Isaiah 49:5-7
5 And now the Lord says,
who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord,
and my God has become my strength—
6 he says,
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
7 Thus says the Lord,
the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations,
the slave of rulers,
“Kings shall see and stand up;
princes, and they shall prostrate themselves,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
…I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
“You” can be a troublesome word. It can mean, “you”, an individual person. It can also mean, “ya’all”, a group of people who are connected to each other in some way. It can even mean “all ya’all”, which is everyone. Most languages have different forms of the word, “you”, to show those nuances more clearly. But, alas, speakers of English are left to solve the mystery for themselves.
God tells the Children of Israel, I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” This would have been understood to mean “ya’all” – all of them. Later, “you”, came to be understood as a single Messiah. Christians would later come to understand this as a reference to Jesus.
So, when I think about this passage in the light of Epiphany, it sounds like God is saying, I will give you [all ya’all] as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” In his Great Commission, Jesus commanded his followers – US – to go into all the world. Through our witness, the Light of Christ continues to shine in the world, and the Gospel is proclaimed to the end of the earth.
Prayer: O Lord Our God, my faith is not my own. It is a gift from You for the sake of this world you so love. May I always be worthy of your sacred trust. AMEN