For 39 chapters, Isaiah keeps lighting the gasoline of God’s law against God’s people. Even in his introduction! Instead of starting with “Shalom in Messiah,” Isaiah thunders, “How terrible it will be for that sinful nation, for a people loaded with guilt, offspring who act wickedly, children who are corrupt! They have forsaken the LORD. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They have deserted him and turned back.” (Isaiah 1:4) And just in case anybody snoozed off during that opening blast, Isaiah raises the flame-thrower of the law against the very leaders of Israel, headquartered in Jerusalem! "Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! What do your many sacrifices mean to me? says the LORD.” (Isaiah 1:10-11) That’s just the intro! For the next 39 chapters, except for brief, treasured respites of Gospel-grace, Isaiah keeps pounding and pounding with the hammer of God’s Law, warning God’s people of his impending judgment! Their nation would be leveled, and they would be carried off into exile in Babylon!
Then, out of the blue, come the astounding words of chapter 40. "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call out to her.” (Isaiah 40:1-2) No more fire. No more brimstone. Just comfort. Nothing but comfort. Even the sound of the Hebrew the LORD inspires Isaiah to use is soothing. So calming that whenever I hear these words, I picture a mom hushing her screaming child who has fallen off a bike and scraped a knee. “There, there, Mommy’s here. I will kiss it and make it better.”
So also the Prophet comforts the same people once crushed by the law’s labels, “Sodom! Gomorrah!” Now the LORD calls them “my people!” But how can “a people loaded with guilt, offspring who act wickedly, children who are corrupt,” bear the name of the “Holy One of Israel”? How can it be that, “Her warfare really is over. Her guilt is fully paid for. Yes, she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins”? (Isaiah 40:2)
How can it be? In between the fire and brimstone of the previous chapters, Isaiah had already explained. “Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) “For to us a child is born. To us a son is given. The authority to rule will rest on his shoulders. He will be named: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) Isaiah was allowed to peer into the future and see the miracle of that first Christmas. A baby boy, born of a virgin, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. Unique in birth. Unique in person. “Immanuel!” Mary’s Son is God’s Son! Begotten from eternity, not made! And—wonder of wonders—this precious Child has come to be God-with-us, not against us!
For the Child born in Bethlehem is the “Prince of Peace.” Peace—not between the nations of this earth, but everlasting peace with God. The peace of sins—our sins—forgiven, because Immanuel came to fully pay for every last sin--twice over! (See also Romans 5:20-21) Every worry. Every fear. Every crabby moment spent fighting the crowds while Christmas shopping. Every senior moment. Every frustrated eye-roll at a spouse.
But how would this unique Child wash away all our sin? Isaiah explains that, too, if we’re patient enough to listen. Look ahead, my friends, to Isaiah 53, and know that the Baby came to be “stricken, smitten, and afflicted… crushed for the guilt our sins deserved.” (Isaiah 53:4-5) You see, Isaiah shows us that there is a cross hanging over the cradle in Bethlehem.
This is comfort. Nothing but comfort.
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke