Scripture reading: Galatians 3:25-4:7.

Sermon text: Isaiah 61:10-62:3.

I love the Christmas season! I love the sense of anticipation, the way that hope seems to awaken even in the most cynical people around me. I love the joy that pervades every activity leading up to the day when we celebrate the birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

As I mentioned in last week’s sermon, the Jews also felt a sense of anticipation when they read Isaiah’s prophecies. Anyone who lived in Judah during the time of Isaiah’s ministry (c. 740-704 B.C.) saw little reason for hope. On the international scene, Assyria stood astride an empire stretching from Egypt to the Persian Gulf; even the small kingdoms that managed to maintain their independence lived in constant fear of destruction. The economic and military golden age of king Uzziah had run its course, leaving uncertainty and doubt in even the stoutest hearts. On the local scene, corruption had reached to the Temple itself as even the priests engaged in idolatry. In the midst of these problems, Isaiah’s prophecies had promised the destruction of the nation for her sins.

The people needed good news, and Isaiah suddenly began gushing with good news in chapter 40. In today’s sermon passage, the news transcends merely “good;” the news in chapters 61 and 62 will propel the people into ecstasy as they heard of God’s restoration and deliverance. Today, in the afterglow of Christmas, we should hold onto the hope of Jesus’ birth and our deliverance from sin and death through His incarnation, death, and resurrection. Our celebrations of Jesus’ birth remind us that God loves us and constantly seeks to redeem His people from sin. “Joy to the world, the Lord has come!”

Sermon

In the sermon from 14 December, we read of Isaiah’s promise of the Messiah and His proclamation of good news in chapter 61. Today, we’ll focus more on the last verses of the chapter and Isaiah’s promises of God’s continuing work for Jerusalem in chapter 62.

First, Isaiah proclaimed, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God....” Isaiah used 2 words to describe the joy God will bring to His people. The word translated “greatly rejoiced” refers to joy and gladness, the kind of emotion we feel when things please us. Isaiah’s prophecy would bring joy to the people, leading to the next word (“exult”). This word actually means “circle” as well! You can see the connection; the joy of the hearer propels him into ecstatic dancing. This joy overwhelms the person feeling it, leading to spontaneous dancing.

What would bring this reaction to anyone? Isaiah has a ready answer: “he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

The people knew of the spiritual depravity around them. The Jews’ relationship with God had mostly fallen into mere ritual as they went through the motions of sacrifice and celebration. Their religious ceremonies meant little to them once they left the Temple. Isaiah had already pronounced God’s inevitable judgment. However, now they heard that God would clothe His people with “garments of salvation” and “the robe of righteousness.” God would restore the relationship between Him and His covenant people. He would “save” them from enemies far more insidious than Assyria; He would save them from sin itself. God would “cover” (literally, “wrap”) His people in righteousness. The righteous would live according to God’s law, to His standards, and not merely as a ritual; they would live by God’s standards because they loved Him. Their love for God would result in righteous living that served as a standard for the pagans around them.

Lest anyone doubt that God could transform His fallen people, Isaiah gave this assurance: “For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.” Israel’s covenant Lord, the God of creation, would bring “righteousness and praise” as surely as the earth produced plants each season. Anyone doubting Isaiah’s prophecy had may as well doubt that spring would bring new plants to the barren earth of winter.

Did the people have any other reason to believe God would fulfill His word? Isaiah’s prophecies continued with his promise to the people: “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch.” The prophet would intercede for the people until his dying breath. Isaiah had seen the LORD in the Temple (chapter 6); he knew God still lived and still cared for His people. Isaiah would pray for his people until his death or until he saw God fulfill his prophecies.

God had meant for Israel to serve as a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19). Israel would serve as an example for the pagans around her of God’s expectations and blessings. Although Israel had never lived up to God’s expectations, Isaiah knew that God would restore her and use her as the example He had intended. “The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory.” When the pagans saw Israel restored, they would know that Israel’s God had fulfilled His promises. Few nations managed to survive the brutalities of Mesopotamian exile; no nation survived dispersion as long as the Jews.

God would give Israel another great blessing. “You shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give.” Throughout the Scriptures, people chosen by God received new names to reflect their new purposes for their lives. Abram, “exalted father,” became Abraham, “father of many nations.” Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, became Israel, or “prince.”

Israel restored would finally gain its rightful place among the nations. “You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.” God chose Abraham from all humanity to bless the world; then, of Abraham’s sons, God chose Isaac to carry the promise. Of Isaac’s sons, God chose Jacob, later renamed Israel, to form a nation He would use to bring His Son into the world. Israel, the people of God, would one day be seen as God’s crowning glory.

How do these promises correlate with Christmas? Can we see any connection to our lives, in our times?

Israel itself has yet to achieve the standing promised by Isaiah. Although God restored the Jewish nation in 1948, the Israelis remain under siege by its enemies. Could there be another fulfillment of these prophecies?

Actually, we find a fulfillment of these passages in our lives in the New Testament era. Like the Jews of Isaiah’s time, we all find ourselves subject to sin and death, desperately needing salvation from humanity’s mortal enemies. We often find ourselves  tempted to let our worship degenerate into mere ritual: Sing the songs, say the prayers, endure the sermon, then go on with our lives. However, when we find ourselves drawn to Jesus by the Holy Spirit and confess Him as Lord of our lives, we receive the salvation we cannot achieve on our own. We receive the Holy Spirit at our conversion and experience “Immanuel” — “God with us” — in a way unknown to the Jews in the eighth century B.C. When the world around us looks at the Church and sees us living righteously before God, they witness the power of His work in our lives as He transforms us.

The Church receives another special blessing. Like Isaiah, we can intercede for others, knowing that God hears and answers the prayers of His people. Isaiah left a wondrous example of intercessory prayer in chapter 62. Like Isaiah, we should ceaselessly lift others before the throne of God and believe that He will answer our prayers through His love for us.

Then, when we turn to the Revelation — the last book in the New Testament — we find that Jesus Himself promises His people  a “new name” (Revelation 2:17); “white garments” (Revelation 3:5); and a “crown” (Revelation 3:11) as promised through St. Paul (2 Timothy 4:8). We come to realize the ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah’s words. St. Paul had said what the prophets had all proclaimed: “For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” (Romans 9); only those who lived by faith in God could truly claim to be descended from Abraham. St. Paul gives us another glorious word when he told the Galatians, “in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

When we belong to Jesus, we find ourselves Everyone who confesses Jesus as Lord, believing in His resurrection, become part of the people of God, His royal diadem, His crown and glory. Do you wish to join the celebration of Christmas in its fullest sense? Come to Jesus, whose birth we celebrate and by whose sacrifice we are saved. Come believing in His promises of a new birth and a new, unending life that will transcend time itself.