Martin Luther King Junior’s 1963 Washington Speech, “I have a dream”, fired the hearts of American people across the racial divide to a new vision and energy to promote harmony and peace. Yet within five years Martin Luther King himself was dead, gunned down by an assassin’s bullet.

Is there any hope for our world where divisions, conflict and war continue? Or will there always be death and destruction?

Come with me to Isaiah chapter 60 where he speaks of a city yet to rise. With the Babylonian conquest of the Kingdom of Judah in 586BC, Isaiah’s first readers had lost their city, the temple (the symbol of God’s presence) and their king. Yet in the midst of the darkness and despair Isaiah provides shafts of light revealing God’s ultimate plans. We get glimpses of this in chapters 25 and 35 and especially in chapter 60.

With the close of chapter 59 Isaiah introduces the theme of a renewed city (verse 20), and in chapter 60 he speaks of God’s City – a place where the dark experiences of our present world will give way to light. Gloom will give way to glory.

Isaiah pictures the sun rising over Jerusalem as a metaphor for God’s future city. His readers would know the rising sun appears over the Mount of Olives before striking the city below, driving away the darkness and flooding the whole scene with the glory of its light. It’s a sight that tourists still marvel at today.

Significantly, Isaiah’s words came true. For against all odds the Jewish people did return to Jerusalem and rebuild it. Cyrus the Mede had risen and conquered Babylon and in 520BC he decreed that the Jewish people could return to their homeland.

But there’s another layer to Isaiah’s prophecy. He didn’t just speak of the city of Jerusalem rebuilt after the exile. He was taking up a theme found in chapter 25, where God’s Messiah, his king, would come down to earth. God would bring in a whole new order, a new creation, where Messiah would host a banquet far beyond anything that anyone dreamed.

Yes, the return of the exiles and the re-building of Jerusalem was part of God’s plan, but the earthly city Isaiah is speaking about is a picture of a greater city yet to come. Isaiah uses the earthly city of Jerusalem as a metaphor: God himself will rise over Jerusalem, filling the whole of the city with the light of his presence: Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

The imagery of light and darkness is often used to portray God’s creating work. In Genesis chapter 1, we read that thick darkness covered the earth, but that God’s light overcame it. In Isaiah chapter 60, darkness is a metaphor for moral evil and spiritual blindness.

The darkness of moral and spiritual failure is a shroud that embraces all people and covers all the nations. But, in the same way God’s light pierced the darkness in creation, now Isaiah sees God’s light piercing the darkness of human failure and the emergence of a new city.

At the centre of this new world is God – God’s throne and God’s city. Here there will be no need of a sun or a moon, for God’s glory will shine forever. God’s city represents everything that was promised in the original creation – relationships with God and with one another where there is truth and love, joy and peace, forever.

Furthermore, God’s light will shine world-wide. People everywhere will be drawn to it. In verse 3 we read: Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather together, they come to you.

Nations and kings will come to Zion, not to conquer it, but to acknowledge God and submit to him. Those who refuse, verse 12 warns, will perish: For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste.

It is one of the ironies of history that the power of Rome which crucified Jesus in the first century capitulated to him in the fourth century when the emperor Constantine was baptized.

It is striking proof that Isaiah’s words were no idle dream. The kingdoms of human power would fail; they would amass their wealth only to lay it down at the feet of the king of kings.

It’s an inspiring and encouraging picture. How much more should it encourage us, who live on the other side of the coming of God’s Messiah, the Lord Jesus. With Jesus’ coming and his resurrection from the dead, we have greater assurance that God’s plans will come to pass. God’s rule and God’s City will be established in glory and greatness forever.

What then should we be doing in the meantime? Part of the answer lies in our need to be biblically rich in understanding God and his purposes.

We need to believe what we read in Colossians, chapter 3, verse 4 for example: When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. While Jesus Christ is already enthroned at God’s right hand, his rule remains hidden for the present. In this meantime, he wants people to come to him in faith, trusting him for who he is and what he has done for us.

This means in part, that we should not withdraw from society with its issues and concerns. Rather, to quote Jeremiah’s words to exiles in Babylon: But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare (Jeremiah 29:7). We all have a task to serve the best interests of the community around us.

We also have a greater task to assist the lost in being introduced to the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet sadly, the majority of churches in the West have lost their zeal to promote this good news.

In chapter 60, Isaiah wants us to see the restoration of ancient Jerusalem in the 6th century BC as a picture of God’s promise of a far greater city, when the dominion, power and glory of the Lord will be revealed in all its awesome majesty. Come what may, no human authority, no evil power, is greater than God.

As we read in Colossians chapter 2, verse 14, when Christ died, God defeated the powers of evil, sin and death. The day will come when that reality will be seen in all its fullness and glory.

Prayer. Almighty and everlasting God, ruler of all things in heaven and on earth, hear with mercy the prayers and petitions of your people, and so grant us your peace all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

© John G. Mason

Another day. Another year. A year of change…?

In his Choruses from the Rock written in 1934, TS Eliot prophetically observed:

  But it seems that something has happened that has never happened before:

      though we know not just when, or why, or how, or where.

   Men have left GOD not for other gods, they say, but for no God;

      and this has never happened before.

   That men both deny gods and worship gods, professing first Reason,

      and then Money, and Power, and what they call Life, or Race, or Dialectic.

   What have we to do but stand with empty hands and palms turned upwards

      in an age which advances progressively backwards?

What is the most pressing issue as we enter the new year? TS Eliot suggested it is the matter of God in our lives.

As a culture, the Western world today rejects the notion of there being an ultimate truth. It is said that at best we can only have opinions. You have your opinions and I have mine. To tell me I am wrong is to be arrogant and judgmental.

But here is an irony. To slow down disease and the aging process, people are looking to medical science for solutions. And the only way remedies can be developed, is to work with an objective body of knowledge that can be tested through experiment and reasoning. If there is no agreed world view concerning this kind of knowledge there can be no assurance with respect to a cure.

And many scientists would agree. Where some might disagree is with a world view that holds that there is a creator God. And this is because they deny a world view that underlies the meaning of what are called the natural laws.

We find ourselves with a dilemma. We live in a world where social progressivism denies objectivity and the idea of truth. On the other hand, the same world is dependent upon the fact of objective truth when it comes to the laws of nature and the search for cures.

So, what should we do? Let the light of God’s gospel shine in our lives.

In Luke 11:29-32 Jesus had been reminding the crowds that in response to Jonah’s preaching, the people of Nineveh had repented and turned to God. He also commented that the Queen of Sheba had travelled hundreds of miles to learn from the wisdom of King Solomon.

He then went on to make an astonishing announcement: “… Something greater than Solomon is here” (11:31). Was the growing crowd around him aware they were in the presence of greatness itself – indeed, God himself? Were they listening? Were they aware of what would happen if they turned their backs on him?

Jesus concluded this teaching with these rather enigmatic words: “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar, but on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.”

Light and darkness are images that bubble throughout the Bible. In the Gospel of John we read Jesus’ words: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Furthermore, when we turn to Jesus God transfers us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:14).

So, to have the light, the lamp of the gospel shine in our lives, is the most wonderful privilege we have. How foolish of us not to let this light shine into our very hearts. Furthermore, we need to let this light so transform our lives that others will also see the changes. This will involve growing in the riches of God’s love. It means that our lives will be shaped, not by the latest ideas of ‘correctness’ but by God’s Spirit teaching us from God’s Word.

It means recognizing that all of humanity in every age has its faults and failures. William Hazlitt, the 19th century essayist, drama and literary critic observed: Mankind are an incorrigible race. Give them but bugbears and idols — it is all that they ask; the distinctions of right and wrong, of truth and falsehood, of good and evil, are worse than indifferent to them.

So often today God’s people are falling short of letting the light of our faith shine for others to see. Wanting to avoid being seen to be intolerant or arrogant, we remain silent when it comes to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, God incarnate. Many of us like to think we are good people because we refrain from sexual immorality or theft, living lives of outward integrity.

But to live a complacent, self-satisfied life, thinking that all is well, and yet not praying nor looking for opportunities to reach out to others with God’s truth, is to treat God’s king with contempt.

Let’s pray for one another as we start a new calendar year, that we will walk in the light of God’s love, trusting him with our lives, and letting his light so shine through us that others will be drawn to the Lord Jesus themselves.

In his 1939 Christmas broadcast, on the eve of Britain’s darkest hour in World War 2, King George VI concluded with this quotation: “I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year, ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied, ‘Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be better than light, and safer than a known way.”

Prayer. Almighty God, you wonderfully created men and women in your own image and have now more wonderfully rescued and restored them. Grant us, we pray, that as your Son our Lord Jesus Christ was made in our likeness, so may we share his divine nature; we ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

© John G. Mason

Does Christmas hold out something special for you? A time to be with family? A joyful celebration? Or is it nothing but fake news and a season of stress?

Let me touch on two scenes in the biblical narrative in Luke chapter 2.

But first, let’s remember who the writer is – Luke, the physician. Trained in medicine, he understood the principles of research. Indeed, at the outset of his narrative he assures us that he has carefully researched his account of the Jesus story and verified it with eyewitnesses (Luke 1:1-2). Furthermore, like all good historians, he identifies the time of the events. At the beginning of chapter 2 he writes: In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered (Luke 2:1).

As we look back at this, we see that Augustus’s mandate requiring a census of the people, set in motion events that resulted in the fulfilment of God’s promises. It’s worth noting that the God who exists beyond time, works out his own purposes in time, in the course of human decisions and affairs.

The birth. The time came for her (Mary) to deliver her child, Luke continues (2:6b, 7). And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The word inn is not an accurate translation of the original word. The usual word for inn is found in the story of the good Samaritan where the Samaritan generously provides for a victim of assault at an inn (Luke 10:34). The word in Luke 2 is another word, katalyma which literally means a place to stay or guest room. It is the same word Luke uses to refer to a guest room in a private house in Jerusalem where Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples (Luke 22:11).

In Jesus’ day poorer families lived in homes with one large extended room, for living and for sleeping. And at one end there was always a small area at ground level, but under the same roof, where the family animals were kept at night to keep them secure.

Luke is telling us that in the home where Jesus was born there was literally no guest room. Mary had to make do for the birth of Jesus at the end of the living room, near the animals. What’s more, she used the cattle feeding-trough, a manger, for Jesus’s crib.

Shepherds. Luke again surprises us when he reports that an angel announced the birth to shepherds who were working on a hillside near Bethlehem: … In the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them and said: “To you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:8, 9a, 11).

At the time of Jesus’ birth, shepherds were at the bottom of the social order. They were the lost, the outsiders. Why did the angel announce the birth to them?  Given the resources of heaven they could have pulled off one very spectacular announcement in Bethlehem or Jerusalem or across the skies.

To begin to appreciate the reason the angel spoke to the shepherds we need to consider a back-story we find in the Book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel spoke of the kings of Israel as shepherds, but he knew that many of them were self-indulgent, power-hungry exploiters. In Ezekiel’s day God’s people had been conquered by the Babylonians – Jerusalem was in ruins and its people were in exile. Ezekiel chapter 34 tells us it was the fault of the kings, the shepherds.

But Ezekiel’s news is not all negative. He speaks of a day when God would raise up a new and perfect king, a shepherd-king in the line of king David – a king whose power and glory was far beyond what anyone dreamed.

The king. With the angel’s announcement to the shepherds, we see that Jesus’ birth is the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s promise. God himself would raise up a king to do things Israel’s kings hadn’t done— restore the weak and gather the lost, offer an amnesty and open up his rule of justice and peace for the world, for ever. “Then they will know that I the Lord their God am with them” Ezekiel had said (Ezekiel 34:30). Jesus’ birth is indeed the very best news the world has known.

In fulfilment of his promise, the creator God himself has reached down from the glory of highest heaven to rescue and transform the lives of all people, even the lowliest, including the outcasts. No wonder the heavenly choir of angels broke into song: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, ‘shalom’, ‘peace’.

In her Christmas Broadcast in 2012, Her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II said, “The carol, In The Bleak Midwinter, ends by asking a question of all of us who know the Christmas story, of how God gave himself to us in humble service: “What can I give him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; if I were a wise man, I would do my part”. The carol gives the answer “Yet what I can I give him – give my heart”.”

How right this is: Jesus wants us to turn to him, our savior-king, and to give him our heart in true repentance, love and loyalty.

Indeed, it is when we give our hearts to Jesus that we can truly sing: O Holy Night… it is the night of the dear Savior’s birth; long lay the world in sin and error pining, till he appeared and the soul felt its worth…

Prayer. Loving Father, who sent your only Son into the world that we might have life through faith in him: grant that we who celebrate his birth on this most holy night may come at last to the fullness of life in your heavenly kingdom, where he now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.  Amen.

Note: My comments on Luke chapter 2 are drawn from my book, Luke: An Unexpected God, Second Edition, Aquila: 2019.

© John G. Mason

We all like to think that there are areas in our life where we are in control.

CS Lewis in Surprised by Joy wrote of his pre-Christian phase: “… But, of course, what mattered most of all was my deep-seated hatred of authority, my monstrous individualism, my lawlessness. No word in my vocabulary expressed deeper hatred than the word INTERFERENCE. But Christianity placed at the centre what then seemed to me a transcendental Interferer. If its picture were true, then no sort of ‘treaty with reality’ could ever be possible. There was no region, even in the innermost depth of one’s soul (nay, there least of all) which one could surround with a barbed wire fence and guard with a notice No Admittance. And that was what I wanted; some area, however small, of which I could say to all other beings, ‘This is my business and mine only’.”

As we prepare for Christmas it’s worth reflecting on one of the most breath-taking moments in history – the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary: “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28b). We can appreciate Mary’s alarm with this supernatural visitation.

But the angel, sensitive to her apprehension continued, “Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God. And now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus… (Luke 1:30-31).

“How can this be, since I have no husband?” Mary responded (Luke 1:34). Even though she was engaged to Joseph, at this point she had clearly not slept with him. And, perhaps like Peter at the time of Jesus’ transfiguration (Luke 9:33), she uttered the first thought that came to mind.

The angel’s response to Mary’s question is unexpected and astonishing (Luke 1:35). It is one of the most stunning statements about Jesus in the whole of Luke. Gabriel clarified for Mary, and for us, just why this baby can be described as truly human and yet divine: ‘God’s Holy Spirit will come upon you,’ he says, and ‘the power of the Most High will overshadow you’. They reflect the life-giving work of God in creation (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 104:30), and in salvation (Ezekiel 37:14).

Mary was a special recipient of God’s grace. God would be with her (future tenses) in the events that were to unfold. His centuries old promises concerning his kingdom and his salvation were about to be fulfilled.

Consider what the angel Gabriel goes on to say to Mary about her baby: “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32f).

The theme of a virgin or young woman bearing a special son found in Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14, is present here. Yet Luke, unlike Matthew, doesn’t reference this. His emphasis is on the son rather than the mother. The baby is to be named Jesus. Furthermore, Luke sets out who the baby is – drawing our attention to the themes of the prophet Nathan’s words to king David in Second Samuel, chapter 7. Nathan speaks of David’s descendent whose name would be great and who would sit on the throne of his father David (2 Samuel 7:9 and 13-16). Furthermore, Nathan speaks of him as God’s son who will rule over God’s people (see also Psalm 7:17 and Daniel 4:24).

We should also note Luke’s contrasting statements about Jesus and John the Baptist. Whereas John would be great before the Lord (Luke 1:15), Jesus would be great in his own right (Luke 1:32). Many will rejoice at John’s birth (Luke 1:14) but God would give Jesus the throne of his father David (Luke 1:32). While John will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God (Luke 1:16), Jesus will reign over the house of Jacob forever (Luke 1:33).

John would play a significant role in God’s plan, but Jesus would be more significant in every way. John would stand in the tradition of the great prophets, but Jesus would be greater than a prophet. He would not simply stand in the tradition of the kings but would be the king God had promised long ago. (2 Samuel 7:9-16; Psalm 89:14, 19-29, 35-37). For Luke, Jesus’ connection with David is most important (1:32; 1:69; 2:4; 2:11; 3:31).

While Jesus would be given the title Lord after his death and resurrection (Acts 2:29-36), glimpses of this would be seen during the course of his ministry (Luke 18:39; 19:38). This royal figure would be the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32). His rule would be over Jacob and would be forever (Luke 1:33).

In this remarkable, unexpected scene, Luke records God’s direct and personal involvement in his creation. From the moment of his conception in Mary’s womb, Jesus is understood to be truly man and truly God. God’s kingdom or rule has come into our human experience in a new and personal way. Jesus is truly divine and yet he is from the family of the kings.

Mary’s words of humility challenge us: “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

When we consider this simple yet profound scene the implications are life-changing. They threaten our desire to be in control. Yet when we reflect, we discover an unexpected ray of light and hope for us and for our world. Yes, God is the ‘transcendental interferer’ but his ‘interference’ springs from his amazing heart of love and mercy.

No wonder we sing, Hark! The herald angels sing, … glory to the newborn king.

Prayer. Lord, we beseech you, pour out your grace into our hearts; so that, knowing the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, we may be brought to the glory of his resurrection by his cross and passion. We ask this through Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Note: Comments on Luke 1 are drawn from my book, Luke: An Unexpected God, Second Edition, Aquila: 2019.

© John G. Mason

“Prepare ye the way of the Lord …” are the opening words of the Broadway musical Godspell, that was released in 1971. The lyrics pick up the theme of John the Baptist’s preaching some two millennia ago as he prepared people for the coming of God’s promised Messiah or King. All four Gospels record John’s ministry.

John the Baptist was a great preacher. He drew thousands from the cities and towns to the wilderness region near the Jordan River. He may have been a member of the Qumran community which was located around the northern shores of the Dead Sea.

In his preaching John used the symbolism of the exodus from Egypt. God’s people Israel had endured the wilderness for forty years because they had not listened to Moses. Now God in his mercy, had sent John whose role was to prepare the way for God’s Messiah. John’s mission was to call Israel back to God through preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as we read in Luke chapter 3, verse3.

For John, repentance and baptism are tightly linked. We men and women fail to honor God in our lives. This is our real sin. And we need to change. ‘Repentance and baptism’, said John, ‘were signs of a change of heart towards God and a renewed relationship with God’s people.’ In calling both the Jewish people and Gentiles to repent and be baptised, John angered many Jewish leaders. Baptism was a ceremony typically used as a sign of the incorporation of non-Jewish people, that is, outsiders, into the Jewish faith. When John preached that Abraham’s descendants should also be baptized, he was implying that God saw them as outsiders and not automatically as his people.

The glory of the Lord. To enable us to understand the significance of John’s ministry, Luke quotes Isaiah chapter 40, verses 1 through 9, the chapter from which the opening lines of Handel’s Messiah are drawn: Comfort, comfort, my people, says your God …. Isaiah 40 continues: In the wilderness a voice cries out, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight … a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;… Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (40:3-5).

The preaching of John the Baptist was a wake-up call for all of God’s people. ‘God is about to do a new thing; there will be a new exodus,’ John was saying. ‘He is going to fulfil his promises that prophets like Isaiah spoke about: God is about to send his Messiah who will offer comfort and hope to a broken world. My task,’ said John, ‘is to prepare you. You need to repent – to turn back to God – and, as a sign of your changed hearts, be baptised for the forgiveness of your sins’ (Luke 3:3).

Significantly, Luke emphasises Lord rather than God. John’s preaching is focused on God’s Messiah, namely, Jesus. This is significant. Luke is telling us that God is about to do a new thing. He is about to provide the means of the rescue of a lost world and with it, offer the comfort and hope the world longs for. All flesh shall see the salvation of God, we read in Luke chapter 3, verse 6. Like freeway or highway construction, cutting through mountains and filling in valleys, John’s ministry was to make the way ready for the Lord.

The priority of John’s ministry is preaching (3:7-18), the ministry of the sacrament is dependent on the ministry of God’s Word. This is important for us who live in an age when churches often focus more on the outward signs of faith rather than an inner personal response. God uses the instrument of words, not signs, to bring people to himself and change their lives.

John likened his hearers to a brood of vipers (3:7). These people were descendants of Abraham and yet he told them that they were alienated from God. “Who warned you,” he asked, “to flee from the wrath to come?” (3:7).

‘The time is critical,’ he insisted: “Even now the axe is laid at the root of the tree” (3:9). The true children of God are not those who have the right credentials (physical descendants of Abraham, 3:8), but those who bear fruits that befit repentance (3:8). ‘Do not be complacent or self-satisfied about your lives,’ John declared, ‘for you do not bear the marks of godly living. Like the very desert you are standing in,’ he implied, ‘you are barren; be warned of God’s coming judgment’ (3:9).

Godspell dramatized the first coming of the Messiah. The words prepare ye now serve as a reminder of his return. The season of Advent, which is the first season in the annual Church calendar, and which began on Sunday December 1, focuses on the second coming of the Lord Jesus.

The return of the King one day will surprise us all. We need to be prepared. We also have the task of preparing others for that great and glorious day. Will you join me in praying that all of us will look for and take up opportunities to introduce family and friends to Jesus, the Christ, especially over the Advent and Christmas seasons?

A Prayer. Blessed Lord, you have caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning, grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, encouraged and supported by your holy Word, we may embrace and always hold fast the joyful hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Note: My comments on Luke 3 are drawn from my book, Luke: An Unexpected God, Second Edition, Aquila: 2019.

© John G. Mason

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Lord Acton wrote in his correspondence with Bishop Creighton in England in 1887. Reflecting on the moral issues in writing a history of the Inquisition, Lord Acton considered that all people, including political and spiritual leaders, should be held to the same moral standard.

The problem, as Lord Acton observed, is that leaders are inclined to use their powers corruptly. Especially is this true of despotic rulers who are not held accountable. How we need to thank the Lord for good leaders while also praying for them – for they are not perfect. Indeed, as Paul the Apostle urges us in First Timothy chapter 2, we need to pray for the leaders of all nations.

Significantly, the wrongs that leaders can perpetrate contrast sharply with the story of Jesus of Nazareth.

Come back with me in time some two and a half millennia, when the little kingdom of Judah in the Middle-East was facing the rise of great powers. In the 8th century BC the Assyrian imperial army rampaged through the Middle East and sacked the northern kingdom of Israel. A century later the Babylonian armies were on the rise, and it was only a matter of time before Judah received the unwelcome attention of those powerful forces.

How would Judah survive? She had no army to speak of, no money and no allies. Greater nations had already been cut down. Political obliteration seemed inevitable. Yet despite the odds, Judah’s morale was not destroyed. A glimmer of hope was on the horizon.

It was Isaiah, one of the prophets who had spoken of doom and despair, who wrote about a special leader who would be raised up. In Isaiah chapter 11, features of God’s promised king unfold.

A leader after God’s own heart. Isaiah was disappointed by the politicians of his day. They were corrupt: they took bribes, ignored the poor, and turned a blind eye to justice. King Ahaz, for example, had broken every trust given to him. He had even used the gold of the Temple to try to bribe Assyria and prevent her march on Jerusalem. He’d failed. He was another ruler who’d let his people down.

Time and time again, rulers and governments do that. In most western democracies today election promises are constantly consigned to the trash.

In chapter 11, verse 1, Isaiah offers hope: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

Jesse was the father of King David, the great king in the Old Testament. Just as David himself had come out of obscurity, Isaiah is saying, so too a new king would emerge, and he would be greater than David and his son Solomon.

The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, Isaiah says, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2-3).

Wisdom, understanding and knowledge would characterize this king’s rule. But fundamental would be his willingness to learn from God. There would be no political blunders in his rule. Furthermore, corruption would not plague his government; the media wouldn’t be able to destroy him – either over his personal integrity or his policies. No one would be living in poverty or without a home.

A leader who would use his power for peace. The metaphors in verse 6 are vivid: The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. Peace would be the mark of this leader’s rule.

Periods of world peace are fleeting. The war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle-East today have expunged the view that the world had at last entered a time of safety, security and prosperity. Yet Isaiah insists that under God’s ruler there will be no incompetence, no corruption, no violence – only justice and peace. Could it be true?

A leader who draws his people from the nations. Isaiah doesn’t stop there, for in verses 10 though 16 he portrays people coming from all parts of the world, like a scattered army, to rally around this ruler. It will be a victorious, redeemed community, he says (11:15). People will come from the East and the West. Highways will be built to God’s City so that people from every nation can come. It’s a vivid and poetic picture.

Understandably we ask, ‘Could it happen?’ ‘Who is this root of Jesse, this ruler to whom the people rally, who will restore creation to its pristine harmony?’ Jesus.

Some eight hundred years before Jesus came, Isaiah predicted the first coming of God’s king as well as his return. This is one of the amazing things about the Bible that convinces me that it is what it claims to be – namely, God’s deliberate, progressive, self-revelation.

Centuries before Jesus came, Isaiah opened a window on Jesus’ life and work. Wise men did come from the Far East to pay him homage at his birth. And people from around the world have been coming to him ever since his death and resurrection.

The Gospel writers reveal that Jesus not only taught but backed up his words with action that showed God’s compassion for a sick and sorry world. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and dealt with the powers of evil.

As the New Testament unfolds, we learn that the coming of God’s king is in two parts. His first coming was a rescue operation; his return will reveal the king in all his might, majesty dominion and power. He will bring his perfect justice to bear and, with the unveiling of his own glory, will reveal the glory of all who have truly turned to him.

His first coming we celebrate at Christmas. In this season of Advent, the four weeks before Christmas, we focus on the reality of his return.

Our hope is bound up in God’s king. For the death of the king on the cross comes between God’s good creation, ruined by human sin with which the Bible begins, and the promise of a restored creation with which the Bible ends. God will wipe away every tear from our eyes… there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21:4).

A prayer. Blessed Lord, you have caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning, grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, so that, encouraged and supported by your holy Word, we may embrace and always hold fast the joyful hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

You may want to listen to Christ Our Hope in Life and Death from Keith and Kristyn Getty and Matt Papa.

The Advent Word on Wednesday series is adapted from my 2022 Advent series.

© John G. Mason