Isaiah 40:1-11
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Go on up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, fear not;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Behold your God!”
Behold, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms;
he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.
Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Old Testament reading for Sunday December 10, is from Isaiah chapter 40, verses one through 11. Comfort comfort my people says your God, Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries in the wilderness, Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God, every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low, the uneven ground shall become level and the rough places are plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. And all flesh set shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. A voice says cry, and I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely the people are grass, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Go on up to a high mountain, oh Zion herald of good news. Lift up your voice with strength, oh, Jerusalem, herald of good news, lifted up. Fear not say to the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules before him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him, he will tend his flock like a shepherd, He will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. Here ends the reading. This passage is very famous and traditional for this time of year. And it has several sections. It begins with the passage of comfort, comfort, comfort, my people, says your God. This reminds me of one of the great Lutheran hymns called comfort comfort ye my people, goes, comfort comfort ye my people speak up is the Sassari God. What I love about Lutheran hymnody is that there's a paired him with the same verse that is about Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, where it goes, or Jerusalem, though we passed in that as our dear has Lord. It's interesting to see the the combination of the hymn both hymns using the same tune, one of God sending a messenger to comfort to Jerusalem, and another Jesus looking down at Jerusalem and saying, oh, Jerusalem, how I would gather you, and you would not. And I think this helps us understand this passage as well. Next, we get this voice that cries in the wilderness, Prepare the weight of the Lord. It looks forward to John the Baptist who speaks in the coming of Christ. And we see that in our readings this week, as John the Baptist stands in the wilderness, getting everyone ready for the coming of the Lord. One of the things I just learned recently, in this passage that I think is is interesting for us is what it says about the valleys and the mountains, where it says, Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and hill be made low. The uneven ground shall become level and the rough places a plane. I was listening to a podcast about the ancient world. And one of the things that they said that was different about the ancient world is that they did not see things like mountains and valleys and waterfalls to be beautiful. They were hardships, marks, scars on the perfection of God's creation. And it's interesting to think that for us we who are in artificial environments all day long, when we look at a valley we think ah, God's beauty of His creation unmarked by humanity, or a mountain is looking at the wildness of its beauty. Ancient people would have just seen danger, difficulty, hardship. When the valleys are made, are made level and the mountains are made low. The danger there is wiped out. And the way of the Lord is made straight as a high away, something easy to traverse. You don't get lost. You don't get hungry. You don't die in the wilderness. You're on the road, because the Lord is coming. The next section of void says cry, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass and its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it. Surely the people are grass, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. What a fantastic passage on its own. Everything fades, doesn't it? It's not just the grass in the flower, but all of us. This passage compares humanity every person like grass that fades, grows up in the morning and then dies in the afternoon. But you know what lasts forever. The Word of our Lord, it stands forever. And his promises to us stand forever, even through death. Finally ends with a announcement that God is coming. There's go up on a high mountain of Zion herald of good news. And what does it announce? Behold your God, Behold, the Lord comes with might, and his arm rules for him. His reward is with him and his recompense before him. It describes a God who comes like a king with power and might, but also a God who comes like a tender shepherd. And it's interesting as we look forward to Jesus's first coming, we see him coming not in power and might but as that lowly shepherd who gathers people together, and we know when He comes again, this time it will be as that King with power and might, and he will come with recompense justice for his people. That's all we have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai