Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from the prophet Isaiah, the 35th chapter:
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing… Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water… And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Thus far the text.
Dear friends in Christ,
In the text this morning, we see contrasted two ideas: the way of the world and Satan and the way of God and His righteousness. The wilderness, dry land, desert, weak hands, feeble knees, anxious hearts, blind eyes, deaf ears, lame men, mute tongue, burning sand, jackals, and the unclean, these all belong to Satan and his work. But, the fertile ground, the springs of water, the strong hands, firm knees, the unfearing heart, eyes that see, ears that hear, legs that walk, tongues that sing, sandy pools of water, reeds and rushes, and the righteous, these are the things of God.
And these two ideas, these contrasts in the passage from Isaiah could not make it more clear. The ways of Satan and the world shall pass away. All danger shall one day cease. Safety shall be had by all. People shall stream to Zion with songs on their lips, gladness and joy shall be theirs, joy shall be everlasting, and there shall be no laborious tasks to undertake. They way of the Lord will be established and only the righteous, whether they be fools or not, shall walk upon the path of righteousness.
There are three things, then, this passage refers to: the first is that this message was preached to the Israelites when Sennacherib, the king of Assyria invaded Judah and would take them away into exile. This passage was for them, a promise of the Lord God Yahweh to them, through Isaiah, that one day these exiles, these who had been ransomed, they would return home. This is the first application.
The second application is that these are all the glorious signs of the second coming of the Christ, of course. When He comes, all these things will happen. The way of Satan, the way of this world, they shall pass away and the Lord shall remake all things according to His goodwill and His peace. All things shall be under Christ and His dominion. All evil shall be cast away and all righteousness shall be fulfilled. This is the second application.
But, sitting after the first and the second application, is John the Baptizer. He sits in prison and he is looking at this world and its evil ways. John the Baptizer, the greatest prophet and man who had ever lived, the cousin of Jesus Christ, the one prophet which every prophets had hoped they would be, for he, John himself, would look upon the Christ and declare that Yahweh’s favor had finally descended upon the world in the singular God-man, Jesus Christ, John was thrown in prison for preaching against Herod marrying his sister-in-law.
And so John sits after the 1st application, that the Israelites would return from captivity, which they did, and before the 2nd application that the Lord would make all things new, and he wonders. He wonders what exactly is wrong with this man that he called the Messiah. The Messiah was to do all the things that Isaiah had prophesied. He was to make the deserts wet with water, the jackals to disappear, the weak strong, the feeble firm, the deaf hearing, mute talking, blind seeing. He was to remake the entire people of Israel into the righteousness of God.
Instead, John, after pointing out this Jesus, after baptizing this Jesus, after doing His job as a prophet, gets thrown in prison. And there he languishes and waits. And he wonders, is this Jesus truly the Messiah, for it seems that this Jesus is doing nothing that was actually prophesied about Him? So John sends his own disciples to ask Jesus, is He really is the one, or should they wait for another messiah?
‘And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”'
Jesus tells John that He is indeed this very one, the one Isaiah prophesied. And John, when hearing this news, had to wonder, then why in the world haven’t you done these other things? What in the world are you waiting for?
And the answer, the answer which is the third application of the text for today, the answer is that Jesus had this in mind, it just looked very different to John, and to the rest of the world. From the outside, before the crucifixion, I, too, would have been wondering just what it was Jesus was doing. I would have had no idea. No one did.
But Jesus was going about His business, causing the ground to be fertile by obeying its Master, the master who commands the winds and the waves. Christ was causing springs of water, since, as Paul says, the rock the Israelites carried around with them during their Exodus was indeed Christ Himself, pouring out water from its side, and Christ went all about the people of Israel. Christ would make hands strong again, knees to be firmed up, eyes to see, ears to hear, legs to walk, tongues to sing, all by His miraculous healing power. He would cause hearts to fear the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, but to fear the Lord alone. The Lord would strengthen the righteous ones in their walk with God. The Lord did these miraculous things. But this wasn’t it, this wasn't the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy. It wasn’t enough for Jesus.
Instead, the Lord also caused the ground to be fertile by spilling His blood out upon it from the cross for sinners. Jesus would cause springs of water to pour out of His riven side. Christ would make hands strong again, knees to be firmed up, eyes to see, ears to hear, legs to walk, and tongues to sing, as we gaze upon the crucified and now risen Lord Jesus Christ. And hearts would be turned to the Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit, who brings faith into man’s heart and saves him by Christ’s work on the cross, which is delivered by the Spirit’s holy work in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
You see, the way that this passage from Isaiah is ultimately fulfilled doesn’t look like a change in the world. Instead, it looks like the cross. The cross, the tree which bore the Christ, that brings us true peace, and it is only through this cross that we exiles, we foreigners, sojourners in a strange land, are welcomed into our eternal home with Christ. That eternal home we have is with Christ in His kingdom which is already here and which is coming when Christ comes back the second time. We can only get to the second application by going through the third. We can only get to the resurrection of the dead by going through the cross.
But, just as John did, we struggle with this. Jesus doesn’t look like He’s doing much here and now. Sure, we get to hear His Word on Sundays. Sure, we receive the same boring old Lord’s Supper each week. Sure, the pastor reminds me that I’m baptized. But, Jesus, the world is going to hell every time I look at it. Families are falling apart. Schools are being sot up. Homes burn down. People die senselessly due to drugs, alcohol, cold. The bills are high. The times are tough. Jesus, are you really the Messiah, or should we look to another?
I am here to tell you that Jesus is indeed the Messiah. And there is a way that you would know this, and it is the same thing that Jesus told John. For the Lord who would accomplish the fulfillment of all things is the same Lord who returned the Israelites to their land. And the same Lord who returned the Israelites to their land is the same Lord who would come into our world and do the things He promised. ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.”’
And blessed are you when you believe that these words are for you. Blessed are you, dear sinner, when you know the Lord will forgive you all your sin. Blessed are you when you believe that the Lord will come again. Blessed are you when the earth brings forth its fruit in due time. Blessed are you when you are patient in waiting for the Lord. Blessed are you when you live together in harmony. Blessed are you when you avoid grumbling against one another. Blessed are you when you speak, read, and pray the Word of the Lord. Blessed are you who remain steadfast in the Lord. Blessed are you when you are compassionate and merciful as the Lord God is compassionate and merciful.
And blessed is the one, blessed are you, when you do not take offense at the things Jesus is doing. Blessed are you when you do not reject His holy gifts. Blessed are you when you believe His holy Word. Blessed are you when you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ did cause hands to be strong again, knees to be firmed up, eyes to see, ears to hear, legs to walk, tongues to sing, all by His miraculous healing power.
Jesus does this now, most certainly, for He did it once long ago. But, He will also do this again when He comes in all wisdom and power. He will raise you up. He will take away your sinful flesh. He will make you as He is. He will make you incorruptible. He will strengthen you. He will firm you up. He will make you see, and hear, and speak, and sing, and He will do this with His own divine power. For He only is holy, He only is the Lord, He alone is the most high Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit and the Father from eternity and coming to usher in eternity, so that you, with Isaiah, with John, his disciples, and with all people may confess, this one, this Jesus is the Messiah, and we need never look for another, for He has kept His promise and always will unto all eternity. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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