A Long Reach

It really is amazing how long Isaiah’s has influenced the understanding and hearts of God’s people.  While much of it is admittedly distant from us today, we might well be more amazed that ANY of it is relevant.  And yet, much of the imagery, poetry and vision we find in Isaiah speaks profoundly to us today.  There is much in this book that gives us insight into the heart and intent of God...an incredible thought to ponder in and of itself!

For the Christian church, there is no denying how important this prophet’s work was in helping the early church understand and think about Jesus.  In the first few centuries after christ, the prophet’s work was often referred to as the fifth gospel, and many of its recent commentators have referred to it as a book proclaiming “salvation, and nothing but salvation” (Westermann).   Isaiah’s legacy is that of a long promise of salvation for God’s people, for the unification in peace of the peoples of the world under God’s sovereignty, and of the dispelling of oppressive and unjust forces.  

It is amazing how many passages in the New Testament directly quote Isaiah.  The charts at the bottom of the page offer a glance at places where Isaiah shows up in the New Testament, written at least four hundred years later.  Some are direct quotations, some are barer allusions, but there can be no doubt how heavy the influence of Isaiah was on the earliest communities of Christians. 

As a way of wrapping up a study of Isaiah, a review of these texts could serve a class very well.  Perhaps you would choose to have groups evaluate different sets of the material, or have the Isaiah passages read aloud and see how many sound familiar.  Can anybody remember where these passages show up the New Testament?  As a Teacher, one of the best ways for you to prepare for these sorts of exercises would be to take the charts below, and quickly skim the passages in Isaiah.  Which ones stand out to you?  Which ones seem to have held the greatest influence on the earliest Christians? Please don’t take my observations below as more significant than your own observations, but here are a few of the passages I would hone in on. 

Luke 4

Note the importance of Isaiah’s message in the story of Luke 4:16-21.  It’s not just that Jesus’ followers understood him in terms of Isaiah, but Jesus himself believed that his life was a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecies!  Isaiah is formative to Jesus‘ own understandings of what it meant for him to be the messiah, or at least was how Jesus chose to articulate his messiahship.  This is profound!    Beyond that, what might we notice about Jesus’ announcement here?  How does these words from Isaiah characterize Jesus?  How would you summarize the gospel from this passage?

Matthew 11

Similarly, Jesus answers the messengers of John the baptist with words full of Isaiah (26:19, 29:18, 35:5-6, 61:1).  Jesus’ reply here gives an excellent description of how he conceived of his own ministry.  How does this message compare to the ministry of the church?  If Jesus was this kind of Messiah, what kind of disciples does that compel us to become? 

Acts 8

Next, The story of the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8 gives a remarkable description of how the earliest Christians understood the connection between Isaiah’s servant songs and Jesus death and ministry.  How would this story read differently without the Isaiah text?  Would it even be possible?  This story is also notable because of the role the holy spirit plays in placing Philip in the perfect position to explain Jesus...not just physically, as is explicit in the story, but also with someone who, inquiring about Isaiah, was ripe for the gospel.  Isaiah had prepared him to desire Jesus!   

These are some of my observations, but reading through the following texts, you may have others that are more profound.  this week’s lesson is simply about seeing how these writings which we have been at work studying were used by the holy spirit to help form the mind and heart of the early church.  Isaiah indeed has a profound legacy!  We may note one last thing though:  The profoundest legacy Isaiah might have would be how it’s words give us hope and provoke us to holy living!  May it ever be so. 

Note:  The charts are adapted from John Sawyer’s book:

The Fifth Gospel: Isaiah in the History of Christianity (1996)