Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect [in whom] my soul delighteth! I will put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring forth judgment to the nations.
God Himself points to someone and tells us to look. Who is this Servant, and what is He sent to do?
The chapters around this one speak of Cyrus, a conqueror God used against idolatry. Commentators read verse 1 as a step up from him to someone far greater.
The chapter opens with a moving picture of Christ as the true Servant of the Lord. He is the One who will really establish the glory of God on the earth. Cyrus overwhelms the terrified nations with all the show of war. This Servant comes in lowly grace instead. The victories of Cyrus may carry out God's government against idolatry, but Cyrus was no delight to God. The moral glory of Christ, seen in the lowly grace of His perfect Manhood, was a delight to the heart of God.
There is a second contrast. Israel had been God's servant and had failed.
This makes the opening of Isaiah 42 stand out. There the prophecy turns from Israel, the servant of God who failed, and introduces the Lord Jesus as the true Servant of God. We are to fix our attention on Him, for He is the chosen One in whom the delight of God rests. He is the One who will bring forth judgment for the nations, and not only for Israel. This prophecy was fulfilled in part at His first coming, but other details wait for His second coming.
The word behind "my chosen" (older translations have "mine elect") is a title, and Scripture applies it directly to one Person.
the Lord Jesus: "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect (bachir) in whom my soul delighteth." Isa. 42:1; 1 Peter 2:6. He was fore-ordained to be a mercy-seat through faith in His blood.
The verse calls us to look. One writer explains why many believers never do.
God invites us to look at Him, and by His Spirit He enables the freed believer to do it. Many Christians are taken up with themselves, or are struggling with sin in the flesh. They are not free enough from themselves to gaze at this lowly Servant, the One who fills the heart of God with such infinite delight. They need to know the freedom that is in Christ Jesus, through His death, where God judged sins and sin and put them away. Once a believer knows this freedom, his heart is free to rejoice in the perfections of this lowly One.
Isaiah had already said the same thing earlier in the book.
The Servant of the Lord. As such He is filled with the Spirit. "And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD" (11:2)... We also see His method: He makes no show in His service.
Matthew 12 quotes this verse. One writer explains what "judgment" means here.
Verse 18: Here the word "Behold" has another sense: "Behold my servant whom I have chosen." The force of it is "Look at my servant" — the only perfect Servant... "I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He will show judgment to the Gentiles." Judgment here is discriminating grace... The nations are not clever about it, but they sense that things are wrong, and they want someone to put them right. Every effort people make fails... but the Lord's personal presence will put everything right.
The ESV says "justice to the nations." Older translations say "judgment to the Gentiles." The writers quoted here use the older wording.
His glory showed itself first in quietness. The rest still waits.
Here, though, it is the Servant. He is the object of the Lord's delight and the One of His choice. He is the vessel of the power of the Spirit, and He makes judgment known to the nations... His glory was beyond all rivalry, yet He showed it first in perfect, quiet lowliness. What marked Him was not a display of far-reaching power. It was meek withdrawal — not only when faced with murderous hatred, but away from the crowds that followed Him... His victory at His second coming brings this state of things to an end. Then He will set judgment in the earth, and the islands will wait for His law.
- Behold — the verse tells us to look. The One shown is Christ, the Servant in whom God's delight rests.
- Chosen — God's choice falls on the Lord Jesus. Not on a conqueror like Cyrus, and not on the nation that failed as His servant.
- Upheld — the Servant does not stand alone. God holds Him and puts His Spirit on Him, as Isaiah says again in chapter 11.
- Sent — His reach is not Israel only. Judgment goes out to the nations, and that judgment is grace that puts wrong things right.
- Unfinished — His first coming filled out the quiet, lowly part. Setting judgment in the earth waits for His return.
He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
Isaiah has been describing God's chosen Servant. Here the picture turns to how He acts, and the surprise is that the One who will bring justice to the nations makes no noise at all. Why does He refuse the street, the crowd, and the raised voice? And when will that silence end?
The New Testament settles who this Servant is. It does so at a pointed moment in the story.
We know for certain that the Servant in this passage is Christ. In Matthew's gospel the Spirit of God applies these words to the Lord, at the moment when He refused to take any public place in the nation whose leaders were seeking to destroy Him (Matthew 12:14–21). He would make no national appeal. He would raise no flag. No one would hear His voice in the streets of the city. He would pass through the land in such lowly quietness that He would not break a reed already bruised, or put out a wick that was barely burning.
Raising your voice in the street has long been a political move. One writer spells out what the verse rules out.
He would not quarrel or cry out. That is, He started no public movement for reform, and He never advertised Himself. He had no opportunist spirit. He never used the large crowds to lift Himself up as the champion of some cause. Hearing His voice in the streets would of course mean raising it in public protest against wrongs, real or imagined. That has been a popular political move through history, and it still is today. He avoided every such thing.
The restraint was not only towards those plotting His death. It also held when the crowds would have made Him famous.
Yet His glory was beyond all competition, and He showed it first in perfect, quiet lowliness. What marked Him out was not far-reaching testimony but meek retirement. He kept out of sight when murderous hatred surrounded Him. He also kept away from the crowds that followed Him and from the admiration of those He healed, who would have spread His fame. He told them not to make Him known, so that what the prophet Isaiah said would come true: "Behold my servant …"
The quietness flows from the position He had taken. A servant's business is his master's name, not his own.
As the Witness of God He had to confront the world, and so He met its hatred, as we read in John (John 7:7). Yet as the Servant of God, seen here in Mark, He was hiding Himself, as far as His service allowed. Service is never perfect without that. A servant is not to know himself. He is to know only his master, and to be very willing that others likewise should not know him, but only his master. And it is so with the Lord. He goes on with His work; and if that draws notice, His way is still to go on, and, under fresh services, still to hide Himself.
The verse describes a stage, not a permanent condition.
But we must not lose sight of the point of the quotation. It is the lowly place Christ took when He came in grace and humiliation, before the day when He will lift up His voice in judgment.
Every other ruler has failed at what He will finish.
The mighty ones of the earth have tried to bring in worldwide peace and blessing. They have failed and grown discouraged. But this perfect, lowly Man will "not faint nor be in haste" until He has set judgment in the earth and brought the nations to trust in His rule.
What was true of the Master is asked of those who serve Him.
"A servant of the Lord must not quarrel or fight, but be gentle towards all." So the Lord had taught and lived, and the disciple is not above his teacher. But are not some people so difficult that they deserve at least a sharp word? He must still be "gentle towards all". The question is not how unpleasant people are, but how well he presents Christ. It is easy enough to wound or overthrow a man; but what if it grieves the Holy Spirit of God and dishonours Christ?
- Servant. The quietness of this verse belongs to Christ; Matthew applies it to Him at the moment when the leaders were seeking to destroy Him.
- Silent. No public movement, no self-advertisement, no voice raised in protest in the street — He avoided every such thing.
- Hidden. A servant is not to know himself, only his master. So the Lord kept working and kept hiding, even from admirers who would have spread His fame.
- Tender. That same lowliness meant He would not break the bruised reed or put out the barely burning wick.
- Later. The silence is for now. A day comes when He lifts up His voice in judgment and sets justice in the earth.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench he shall bring forth judgment according to truth.
Isaiah 42 opens with God pointing to His chosen Servant, and this verse shows how He treats what is weak and half-dead. A crushed reed and a dying wick are worth nothing, so why does the One who brings justice to the nations leave them alone?
Israel had failed as God's servant. Here the prophecy turns to another.
This makes the opening of Isaiah 42 stand out. The prophecy turns away from Israel, the failing servant of God, and introduces the Lord Jesus as the true Servant of God. We are to fix our attention on Him, for He is the chosen One in whom God's delight rests. He is the one who will bring forth judgment for the nations, and not only for Israel. Here again we find a prophecy that was partly fulfilled at His first coming, but waits for His second coming for the rest of its details.
His glory first showed itself in staying out of sight, even when men wanted Him dead.
Yet He, whose glory was beyond all rivals, showed it first in a perfect lowliness that drew no attention to itself. Even far-reaching power of testimony was not what marked Him out. Quiet withdrawal marked Him out. He withdrew not only when facing murderous hatred, but also from the crowds that followed Him and from the praise of those He had healed, who would have spread His fame.
Both images are chosen for their uselessness. Older translations call the dying wick "smoking flax," and one writer names the people it pictures.
Nothing is more worthless than a bruised reed, and nothing more offensive to the nose than smoking flax. The Pharisees were like both of these, but He will not break and quench them until the time of judgment arrives. Meanwhile in His name the Gentiles are learning to trust.
Commentators differ over who the two pictures stand for. Some read them of the nation as a whole rather than its leaders:
Israel was a bruised reed, but He would not break it; His earthly people, who should have been a flaming torch in testimony for God, had become a smoking flax that gave no light to the nations around but rather clouded them — yet He would not quench Israel.
The verse is often quoted as pure tenderness. One writer warns that this restraint has a time limit.
A bruised reed is very weak, and smoking flax easily quenched. "Until" — He is going to do it in judgment by and by. What people mean when they quote it is right enough: He is tender and gentle to any poor thing. But He is going to deal with man in judgment. His grace comes out here, but it will not always be grace; He will not always be so gentle. Smoking flax speaks of something fit for judgment; we usually put it out, He left it alone.
He had the strength to act, and chose not to use it.
The Lord, in His day, refuses to break the bruised reed, or to quench the smoking flax. He refuses to use His strength and authority even for the righteous judgment of His enemies (see Matt. 12). He will not argue or cry out, or let His voice be heard in the streets, but, "suffering thus far," He overcomes evil with good.
He treated His own followers the same way when their hope had collapsed.
He came close to them in their sorrow and grief with all the gentleness that had always marked His dealings with them. They were the bruised reed and the smoking flax, which He would not break or quench. They were broken in heart and sore in spirit. They needed the healing of the great Physician, and He was there to point out the sickness gently and apply the cure.
The last clause promises the outcome: He will "faithfully bring forth justice," which older translations render "judgment according to truth." Gentleness here is not weakness, and looking like failure is not failure.
He will not come like political agitators among men. He will not break bruised reeds or quench smoking flax. That is, He will not deal in judgment with such false and offensive people as the Pharisees were (see Matt. 12:14-21). Yet He will finally bring forth judgment to truth, and that will be victory. It may look as if He fails when He comes the first time in grace, but He will not fail, nor will He be discouraged. Moses failed. Elijah lost heart because he seemed to fail. But this Servant will do His appointed task perfectly.
- Servant. Israel failed in the role; the prophecy turns to the Lord Jesus, the chosen One in whom God's delight rests.
- Restraint. The reed and the wick were fit for judgment, and He left them alone — grace withheld the blow He had every right to strike.
- Reach. He did not crush the Pharisees who wanted Him dead, and He did not break His own followers when their hope had collapsed.
- Manner. He showed His glory by quiet withdrawal. He overcame evil with good instead of using His authority against His enemies.
- Outcome. The word "until" sets a limit. He will bring judgment to truth, and though His first coming looked like failure, He will not fail.
He shall not faint nor be in haste, till he have set justice in the earth and the isles shall wait for his law.
Isaiah's picture of the Lord's Servant ends with a promise about the Servant Himself: He is gentle with the weak, and He will never break down. Two questions follow — who is this Servant, and when does His law reach the far-off coastlands?
The chapters nearby speak of Cyrus, the foreign king God raised up to break Babylon, and of Israel, whom God calls His servant. One writer shows that the Servant of verses 1–4 is neither:
Isaiah 42 is where Isaiah first presents the Messiah as "My servant." Israel had been given that name in the chapter before, with help soon to come through Cyrus, when God judged Babylon and its idols. But a greater than Cyrus or Israel is here, however similar the words used. "A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench; he shall bring forth judgment in truth. He shall not burn dimly nor be crushed, till he have set justice in the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law." Beyond a doubt it is the Messiah, in His blessed absence of self — a selflessness no conqueror ever showed, and one that He alone could carry through perfectly. But it looks on to the day when the nations will submit to His law, replacing every false god.
Kelly follows an older translation here. Where the ESV has "not grow faint or be discouraged," his reads "not burn dimly nor be crushed" — the same words used of the smoking wick and the bruised reed. The Servant never becomes what He handles so gently.
Every other servant of God broke down somewhere. This Servant will not:
He will not fail nor be discouraged till He has set judgment in the earth and brought in the new things Isaiah 42 speaks of. Every servant of God who was only human has failed to some degree and has been discouraged. To the outward observer His course would end in what looked like the greatest failure of all.
The same writer names two of them:
Moses failed. Elijah grew discouraged because he seemed to fail. But this Servant will complete His appointed task perfectly.
The verse holds two ages together. Matthew applies these words to the time when Jesus came in grace, and the setting up of justice belongs to a later day:
Matthew 12:14–21 quotes this prophecy to show the lowliness and patience of His coming in grace... He was not an agitator, stirring up the crowd. The powers that were against Him were enough to make any servant of God discouraged and fail, yet He carried on His service to the end. He brought forth judgment according to truth by His sacrificial death and resurrection. But we must wait for His second coming to see judgment publicly set up in the earth, so that the most distant isle shall wait for His law.
Kelly explains what held Him back. It was timing, not weakness:
It was not yet the hour to lift up His voice in judgment, as the blind Jews wanted, though that would have meant their own destruction... So He became a light to the Gentiles when Israel would have none of Him. He cared for the weakest and was in no way discouraged, until He has set judgment in place and the isles wait for His law, in the day of His open power and glory.
The "isles" are the far-off nations. Matthew does not quote this line word for word, and one writer explains why both wordings stand:
In Matthew, the isles waiting for His law in verse 4 becomes "in his name the Gentiles will hope." The prophet points more definitely to the blessing of the nations in the age of His reign. The Spirit uses the words for the principle on which they will be blessed then, and are blessed now, before that day.
The promise is not only about the future. It gives the believer solid ground today:
He may be despised and rejected by men. Yet, after long patience, He will "set judgment in the earth." His law, which "the isles" wait for, will then be in force throughout the world. What good reason has the believer, who now knows Him as his Saviour, his Lord, and Head, to rejoice in Him? "He shall not fail!" This faithful Servant shall surely establish all that God has committed to Him.
- Who — the Servant here is not Cyrus and not the nation, but Messiah, "a greater than Cyrus or Israel."
- What He will not become — He will not burn dimly nor be crushed; His gentleness with the weak never turns into weakness of His own.
- Unlike the rest — Moses failed and Elijah grew discouraged; this Servant "will complete His appointed task perfectly."
- When — He brought judgment forth in truth at the cross and resurrection; He will set it up publicly in the earth at His return.
- How far — His reach extends to "the most distant isle," where the nations will submit to His law in place of every false god.
Thus saith God, Jehovah, he that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth and its productions, he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein
Isaiah 42 opens by pointing to God's chosen Servant, and at verse 5 the speaker steps forward and names Himself by what He has made. The question the verse presses is why a commission needs a Creator's signature — and why the making of man is described in two parts, breath and spirit.
The words from verse 5 onward are spoken to the Servant who has just been introduced, and they begin with God's own credentials.
God has called our attention to this true Servant. In verses 5-9 we have words spoken to Him by prophecy. Verse 5 stresses God's acts in creation. The heavens and the earth are the work of His hands, and so is mankind. He has given us the breath of our bodies, and also the spirit, which is what marks man out from the animals. Now this mighty Creator has called His true Servant in righteousness. He has made Him a covenant to the people and a light to the nations.
The list of creative acts is not decoration. It stands over against the carved images mentioned a few lines later, and it settles whether the promise can be kept.
This leads Jehovah in magnificent terms to speak of what He will accomplish through His own name and glory, in contrast with graven images. "Thus says God Jehovah, He that created the heavens, and stretched them forth… I am Jehovah; that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images." … Is this, or anything else, too hard for Jehovah?
The verse names two things given to the people who walk on the earth. Other passages trace where the second one comes from and where it goes.
About the spirits of people in the world generally, Isaiah 42:5 tells us that God "spread out the earth," and that He "gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it." The Creator who gives breath to men also gives spirit. Zechariah 12:1 then shows that He is the One who "formed the spirit of man within him." Ecclesiastes 12:7 shows that the spirit goes back to its Giver and Maker when it leaves the body: "the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." Twice Numbers calls God "the God of the spirits of all flesh" (16:22; 27:16).
Some argue that the two halves of the line say the same thing twice. On that reading, "spirit" is only another word for the breath of life. One writer answers that this would empty the sentence of sense.
Mr. Constable holds that these parallel lines simply say the same thing twice in different words. That is a false and unworthy idea of them, and it would reduce them to empty repetition. Every verse that uses such lines shows otherwise. What a poor repetition it would be to make Isaiah say, as he would: "who gives breath to the people on it, and breath (spirit) to those who walk in it."
If the spirit is a real gift and not a synonym for breathing, then it marks out what a human being is.
The spirit of man is a wonderful and most important gift of the Creator. So God, who gave it, will not set it aside or make little of it in its own sphere. The spirit is what sets man apart from the animal, and by it he is made in the image of God. By it, in the place creation gave him, he is a son of God, as the animal is not; for God is "the Father of spirits" only (Heb. 12:9). So he can recognise God, and have a God, in a way completely different from the animal, which knows nothing, and is therefore not a moral being, and so can never be immoral.
Because breath is given, no one holds it as property. Paul made the same point to a city full of shrines.
The God unknown to the Athenians is the Creator of all things, the Lord of heaven and earth. Human temples are nothing to Him, and they cannot shut Him in. People do not worship Him through the works of their own hands, as though He needed man to supply Him. He is the great Giver instead. He gives the material things people care so much about, and He gives life and breath, the basic things our existence rests on.
- Speaker. In verse 5 God begins to address His chosen Servant. He signs the words with creation: the heavens stretched out, the earth spread out, mankind made.
- Gift one: breath. Life and breath are His gift, not our possession; He is the Giver, never the one supplied by human hands.
- Gift two: spirit. The line does not repeat itself. It names breath and spirit as two gifts, and reading them as one word twice drains the sentence of meaning.
- Reach. The spirit sets man apart from the animals. It makes him the image of God, able to recognise God, and it returns to the God who gave it.
- Result. A God this great owes no idol anything, and no obstacle stops Him. So the Servant He calls in righteousness cannot fail. Is anything too hard for Him?
I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, and will take hold of thy hand; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations,
Isaiah 42 opens with God pointing to a Servant He delights in. By verse 6 He speaks to that Servant directly, and the words raise two questions: who is this Servant, and how can a person be a covenant?
The chapter turns on a change of subject. Earlier in Isaiah the nation itself is called God's servant, but here a different figure steps forward, and the New Testament settles the identification.
This is Jehovah's Servant above all others, beyond any comparison. It is not Cyrus here, and not Israel, though Isaiah 41:8 calls Israel His servant. It is Christ. Only of Him does Isaiah 42:6 say that He is given "for a covenant of the people and a light of the Gentiles." This is not an ideal figure, but the real Messiah.
The contrast is deliberate. One servant failed; the other does not.
This highlights the opening of Isaiah 42. There the prophecy turns from Israel, the failing servant of God, and introduces the Lord Jesus as the true Servant of God. We are to fix our attention on Him, for He is the chosen One in whom God's delight rests.
Verse 5 has just described God stretching out the heavens and giving breath to the people on the earth. That same power stands behind the calling in verse 6.
Now that our attention has been drawn to this true Servant, verses 5-9 give us words spoken to Him in prophecy. Verse 5 stresses the acts of God in creation. He has given us not only the breath of our bodies but also the spirit, which sets man apart from the animals. Now this mighty Creator has called His true Servant in righteousness. He has established Him as a covenant to the people and a light to the nations. In verse 9 Jehovah declares new things, so we can see that the new covenant is predicted here.
Israel already knew about covenants. What is new here is that a Person, rather than a set of terms, is handed over as the covenant itself.
In Isaiah 42 verse 6 we read that God gives our Lord Jesus Christ, the faithful Servant, "for a Covenant of the people." God had made an unconditional covenant with Abraham and a conditional one with Israel at Sinai. But He who centres all things in Himself is the Covenant.
That shifts where security rests.
So how secure, how stable, how sure everything must be in Him. In the letter to the Hebrews we read that He is "the Surety" of the new covenant, that His precious blood is "the blood of the everlasting covenant," and that He is "the Mediator" of the new covenant. But here He Himself is the Covenant. So it must be, like Himself, unfailing and perfect. Who would not rejoice in such a Saviour! Everything depends upon Him, not upon us.
The verse pairs two phrases, and the grammar keeps them distinct. The covenant is singular and national; the light is not.
When did God enter into covenant with the Gentiles? God has given Christ, the rejected Christ, as a light to the Gentiles, so that He may be His salvation to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:6). But He is a covenant of the people, not of peoples. So Scripture never says the Gentiles are grafted in instead of the Jews.
The second half of the verse pushes the Servant's range past any one nation, and commentators warn that losing this breadth is where error starts.
This same verse shows us another shining glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is given "for a Light of the Gentiles." He is not only a Covenant for the people of God; He is given as a Light for all. High privileges belong to Israel, and higher ones still to the assembly, the body of Christ. But as the Light He shines for the world. We need to pay attention to this, for every falling away from the faith begins with wrong thoughts of Him.
The apostles treated this word as a command to act on.
His hearers still refused to believe in the Son of God. So the apostle turned the gospel invitation to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46). He did this in line with what Jehovah said to His Servant, Who is His Son (Isaiah 42:6; Acts 13:47).
Commentators see two time frames in the verse.
Israel will reject this servant, as prophecy says. But the Gentiles are to see His light and rejoice in His salvation. It is true that most of these predictions wait for His future work. When He comes again, God will give Him the Gentiles for an inheritance. But these predictions also imply what is now in force... Through Him Gentiles are saved now and when He comes again even the ends of the earth will know Him.
- Called — God speaks to the true Servant, Christ, not to Israel, the servant who failed. The Creator Himself stands behind the call.
- Kept — God takes His Servant by the hand and keeps Him; the mighty Creator stands behind the work.
- Given — He is not the go-between for a covenant only; He is the covenant, which is why everything rests on Him and not on us.
- Distinguished — "a covenant for the people" means Israel, one people. "A light for the nations" goes wider. Commentators stress that God made no covenant with the Gentiles.
- Shining — the light is already going out through the gospel, and will be seen to the ends of the earth when He comes again.
to open the blind eyes, to bring forth the prisoner from the prison, them that sit in darkness out of the house of restraint.
Isaiah 42:7 closes the list of tasks God gives His Servant: opening eyes, emptying prisons, ending darkness. Who is this Servant, whose eyes are blind, and when do the prison doors swing open?
The verse belongs to a speech in which the Creator addresses His chosen Servant. Writers identify Him by contrast with the nation that had failed in the same role.
Jehovah, the Creator of the heavens and earth, addresses Christ. In chapter 41 God addresses Israel as the servant of Jehovah, and calls and keeps him (Isa. 41:8–10). Here Christ takes the place of Israel. God declares Him to be Jehovah's servant. He is the One called in righteousness, held, and kept — kept to carry out the promises to Israel and to bring light to the Gentiles.
Later in the same chapter the prophet turns on the nation itself.
Israel is in view here — "perfect," yet "blind." Their privilege was perfect, and so their responsibility was solemn; but their failure was terrible... "But this is a people robbed and plundered. They are all trapped in holes and hidden away in prison houses. They are prey, and no one rescues them."
One writer traces both the cause and the cure.
Israel needs Him to do this for them, for they have become blind, and are "a people hidden away in prison houses" (vv. 18–22). They had sinned against the Lord and turned to idols, so Israel was useless as the Lord's national servant and messenger (v. 19). But once they are brought into contact with Christ the personal Servant, their eyes will be opened, and the works of God will be openly displayed in the nation — as they were in the one blind man of John 9, "so that the works of God might be displayed in him."
Writers tie the tasks of this verse to the words that follow it.
Jehovah has given Him not only to be "a covenant of the people," but also "a light to the Gentiles," "to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness." He alone can do this, and He will do it with no help. What follows surely seals it: "I am Jehovah; that is My name; My glory I will not give to another."
Paul used this promise to explain why he preached outside Israel.
In preaching the gospel Paul, when "the Jews saw the crowds and were filled with envy and contradicted him," said, "See, we turn to the Gentiles; for this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have set you as a light of the nations" (Acts 13:47). The Light, like the gospel and the salvation of God, goes out to all people everywhere.
Christ opened blind eyes with a word.
He questions the two blind men: do they believe He is able to answer what they ask? No doubt He does this to draw out the decision of their faith. When they answer yes, He speaks and acts according to their faith, and their eyes are opened. He is indeed the Son of David, fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 42:7.
But the same Servant also sent His apostle to do the work at a deeper level.
The Jews say that opening the eyes of the blind in the physical sense was kept for the Messiah. If that is so, here we see how He sent His apostle to do the work, not for the body only but for the heart. This showed itself when Gentiles heard the call of the Lord and turned from darkness to light — and, to name the source of each more exactly, from the power of Satan to God. Then came the great privileges of the gospel: the forgiveness of sins and a place among those set apart by faith in Christ.
Writers hold that Israel's release comes at Christ's command, not by human arrangement.
Men may seek to restore the land to the Jew, and bring the Jews back to the land. Their efforts may seem to succeed for a time. But they will only bring the Jew back for the judgment of the great tribulation. To come back for blessing they must wait until Christ gives the word. In His time He will say to the prisoners, "Go forth," and to those in darkness, "Show yourselves"... no power will withstand His words.
- Servant. Israel failed in the role, so Christ takes Israel's place — called, held, and kept to do what the nation could not.
- Blindness. The first blind eyes here are the nation's own — perfect in privilege, blind in fact, robbed and hidden in prison houses.
- Alone. He alone can do it, and He needs no help. That is why the next line says God gives His glory to no one else.
- Reach. Given as covenant to one people but as light to all — the sentence Paul used when he turned to the nations.
- Release. He opened eyes with a word on earth, He opens them now through the gospel, and the prisoners go free when He says, "Go forth."