Isaiah 42:1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.
This is recognised as a prophecy of Jesus, the one to come, and is confirmed by Jesus receiving God's spirit at his baptism. (Matt 3:16; Mark 1:9-10; Luke 3:21-22)
"Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations. Matt 12:18
Actually, the NT quotes the prophecy of Isaiah in a different place. Note the pair:
The Prophecy
Isa 42:1-4 - “Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”
The Fulfillment
Matt 12:15-21 - Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them all, warning them not to make Him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “Here is My Servant, whom I have chosen, My beloved, in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish, till He leads justice to victory. In His name the nations will put their hope.”
Note that Matthew does not say that Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled at Jesus' baptism, despite his frequent use of OT prophecies, although the language certainly suggests it.
However, Matthew does say that the incident in Matt 12 did fulfill Isaiah's prophecy. Note the way Matthew sets this out in point form:
This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “Here is My Servant,
Here the placing of the Spirit of God on Jesus is parallel to the other seven attributes of Jesus' ministry suggesting that Jesus worked in parallel with God, at His direction which is consistent with Jesus' submission to the Father, John 5:19, 10:29, 14:28, Matt 26:39, 28:19. Again, this is perfect agreement with the great "kenosis" passage of Phil 2:5-8 - Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient.
Jesus did this voluntarily according to this same passage. he did not have to do it but voluntarily did so to set us an example of how to live, 1 John 2:5, 6.
That is, because Jesus lived by the Spirit, so must we:
Rom 8:4-9 - [we] do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
How should we understand, "I have put My spirit on him"? Is 42:1
Isaiah 42:1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. And Jesus returned in the power of the spirit:
When did God put his spirit upon Jesus? At the time of his baptism, after Jesus rose from the water the holy spirit in the form of a dove came down to rest upon him. And a voice from heaven was heard: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Matthew 3:16-17 NASB
16 After He was baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and [a]he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and [b]settling on Him, 17 and behold, a voice from the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
How should we understand, "I have put My spirit on him"? Is 42:1
1/ By being anointed with holy spirit Jesus was appointed to carry out his ministry:
Luke 4:16-18 NET
The Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry in Galilee
16 Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news[bj] to the poor.[bk] He has sent me[bl] to proclaim release[bm] to the captives and the regaining of sight[bn] to the blind, to set free[ those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year[bq] of the Lord’s favor.”
2/ Appointed as King of God's Kingdom.
Luke 1:32-33 KJV
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
3/ Appointed as High Priest in the likeness of King-Priest Melchizedek;
Hebrews 5:1 NASB
The Perfect High Priest
5 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of people in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins;
4/ Appointed to serve as God's prophet;
Acts 3:22-26 NET
22 Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must obey[a] him in everything he tells you. 23 Every person[c] who does not obey that prophet will be destroyed and thus removed[d] from the people.
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