NOTES for Isa 42:5-16
5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: |
6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; |
7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. |
8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. |
9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. |
10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. |
11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. |
12 Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands. |
13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies. |
14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once. |
15 I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools. |
16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. |
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Today, when the prophecy about the Servant of the Lord has long since been fulfilled, it is worth entering into what exactly God was revealing to His people as the essential aspects of salvation in Christ. "My Servant, whom I hold by the hand," says the Lord, will be meek and humble: "He will not break a bruised reed"... Christians, at least in theory, should know this prophecy by heart. In verses 1-4 of chapter 42, the prophet almost sees the face of Christ. And then God says: "I have given You as a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations." When the prophet wrote these words, Israel's relations with the nations, especially the Palestinian nations, were very difficult. This proclamation of Christian universalism, so far exceeding its historical context, sounds all the more magnificent.
And then the Lord, through the mouth of the prophet, calls us to sing Him a new song. Let the wilderness and the cities, the sea and the mountain peaks "give glory to the Lord and declare His praise," for the Lord has revealed His power. The covenant that Christ made with us involves not only faith that He has accomplished our salvation, but precisely universal praise, gratitude to God for it. This is exactly how the early Fathers of the Church understood the Eucharist. They called it "firstfruits," the firstfruits of the praise and thanksgiving of all creation.
And the Lord says: "I will lead the blind by a road they do not know." Of course, first of all this applies to the Jews, to whom the light of Christ seemed so unacceptably new. But that belongs to the past, and we are not Jews. What matters for us is that this prophecy also applies to us. The Lord says that He will lead all of us by new paths, will turn darkness into light, and crooked ways into straight ones. "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it" - for us, that is what these words correspond to.
Readings for 26 March 2026
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