Coming with Power and Salvation

Reflection

The Messiah is coming with power and salvation for his people. While God’s beloved may struggle for a season, they should never struggle without hope, without the assurance that the Anointed One will be sent with good news for God’s people.

Isaiah speaks this prophecy to a people newly returned from seventy years of exile in Babylon. In those years, the Israelites had seen Jerusalem destroyed and its temple demolished. The monarchy was abolished, and no one would ever again sit on David’s throne. In the time leading up to their exile, many Israelites were killed, and in defeat, the best and brightest of their society were taken by force to Babylon. Only the poorest among the people were left to tend to the land.

Now, generations later, Cyrus the Persian, who had conquered Babylon, allowed the Jews to return to their land where they could rebuild their city and God’s temple. God had relented in his punishment of a faithless nation, but all did not go smoothly. Only a remnant of the exiles chose to return; the others had assimilated into Babylonian culture. When the remnant returned to Jerusalem, they were overwhelmed by the devastation they found. They were home, but restoring their nation seemed impossible.

To these discouraged people, and to the discouraged of all times, in all places, God speaks good news through the prophet Isaiah, saying that help is on the way. The Spirit of the Living God is moving just as he did over the waters at the dawn of creation, and when the Spirit moves, there is always new life.

Here is what that good news looks like: he will bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted. More than bringing consolation, there will be healing and repairing the hurt of those who have been crushed by suffering and sadness. The Anointed, the Messiah, will not fix, he will utterly transform. Those held captive by their circumstances or their sins will be free, totally and gloriously free. It will be like going from total darkness to glorious light. For those who mourn, he will bring the news that death itself is defeated, so even when grieving, they can have the joy of knowing that life always triumphs over death.

The prophecy of Isaiah is a prophecy for us too. Christ is coming to bring the good news that, by God’s grace, we can be totally transformed and made utterly new. We are tempted to see our lives with this world’s eyes. There are difficulties that we must endure, too, and difficult work we must do to restore our own lives, our nation, and our world. It is easy to be discouraged and even overwhelmed. But take courage; fear not. Help is on the way. The Promised One will come, even as he came. To the poor (and aren’t we all beggars as we stand before God?) he brings the good news of his transforming love. And, until he comes in Glory, he commissions us to bring the good news, in his name, to our families, our communities, and even to the ends of the earth.