BEHOLD, THE LORD GOD

2nd Sunday in Advent – B                                                                                                 LSB #933

Text – Isaiah 40:10

 

Behold, the Lord God comes with might, & His arm rules for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, & His recompense before Him.

 

BEHOLD, THE LORD GOD

 

 

The sermon hymn was titled, “My Soul Rejoices.”  This morning, what is it that really   makes you rejoice?   You know the answer is supposed to have something to do with Jesus, but how do you go about getting that feeling?  How do you find yourself in a place where your heart truly does rejoice in what Jesus has done for you?

Now that the sermon hymn has been over for a few minutes, can you recall what the author’s main point was in the hymn?   We sang variations of this line 8 different times in just two verses: “O sing    the greatness of God the Lord!”  It’s a joyful hymn.  It sings praises to our Savior.  It can lift our heart & soul, but it doesn’t always, automatically cause us to rejoice.

You may have sung the words of the hymn without consciously being aware of any point the author was trying to make.  And how often is that true as we go through the daily motions of living our lives?   Is there some reason you’re not consciously paying attention?  Every single day, the Author of your life, the Perfecter of your faith, is trying to make a point. 

It’s difficult to pay attention when life is easy.  Because God’s original design in us was twisted & corrupted by sin, we can only survive abundance for so long.  Then, we need discipline to turn us back to our Creator.  Sadly, it is only in brokenness & weakness that we can truly feel, or experience, something approaching the depth of our heavenly Father’s love for us.  

Up until now, the book of Isaiah was prophesying that the Lord’s discipline is on its way.  The people of God, the nation of Judah, had not survived the abundance of the Lord’s blessings to them.  They’d taken the reign of king David & king Solomon for granted, as if it was their very right to be the world’s wealthiest & most powerful nation.   Power & wealth had                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          destroyed every last vestige of meekness & humility in their soul.  As a nation, they no longer reflected the light of God’s goodness & mercy to the nations & people around them.   Instead, the people of Israel, & their kings, had turned away from the true God like every other nation.

During the time king Solomon was still faithful to the true God, he wrote the proverb that describes how the people should react to what was coming, “My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, & don’t be upset when He corrects you.”   (Proverbs 3:11 NLT)   If we think our nation is headed down the wrong path, we should not expect to escape our Lord’s discipline.

The temple at Jerusalem would be destroyed.  The city itself would be ransacked & ruined.  The people of Judah were to be carried off into an exile of slavery.  Then, in chapter 40, Isaiah begins to speak of the time that’s coming after the discipline.  When that time arrives, their heavenly Father’s love will return in the form of Christ’s advent, “Behold, the Lord God...” 

Our nation has had freedom far longer than any of us have been alive.  If you were born & raised here, unless you were a prisoner of war,   you have little clue what it’s like to be released from the oppression of a foreign government.  For that reason, we have less than a complete view of what it’s like to finally meet the one who has rescued us. 

“Behold, the Lord God” just doesn’t have the impact for us that it should.  How can we understand the point Isaiah was trying to make when he wrote it?   Although for differing reasons, we do have that in common with the people who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem in the Gospel reading from last Sunday.  They did not understand Isaiah’s point, yet people shouted:

“Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!  Hosanna in the highest!”

They thought Jesus was coming to be their earthly king, to overthrow the Roman

oppressor, to re-establish, here on earth, the kingdom of their great forefather David.  On the contrary, Jesus came in humility & weakness & sorrow.  He wept for Jerusalem, because they would not turn to Him.  Instead, another destruction was going to come upon that once great city.  They had no idea that their real need was to be rescued from sin, death & the devil.

The people shouting, “Hosanna in the highest” did not understand the point Isaiah was trying to make in the OT reading for today, even though Jesus fulfilled it before their very eyes.  Likewise, there is a manner in which Jesus is fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy right before our eyes today.  At the same time we’re still waiting for Jesus’ final fulfillment of the prophecy.

Jesus’ arrival on Christmas Day, & His entire life on earth, was His 1st Advent.  As Jesus comes to us in His Word & Sacraments, you & I encounter His 2nd Advent.   When the Last Day of time arrives, that will be Jesus’ 3rd Advent.   In each of those circumstances it is appropriate for Isaiah to announce:

“Behold, the Lord God comes with might, & His arm rules for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, & His recompense before Him.” 

The people of Isaiah’s day had rejected the will of Yahweh & thus His glory would leave the temple before the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC.  As discipline, their heavenly Father would send them into slavery as exiles in Babylon.  Yet, God would also send Cyrus, the king of Persia, in the fullness of time, to deliver God’s people from that slavery, for their return to Jerusalem.

So in Isaiah 40:10 the prophet is reintroducing Yahweh to His people, “Behold, the Lord God…”  Their Creator would meet His people in the wilderness of their exile & invite them to join Him as His people once again. 

As they enter the Promised Land, from exile in Babylon, they are foreshadowing Christ’s first advent as He enters the Promised Land in Bethlehem, & His final advent at the end of time, which consummates the prophetic Word of Scripture for all eternity.  Their Lord will act with might & His arm will rule for Him as Yahweh moves kings & kingdoms, even all of history, in order to foreshadow the return of the true Israel, His only-begotten Son, to the Promised Land. 

The first Israel failed in its mission because idolatry had blinded the people.  The next Servant, the 2nd person of the Trinity, takes up the mission articulated in today’s OT reading.  He returns Israel to Yahweh & is a light for the Gentiles.  His work allows Israel to be reinstated as Yahweh’s servants, but now it is Jew & Gentile. 

So today we behold the Lord God that comes with strength & power & might, yet all of that hidden behind the mask of weakness, suffering & death.  That’s what tripped up the people of Isaiah’s day.  It tripped up the people of Jesus’ day & it is still a stumbling block to people of our day.  The incarnate Savior came to manifest God’s glory in human flesh on the cursed cross. 

That makes it difficult to lean upon Him, yet if He dealt with us now, in His holiness & power, we’d all be damned.  Are you tired of brokenness, squabbling, dissension, selfishness, greed… sin?  Then hear the words of Isaiah, “Behold, the Lord God…”  Isaiah is calling us to see with the eyes of faith, to put into practice the ability Jesus gives us to trust in Him.

The greatness of the Lord is that He comes to rescue sinners & He does so in gentleness, with mercy & forgiveness.  He takes the initiative to deliver us even while we were still sinners, lost & wandering far from home.  The Church has this as its testimony, “I was blind, but now I see.  I was lost, but now I am found.  I was dead, but now I am alive – forevermore!”

“Behold, the Lord God comes with might, & His arm rules for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, & His recompense before Him.”   That reward with Him, & His recompense before Him, is you, Yahweh’s dear children – His people, His nation. 

The recompense, or reward, the heavenly Father will receive is His own people that He

will rescue once again from darkness & death, “…to be His own & live under Him in His kingdom & serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence & blessedness...”  Those words are from Martin Luther’s explanation to the 2nd article of the Apostles’ Creed.  If you’re not familiar with it, the 2nd article confesses what the Bible teaches regarding Jesus Christ.  

He is Mighty Warrior & the Good Shepherd, all wrapped up in One.  He commands His heavenly council to comfort, comfort & His Word does not return empty.   It accomplishes that for which He sends it.  Therefore, if in my life, or yours, God’s will is not accomplished, if we aren’t feeling comforted, it’s because we ourselves have rejected our Lord’s Word & will.

Jesus truly did die on the cross to right, not just your wrongs & mine, but ALL the wrongs of this entire world, for all of its history.  This lesson from Isaiah summarizes the entire season of Advent, even the entire message of the Bible & of the Christian church.  You & I are sinful beings, & still our Lord & Creator would introduce Himself to us as our Savior.

For now He deals in mercy & forgiveness.  Beware of the Day He comes in unmistakable power.  There will be no time to repent on that Day.  Now, the reign of God is at hand.  Now is the time to repent & believe the Good News.  Our warfare is ended.  Our iniquity is pardoned.  Yahweh is restoring His people.  Come & receive His blessing. 

That is the point of today’s reading from the prophet Isaiah.  Amen.

 

                                                                                                            

My soul rejoices, my spirit voices – sing the greatness of the Lord!    For God my Savior   has shown me favor – sing the greatness of the Lord!    With praise & blessing,    join in confessing God, who is solely   mighty & holy – O sing the greatness of God the Lord!    His mercy surely    shall rest securely    on all who fear Him,   love & revere Him – O sing the greatness of God the Lord!      His arm now baring,    His strength declaring – sing the greatness of the Lord!     The proud He scatters,   their rule He shatters – sing the greatness of the Lord!    Oppression halted;   the meek exalted.   Full are the hungry;    empty, the wealthy – O sing the greatness of God the Lord!    Here is the token    all that was spoken    to Abr’ham’s offspring     God is fulfilling – O sing the greatness of God the Lord!  Amen. 

Come out of sadness from wherever you’ve been
Come broken-hearted let rescue begin
Come find your mercy O sinner come kneel
Earth has no sorrow that Heaven can’t heal



Lay down your burdens lay down your shame
All who are broken lift up your face
O wanderer come home
You're not too far
So lay down your hurt lay down your heart
Come as you are

 

There's hope for the hopeless
And all those who've strayed
Come sit at the table come taste the grace
There's rest for the weary
Rest that endures
Earth has no sorrow that Heaven can’t cure

 

Lay down your burdens lay down your shame

All who are broken lift up your face
O wanderer come home
You're not too far
So lay down your hurt lay down your heart
Come as you are


Come as you are
Fall in His arms
Come as you are

There's joy for the morning O sinner be still
Earth has no sorrow that Heaven can't heal
Earth has no sorrow that Heaven can't heal