OUR SAVIOUR’S QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE SUCCESSFUL ACCOMPLISHMENT OF HIS WORK
Isaiah 50:4-9. The Lord hath given me the tongue, &c.
We suppose the prophet Isaiah to say something of himself in these verses, engaging and encouraging himself to go on in his work as a prophet, notwithstanding the many hardships he met with, not doubting that God would stand by him, and strengthen him; but, like David, he speaks of himself as a type of Christ. Through Isaiah it is Christ who speaks to us; and as we hearken to and reflect on His words, we note three characteristics in Him which qualify Him for and secure the success He anticipates.
I. HE WAS, AND IS, AN ACCEPTABLE PREACHER (Isaiah 50:4). He was this because—
1. God had given Him “the tongue of the learned.” God, who made man’s mouth, gave to Moses the tongue of the learned, to speak for the terror and conviction of Pharaoh (Exodus 4:11-12). He gave to Christ the tongue of the learned, to speak a word in season for the comfort of those that are weary under the burden of sin (Matthew 11:28). What a beautiful and precious feature was this in the ministry of our Lord! See what is now the best learning of a minister—to know how to comfort troubled consciences, and to speak patiently, properly, and plainly to the various cases of poor souls. Christ was able to do this because—
2. God had also, or previously, given Him “the ear of the learned”—the ability to receive instruction. Prophets have as much need of this as of the tongue of the learned, for they must deliver what they are taught, and no other (Ezekiel 3:17). Christ Himself received, that He might give. None must undertake to be teachers, who have not first been learners (Matthew 13:52). Nor is it enough to hear; we must “hear as the learned,” hear with all our faculties awake, hear as those who would learn by what we hear, hear and remember.
II. HE WAS, AND IS, A PATIENT SUFFERER (Isaiah 50:5-6). One would have thought that He who was commissioned and qualified to speak comfort to the weary would have met with no difficulty in His work, but universal acceptance; it was, however, quite otherwise. He had both hard work and hard usage to undergo; and here He tells us with what undaunted constancy He went through with it. We have no reason to question but that the prophet Isaiah went on resolutely in the work to which God had called him, though we read not of his undergoing any such hardships as are here (it may be figuratively) described; but we are sure that this prediction was literally fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Note—
1. His ready obedience to the call addressed to Him (Isaiah 50:5; Psalms 40:6-7).
2. His patient endurance of all the suffering His obedience to the call involved (Isaiah 50:6). All this Christ underwent for us, and voluntarily, to convince us of His willingness to save us. How much He still undergoes, to what indignities He still submits, in His efforts to save man!
III. HE WAS, AND IS, A COURAGEOUS CHAMPION (Isaiah 50:7-9). All that in these verses was true of Isaiah is still more true of our Saviour. Observe—
1. The secret sources of His courage. They are two.
(1.) He was assured of Divine support. “The Lord God will help me.”
(2.) Of this He was assured, because He was assured also of Divine approval. “He is near that justifieth me.”
2. The results of His courage.
(1.) He was confident of success in His undertaking. “I shall not be confounded.… I shall not be ashamed.” Note, work for God is work we should not be ashamed of; and hope in God is hope we shall not be ashamed of.
(2.) He could bid defiance to all opposers and opposition. “God will help me: therefore have I set my face like a flint.” He had no fear of the slanders of His foes: “He is near that justifieth me.” Nor of their swords. “Who will contend with me?” &c.
(3.) He could foresee that He and His righteous cause would outlive all opposition. It was His foes who should pass away: “Lo, they all shall wax old like a garment; the moth shall eat them up”—a little thing will serve secretly and insensibly to destroy them.
CONCLUSION.—
1. These qualities being in Christ, let us not doubt that absolute and universal victory is before Him (H. E. I. 979).
2. These qualities were in all the world’s noblest reformers and benefactors.
3. These qualities must be in us, if we are to do any great work for God and our fellow-men. From Christ Himself let us seek them.—Matthew Henry: Commentary, in loco.