The Messiah Way: Integrity and Humility (Is. 42:1-4)

This well-known passage surprisingly telling something that profoundly radical and very different from what we actually and already know about the messiah. The passage isn’t just telling us about something philosophical or theological, like the destiny of the messiah: that he will be unrecognized, suffer (and finally die), or about the nature of his work: that he will not crush the broken reed and snuff out the light of the wavering wick. Rather, it elaborates something more practical that usually neglected by people while reading this passage. It was about how the messiah will bring out his work and do his mission.

In verse 2, it is said that the messiah doesn’t shout or raise his voice and that his proclamations are not heard in the streets. I presume it explains about two things: first, rather than focus on the “talking ministries”, the messiah will more focus on the “acting ministries”. Of course, this is not meant to undermine the necessity and the important of speaking in ministry like teaching, counseling, and preaching. And as we already know, as the messiah, Jesus did a lot of talking ministry, like preaching at the synagogues, taught his disciple and talking to many people on many occasions. So, Jesus indeed was not a freak solitary person, rather he was a happy socializing rabbi. He could talk to various kind of persons; from a young child to a highly sophisticated law teacher. So, what does it mean? We must put this verse into the socio-historical context that embedded with this Isaiah’s messianic hope, if we want to grasp the meaning of this verse.

One of the most significant failures of the religious and political leaders at Isaiah’s time was that they were living in hypocrisy. Hypocrisy means a life that is not integrated. It means there is a huge gap between the talk and the walk, the words and the deeds, the saying and the doing. Or simply put it is a double standard life. And it was a common knowledge at that time that majority of the leaders had a public life that was very different with their private hidden life. In their public life, they were shining like a star but in their private life, they were as dark as the devil itself.  They used to quote good sentences from the scripture or chanting prayers loudly on the street but at their best, they were just empty sayings. In the reality, they were doing all kinds of evil and oppression for their own gains and interests. What was lack in the situation like that is the actions or the implementation of the sayings! And interestingly this was very similar to Jesus own situation. What was different with Jesus ministry is that he was not just “talk”, rather he walks the talk. When he taught his disciples to forgive and pray for the enemies, he did it on the cross while he asked the Father to forgive those that had crucified him. He was not just taught his disciples to pray, he himself was the man of prayer!  In short, Jesus life was a very integrated life.

Secondly, it was a very humble ministry. The street was the place for the people to gather for many reasons. At that time, the street was not just use for transportation or to connect places. It was also a place for socializing and even for economic life. That is why the street often been the strategic place for those who wanted to gain public attention from the crowds. Royal announcements or punishments usually declared and did at the street. On Jesus day, the Pharisees used to say or chant their prayers at the street to attract public recognition. So, the street actually symbolizes popularity, pride, and even power. Those who had the street had the people as well.

Logically, if the messiah wants to build his kingdom, he must not just begin it at the temple but also on the street. Because, while the temple symbolized the divine’s anointment, the street gave him the people’s approval. That is why, while Jesus heading up to the Temple in Jerusalem, the people screaming and shouting out (not Jesus), on the street “Hosanna—come and save us!” (In this scene, interestingly, it was not Jesus who looked after the crowd’s approval, it was the people that actually gave their total submission and even loyalty to Jesus!) Did Jesus ever use this kind of approach in his ministry? Never! Taking on another risky and not familiar way--the uneasy, lonely, hard and demanding way, the way of the cross--Jesus completely abandoned this method while serving others. On many occasions, when the people repeatedly wanted to crown Jesus to be their king, he refused and rather went into solitary place to pray.

In this very noisy age, where people shouting out loud through social media and even mocking one another to compete and fight in order to gain attention from the masses (even though they're using hoax and false information, God knows they never care!), it is good for us to ponder on the way Jesus doing his ministry. Let us be the people of integrity and let us doing our work faithfully not for the sake of popularity but for the sake of humanity itself.