God the Son, Mentor's Guide, MG10

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G O D T H E S O N

1. Jesus inaugurated his public ministry in Nazareth by an appeal to an OT Messianic text regarding Yahweh’s Suffering Servant, Isaiah 61.1 with Luke 4.18-19

2. Jesus thus identifies himself with the Servant of the Lord in the OT (e.g., the prophet Isaiah)

a. He concentrated on meeting the needs of the broken and the beaten, suggesting that “only the sick need a physician,” Mark 2.14-17

b. He rebuked the religious leaders for their inability to be merciful and compassionate to the poor, Luke 18.9-14

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c. He made treatment of the poor the litmus test of the quality of one’s relationship with God, Matt. 25.31-46

3. Jesus is acknowledged by the early Christian community to be the Servant of the Lord, John 1.41; Acts 4.27; Acts 10.38

4. Jesus fulfills the OT witness regarding the faithful Servant of the Lord who would judge and lead justly over God’s people (cf. Matt. 12.16-20 with Isa. 42.1-4)

5. Jesus is Yahweh’s Servant whose prophetic word brings sustenance and power to those who hear, (cf. Matt. 11.29-30 with Isa. 50.4)

6. Jesus in his death would be the dramatic Sacrificial Servant of Isaiah 53, the one whose life and experience of suffering would end in his substitutionary death for all humankind, Isa. 53.2-6