49:4, 7; 52:13; 53:10-11). In all this, he brings glory to the true God (Isa 42:8; 49:3).
Jesus, the Servant of the Lord
Before we begin to look at how Jesus was the Servant of the Lord, it is worth remembering who a Servant of the Lord is: one who is called and commanded by God to be his servant for the good of someone or something else. That certainly describes Jesus, the obedient Son.
To see how Jesus is the Servant of the Lord par excellence, Isaiah’s prophesied Servant of the Lord, we will profile each of the synoptic gospels in their unique contribution to this theme. We begin with Mark’s gospel.
The Gospel of Mark
To introduce John the Baptist, Mark’s gospel alerts us to the fact that his gospel is picking up the story where Isaiah had left off: John the Baptist is “preparing a way for the Lord,” (Mark 1:1-3; Isa 40:1-11) so the Lord could draw near in the Servant and comfort his people (Isa 61:1). It is in this comforting context that the Holy Spirit descends during Jesus’ Baptism and the Father speaks from heaven, “You are my beloved Son, in whom I am pleased.” To be sure, the Servant of the Lord doesn’t exhaust all the terms in this phrase, but this is a clear allusion to Isaiah 42:1: “Behold, my Servant, my delight is in him. My chosen one in whom my soul delights. I have put my Spirit on him.” (Isa 42:1). Mark’s comforting background, the Father sending the Spirit on Jesus and the voice from the Father all clarify: Jesus will fulfill the mission of the Servant of the Lord and God wants us to know it.
Jesus’ Servant identity becomes even clearer in his sufferings. Jesus repeatedly predicts his death in terms that mirror the suffering Servant. Mark records Jesus’ own words: “the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief-priests and to the Scribes and they will condemn him to death and they will hand him over to the Gentiles. They will mock him and spit on him and flog him and they will kill him, and after three days he will be raised.” (Mark 10:33). The connections with the Servant are many in this passage. Jesus will be handed over, just like the Servant will be handed over (Isa 53:6, 12, LXX). Jesus and the Servant are both condemned to death (Isa 53:12). The only people that are described as struck and spit upon in Scripture are Jesus and the Servant (Isa 50:6). And both figures are vindicated after their suffering with renewed life (Isa 49:4; 50:7-9; 53:10-12). Finally, it is necessary that all these things happen. That is, they fulfill God’s divine plan as revealed in the servant songs of Scripture. The other predictions by Jesus are similar (Mk 8:31; 9:31), especially with the mention of suffering (Gk. paschō), which was a way of translating the servants’ grief and pain (Hb. ḥll, Isa 53:5, 10).
And when Jesus is correcting his disciples’ distorted understandings of their roles in the kingdom, he points to the Servant. More specifically, he points to himself offering his soul as a ransom for many (Mk 10:45). In light of all the allusions above, it is very likely that this too should be understood as the Servant who, “offered his soul as a guilt offering” (Isa 53:10).
The Gospel of Matthew
Matthew also affirms Jesus as the Servant, but with a specific focus on his ministry. He summarizes Jesus’ healing ministry (Matt 8:14-16) as the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:4: “He has received (Gk. elaben) our weaknesses, and has borne (Gk. ebastasen) our diseases.” The meanings of these verbs in Greek make clear that this is not a reference to Jesus being sympathetic, but rather him absorbing these things. That is, the verse looks forward to the cross of Christ, where Jesus will deal definitively with sin and all of its effects. “God was going to pour into Jesus’ heart all the sadness and brokenness in people’s hearts. He was going to pour into Jesus’ body all the sickness in people’s bodies. God was going to have to blame his Son for everything that had gone wrong.” That is how Jesus had come to serve.
Matthew will return to Jesus’ Servant identity a few chapters later. He will quote Isa 42:1-2 at length, “Behold, my Servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul delighted…” This occurs in the context of Jesus’ healing (12:9-14) and overpowering evil to free people (12:22-32). These are the kinds of ways that Jesus has come to serve humanity (cf. Isa 61:1-3).
The Gospel of Luke
The gospel of Luke’s portrait of Jesus as the Servant begins in the infancy narratives. There are various people who speak for God with a prophetic voice, making clear that Jesus is the coming Servant. Zechariah looks forward to God’s visitation (which John will prepare for) to “give light to those who sit in darkness,” a clear allusion to the Servant’s mission in Isaiah 61:1-4. Simeon prophetically thanks the Lord for his “salvation…a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” This is certainly an echo of Isaiah 42:6 and 49:6. God is speaking prophetically to prepare the listeners for the restoration that Jesus, the Servant, will bring.
When Jesus formally begins his ministry, Luke brings the Servant to the forefront (Luke 4:16-19). Jesus has returned from being tempted and enters the synagogue at Nazareth. There, he reads Isaiah 61:1-2, where the Spirit of the Lord is upon the Servant of the Lord in order for him to preach to a variety of people who are living under the heavy effects of sin. The Servant does this in order to bring transformation to their lives (freedom for the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, setting the oppressed free). And Jesus says that he fulfills this mission.
Much later in his ministry, just after Jesus reinterprets the passover through his own death (Lk 22:14-23) and just before Jesus goes out in the garden to wrestle in prayer (Lk 22:39-46) with bearing the cup of God’s wrath, he speaks to the disciples about the difficulty of the days to come in their mission. And he completes his warning with these words: “I say to you that it is necessary that that which is written be completed in me, ‘and he was reckoned with the lawless.’ for this has its fulfillment in me.” (Luke 22:37). Jesus is utterly clear that scriptural necessity, the prophecy of the Servant of the Lord (Isa 53:12) was being fulfilled in his death. And Jesus’ silence at his trial (Lk 23:9) confirms his condemnation of the prophecy that was written about him: “he did not open his mouth.” (Isa 53:7).
Each of the synoptic gospels makes a unique contribution to the portrait of Jesus as Servant, with various pieces of evidence supporting this conclusion. Whether it be the Father’s voice from heaven, Jesus’ own passion predictions, or the evangelists reflecting back on Jesus’ life, the testimony is unanimous: Jesus is the Servant who came to preach the good news, heal, and bring freedom. And this culminated in Jesus’ dying on the cross for sinners.
Jesus’ Identity and Ours
In this final section, we reflect on Jesus’ identity as the Servant of the Lord and its ramifications for us. To begin with, it is worth noting that we are a people who need to be served. God prophesied Jesus not just as a Messianic King, but as a Servant because he knew we were in need of just this kind of Servant.
We needed a healing Servant who would take our wounds and sicknesses, which are many. We needed a comforting Servant, because all of us are broken-hearted from our sins and those of others at many points. We need an eye-opening Servant because we are spiritually blind. Jesus was a sin-bearing, dying for our ransom Servant, because each of us is exiled from God, and death is our end. We were people who needed serving, and we have been served. God mercifully planned, prophesied and provided the Servant of the Lord, Jesus.
But the Servant does not remain alone. After the Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 53), Isaiah always speaks of servants in the plural (Isaiah 55-66). The Servant has produced a new group of people who serve in light of his service: “[the Servant] will see his seed” (Isa 53:10). They are no longer wayward, but rather they are a multinational, obedient people (Isa 56:6), whom the Lord protects (54:17). They are the true people of God that he has compassion on (63:17) whom he will restore to the land of his presence (Isa 65:8-9). A people satisfied and praising the Lord, called by his name (65:13-15). They will see his mighty works and know his blessing (66:14). Our prophesied identity is servants. This isn’t something we chose; it is an identity given to us by our redeemer, called and commanded by God to act for the good of others.
And this is likely why Jesus repeatedly tells us to look at himself as a model for our own lives. Indeed, when James and John approach Jesus seeking their own glory (Mark 10:35-45), Jesus does not give abstract leadership principles; he gives them himself. “Even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Indeed, as we noted earlier, Jesus characterizes himself as “one who serves” (Luke 22:27). And the early church continues this pattern of holding up a humble, crucified Savior (Phil 2:1-11; 1 Pet 2:12-25) to help us humble ourselves in relation to others. We find it easier to serve when we fill up the vision of our souls with our crucified Saviour. And we easily get disoriented when we stop thinking about Jesus’ own humility.
And, like Jesus, service is for the good of the other, not our own. So often, we are tempted to “serve” because it helps us on some level. And this is nowhere clearer than in delegation. Most of my life (until about a month ago!) I thought about delegation as getting others to do the things I can’t, shouldn’t or don’t want to do. Recently, I was confronted by a fact that I had missed my whole life: delegation is an intentional act of Christian love and service for the betterment of the one who receives the task. The delegator isn’t there to be served but to serve. And isn’t this what Jesus showed us? Did the omni-competent Jesus need the disciples to be involved? Did the great Servant really need other servants? Would they not just get in the way and cause more headaches (Mark 8:32-33)? Wouldn’t Jesus just have to redo things to get them done right (cf. Mk 9:14-28)? Wouldn’t they seek to lower this beautiful kingdom to something more resembling human splendour (Mk 10:13-14)? Did he need their filthy and fumbling hands? In all these things, Jesus shows his followers generous love, calling us into our own ministry of service, not for his good, but for ours and for the good of those around us.
Unfortunately, “servant” doesn’t appear in a significant way in our English vocabulary as a description of what we do for God or others in the church. It’s true, “serving” in a ministry is often used synonymously with “working,” but it has lost its connotation of lowliness. We don’t call ourselves “servants” very often. Even the term deacon, which basically means servant in Greek, has none of this connotation in English. It is for this reason that I can so heartily appreciate how my francophone brothers have labelled the ministry training process: “servateur en formation.” This seems to be profoundly right in light of what we have seen above. As Christians, we are servants under God for the good of our brothers and sisters in Christ before we hold any other role in the church. We serve because we have been served, because we have been made servants in the death of Christ.
