Today's Readings: Isaiah 40:1–11; Psalm 85; Mark 1:1–8
This is my favorite part of Isaiah because it is the turning point of the book. The first section describes Israel’s failure to remain faithful to God, and his subsequent anger against their idolatry. The language is strong, but so is the wrath of a holy and perfect God. Chapter 40 begins not with wrath, but with comfort, a decisive shift in tone, as God calls Israel to himself so he can “speak tenderly to her” and tell her that “her warfare is ended” and her “iniquity is pardoned.” What beautiful news, and what relief to a people who were reaping the consequences of their own rebellion. This is a picture of the gospel. I can’t help but think of Ephesians 2 and its own dramatic shift when I get to this chapter of Isaiah:
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world… carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ
In my own life, I have felt the weight of what it means to be dead in my sin, alienated from God and without hope. This must be how the people of Israel felt in the middle of their exile, and especially in the 400 years of silence before Jesus is born. My favorite Christmas song captures this feeling of waiting and hoping for a savior:
O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel who mourns in lowly exile here until the son of God appears. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel has come to thee O Israel.
In the middle of our rebellion, in the middle of being dead in our own sin, God put on flesh to bring comfort, healing and salvation.
