Isaiah 40:1-11; St Matthew 11:2-11
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
The Lord says to Isaiah, Comfort, comfort My people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.
Now, as we are examining the Old Testament prophecies of Advent in light of their initial settings and in relation to Israel’s history as your history, it ought to be noted that historical context for this reading from Isaiah is a bit confusing because when the prophet tells Jerusalem that her warfare is ended, she isn’t at war. He is speaking to the people of Jerusalem who will be carried off to exile in Babylon before it happens.
This, of course, is impossible for the critics and so-called scholars to believe, indeed it is impossible for you to believe unless called by the Holy Spirit and enlightened by and in His gifts, that is, the veracity of the very Holy Scriptures themselves! For we believe both in inspired prophecy which foretells the future and also in the constant character of God’s comforting words to sinners.
Therefore Isaiah foretells that a war not yet begun with Babylon will end and that Judah’s iniquity will be pardoned. She will be brought back from captivity. By the Word of the Lord, he tells her before it takes place, in order that she may endure her captivity and tribulation in confidence and trust in the Word and promises of God. This is not unique. Concerning that which was about to befall His disciples and the promise of the Paraclete, our Lord Jesus says, Now, I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe (Jn 14:29).
Now there is a sense in which we are all in captivity, all languishing in prison, subject to little and greater Herods as St John, for we have given ourselves over to our passions. We have indulged our fleshly desires and turned away from the one, true God, as Israel before us. We have harbored grudges and jealousies. We have secretly hated and openly gossiped and lied about nearly everything. Everyone who sins is a prisoner to his sin.
Of course the Lord does not allow you to indulge your sins. But He does, in His divine and fatherly wisdom, at times allow to befall you the earthly consequences and temporal penalties for your sins, just as He did for Israel regarding Babylon and Assyria who hauled them off to captivity. He left John in prison. He afflicted them, His saints. “Afflict, afflict, My people,” says the Lord. “Preach to them of the error of their ways and the consequence of their sins. Frighten them in My wrath and terrify them in My fury. For they surely deserve temporal and eternal punishment.” Such was the preaching of Isaiah, Malachi, St John, and all the prophets. He sends His herald to warn His people, to call them back in repentance.
But more than simply proving that God had warned them of the danger and consequences of their sin and rebellion, the Word of the Lord is meant to comfort the captives. As the Psalmist writes, For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning (Ps 30:5); and again, Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have broken rejoice (Ps 51:8). And elsewhere it is written, The Lord disciplines the one He loves and chastises every son whom He receives (Heb 12:6).
The Law serves the Gospel. Already in the Garden the Lord delayed the physical death of Adam, that the Messianic line might be established and Adam spared the eternal death he deserved. So also, immediately after the golden calf apostasy in Exodus 32, the Lord revealed to Moses that He is merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin (Ex 34:6-7). As Isaiah looks ahead to what will happen to Jerusalem, he recognizes that the horrible suffering of the Babylonian captivity is God’s alien work. And that His proper work and desire is to comfort His people and restore them to His fellowship.
That is why the words ring true for the Jerusalem of Isaiah’s day, even though those people aren’t carried off from Jerusalem. And also why they ring true for us. God desires to speak tenderly to you. He knows that your hearts are broken, that you have been brutalized by Satan and his demons, by the world, and by your fallen flesh. Hr knows that you are not at home here, but in your own kind of exile. He knows that you're not safe here and that you are lonely.
So He tells His prophets - not just Isaiah and not just John, but everyone who is set into His Office to bring His Word to His people - He tells them to comfort His people, to hush her cries of despair, to tell her not to be afraid, that her warfare is ended and her iniquity pardoned, that she has endured more than enough and has received double for all her sins.
And this double portion, this tender-hearted voice sent to speak peace to Jerusalem, this completely jibes with the character of the Lord who says, Comfort, comfort. For the Lord who comes riding on the royal highway, revealing the fullness of the glory of the Lord in His own flesh and blood, even Jesus Christ, speaks peace to His people, to His saints, tenderly comforting with a double portion.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who stoned the prophets and killed those sent to her, how I long to gather you.
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you.
Martha, Martha
Simon, Simon, Satan desired you that he may sift you as wheat.
Truly, truly I say unto you.
These doublets, this double portion of blessing in place of all your iniquities has come because of the cry of the double rejection: My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? Why are you so far from the words of My groaning? Jerusalem’s iniquity is pardoned, your iniquity is pardoned because the Messiah has suffered in your stead. He was carried off by soldiers, captive to the whims of a madman and the fickle crowds. He was exiled from the Holy City, set to die upon a hill. Rejected and forsaken by the Lord His God and Father. His flesh was like grass as He bore your sins and carried your sorrows. There, stretched out upon the Cross, say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold the Lord God comes with might and His arm rules for Him; His arm extended in death, nailed to the Tree for your justification. How dare anyone, even the Lord Himself, charge Jerusalem or you for your sins? Any sorrow, any discomfort, any guilt, any grief, it has all been paid by the Word made flesh which endures forever.
The economy of heaven doesn’t make any sense to fallen accountants: double comfort for each sin. Peace. Peace. The forgiveness of God in Christ is so great it doesn’t simply eliminate the debt and call things even, but it bestows a balance. The Lord anoints your head with oil, your cup runneth over.
Here is the hope of God’s people: the Lord is merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Ex 34:6). Even when their sinful bodies are failing, even when they must face the judge and all the world seems unjust, even when they have brought suffering on themselves through their sins, the Lord’s people still have this: the war is over. Heaven is on your side. Your iniquity is pardoned. No one, not even God, can charge you for your sins.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
The Lord says to Isaiah, Comfort, comfort My people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.
Now, as we are examining the Old Testament prophecies of Advent in light of their initial settings and in relation to Israel’s history as your history, it ought to be noted that historical context for this reading from Isaiah is a bit confusing because when the prophet tells Jerusalem that her warfare is ended, she isn’t at war. He is speaking to the people of Jerusalem who will be carried off to exile in Babylon before it happens.
This, of course, is impossible for the critics and so-called scholars to believe, indeed it is impossible for you to believe unless called by the Holy Spirit and enlightened by and in His gifts, that is, the veracity of the very Holy Scriptures themselves! For we believe both in inspired prophecy which foretells the future and also in the constant character of God’s comforting words to sinners.
Therefore Isaiah foretells that a war not yet begun with Babylon will end and that Judah’s iniquity will be pardoned. She will be brought back from captivity. By the Word of the Lord, he tells her before it takes place, in order that she may endure her captivity and tribulation in confidence and trust in the Word and promises of God. This is not unique. Concerning that which was about to befall His disciples and the promise of the Paraclete, our Lord Jesus says, Now, I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe (Jn 14:29).
Now there is a sense in which we are all in captivity, all languishing in prison, subject to little and greater Herods as St John, for we have given ourselves over to our passions. We have indulged our fleshly desires and turned away from the one, true God, as Israel before us. We have harbored grudges and jealousies. We have secretly hated and openly gossiped and lied about nearly everything. Everyone who sins is a prisoner to his sin.
Of course the Lord does not allow you to indulge your sins. But He does, in His divine and fatherly wisdom, at times allow to befall you the earthly consequences and temporal penalties for your sins, just as He did for Israel regarding Babylon and Assyria who hauled them off to captivity. He left John in prison. He afflicted them, His saints. “Afflict, afflict, My people,” says the Lord. “Preach to them of the error of their ways and the consequence of their sins. Frighten them in My wrath and terrify them in My fury. For they surely deserve temporal and eternal punishment.” Such was the preaching of Isaiah, Malachi, St John, and all the prophets. He sends His herald to warn His people, to call them back in repentance.
But more than simply proving that God had warned them of the danger and consequences of their sin and rebellion, the Word of the Lord is meant to comfort the captives. As the Psalmist writes, For His anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime; weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning (Ps 30:5); and again, Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that You have broken rejoice (Ps 51:8). And elsewhere it is written, The Lord disciplines the one He loves and chastises every son whom He receives (Heb 12:6).
The Law serves the Gospel. Already in the Garden the Lord delayed the physical death of Adam, that the Messianic line might be established and Adam spared the eternal death he deserved. So also, immediately after the golden calf apostasy in Exodus 32, the Lord revealed to Moses that He is merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin (Ex 34:6-7). As Isaiah looks ahead to what will happen to Jerusalem, he recognizes that the horrible suffering of the Babylonian captivity is God’s alien work. And that His proper work and desire is to comfort His people and restore them to His fellowship.
That is why the words ring true for the Jerusalem of Isaiah’s day, even though those people aren’t carried off from Jerusalem. And also why they ring true for us. God desires to speak tenderly to you. He knows that your hearts are broken, that you have been brutalized by Satan and his demons, by the world, and by your fallen flesh. Hr knows that you are not at home here, but in your own kind of exile. He knows that you're not safe here and that you are lonely.
So He tells His prophets - not just Isaiah and not just John, but everyone who is set into His Office to bring His Word to His people - He tells them to comfort His people, to hush her cries of despair, to tell her not to be afraid, that her warfare is ended and her iniquity pardoned, that she has endured more than enough and has received double for all her sins.
And this double portion, this tender-hearted voice sent to speak peace to Jerusalem, this completely jibes with the character of the Lord who says, Comfort, comfort. For the Lord who comes riding on the royal highway, revealing the fullness of the glory of the Lord in His own flesh and blood, even Jesus Christ, speaks peace to His people, to His saints, tenderly comforting with a double portion.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who stoned the prophets and killed those sent to her, how I long to gather you.
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you.
Martha, Martha
Simon, Simon, Satan desired you that he may sift you as wheat.
Truly, truly I say unto you.
These doublets, this double portion of blessing in place of all your iniquities has come because of the cry of the double rejection: My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? Why are you so far from the words of My groaning? Jerusalem’s iniquity is pardoned, your iniquity is pardoned because the Messiah has suffered in your stead. He was carried off by soldiers, captive to the whims of a madman and the fickle crowds. He was exiled from the Holy City, set to die upon a hill. Rejected and forsaken by the Lord His God and Father. His flesh was like grass as He bore your sins and carried your sorrows. There, stretched out upon the Cross, say to the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold the Lord God comes with might and His arm rules for Him; His arm extended in death, nailed to the Tree for your justification. How dare anyone, even the Lord Himself, charge Jerusalem or you for your sins? Any sorrow, any discomfort, any guilt, any grief, it has all been paid by the Word made flesh which endures forever.
The economy of heaven doesn’t make any sense to fallen accountants: double comfort for each sin. Peace. Peace. The forgiveness of God in Christ is so great it doesn’t simply eliminate the debt and call things even, but it bestows a balance. The Lord anoints your head with oil, your cup runneth over.
Here is the hope of God’s people: the Lord is merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Ex 34:6). Even when their sinful bodies are failing, even when they must face the judge and all the world seems unjust, even when they have brought suffering on themselves through their sins, the Lord’s people still have this: the war is over. Heaven is on your side. Your iniquity is pardoned. No one, not even God, can charge you for your sins.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
RSS Feed