Jehovah's Servant (3)

by R.A. Parker, Stoke on Trent, England | Category: Jehovah's Servant | Aug 1994

The revelation of "My Servant" contains some of the most profound statements concerning the Godhead. The Father's choice of His Servant and His upholding fill us with gratitude (Is. 42:1). When the question was asked by the Lord, Whom shall I send and who will go for Us? Isaiah's reply may possibly have been the response of the Son in the eternal past: "Here am I: send Me" (Is. 6:8). So Jehovah's Servant came in the lowly form of a Babe to Bethlehem, to be upheld by the Father and later anointed by the Spirit of God. One of the great mysteries of the Incarnation and His Servant character is why the Father had to uphold His Servant, seeing He was a divine Being (tamak - hold up, retain) and put His Spirit upon Him. Clearly the Lord Jesus did not use His divine power to overcome the weakness and limitations of His humanity, but was empowered by the Holy Spirit, as all God's servants were in the past; as also the apostles and saints of God have been ever since (Mat. 12:18, 28).

Among the wonderful aspects of truth about Jehovah's Servant is Isaiah's prophecy concerning His calling and naming before He was born

(49:1). Also remarkable is the similitude of the Shaft.

The Polished Shaft:

Arrows are kept by the hunter in a quiver carried on his back. A quiver

normally contained three arrows, hidden until required for use. In God's quiver there was only one Shaft, hidden or concealed in the shadow of His hand (49:2). From eternity past, unknown to men, unseen by the human eye it was prepared and ready for instant use when needed to reach the specific target within the Father's will and purpose. At the appropriate moment, in the fulness of time, God sent forth His Son (Gal. 4:4), to be the Saviour of the world (1 John 4:14). The arrow is useless without the bow and skill of the archer. So the Father sent the Son who was conceived of the Holy Spirit (Mat. 1:20).

To be polished implies properly finished, flawless, faultless and perfect. During those silent years in Nazareth, the Father found no defect or blemish in His Son. There was no deviation from the path of obedience and the descent into suffering through which the Son would pass, to learn obedience (what it involves) and to be made perfect (proved perfect) through suffering (Heb. 2:10; 5:8, 9). The Son was in every sense bright, brilliant, radiant, all apt descriptions of the Person who is My Servant, My chosen.

In steadfast devotion to the Father's will, Jehovah's Servant remained on course to the ultimate goal of the mission for which He left the heavenly mansions. It was His meat, His work, His pleasure, His consuming zeal. So that the Son behaved like an arrow sent towards its target. He must be about His Father's business; He must pass through Samaria; He must go on His way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem (Luke 2:49; 13:33; John 4:4). As a perfect Servant, He always went to the heart of the matter, to the bull's eye, accurately reaching the target and effectively destroying the enemy and his works. From the centre Cross on Calvary He said, "It is finished", His mission accomplished.

In the practice of archery it was the custom to retrieve arrows and return them to the archer's quiver. So our Lord Jesus in returning to the Father's side was not hindered by death (Acts 2:26, 27) nor could Hades and the powers of Hell hold Him (Eph. 4:8, 10). On the third day, He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father (Rom. 6:4).

R.A. Parker, Stoke on Trent, England | Aug 1994
Jehovah's Servant