Baptism of the Lord Isaiah 42:1-9

One of the beauties of the lectionary is that it brings together the Old and New Testament in the way the first Christians saw them. It gives us “binocular” vision instead of the lack of depth perception we get when we only view either by itself.

It is no surprise that Isaiah 42:1-9 is paired with Matthew 3:13-17 in the lectionary. The earliest Christians saw Jesus clearly when they read Isaiah 42 and it is easy to see why.

In this guide I’m going to approach Isaiah 42 squarely in light of Jesus, rather than digging deep into the context and textual difficulties of Isaiah. This will be, in essence, a canonical approach, because I suspect that it will be a more congenial angle for preaching on this passage. For great options that would go deeper in that direction,

1. Put yourself in the position of one of the watchers on the bank of the Jordan River. With Isaiah 42 in mind... what might your response have been to the events at Jesus' baptism?

2. It's kind of interesting to note that only a few chapters later (Matt. 11), John the Baptist has doubts, asking if they should look "for another." Why do you think he could have gone from witnessing the baptism to questioning?

3. How does Isa. 42:2-4 change the picture we might have expected of the messiah?

4. How should we understand "establishing justice"? How does Jesus establish justice without "cracking heads"?

5. What are some ways in which you have witnessed Jesus open eyes of the blind and release…