Sermons at St Aidan's

The servant has secured salvation for God's people through his sacrifice, so let us all come to him and rejoice in our redemption and call the world to join us also,

Today as we continue in Isaiah, we come to one of the most famous passages of Isaiah, if not the entire Old Testament. Isaiah promised a coming servant who would redeem God's people and become the light to the nations that Israel failed to be. The promise is fulfilled in Jesus, and in Isaiah 53, we discover how Jesus will redeem his people.

As we continue this week in Isaiah, God's people receive a wake-up call. As they are reminded of God's power and promises fulfilled in the past, they are called to wake up to these realities and confidently rejoice and proclaim what the Lord has done.

Those who hope in the Lord will not be disappointed because God has sent his suffering servant, Jesus, to save his people. Therefore, we can trust God in hopeless situations because of his faithfulness to Jesus and the future promise where God will make all things new.

The challenge of this section is that God will use a pagan idolater, the Persian King Cyrus the Great, as his instrument to rescue His people from captivity. Many of God's people will be outraged at this, but God maintains His complete sovereignty in these events and will ensure that every knee will bow to Him.

Today in Isaiah, we continue to hear words of comfort for God's people living as exiles. God speaks of his great love and tender care for his people, and the price he will pay to redeem them and bring them home. Isaiah contrasts the character of the true God with the nature of idolatry so that we might see the absurdity of false saviours, and find our fulfillment in the God who redeems.

As we continue in Isaiah, we are told that God's promises involve establishing a worldwide justice and a renewal of creation, and that all of this will come through the work of a mysterious servant.

There is a dramatic change in the Book of Isaiah at this point as Isaiah's message of judgement culminating in exile, turns to a message of hope and renewal after exile. But, how will this come about? And what will it mean for God's weary people caught up in a world of sin?

In John's Gospel chapter 9, we hear Jesus' claim to be the light of the world, and he gives sight to a blind man as a sign to prove his claims. We also see varying responses from those who meet Jesus, denial, avoidance, opposition, worship. As we meet Jesus in his word, we too must decide how we will respond to him?

Jesus saves and sustains God's people. He is where true life is found. His death means life for us.