It pleased Yahweh, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify the law and make it honorable.
Parallel Translations
-
It pleased Yahweh, for his righteousness’ sake, to magnify the law and make it honorable.
-
The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.
-
The LORD was pleased, for His righteousness' sake, to make the teaching great and glorious.
Cross-references (28)
Passages linked to Isaiah 42:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 3:31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law.
- Hebrews 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,” says the Lord; “I will put my laws into their mind, I will also write them on their heart. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
- Matthew 5:17-20 “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished. Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
- Romans 7:12 Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.
- Psalms 40:8 I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your law is within my heart.”
- Psalms 71:19 Your righteousness also, God, reaches to the heavens; you have done great things. God, who is like you?
- Isaiah 1:24-27 Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says: “Ah, I will get relief from my adversaries, and avenge myself on my enemies. I will turn my hand on you, thoroughly purge away your dross, and will take away all your tin. I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called ‘The city of righteousness, a faithful town.’ Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her converts with righteousness.
- Isaiah 42:4 He will not fail nor be discouraged, until he has set justice in the earth, and the islands wait for his law.”
- Isaiah 46:12-13 Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness! I bring my righteousness near. It is not far off, and my salvation will not wait. I will grant salvation to Zion, my glory to Israel.
- Matthew 3:15 But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him.
- Psalms 71:16 I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord Yahweh. I will make mention of your righteousness, even of yours alone.
- Psalms 85:9-12 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked down from heaven. Yes, Yahweh will give that which is good. Our land will yield its increase.
- Matthew 3:17 Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
- Matthew 17:5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
- John 8:29 He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn’t left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
- John 13:31-32 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him immediately.
- John 15:10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love.
- John 17:4-5 I glorified you on the earth. I have accomplished the work which you have given me to do. Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.
- Romans 3:25-26 whom God sent to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God’s forbearance; to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.
- Romans 8:3-4 For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh; that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
- Romans 10:4 For Christ is the fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
- Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”
- Galatians 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could make alive, most certainly righteousness would have been of the law.
- Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
- Philippians 3:9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith,
- 1 John 3:4-5 Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and no sin is in him.
- Daniel 9:24-27 “Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. “Know therefore and discern that from the going out of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times. After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off, and will have nothing. The people of the prince who come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will be with a flood, and war will be even to the end. Desolations are determined. He will make a firm covenant with many for one week. In the middle of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. On the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, wrath will be poured out on the desolate.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:19-21 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation. We are therefore ambassadors on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 42:21 The LORD is well pleased for his…
Isa 42:21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make [it] honourable.
Ver. 21. The Lord is well pleased; he will magnify his law, &c.] Or, To magnify his law and make it honourable - sc., by recompensing so highly those that observed it; this he did for his "righteousness’ sake" - i.e., of his free grace and fidelity; but these are none such, they are practical Antinomians, and to me to the diametrically opposite.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Is well-pleased, to wit, with you; or, as this…
Is well-pleased, to wit, with you; or, as this word is most commonly used, hath a good-will to you or to this people; which may be understood out of the following verse, as is very usual in sacred Scripture. The meaning seems to be this; Although thou art a wicked people, that rebellest against the clearest light, and therefore God might justly destroy thee suddenly; yet he is very unwilling to do it, and will patiently wait for thy repentance, that he may be gracious unto thee. For his righteousness’ sake; not for thy sake, for thou deservest no such thing from him, but for the glory of his own faithfulness, in fulfilling that promise and covenant which he made with thy pious progenitors for themselves and for their seed.
He will magnify the law, and make it honourable; he will maintain the honour of his law, and therefore is not forward to destroy you, who profess God’s law, and the true religion, lest his law should upon that occasion be exposed to contempt.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But this is a people robbed and spoiled,.... The…
But this is a people robbed and spoiled,.... The Jewish people, who shut their eyes against the clear light of the Gospel, and turned a deaf ear to Christ, and to his ministers, rejected him, and persecuted them; these were robbed and plundered by the Roman soldiers of all their riches and treasures, when the city of Jerusalem was taken:
they are all of them snared in holes; such of them as escaped and hid themselves in holes, and caverns, and dens of the earth, were laid in wait for and taken, and dragged out, as beasts are taken in a pit, and with a snare. Josephus (b) says, some the Romans killed, some they carried captive, some they searched out lurking in holes underground, and, breaking up the ground, took them out and slew them:
Read full note →
and they are hid in prison houses; being taken by their enemies out of their holes, they were put in prisons, some of them, and there lay confined, out of which they could not deliver themselves:
and they are for a prey, and none delivereth; when they were taken by the Chaldeans, and became a prey to them, in a few years they had a deliverer, Cyrus, but now they have none:
for a spoil, and none saith, restore; there is none to be an advocate for them; no one that asks for their restoration; for almost seventeen hundred years (a) they have been in this condition, and yet none of the kings and princes of the earth have issued a proclamation for their return to their own land, as Cyrus did; and no one moves for it, either from among themselves or others.
(a) Written about 1730 A. D. The Jews in 1948 once again became a nation. Editor. (b) De Bello Jud. l. 7, c. 9. sect. 4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Well pleased - Altho' God might justly destroy thee…
Well pleased - Altho' God might justly destroy thee suddenly, yet he will patiently wait for thy repentance, that he may be gracious; and that not for thy sake, but for the glory of his own faithfulness, in fulfilling that covenant, which he made with thy pious progenitors. Magnify - He will maintain the honour of his law, and therefore is not forward to destroy you, who profess the true religion, lest his law should upon that occasion be exposed to contempt.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 21. He will magnify the law - "He…
Verse 21. He will magnify the law - "He hath exalted his own praise"] For תורה torah, the law, the Septuagint read תודה todah, praise.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Isa 42:21. The Lord is well pleased, &c. —…
Isa 42:21. The Lord is well pleased, &c. — Although thou art a wicked people, that rebellest against the clearest light, and therefore God might justly destroy thee suddenly, yet he will patiently wait for thy repentance, that he may be gracious; and that not for thy sake, but for the glory of his own faithfulness, in fulfilling that covenant which he made with thy pious progenitors. He will magnify the law — He will maintain the honour of his law, and therefore is not forward to destroy you, who profess the true religion, lest his law should, upon that occasion, be exposed to contempt. Thus the verse may be interpreted according to the present translation. But it may be rendered differently, as it is by Vitringa and Dr. Waterland, thus: “The Lord took delight in him for his righteousness’ sake; he hath magnified him by his law, and made him honourable.” God liberally provided for his people whatever was needful or useful, in order to their salvation and the stability of their state. “He had given them excellent laws; he had increased and honoured them; had made, and was willing to make them glorious among their neighbours. But they had been wanting to themselves, had despised his laws, and incurred his just vengeance.” — Dodd.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake…
The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake - There is great variety in the translation and interpretation of this verse. Lowth renders it:
Yet Yahweh was gracious unto him for his truth’s sake;
Read full note →
He hath exalted his own praise, and made it glorious.
Noyes renders it:
It pleased Yahweh for his goodness’ sake
To give him a law great and glorious;
And yet it is a robbed and plundered people.
The Septuagint renders it, ‘The Lord God determined that he should be justified, and magnify his praise.’ The Chaldee renders it, ‘Yahweh willed that Israel should be justified; he magnified the doers of his law, and comforted them.’ The Syriac, ‘The Lord willed on account of his righteousness to magnify his law, and to commend it.’ Vitringa explains it, ‘God has embraced the Jewish people in his love and favor, and regards them as acceptable to himself, not indeed on account of any merit of theirs, or on account of any external advantages, but on account of his own truth, fidelity, and equity, that he might fulfill the promises which he made to their fathers.’ This seems to express the sense of the passage. According to this, it refers solely to the Jewish people, and not, as is often supposed, to the Messiah. The phrase, ‘is well pleased,’ means that Yahweh takes delight in his people, or looks upon them with an eye of tenderness and affection. He finds pleasure in contemplating them as his people, and in regarding and treating thorn as such.
For his righteousness’ sake - Not for the righteousness of his people, but on account of his own righteousness; that is, his own goodness, clemency, mercy, and forbearance. It is not because he sees in them anything that should win his love, or excite his favor, for he says Isa 42:22 that they are robbed, and plundered, and hid, and bound in prison. But Yahweh had selected their fathers as his own people. He had made them precious promises. He had designs of mercy toward them. He had given them a holy law. He had promised to be their protector and their God. On this accouter he was pleased with them still; and it was on account of his own fidelity and plighted protection, that he was delighted in them as his people. The word ‘righteousness,’ therefore (צדק tsedeq), is used to denote God’s purpose to do right; that is, to adhere to his promises, and to maintain a character of fidelity and integrity. He would not fail, or violate his own pledges to his people.
He will magnify the law - The word ‘law’ bore is used to denote the entire series of statutes, or legislative acts of God, in regard to the Jewish people - including all his promises and pledges to them. And the meaning is, that he would so deal with them as to make that law important in their view; so as to show that he regarded it as of infinite moment. He would adhere strictly himself to all his own covenant pledges in that law, so as to show that he regarded it as sacred and of binding obligation; and all his dealings with them under that law would be such as to magnify its importance and purity in their view. The Hebrew is, ‘he will make the law great;’ that is, he will make it of great importance.
And make it honorable - Or, make it glorious, by himself showing a constant regard for it, and by so dealing with them that they should be brought to see and feel its importance. According to this, which is the obvious interpretation, the passage has no reference particularly to the Messiah. It is true, however, that the language hero used is such as would appropriately describe the work of the Redeemer; and that a large part of what he did in his public ministry, and by his atonement, was ‘to magnify the law and make it honorable;’ - to vindicate its equity - to urge its binding obligation - to sustain its claims - to show that it could not be violated with impunity - and to demonstrate that its penalty was just. The whole effect of the Redeemer’s work is to do honor to the law of God, nor has anything occurred in the history of our world that has done so much to maintain its authority and binding obligation, as his death on the cross, in the place of sinners.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain his righteousness--not His people's, but His own; Isa 42:24…
his righteousness--not His people's, but His own; Isa 42:24 shows that they had no righteousness (Isa 45:24; Isa 59:16). God is well pleased with His Son ("in whom My soul delighteth," Isa 42:1), "who fulfils all righteousness" (Mat 3:15) for them, and with them for His sake (compare Isa 42:6; Psa 71:16, Psa 71:19; Mat 5:17; Rom 10:3-4; Phi 3:9). Perhaps in God's "righteousness" here is included His faithfulness to His promises given to Israel's forefathers [ROSENMULLER]; because of this He is well pleased with Israel, even though displeased with their sin, which He here reproves; but that promise could only be based on the righteousness of Messiah, the promised seed, which is God's righteousness.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 21. This verse shows what those great things are.
21. This verse shows what those great things are.
For his righteousness’ sake — That is, for the sake of his righteous cause, he will still be propitious to this swerving people. On Mount Sinai he gave the glorious law, the true religion, and he will still keep it so; he will not relax an iota of its claims; he will hold it over men as unremittingly exacting in its claims. The latter clause of this text is misapplied when made to refer directly and dogmatically to the atoning work of Christ. It should be so used only in the most incidentally illustrative way. It is entangled too much in a thicket of words — words, too, of censure — to be of service as a proof-text for such an important doctrine.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 21. The verse reads: It was Jehovah’s pleasure, for…
21. The verse reads: It was Jehovah’s pleasure, for His righteousness’ sake, to magnify instruction (or, Revelation) and glorify it. (see R.V.) Righteousness is to be understood exactly as in Isa_42:6; and the verbs “magnify” and “glorify” are subordinate to “was pleased,” expressing that which Jehovah was pleased to do. (see Davidson, Synt. § 83, R. 1.) The only question is whether the reference is to the past revelation in law and prophecy, by which Israel has failed to profit; or to the future glorification of religion by its diffusion among the nations (Isa_42:1; Isa_42:4; Isa_42:6). The last is probably nearest the truth. The verse is not an explanation of the “many things” that Israel has seen and failed to see, but introduces a new thought. It expresses the great purpose which Jehovah had cherished with regard to Israel—to make it the instrument of extending the knowledge of His will to the world. This is the true “glorification” of the Tôrâh of Israel (Isa_42:4).
22 ff. shew how this design has hitherto been frustrated by the necessity of imposing chastisement on Israel, till it should learn its true mission.
Read full note →
But this …] Rather, But it. snared in holes] This is no doubt the sense, although a change of pointing seems necessary in the verb, making it a passive (read hûphaḥ for hâphëaḥ). The metaphor is for the captivity, but it is only a metaphor; the prophet does not imagine that a large proportion of the exiles were actually incarcerated in dungeons.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (21) The Lord is well pleased . . .—The…
(21) The Lord is well pleased . . .—The tenses require a change: The Lord was well pleased . . . He made His law great and glorious. This had been His purpose, and he had not failed in it. He had done all that it was possible to do. (Comp. Isa_5:4; Rom_9:4.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The Lord is well pleased; rather, the Lord was…
The Lord is well pleased; rather, the Lord was pleased, or it pleased the Lord. For his righteousness" sake; "because of his own perfect righteousness." He will magnify the Law; rather, to magnify the Law to set it forth in its greatness and its glory before his people. It is not the original giving of the Law at Sinai only that is meant, but also its constant inculcation by a long series of prophets. Israel"s experience (ver. 29) had included all this; but they had not profited by the instruction addressed to them.
The honouring of God"s Law.
Read full note →
Cheyne translates, "It was Jehovah"s pleasure for his righteousness" sake to make the instruction great and glorious." The Revised Version gives this as a marginal reading. Only by a straining of this passage can it be made to bear any relation to Christ"s obedience and righteousness. It is true, but it is not the truth presented or suggested here, that Christ "magnified the Law, and made it honourable." The point of the passage is well expressed by J. A. Alexander. "The people, being thus unfaithful to their trust, had no claim to be treated any longer as an object of Jehovah"s favour; and yet he continues propitious, not on their account, but out of regard to his own engagements, and for the execution of his righteous purposes." God"s Law, which he is here said to honour, is the "stream of self-consistent and inspired instruction which has run through all the ages." It is the total inspired revelation of God"s mind and will, regarded as the supreme authority for man, and therefore called God"s Law. It may be illustrated by the elaborate Mosaic system, which both announced great controlling principles, and covered the whole lives and relations of men with detailed instructions. Of this we may be well assured, God"s providences will always be in harmony with, and will support and honour, his revelations. Treating the subject in this larger sphere, we dwell on two points.
I GOD MAGNIFIES HIS LAW BY MAKING OBEDIENCE SECURE MAN"S GOOD. "Righteousness tendeth unto life." Men are dependent for forming right judgments upon sensible impressions. We apprehend moral good through the sensible figures of material good. Therefore God makes godliness carry "the promise of the life that now is." There may be things which, on occasion, break the connection between moral and material good, and then, like Asaph, we are in perplexity; but the generally working rule brings blessings round to the good man, and so honours God"s provisions and laws and promises.
II GOD MAGNIFIES HIS LAW BY FOLLOWING DISOBEDIENCE WITH MAN"S DISABILITY. "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished." It is often pointed out that sin is folly. The man who does wrong is false to his best interests; he wrongs himself. The link between sin and penalty is forged tightly; sooner or later penalty is sure to follow sin. These two points are made evidently true in the history of ancient Israel; that people was under a distinct system of material rewards and punishments. But they may still be illustrated in the large spheres of the world. Iniquity never pays, even now. They may be illustrated in the case of individuals, if moral and spiritual rewards and judgments be taken into due account. R.T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake
Isa_42:21
The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake
Read full note →
The broken law magnified
I.
THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS PARTY HERE SPOKEN OF. The Lord, or, as in the original, Jehovah, the righteous Judge, the offended Lord and Lawgiver, to whose wrath all mankind are liable, through the breach of the first covenant.
II. SOMETHING ASSERTED CONCERNING HIM, which may arrest the attention of all mankind, and fill their hearts with joy, and their mouths with praises; that is, that He is well pleased.
III. THE CAUSE AND GROUND OF THIS SURPRISING DECLARATION. It is for His righteousness sake; not for the sake of any atonement, or satisfaction, that the sinner could make, for no man can by any means redeem his own or his brothers soul, nor give unto God a ransom for it. The redemption of the soul is precious, and ceaseth for ever as to him; but it is for His righteousness sake, who finished transgression, and made an end of sin.
IV. THE REASON WHY THE LORD JEHOVAH SUSTAINS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE SURETY IN THE ROOM OF THE SINNER, or why He is so well pleased for His righteousness sake. He not only fulfilled the law, both in its precept and penalty, but He magnifies it, and makes it honourable; He adds a new lustre unto the law, through the dignity of His person who obeys it. (E. Erskine.)
The law magnified and made honourable
Doctrine: That Christ, as our glorious Surety, having magnified the law and made it honourable, the Lord Jehovah declares Himself to be well pleased for His righteousness sake. I shall--
I. SUGGEST A FEW THINGS CONCERNING THE LAW, AND HOW IT WAS DISPARAGED BY THE SIN OF MAN.
1. The law here principally intended is the moral law.
2. The moral law is nothing else but s transcript of the original holiness of Gods nature.
3. The law being a copy or emanation of Gods holiness, it must be dearer to Him than heaven and earth, or the whole frame of nature.
4. This law was given to our first parents under the form of a covenant; a promise of life being made to them, upon condition of their yielding a perfect obedience; and a threatening of death added, in case of disobedience.
5. Man being left to the freedom of his own will, through the flattering hisses of the old serpent, did break the law of God. and so forfeited his title to life by virtue of that covenant; and brought himself, and all his posterity, under the penalty of death temporal, spiritual, and eternal.
6. The law being violated by sin, the honour of the law, and the authority of God, the great Law, ver, are, as it were, laid in the dust, and trampled under foot, by the rebellious sinner.
7. The law being violated, and the Lawgiver affronted, the salvation of sinners by the law becomes utterly impossible, unless the honour of the law, and of the great Lawgiver, be repaired and restored somehow or other.
II. SPEAK OF THE GLORIOUS PERSON WHO UNDERTAKES THE REPARATION OF IT AS OUR SURETY.
1. He is His Fathers Servant (Isa_42:1).
2. His Fathers Elect (Isa_42:1; Psa_89:19).
3. His Fathers Darling or Delight (Isa_42:1).
4. He is qualified by His Father for the work and service of redemption, by the anointing of the eternal Spirit (Isa_42:1).
5. He is one whose commission is very extensive; for we are told that He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
6. He was to be a meek and lowly Saviour (Isa_42:21.
7. He was to be very tender and compassionate towards His poor people, particularly the weaklings of His flock (Isa_42:3).
8. He would be victorious and successful in His work (Isa_42:3-4).
9. He would bear His Fathers commission, and be sustained in His work by the right hand of His power (Isa_42:6).
10. He is the free gift of God unto a lost world. And give thee for a covenant of the people (Isa_42:6).
11. He would be the light of the world, and particularly a light to the poor Gentiles, who had so long sat in th4 e regions and shadow of death (Isa_42:6-7).
12. He would loose the devils prisoners (Isa_42:7)
III. INQUIRE WHAT MAY BE IMPORTED IN THE EXPRESSION OF HIS MAGNIFYING THE LAW, AND MAKING IT HONOURABLE. It supposes--
1. That the law is broken, and thereby the greatest indignity done to it, and to Him who gave it.
2. That God, the great Lawgiver, stands upon reparation.
3. That man, who has broken the law, is utterly incapable to repair its honour, or to satisfy justice.
4. That God, the great Lawgiver, admits of the substitution of a Surety in the room of the sinner.
5. That Christ, as our Surety, actually put His neck under the yoke of the Divine law.
6. That the holy law is no loser by Christs substitution in our room; it has all that it demanded in order to its satisfaction.
7. That the holy law, instead of being a loser, gains an additional honour and glory by the righteousness of the Surety.
IV. HOW HE MAGNIFIES THE LAW, AND WHAT WAY HE TAKES TO MAKE IT HONOURABLE. The moral law comes under a twofold consideration: it may be considered as a covenant, and as a rule of life.
1. As a covenant, He magnifies it, and makes it honourable; and this He did by fulfilling all its demands.
2. Christ magnifies the law as a rule of life, and this He doth several ways.
(1) By writing a fair copy of obedience to it, in His own example, for the imitation of all His followers.
(2) By explaining it in its utmost extent, for it is exceeding broad.
(3) By establishing the obligation of it as a rule of obedience unto all His followers (Mat_5:17; Rom_3:31).
(4) By writing it upon the heart of all His followers, by the finger of His eternal Spirit (Jer_31:33).
(5) By enforcing obedience to the law, among all His followers, by stronger motives than the law itself, abstractly considered, could afford. The love of Christ constraineth us.
(6) By actuating them in their obedience to the law by His own Spirit Eze_36:27).
V. GIVE THE REASONS OF THE DOCTRINE. Why is it that Christ doth magnify the law, and make it honourable?
1. From the regard He had to His Fathers honour and authority, affronted in the violation of the law.
2. Out of love that He bore to our salvation, which could not be accomplished without the penalty of the law had been endured, and the precept of it obeyed.
3. Because He was ordained of God from eternity for His work and service; He was set up for it by the decree and ordination of heaven, and He did always these things that pleased His Father.
4. Because He had given His engagement in the council of peace.
5. He magnified the law as a covenant, that we might be freed from it, in its covenant form and curse (Gal_4:4; Rom_7:4).
6. He magnified the law, and made it honourable, as a covenant, that we may obey it as a rule, and serve the Lord without fear of the curse and condemnation, in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives.
7. To procure and confirm His own right of government as Mediator Rom_14:9).
8. That He might still the enemy and the avenger, and outshoot the devil in his own bow.
VI. MAKE SOME APPLICATION.
1. See hence the excellency of the law of God, and the sacred regard that God bears unto it.
2. See hence the evil of sin, and why Christ came to finish transgression, and make an end of it.
3. See hence the dreadful situation of every sinner that is out of Christ, destitute of His righteousness.
4. See hence the wonderful love of God to lost sinners, in sending His own Son to magnify the law, after we had broken it; and at the same time it discovers the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He be supreme Judge, King, and Lawgiver, yet was willing to be made under the law, and to obey it as a subject, that we might be delivered from law-vengeance, and have the righteousness of it fulfilled in us through Him.
5. See hence the ignorance and error of those who are prejudiced against the doctrine of Justification by faith, as if it were prejudicial to the holy law, or did any way derogate from its honour and authority.
6. See hence the error of those who assert that a justified believer is still liable to the curse or penal sanction of the law.
7. See the error and folly of those who go about to establish their own righteousness as the ground of their justification and acceptance, and refuse to submit unto the righteousness of God.
8. This doctrine lets us see the error of those who, though they will not absolutely reject the righteousness of Christ, yet will adventure to mingle something of their own with it.
9. See the error of those who deny Christs active obedience to the law to be any part of our justifying righteousness.
10. See hence how little reason even believers, who are justified before God, have to be proud of what they are come to. (E. Erskine.)
He will magnify the law, and make it honourable
The law magnified in mans redemption
1. With respect to law. It is a word used in Scripture in two ways; and matters very important are said about it, both as it is a universal thing, and as it is a particular thing.
(1) By law as it is a universal thing, I mean the moral law, which cannot but exist wherever there is an intelligent creature upon earth. We cannot conceive of any creature existing anywhere having intelligence and moral feeling, of whom it is not the duty to love God with all the heart, and to love other beings as himself; and in that one thing we have the elements and rudiments of all possible morals. The law is more than advice--it has authority, and therefore has sanctions associated with it. We cannot conceive of any moral creatures who are not under it,--either in the perfection of their obedience and enjoying the blessedness which waits upon it, or as the victims of it and having administered to them its penalty, or (if there be such a thing) in an intermediate state, in which they are convicted as transgressors, and yet have the opportunity of escaping the penalty. And this last is altogether supernatural; the other two are what we call natural.
(2) What I mean by law as a limited thing is the ceremonial institutions which were given to a particular part of mankind and for a particular time. These have not their basis in the nature of things. They rest simply upon the Divine authority. As such they have an importance affixed to them in the reasonings and representations of Divine truth.
2. To magnify the law and make it honourable cannot mean that Messiah was to produce any change in it,--that what He did was to perfect the law itself. As to the moral law, there it is, necessarily resulting from the Divine perfections and government, a glorious and sublime thing, as incapable of improvement as the perfections of God; as changeless and permanent as God. So with respect to the ceremonial law, Christ did not in fact do anything to it in the way of enlarging it.
3. Another idea might be dwelt upon: that we cannot suppose that this means that there was to be any change effected in the conceptions of God about the law,--that the work of Christ was intended to affect the Divine mind in relation to the perceptions that it had of law. There, in the Divine intellect, lay the law in all its perfections and splendour; and we cannot conceive that the Divine mind needed any change in its conceptions of law, or that the law could be magnified and made more glorious in its estimation. We cannot conceive that God could have a more distinct perception with respect to it at one time than at another. And so with respect to the ceremonial law. It was a thing that resulted from the Divine mind, and in the Divine mind there were reasons for every appointment which He made.
4. So that we are led, by these simple and natural steps, to this idea: that this magnifying the law and making it honourable must signify the manner in which created minds were to be affected by it. Something (whatever it might be) was to be done by which there should be a certain impression with respect to law produced upon the minds of the intelligent universe. Something might be done that should (so to speak) give body and substance and visibility to Gods own conceptions about His law. These might be made manifest to the universe. Gods creatures might come to understand how He looked at it--the reverence and respect (if we may so speak) that He had for it. And that is what I think it means. That is what I think was done. And for this there was a necessity. And the Scripture teaches this in the plainest way, and puts it before us again and again
5. If sin had never entered into the universe, Gods law would always have been a sublime thing in the estimation of that universe. And if, when sin was admitted into the universe, permitted to enter, the penalties and sanctions of the law were carried out fully and literally, then law would always have been magnified; it would then also have been always a great and glorious thing. But if there is to be the fact, that there are violaters of the law, those that on just principles are exposed to the penalty, and yet there is to be, along with that, another fact--that they escape, that they are treated as if they were actually righteous and enter into the full enjoyment of the results of perfect obedience, then law so far seems to go for nothing. Therefore there was this necessity. It is required that something shall be done the moral effect of which upon the minds of Gods rational creatures, who are all under His government and are all ruled by Him, shall be equivalent to the impression which would have been produced by the literal carrying out of the principles of law itself. And that is just the thing which the work of Christ does. And by the effecting of that thing it is that this prophetic declaration is realised.
6. The conclusion of the matter, then, is--the manner in which this is done.
(1) We might dilate upon the manner in which the scope of Christs teaching always maintained the authority of the law.
(2) We might speak with respect to His own personal character.
(3) But all these are hut preliminary and preparatory to that one great act which I deem to be the consummation of Messiahs work; in which the law was honoured and magnified by His propitiatory sacrifice; in which, in a certain sense, He stood forth bearing the penalty of the moral law, and in another sense manifesting the substance and casting a glory upon the ceremonial. It became God thus to act. As the children were partakers of flesh and blood, the Son of God took part of the same; that being manifested in our nature, and having thus a body prepared for Him, He might present Himself as the Lamb of God, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, and that He might accomplish the great redemption act, which consisted in substitution, in the sacrifice upon the Cross for the sins of the world. There was a substitution in two senses; a substitution of person, and a substitution of suffering.
(4) The law is magnified and made honourable by Christ, inasmuch as His people are redeemed unto obedience. The Gospel as it is revealed here is a thing distinct from law, yet is not contrary to it, but consistent with it, illustrative of it, sustaining it, beautifying it, magnifying it. (T. Binney.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 42:21 exalted his glorious law: God’s word is a…
42:21 exalted his glorious law: God’s word is a witness to his righteous rule (see 1:10).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.