May 7, 2012 – Isaiah 40

Verse 2 – Israel’s service is at an end.  As we read on we will see the passages that point to John the Baptist and Christ.  We can see this as saying that when Jesus comes, Israel’s work is at an end.  They are the chosen people, meant to prepare the world for God’s coming.  When God comes, everything changes.  We no longer need a nation or people that are preparing, we are at the appointed time.  Look at it as a wedding (one of the best and most used examples for many things in the Bible).  The Old Testament and Israel were all the preparation that is done leading up to the wedding.  If you have ever been involved in that process, you know exactly the difficulties that come with it.  The stress, the sacrifice, the work, all of that can be seen in Israel’s journey.  They were making preparations for the coming of Christ.  When Christ comes, that is the wedding day.  Jesus says as much when He talks about the disciples not fasting while He is on Earth.  Then, after the Ascension, that is the marriage.  The union that was consummated between God and Humans when Jesus gave His life is lived out after Jesus Ascends into Heaven and is lived out through the Church Jesus established.  Looking at it this way makes many of the allusions to marriage and God’s relationship to us a lot clearer. 

Verse 6-7 – “All [mankind’s] glory like a flower…the flower wilts”.  When you think about all that we think we have accomplished as humans and to think of it all as a flower that blooms and dies, it is humbling in the face of an infinite God.  Is that how the world views its accomplishments, as a flower that will bloom and die in a sort span.  No, the world sees itself as all powerful, able to control it all, understanding all, an infinite flower, not fading but growing more beautiful every day.  How backwards the world sees things. 

We have this reading here because I think we are about to hear Jesus talk about the good Shepherd.