Paul was a man formed by the gospel. His life had been so drastically changed by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that he truly viewed the Old Testament Scriptures as being fulfilled in the person and work of Christ. Sometimes, we read right over New Testament passages with a rich and significant Old Testament context without knowing it. It is like when my oldest daughter hides in a dark corner of our house; unless she jumps out at me, I can walk by her and not notice her.
The Use of Isaiah 49
There are a few of these Old Testament passages throughout 2 Corinthians, but it seems to me like Paul has Isaiah 49 in mind as he writes to this church. There are two places in the letter where Isaiah 49 is most prevalent.
The first one is found in 2 Corinthians 6. After Paul describes that the ministry of reconciliation is given by God to his people as a mission to make visible the reconciliation that happens in the gospel (5:18-21), Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8 in 2 Corinthians 6:2. It says, “‘In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.‘” Speaking to a church that has caused Paul great pain by accusing him of not being as impressive as the false/super-apostles, he tells them that today is the day of salvation. The temptation is to keep reading and not understand why he says that. But if we turn our Bibles back to Isaiah 49 and look at the context of the chapter, Paul is applying Isaiah’s words that the Servant of the Lord/Messiah would come to set prisoners free through the work of that Servant/Messiah. Paul is saying that the Corinthians have been imprisoned in foolish ways and have been deceived by the super-apostles and today is the day of salvation.
The second use of Isaiah 49 is found in 2 Corinthians 6:6, which reads, “But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” Notice the similar language from the sermon last weekend. Where Paul heralded the comfort of God (2 Cor. 1:3-10), in this verse, he declares that God comforted him and his co-laborers in the gospel through God sending Titus to them. To better grasp what this comfort was, we must look back to Isaiah 49 again. This time, it is in Isaiah 49:13, which reads, “Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.” The same promised comfort that Isaiah foretold about which the Servant/Messiah would bring, Paul understands as a continuing act that God fulfills through his people. The weight of affliction that Paul felt at the hands of the Corinthians, was turned into singing as he believed that the Servant/Messiah sent Titus as a means of comfort.
Application of Isaiah 49 and 2 Corinthians
I have found a lot of comfort in the person and work of Jesus over the years. There have been moments of sharing in his sufferings where there was a sweetness of his presence when life seemed too heavy to bear. But there have also been a multitude of times when people from my Missional Community and DNA group have been God’s means of comfort. In his grace, God may be using you this week to be a comfort to someone. The ongoing work of comfort is an extension of the one who suffered in our place so that we could be freed from our sins and comforted in our suffering. Later in Isaiah 49:15-16, we learn that this Servant/Messiah loves so deeply that he will never forget his people and has their names engraved on his hands. What a comfort! If that were not enough comfort, in his infinite wisdom, Jesus not only uses his Spirit as the Comforter (John 14:26), but he is using you to make the invisible God visible as you love and comfort others (1 John 4:12).
Old Testament Allusions 