Resolved

Good evening!

Today's text is Isaiah 50.  In verses 4-9, the prophet is describing the life of the godly, in an ungodly world.  He is speaking of his own ministry, rejoicing in God's calling on his life; but, he is also serving as a type of Jesus, who would come later.

 (...from The Message version.)

"The Master, GOD, has given me a well-taught tongue,

So I know how to encourage tired people.

He wakes me up in the morning, wakes me up, opens my ears to listen...as one ready to take orders.

The Master, GOD, opened my ears, and I didn't go back to sleep, 

didn't pull the covers back over my head.

I followed orders, stood there and took it while they beat me, 

held steady while they pulled out my beard, didn't dodge their insults, 

faced them as they spit in my face.

And the Master, GOD, stays right there and helps me so I'm not disgraced.

Therefore I set my face like flint, confident that I'll never regret this."

What is "flint"?  It is was the hardest known mineral/stone substance of that day.  The analogy is used by Isaiah to signify a "steadfast resolve".  Have you ever seen someone harden their facial features before beginning to do something difficult?  The image that comes to my mind is a man about to do some heavy-lifting.  He sets his teeth, his entire face into a mask of resolve and concentration.  After he finishes the task at hand, his features relax.

This is what Isaiah had to do in his day, to endure the nay-sayers and persecutors who pushed back against his ministry.  Throughout history, God's people have been opposed.  In the face (if you'll pardon the pun) of such opposition, we are called upon to "set our faces like flint", to steadfastly hold onto the truth and the ministry we have been given.

Jesus is foretold in these verses.  In Luke 9:51, the gospel writer uses a similar phrase to describe Jesus' steadfast approach to head for Jerusalem during his final Passion Week on earth.

"...he gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem."

Other references in Isaiah 50:4-9 also point to Christ and His Passion:

• the violent beating He endured              John 19:1
• the hurling of insults                              Matthew 27:44; 1 Peter 2:23
• the plucking out portions of his beard   {no New Testament references to this}
• the spitting on Him                                Matt. 26:67

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane to His Father, to be spared from the agony He experienced leading up to His death.  However, it would be a mistake to assume that His agony in the garden was related primarily to the physical pain he would experience.  It was focused, rather, on the agony He was sure to endure when for the first time He would be separated from His Father and the Holy Spirit, when the Father laid on Him all the sins of mankind.  It was for the agony of this separation that He "set His face like flint."

Our Savior has given to each of us a mission accompanied by a unique gift set that equips us for His service.  We will face adversity along the way.  The question is:  Will we be resolved?  Or, will we turn back, in the face of opposition?

Father, thank you for the example you gave us in our Savior, Jesus, and others as well.  I pray that all who name your Name will be resolved to carry out the work you have given us to do, leaning on your Holy Spirit, through Whom we can do "the impossible"!  In Jesus' name, amen.