Advent 2: Old Testament, Isaiah 40:1-11                       

Isaiah 40:1-11

Just yesterday a co-worker called from her office, “Can anyone read Isaiah 9 and not hear Handel’s Messiah?" I replied that I found myself reading texts from Isaiah and other places with the melodies of that masterpiece carrying them along each time I find them. I don’t think that is altogether unusual for those of us who love the music of great composers.

This will be one of my “Assignment Meditations” because you simply must read today’s passage for yourselves. Perhaps for the first time. Perhaps as a treasured favorite. Last week we considered the fact that Isaiah is often referred to as the “Fifth Gospel.” And this particular chapter is a veritable showcase of gospel sweetness.

Listen to its beginning and then jump in for yourself: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, and her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins” (40:1-2).

This would be a joy to hear from a prophet of God anytime. But this is comfort for a season not yet entered. Babylonian captivity was far off. One can imagine one of Isaiah’s hearers speaking to themselves, “What is he talking about? We’re not in trouble. God would never subject us to something that would even need this type of comfort.” They couldn’t have been further from the target. In just decades the Babylonian armies would ransack the great city and carry off its inhabitants. And after 70 years, a shortened sentence by the way, the Lord wanted them to remember these words. Comfort, true comfort can only come from God. And undeserved comfort is all the sweeter. 

Our reading today extends through verse 11. Explore and be awed by the mercy of their great God. Our great God. And mine the treasures yourselves. I wouldn’t dream of stealing your Advent Joy.