A Light!

Isaiah’s Servant Song and the Light for the Nations

Good morning. Our Old Testament reading is Isaiah 42, starting one through nine. Please stand for the reading of the word. Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him.

He will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street. A bruised weed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands wait for his law. Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it.

I am the Lord. I have called you in righteousness. I will take you by the hand and keep you. I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prisons, those who sit in darkness.

I am the Lord. That is my name. My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. The whole of the former things have come to pass. The new things I now declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

New Testament Scriptures, Acts chapter 13, beginning in verse 44. The next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you, since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life. Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of Lord.

And as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region, but the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.

But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. You may be seated.

Isaiah 49 and the Mystery of the Servant

Take your Bibles, if you will, to Isaiah chapter 49. Isaiah 49, you follow as I read these words from Isaiah about the Lord Jesus. Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples, from afar.

The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother. He named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of his hand, he hid me. He made me a polished arrow. In his quiver, he hid me away.

And he said to me, you are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. But I said, I have labored in vain. I have spent my strength for nothing in vanity. Yet surely my right is with the Lord and my recompense with my God.

And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength.

He says, it is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, to bring back the preserved of Israel. I will make you as a light for the nations, and my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, princes and they shall prostrate themselves because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.

Let's pray.

We thank you, Father, for your word. We pray now that we would see it as we ought to. Help us to see Jesus, our Lord. Help us to see, Father, the glories of his majesty and his work. Father, now we commit this time to you, asking you to open our eyes.

In Jesus' name, amen. Here you find a prophecy uttered some 27 centuries ago by a man named Isaiah, a prophet in the country of Judah, and also a prophet to the king, Hezekiah. In the days of his ministry, Judah lived under the shadow of a mighty empire called Assyria.

And at the time that he was writing this book, Assyria had been used by God as a chastening rod of discipline. You read in the book of 2 Kings and in Isaiah how the Assyrian emperor had sent messengers to Jerusalem with a blasphemous and threatening and frightening message to the people and their king.

And during those trying, fearful days, Isaiah preached a number of sermons of judgment, which you find in the first 39 chapters. But near the end of his life, when Assyria had fallen under the judgment of God, when that mighty empire had fallen, Isaiah saw the shadow of another great power cast upon the international landscape, and that was the empire of Babylon.

And although the prophet would never live to see his beloved nation shattered by the Babylonians and returned to the land, nevertheless, he prophesied a number of prophecies concerning the rescue of God's people.

And because of the visions granted the old prophet, he preached comfort and salvation to the generations yet to come who would experience the devastation and the exile and the return to the land. And those messages are reflected in chapters 40 through 66.

And so from chapters 40 to 66, you see Isaiah looking far into the future to some 200 years later, when Babylon would destroy, deport, and then the people would return. And yet, in those prophecies, he's looking even further.

He's looking to this servant of the Lord. And so here in Isaiah 49, you see this prophecy about the servant of the Lord, the servant of Yahuwah. You find here a message of hope and promise. And most of all, you find here a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and his glories.

Now, this time of year affords us a great opportunity to think about the glory of Christ. Now, you know what? I'm not gonna say to you that all the festivities and the lights and the songs and everything else that goes with Christmas, that you ought to start dampening that down because we just don't celebrate Jesus enough.

Jesus is the reason for the season, right? We all are, we're all familiar with that. I'm not gonna tell you that because I don't think there's anything wrong with the lights and the songs and the festivities that we have this time of the year.

I think you ought to enjoy them. But too often in the fun of Christmas, we just obscure or forget the glory of Jesus. It's no different than any other time of the year. We get so invested in this life and the things of this world that oftentimes we forget to see the glory of Christ.

It's the same way this time of year. So I'm not gonna preach a sermon today about stop looking at the Christmas decorations and start getting with the program because I don't think that's necessary. But I will say it's a time of the year when we ought to think about the glories of Christ, when it ought to drive us there and it ought to make us think about those things.

Now, this message from Isaiah brings to light the glory of Jesus. Now, Isaiah himself could make out darkly the bare outline of what he was saying, of what he was pointing forward to. Have you ever visited somewhere unfamiliar and in the morning you look out the window and it's real foggy and you can't see real clearly, but as you look out over the field, you can kind of make out the outlines through the fog of a building.

You think it's a barn, but you're not quite sure. And as the day progresses and the sun burns away the fog, you do see a barn with brilliant red colors. It's got a hip, what's called a hip roof and it's a tin roof that's all blue.

You see all the details as the sun comes out. Well, that's kind of how it is in the Old Testament. These prophecies point forward, but they don't give the fullest picture. But now after the coming of Jesus, as we look back, we can see, ah, that's what he was looking forward to.

You can see more than Isaiah saw in his day. You can see more of the glories of Christ now than Isaiah could. He could make out the outlines of this glorious servant of the Lord, but he couldn't quite see everything.

I think as well, as we look at this, we need to examine ourselves today. Are you sad during the holiday season for whatever reasons? Then you need to see the glory of Jesus. Are you kind of stagnant in your spiritual growth in your walk right now?

Then you need to see the glory of Jesus. Maybe during this time of the year, you find yourself terribly tempted to sin, or maybe you've just entered a time where temptation just seems overwhelming to you.

This is when you need to see the glory of Christ. Maybe you're just caught up in the glitz and the fun of Christmas, only to find yourself empty and disappointed. Well, you need to see the glory of Jesus.

So let's look at him today in Isaiah 49. First of all, see the glorious servant of the Lord. Verse one, listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. Here is the servant of the Lord speaking, and he speaks with authority, not just to his people, notice, but to all the nations.

This servant of the Lord is not just speaking to Israel, but he's speaking to all the nations, and he's not asking for permission to speak. He's speaking authoritatively. He's not some weak figure begging to be heard.

Now, who is it that's speaking? It's none other than the servant of the Lord. Look at verse three. You see that in verse three. And he said to me, you are my servant, Israel, on whom I will be glorified.

Verse five, and now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant. Verse six, is it too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob? Here is identified the servant of the Lord.

This figure often steps out of the mists in the book of Isaiah. He seems to be this mysterious personage of great proportion. When you look at Isaiah 42, and Steve read part of Isaiah 42, you see the servant of the Lord emerging as the one who's gonna bring justice to all the nations.

He's this figure who somehow is going to bring justice to the nations. In Isaiah 52 and 53, you see the servant of the Lord once more identified, only this time, you see this person who's going to take upon himself the iniquities of his people.

And so throughout this last part of the book of Isaiah, you see this mysterious personage, this servant of the Lord. But here there's even more mystery. It's kind of strange here. I don't know if you've noticed, but look at verse three.

First of all, look at verse three. And he said to me, you are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Now look at verses five and six. And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him.

Look at verse six. Is it too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel? I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

In verse three, the servant is identified as Israel, but in verses five and six, what do you see? It's somebody separate from Israel. It seems to be a person, not a nation. And then in verse seven, thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers.

Notice now, this servant of the Lord is actually abhorred by what? By Israel. And he is a servant of the rulers of the nations.

Wow.

So in this passage, the servant of the Lord is Israel, but he is also the rescuer of Israel and the savior of the Gentiles. What's the explanation here? How can that be? How can you say servant of the Lord is Israel, and then all of a sudden you see someone who's rejected by Israel and rejected by the nations who restores Israel and brings life to the nations?

How is that possible? Well, who was the first Israel? All Israel is summed up in one person. Who's the first Israel? You remember? Jacob. God called Jacob Israel. He renamed him Israel. So Jacob is the root of the nation.

And so one man, Jesus, is the crown of the nation. As one man's name is given to a nation, so a nation's name is given to a man. Jesus is, and I think this is important for you to get,.

All right?

This is important for you to get as you read in the New Testament. Jesus is God's second Israel. He is Israel. He encapsulates within himself everything that is true of the nation. Just as Jacob is the root, Jesus is the crown.

Just as Jacob's name is given to the nation, so the nation's name is given to Jesus. He is the second Israel. Do you remember what Jesus says in Matthew 5 .17? Here's what he says. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.

I have not come to abolish them but to, what? Fulfill them. I've not come to abolish, and the law and the prophets, the whole Old Testament. He says, I haven't come to abolish everything that you've heard.

I've come to fulfill it. It all reaches its fulfillment in Jesus, and for example, as you read through the book of Matthew, you see this happening all the time. In the very early chapters of Matthew, what do you see?

Well, you see a prophecy quoted that a virgin would conceive and bring forth a son in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. Then you see wise men coming. Now, why would Matthew include wise men coming to worship Jesus?

Because in Isaiah 62, it says, the nations are going to come and worship this king, and here's the first of the nations coming to worship that king. What does Herod's slaughter of Hebrew babies call to mind?

What does that call to mind for you? When Pharaoh tried to kill, determined to kill the Hebrew babies in the Old Testament, it's happened to Jesus as well. He's the fulfillment of that. What about when Jesus goes down to Egypt for safety and then comes out again?

What is that all about?

It's Israel going to Egypt for safety, just like they did in the Old Testament, and coming out in the Exodus, which is why then Matthew quotes Hosea that says, out of Israel I've called my son. Did you know that when Hosea said that, he wasn't looking forward.

He was looking backwards. He was looking at the Exodus when he said that. Hosea, the prophet Hosea, was referring to the Exodus of God's people, and now Matthew says, here it is. Out of Israel I've called my son.

So, what about the voice of one crying in the wilderness from Isaiah 40? What about, you know the great temptation of Jesus in the wilderness? How long was he in the wilderness, do you remember? 40 days.

What's that supposed to do? It's supposed to get you to think, yeah, Israel was in the desert for 40 days, and on it goes, through the book of, for example, through the book of Matthew, but throughout the whole New Testament.

You see, Jesus is God's second Israel, in whom the true nature of Israel's concentrated, like the sun. He experiences all that Israel experienced, and he accomplishes all that Israel did not accomplish.

You see that? So, brought up into this one person is the whole nation of Israel, right? Here's the second Israel. By the way, you remember in the Old Testament, Israel's called God's what? God's son, you see.

And so here is the servant of the Lord. It is Jesus, the son of God, the second Israel. Here this figure stands with authority, calling out to all the nations to hear him. But why should the nations listen?

Why should they listen to him? Because when they look, they see the glory of his person. Look at the glory of his call, verse one. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother, he named my name, okay?

The glory of his call, before he was ever born, before he ever makes his entrance into the world, God calls him to a special task. His entire life is affected by this call. His existence is defined by this call.

And so Jesus said, right, in the Gospel of John, for I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me. He said in the book of John, chapter four, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

His entire existence is given to the call of God. Before he came into the world, God named him, says the prophet Isaiah. Therefore the Lord will give you a sign, Isaiah had said earlier. The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son and you will call him Immanuel, which means God with us.

You remember in Matthew, in that vision to Joseph, where the angel says she will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. So he has a glorious call.

Look how God gloriously equips this servant. Verse two, he made my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of his hand, he hid me. He made me a polished arrow. In his quiver, he hid me away. He equips him to do the work of the word of instruction.

Notice, he made my mouth like these things. He has the work of instruction. He does not come first to conquer and subdue the nations in great might and power. He doesn't do that. He comes to speak and to instruct.

But his word and instruction are like any that have ever appeared before. Do you ever notice? Those of you who are believers here today, you've noticed that when you read the word of God, it's a different thing than simply reading the history of the United States textbook that you read in high school.

It's different than reading a social studies textbook. It's different than reading a novel. It's different, why?

Why?

Because it's powerful. It does things that no other text does. And the servant has come with a mission of instruction with his word. He doesn't conquer yet with great might and power. He speaks and instructs.

And his instruction or his words are like a sword.

You see that?

They're like a sword.

His instruction overcomes resistance like a warrior wielding his sword in battle. The word of Jesus cuts down all resistance, overcomes that which stands in his way. The word overcame the resistance of your own heart garrisoned by the devil and evil.

Isn't it interesting that Paul writes, at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. But the word of Christ came and like a sword, it severed you from those things.

He severs things bound together in a pernicious bond. Maybe you're struggling today against some sin that you just can't seem to escape. You hear the words of Jesus to find grace and power to find your way through.

It exposes you and describes you so that you have understanding and the ability to change. So it's like a sword, but it's also like a polished arrow. It's like a polished arrow that quickly and with accurate aim penetrates your heart.

Nothing else you hear or see so quickly stings with conviction and gives you hope. Is that right? You know, before I get up to preach, I'm always praying, Lord, right? You hear me pray publicly oftentimes.

Bring conviction and bring hope, right? Encourage and rebuke. And it does that, it comes to us quickly. Its aim penetrates our heart. It leaves the sting of wholesome wounds. But notice these weapons are concealed until the warrior draws it from the scabbard, it doesn't do its work.

Until it's hidden in the scabbard, until he pulls it from the quiver, it doesn't do its work. It's hidden in that quiver. The arrow stays hidden in his quiver until the archer draws it out for battle, or the warrior draws his sword out.

And so God conceals his servant. He says here, right? You're like the, you're like an arrow in his quiver. He hid me away, right? God conceals his servant until it's time. Isn't it interesting that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, just a nothing town, and was raised in a backwater town like Nazareth, the son of an obscure carpenter?

Listen, when you think of Nazareth, think LaRue, right? How many famous people have come from LaRue? Maybe one, a baseball player, who most people now don't even remember, right? I mean, Jesus was hidden in Nazareth for the first 30 years of his life, imagine that.

The son of God, this one whose picture is being drawn here, was concealed, was concealed. He's hidden in the quiver for 30 years until he's ready to use him. But he was revealed, and he continues this great work with his word.

Did you notice, did you notice in Acts 13, the New Testament reading today, and probably you didn't notice because you probably didn't read Isaiah 49 before I read it this morning, but Paul and Bartimaeus are preaching at Antioch, and they're rejected by the Jews, right?

They're rejected by the Jews. And do you see what they said? They said, for so the Lord has commanded us, saying, and then they said, look, you don't want eternal life, we're gonna go to the Gentiles.

And then they say this, for so the Lord has commanded us, saying, I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. Does that sound familiar? You know what Paul was quoting here, don't you?

What was he quoting? The seventh verse of this chapter. Lo, I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. That's what Paul was quoting right there. The work of Jesus continues through the apostles and through us, right?

Michael prayed today. We're the light of the world. Why is that? Because we have the words of Jesus. We bring Jesus to everyone in fulfillment of what's said here. So there's the glory of his equipping.

Look at the glory of his cause, verse three. And he said to me, you are my servant Israel in whom I will be glorified. His cause is the greatest one to pursue, which is to display the splendor of God.

And that's exactly what he began to do. That's exactly what Jesus did. You remember in John 12, right before his crucifixion, he's teaching and some Greeks say, who are you? What's going on? Through Philip, and Jesus responds this, this way.

The hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.

He displayed the splendor of God at the cross. He will display the splendor of God in all its fullness when he comes again. Look at the glory of his confidence, verse four. But I said, I have labored in vain.

I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity, yet surely my right is with the Lord and my recompense is with my God. The servant turns to God and says, but I failed to display your splendor. I've wearied and exhausted myself in this cause, and it looks as if I failed.

Look at Jesus.

I mean, you know, we know the end of the story, but.

Huh.

If you are in that day and Jesus is crucified, you've put all your hopes in,.

What does it look like to you? He's failed. He has failed miserably, right?

I've exhausted myself. Can you see Jesus saying these words? I've exhausted myself, and no one has responded.

Hmm.

It seemed that the servant's powerful work of word and instruction really has no power to penetrate and sever and call people to God, that it's failed miserably. But then he says to his God, nevertheless, I know that you will vindicate me.

Verse five, how does God vindicate him? Now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength.

How is that done? How has God become his strength? How is he honored in his eyes, even if no one listened? Why, how? Through the resurrection and the ascension.

Right?

But how is it that God's gonna grant him success? How will the glory of his ministry and call find success? And Jehovah now answers his servant, and in the answer you see the glory of the servant's work.

The glory of the servant's work. He answers his servant's lament concerning the failure of his work in the nation, beginning in verse six. He says, it is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel.

I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise princes, and they shall prostrate themselves because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.

Jehovah answers by showing the glory of his work that he will indeed deliver what is due him and give him the reward he has, like he says in verse four. He says, look at the glory of your work with Israel.

God promises that he will restore Jacob and reclaim Israel. Now, some popular teaching seems to think that it means restoring Israel to the land. It's not what he's saying here. He's saying restoring Israel to God, restoring them to God.

This is the burden of the prophets that the people would return to their allegiance to God and to obey him. How's that gonna happen? How will God bring that about? There's only one means, by means of the gospel.

It's only through the gospel brought to light by Jesus that any Jews are restored to their relationship to God and to obedience to him. You know what? Anybody who doesn't trust in the Lord Jesus is not part of the people of God, no matter what their heritage is.

But he restores them as the gospel goes out in power like a sword and an arrow. And this is what I think. Look at Romans 11.

Romans 11.

I think that this is what the scripture teaches. When you look at Romans 11, verses 25 through 27, you read this. He's talking to Gentiles here. He says, lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers.

A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness 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 banish ungodliness from Jacob.

And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. I believe it's gonna happen with great power at the end of the age, when there's a huge incoming of Jewish people into the church through the gospel as its minister.

He will restore them, not as a separate people, but as the people of God with us. But then God says here, but even though I'm gonna recapture the hearts of my people, that's still too small a thing for my servant, right?

It's too small of a thing just to give you Israel. I want you to see, he says, I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. In this great work, you're going to reach the nations, not just the Jewish people.

Your powerful word, like a sword and an arrow, will do its work among the people of the world. Again, remember, in Isaiah's time, this is unheard of. Not just Jewish people, not just those under that covenant, but he's going to bring in all kinds of people from all the nations.

This is why the Apostle Paul can say, we are the light for the Gentiles, because we carry his word. We carry his word. And he says to his servant, you're gonna bring people from all nations to obedience.

Now he says, look at the first part of verse seven. That glory's gonna be hidden for a while. Isn't this interesting? Look at verse seven. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers.

Right?

He says to his servant, you'll find yourself despised and abhorred by the very nation you've come to rescue. You're gonna be despised and abhorred by the very nation you've come to rescue. Not only that, but you will also bow before the rulers of the nations for whom you are the light.

Right?

And isn't that what he says? You're gonna bow, you're gonna be the servant of rulers. By the way, do you see that?

Do you see this?

Jesus was crucified, rejected by his own people. And who did he stand before to be judged? Gentiles, right? He stood before Pilate. He stood before the representative of the ruling empire. And as the second Israel, like the nation of Israel, he found himself subject to the tyranny of foreign rulers, even standing before them on trial.

But again, what happens, this isn't going to last, God says, your humiliation gives way to the glory of your exaltation. Kings shall see and arise, princes, they shall prostrate themselves because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.

God's gonna be faithful. His word goes out to the nations. They will be gathered in. Kings and princes are gonna lay prostrate before him. He will rescue. He, and I believe it's gonna happen when you all come and bow before him.

Again, what does it say about Jesus? At the name of Jesus, there's coming a day that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

I was thinking, you know, I'm even gonna forget when I think these thoughts. I'm glad I remember my thoughts. Can't remember if it was yesterday or when I was driving in this morning. You know, we can get awful discouraged, can't we?

So here's what I was thinking. I remember now. I said to Becca today, they said, you know, my sister Miriam has had surgery. She broke her foot this week. She's in the hospital. They're gonna transport her, or we're gonna take her today.

I think they're gonna discharge her today, but here's the thought that came into my mind. They may wanna call us, but I'm not gonna have my phone on me. I've been embarrassed too often by that. I leave it in my office or at home.

But I said, you know what? These people are not even, probably not even gonna think to call us any time this morning, because most of the world around us doesn't see. Don't do what we do. Gather for worship on the Lord's day, do they?

They don't. I could see them calling, and it dawned on me. Most of the world just doesn't think like we do. Most of the world is against what we think. Most of the world doesn't take us into account. Just doesn't take us into account at all.

We're like fleas to flick off. That can be awful discouraging, isn't it? But then this thought occurred to me. Someday, Jesus is gonna return, and he's going to say, oh yeah, by the way, they were right, you were wrong.

And as I look at this, I'm thinking, here is the servant of the Lord, powerful, absolutely powerful, and gathering people to him. And yet, when he comes again, every knee will bow and confess him as Lord.

Now is the, just like Jesus, right? Now is the day of our humiliation. But this mighty servant of the Lord, having done his mighty work secretly for all these centuries, will then come in glorious power, and everyone will bow before him.

That's part of the glory of Christmas, right? Let's not lose sight of the glory of Christ, the glory of this one who powerfully works, and will powerfully work.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for the servant of the Lord, our Savior, Jesus, who is going to restore, who is restoring people to you, and who will one day vindicate us in glory. God, help us to put our hope in the glory of this servant rather than anything else.

Help us to see the glory that is his because of what you're doing through him, and the glory that is his in what you will do through him. God, help us, we pray, to see that this season. In Jesus' name, amen.