If you have a good memory, you may remember the story of Keith Allen Barton from the USA in 2014.
Barton made lots of promises. He claimed he could cure things like cancer and HIV with a new alternative therapy. People trusted Dr. Barton, and many put their lives in his hands.
That was a mistake!
He wasn’t a real doctor. He had no medical training. His treatments didn’t cure anyone. He was exposed and received a sentence of more than six years for claiming to be what he was not.
Isaiah 42 shows a much different story.
“Here is my Servant, whom I uphold, my Chosen One in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on Him and He will bring justice to the nations . . . In faithfulness He will bring forth justice; He will not falter or be discouraged till He establishes justice on Earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.” (Isaiah 42:1, 3, 4)
After exposing all the “pretenders,” all the false gods who could do nothing but snuff out all hope in the previous chapter of Isaiah, the Lord introduces the Real Contender, his chosen Servant who will contend for us and deliver exactly what is promised to those who need real hope. That Servant is Jesus! Jesus is the Real Contender. There is nothing phony about Him.
The people of Isaiah’s day had lots of options when it came to looking for hope. There was the hope their king could help them stay safe and prosperous through military might or political manoeuvering.
There was the hope they could somehow make their own way through life.
Then there was the hope that Isaiah’s prophetic predictions of doom, defeat, and downfall were just wrong.
And, of course, there was the hope that was offered to the followers of the false gods worshiped in Babylon, such as Marduk, or the Canaanite gods, Baal and Asherah. All pretenders who offer no real hope, like the phony Dr. Barton.
People still have lots of choices today. And they will always choose what they think will bring meaning and security to their lives. We could say an idol is anyone or anything we believe will give us what only God can give. An idol is whatever we look at and say, “If I can get that, then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure.”
Or, to put it negatively, an idol is something we feel we cannot live without.
So, as idols, people today will choose money, self-indulgence, sexual pleasure, drugs, power, and success. They will look to princes and rulers and government to keep them safe and prosperous. They will look to their own good works or to the acclaim of others to give them meaning.
But they are all pretenders, and there is greater danger here than just making the wrong choice. There is the danger that the choice will destroy you and leave you with nothing but eternal regret and despair. You will wind up like the phony Dr. Barton’s patients, none of whom received any benefit for their trust.
That’s why our Lord says to each one of us who’s clinging to false hopes, “No! Here is My Servant!”
Here is God’s choice for hope and salvation, the One who will contend for us. And Jesus is God’s choice and our real contender. In Him we can confidently place our trust. He has brought justice to us now by taking our place on the cross and freeing us from the bondage of sin. He will not falter in bringing true justice to all the nations when He returns at the end of the age to give life eternal to those who have trusted in Him and eternal damnation to those who trusted in all their false idols.
Jesus is not just the real contender, He is the only contender!
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
Peter said of Jesus: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
The world may believe Jesus is one of numerous real contenders, but His own words say otherwise. Only Jesus can offer what was promised: justice, real hope and an eternity with Him in the New Heaven and New Earth.
All the false religions and idols of this world bring only false hope We can confidently place our complete trust in Jesus, our Real Contender, to fulfill all He has set out to accomplish in bringing justice to all the Earth and deliver exactly what is promised to those who need real hope.
Blessings!
Rev. Terry Goerz,
Redeemer Lutheran Church.