Isaiah chapter 42 - Luke

Luke is the third of the synoptic gospels in our Bible, and it has several passages in common with both Matthew and Mark. These common themes are identified in this writing under the heading ‘Isaiah – Chapter 40 & Matthew’. None of them are to be found in Isaiah chapter forty-two, but our task with the gospels is to find those verses which are distinctive to each of Isaiah’s chapters and are correlated to their corresponding book of the Bible.

What story from the book of Luke is the most famous? Think about Christmas time. Which of the gospels is always the one that we read in conjunction with the birth of Jesus? Luke. Why is that? It is because Luke is the only one that has that story. Mark doesn’t even mention the birth of Jesus, and Matthew covers only the part where Joseph finds out that Mary is pregnant, and the part where the Magi meet King Herod and then go to Bethlehem.

The whole story of Mary’s pregnancy and the trip to Bethlehem, and the shepherds and the wise men is only found in Luke. This story is the distinctive we are looking for between the three synoptic gospels. Is the forty-second chapter of Isaiah somehow connected to this story as well? Look at these phrases from Isaiah 42.

“I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.” (v14)

“Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth” (v10a)

You can probably connect “a travailing woman” with Mary, but you may wonder how verse 10a is a connection. Read Luke 1:46-56. It is Mary’s song of praise to God after she finds out that she will be the mother of the LORD. Isaiah is certainly not talking about Mary, but he is talking about a travailing woman and about a song of praise to God, and Luke chapters one and two talks about both, and it is the only gospel that does.

In addition to the story of the birth of Jesus, Luke chapters one and two connect well with Isaiah 42:6-7.

“I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” (Isaiah 42:6-7)

The following verses from Luke chapters one and two connect well with the highlighted words from Isaiah 42:6-7 above.

“A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” (Luke 2:32)

“To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant” (Luke 1:72)

“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:79)

These last two verses are from the prophecy of Zacharias at the time of the birth of his son John (the baptizer). John would be the one who would prepare the way for Him who would be the LIGHT, not just to the Gentiles, but to the whole world.

This is the forty-second chapter of Isaiah, and Luke is the forty-second book of the Bible. They are connected.