1. Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word as we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord is taken from Isaiah 42:1-9, it’s entitled, “Jesus is the Read Contender,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Promised the world, delivered an atlas. That was the frustrated summary of a hotel guest who trusted glossy advertising but received disappointment instead. The room wasn’t right. The food was worse. The promises were big; the delivery was small. And that, dear friends, is often how life works when our hope is placed in pretenders. Much worse than a ruined vacation was the story reported by NBC News a number of years ago about Keith Allen Barton—a man who claimed to cure cancer and HIV with alternative treatments. He wore the title “doctor,” but he was no physician. He offered hope to desperate people and delivered heartbreak, financial ruin, and even death. Those who trusted him discovered too late that he was not the real thing.
3. Isaiah 42 was spoken into a world full of pretenders like that—false gods, false hopes, false saviors. And into that shattered landscape of disappointment, the Lord speaks one clear word: “Behold, my servant.” Not another idol. Not another empty promise. Not another false contender.
4. Jesus is the Real Contender. The Lord’s Servant Who Is Set Apart from the Pretenders. Isaiah 41 ends with God exposing the idols for what they are—nothing. They cannot act. They cannot speak truth. They cannot tell the future. They deliver confusion and emptiness. Then comes the contrast: “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights” (Isaiah 42:1).
5. God does not ask Israel to shop around for hope. He does not invite them to compare options. He points. Here is my Servant. The people of Isaiah’s day had many places to look for hope. Kings. Armies. Political alliances. False gods like Baal or Marduk. Or simply themselves. All pretenders. And nothing has changed.
6. As one Lutheran theologian, my seminary professor Rev. Reed Lessing has put it, an idol is anything we believe will give us what only God can give—meaning, security, identity, worth. Or, more simply, whatever we believe we cannot live without. This week, what felt more necessary: prayer or your paycheck? Worship or your schedule? God’s Word or your phone? The danger of idols isn’t merely disappointment. It’s destruction. False hopes don’t just fail—they enslave. And when they collapse, they leave nothing but guilt, despair, and fear. That is why God says, “No. Not that. Here.”
7. This Servant, our Savior Jesus, is set apart. He is chosen. He is righteous. He is upheld by God Himself. And most clearly, He is anointed with the Holy Spirit. At the Jordan River, when Jesus is baptized, heaven opens. The Spirit descends like a dove. The Father speaks: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” That voice echoes Isaiah 42. This is the Servant. This is the One. This is no pretender.
8. The Lord’s Servant Is Different from the Pretenders. The false contenders of the world are loud. They advertise. They demand loyalty. They promise quick results. But this Servant is different. “He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice” (Isaiah 42:2). Jesus does not sell Himself. He gives Himself. He stands silent before Pilate. He does not defend Himself against false accusations. He does not manipulate or coerce. He walks the path the Father has set, confident that God’s Word does not fail.
9. And listen carefully to how He treats the broken: “A bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench” (Isaiah 42:3). That is pure Gospel. This Servant does not crush the weak. He does not shame the sinner. He does not discard the doubter. If your conscience is bruised by guilt… If your faith feels like it’s barely flickering… If you are weary, worn down, or ashamed… He does not say, “Try harder.” He does not say, “Come back when you’re stronger.” He comes to you. He binds you up. He speaks forgiveness. That is what makes Him different from every pretender who ever lived.
10. The Lord’s Servant Shines Above the Pretenders Finally, this Servant shines above all others because He actually does what He promises. “I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon” (Isaiah 42:6–7). False gods imprison. False hopes enslave. Sin always tightens its grip. But this Servant sets free.
11.
One young
man named Tyler knows this well. He sits in prison, living with the
consequences of his actions. He knows what it is to have no control—told
when to eat, when to move, when to sleep. And yet, through Christ, he has
discovered freedom. He learned that spiritual bondage is far worse than iron
bars. Sin controls. Sin commands. Sin destroys. But Jesus—the Real
Contender—breaks chains. As one popular contemporary Christian song sings, “He’s
the chain breaker.” It’s a song by Christian artist Zach Williams and it’s
all about Jesus breaking the chains of sin, fear, and shame. If hymns
wore boots, this one would scuff the floor a bit. Zach Williams sings in the
song: “If you've been walking the same old road For miles and miles
If you've been hearing the same old voice Tell the same old lies If you're
trying to fill the same old holes inside
There's a better life, there's a better life. If you've got pain, He's a
pain-taker. If you feel lost, He's a way maker. If you need freedom or saving,
He's a prison-shaking Savior. If you got chains, He's a chain breaker… Oh, if
you need freedom (freedom) or saving (saving). He's a prison-shaking Savior. If
you got chains, oh, He's a chain breaker.”
12. Dear friends in Christ. Jesus died for the forgiveness of your sins, and He victoriously rose from the dead. Christ sets prisoners free. Tyler was baptized behind bars, yet given true liberty—the freedom of forgiveness, righteousness, and new life in Christ. That promise was not just for him. It was for you.
13. Conclusion: God the Father has Promised His Servant, and Delivered the World. The world promises much and delivers little. Sin promises pleasure and delivers shame. Idols promise life and deliver death. But God promised His Servant—and delivered salvation. At the Jordan River, Jesus stepped into the water not because He needed repentance, but because you did. He stood where sinners stand, so that sinners might stand where He belongs—declared righteous, forgiven, beloved. This is the One God delights in. This is the One anointed with the Spirit. This is the One who does not fail. Jesus is the Real Contender. And He has delivered exactly what He promised. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.
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