Behold My Servant
BEHOLD MY SERVANT
MATTHEW 12:15-21
The Father delights in Jesus Christ and the nations hope in him.
That the breaking-point between Jesus and the synagogue was the conflict over Sabbath observance is attested by the Synoptic narrative and the Fourth Gospel alike (cf. John 5:9ff.). Withdrawing from the synagogue, Jesus was followed by many who needed his help even more than they needed the synagogue ministrations, “and he healed them all” (12:15). This pattern of withdrawal from the synagogue and detaching disciples from it is repeatedly re-enacted in the apostolic age (cf. Acts 13:46ff.; 17:4ff.; 18:6f., and especially 19:8f.). Again the secrecy motif appears (cf. 8:4; 9:30); on this occasion the evangelist adduces Old Testament authority for it.
It is noteworthy that the citation of Isaiah 42:1-4 comes at this point. The religious leaders of Judaism have repudiated Jesus, but the crucial question is: what is God’s estimate of him? This question is answered in the terms of what we know today as the first of the four Isaianic Servant Songs. Its opening words were echoed by the heavenly voice at the baptism (3:17). Jesus is presented by God as his Servant, and the words cited here convey divine approval of the kind of ministry he has been accomplishing, including the avoidance of publicity which characterizes it. The wording of this Greek citation in 12:18-21 is closer to the Hebrew text of Isaiah 42:1-4 than the common “Septuagint” version is; it is probably an independent translation of the Hebrew used, or perhaps actually composed, by the evangelist.
While the four Servant Songs in Isaiah 42–53 were not distinguished as such before the end of the nineteenth century, it was inevitable that the two passages beginning “Behold my servant” (42:1-4 and 52:13–53:12) should be related one to the other as referring to one and the same person. A citation from the second of these two passages (the fourth Servant Song, as we call it) has already appeared in 8:17 (see also notes on 20:28; 26:28). The final clause of the present citation (12:21) points on to the post-resurrection Gentile mission (cf. 28:19f.)
Consider in detail the relevance of the portrayal of the Servant quoted in Matthew 12:18-21 to the facts of our Lord’s ministry.