Main passages: Philippians 2:5–8; Isaiah 42:1–7; Isaiah 49:1–13; Isaiah 50:4–11; Isaiah 52:13–53:12

This Is About Christ — and About Us

The title of my message today is "Behold My Servant." Let me say at the outset: when we speak about the servant of God, we immediately think of full-time ministers and pastors. This is not about them. It is about Christ — and about us.

I begin with a passage that has come up several times in the last few weeks, Philippians 2. "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:5–7). The key phrase is the form of a servant — in my mother tongue, Malayalam, dasa roopam. Look at the steps: He emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, humbled Himself, and "became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:8).

The God Who Came Down

This emptying — the kenosis — runs through the whole Bible: "though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). Now look at the other side. The Antichrist of 2 Thessalonians 2 "opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship." In Isaiah 14, the king of Babylon — and behind him, Satan himself — falls because of the five "I wills": I will ascend, I will raise my throne, I will make myself like the Most High. In Ezekiel 28, the king of Tyre is blameless in Eden until pride enters. Pride exalts itself and is hurled down; Christ empties Himself and comes down.

Loved by God, Not Applauded by Men

Four passages in Isaiah stand out as the songs of the servant: Isaiah 42, 49, 50, and 52:13–53:12. The first opens with my title: "Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights" (Isaiah 42:1).

Here is the first mark of a servant of God: I am loved and approved by God — not necessarily applauded by the audience or approved by the majority, but approved by the One who looks at my heart and weighs my motives. God's long-standing word to Abraham was, "Walk before me, and be blameless." Jesus said to the religion of His day, "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" (John 5:44). A person approved by God is one whose motives and methods match the heart of God, not one who lives for peer approval.

His Spirit Upon Me — and Tender Care for the Weak

The second mark: "I have put my Spirit upon him" (Isaiah 42:1). The one thing I need, the one thing that sets me apart, is the Spirit of God. And see how that Spirit makes me behave: "a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench" (Isaiah 42:3). What do we do with a bruised reed? We cut it away. With a dimly burning wick? We snuff it out. The servant of God does the opposite — I show tender care to the hurting, the weak, those who do not count. If the world does not care for you, be sure of this: your Shepherd cares for you. And God makes His servant "a covenant for the people, a light for the nations" (Isaiah 42:6): Jesus Himself is our covenant.

Despised — and a Servant of Rulers

In Isaiah 49 the servant is "one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers" (Isaiah 49:7). A servant of rulers — this is a mystery. Sometimes I wonder why God lets people oppress me until I feel I am not in control of my own life. Then I look at Jesus: standing before Annas, Caiaphas, Herod, and Pilate — court after court, humiliation after humiliation — and yet God declares that this servant will be a light to the nations.

The Obedient Disciple

Isaiah 50 shows me a servant who listens. "Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught" (Isaiah 50:4). And this listening becomes obedience under suffering: "I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6) — yet "I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame" (Isaiah 50:7). I see it in Jesus' final journey to Jerusalem — healing on the way, weeping over the city — every step taken in understanding of the Father's will, the servant of Psalm 40 who came to do the will of God.

The Righteous One Who Justifies Many

The last song, Isaiah 52:13–53:12, is the longest. The servant is despised and abandoned, "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." Yet "it was the will of the LORD to crush him" (Isaiah 53:10), and there is a redemptive nature in his suffering: "by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities" (Isaiah 53:11). I see an echo of this in Paul, who would not be turned back from Jerusalem though prophet after prophet warned him, and who finally reached Rome as a prisoner. Behold my servant: He will justify many, for He will bear their wrongdoings.

Have This Attitude in You

So I come back to Philippians 2, and to us. Paul wrote against a background of conflict in that church — he had to urge Euodia and Syntyche to agree in the Lord. His answer to our conflicts is: behold my servant. "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves" (Philippians 2:3). Humility is not saying "I can do nothing" — that talk vanishes the moment I am ticked off. Humility is considering others more important than myself. When someone appears to me to be of less value, I believe God whispers in my ear: he is actually better than you. We judge on half-baked knowledge; only their Master knows them fully. And "let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:4) — not never my own interests, but not merely my own.

Servants of God, Servants of People

This is not about pastors, bishops, or leaders. "Have this mind among yourselves" is spoken to all of us. When God calls me to be a follower of Christ, He calls me to be a servant — not only a servant of God, but a servant of the people, rising above narrow personal interests and inflated egos. May we qualify for that high title: servant of God.

I closed in prayer: Father, help us to be Your servants. Give us that attitude of emptying and humbling at every step, and place Your Spirit upon us as You promised. With our flesh and our limited capabilities we cannot do any of this, but by Your Spirit, we will.

Behold My Servant (Sunday, Sep 6, 2026)