Comfort and Grace – Isaiah 40

¹ “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Isaiah 40:1a (NKJV)

God’s heart is full of love for all His people.  That includes you and me.  But God is also holy and cannot tolerate the presence of sin.  He hates the sin but loves the sinner – and that includes both you and me, as well.

The Old Testament unveils both the Lord’s great love for people and the glorious purity of His law.  Recognizing the conflict, He also made provision for human failures that violate His law – heartfelt repentance and a holy ritual sacrifice. 

But peoples’ record in the scriptures also documents our constant failure to stick with His plan.  We get tired of “being good” and eventually turn away from Him to follow after other gods or idols that don’t interfere so much with the pursuit our own unholy pleasures. 

A new plan was required if this was going to work – one that had, in fact, been established since the beginnings of creation.

John the Baptist was sent by God to be the herald of His new plan – a salvation by grace made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Isaiah and the other prophets had been given several visions and words of knowledge by the Holy Spirit that outlined various pieces of the plan.  But they themselves only had a partial understanding of what its fulfillment would look like, and even John the Baptist did not have the complete picture until it was fully revealed through Jesus’ ministry.

Isaiah had been Judah’s chief prophet, serving under multiple kings from Uzziah through Hezekiah.  Besides presenting them, and us, with several key descriptors of the coming Messiah, he also joined with several kings to call upon God during times of serious trouble.  Isaiah also brought to them critical messages from God, many full of hope, deliverance, and love, others with warnings.  He covered all the bases of prophecy.

The next king after Isaiah’s death, Manasseh, was about to take center stage in Judah and would lead the nation down the path of blatant idolatry and disobedience.  His evil fifty-five-year reign helped to solidify faithless ways and bring the nation closer to an ultimate defeat by Nebuchadnezzar and exile into Babylon. 

Yet, even before all this tragedy happened, Isaiah saw beyond it to a new day when Messiah would come in holiness and purity to assume the throne in Jerusalem.  God revealed to Isaiah that this Divine Ruler will one day reign over the entire world, bringing with Him an eternal era of peace, justice, and joy.

Isaiah also foretold that a messenger would precede Messiah, coming in the spirit of Elijah, to make ready the people for the arrival of this coming King.  We now know that John the Baptist would be that messenger.  He came to stir up the peoples’ hearts to be open and hungry for the imminent unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The gospel writer Luke says this about John the Baptist:

³ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, ⁴ as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.
⁵ Every valley shall be filled
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough ways smooth;
⁶ And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” Luke 3:3-6 (NKJV)

This new message is one of tender comfort and grace from the heart of God.  Though we as a people have failed miserably to live up to His holy standards, the Lord Himself would come as the Lamb of God.  His loving sacrifice is sufficient to take away all the sins of the world and to allow intimate fellowship between a holy God and believers who come to Him in faith and repentance.

When a king would visit an area in Isaiah’s time, the residents did not want to be remembered for their rough, uncomfortable roads.  They would work to smooth out the bumps, level the high spots, straighten sharp curves, and fill in the potholes. 

Similarly, when the King of Kings visits, it is our rough hearts that need to be smoothed out and prepared.  We need to recognize our own moral failures, sins, and the hurts we have inflicted on others. 

Ready for a change, multitudes of people were baptized by John in the Jordan River.  Having received this washing of their spiritual dirt, they were now ready to see, hear, and receive their coming King, Jesus Christ, and to receive the comfort and grace of God.

Reflection

God is sending to each one of us a message of grace and comfort today.  He is here among us in the Presence of Jesus Christ.  He wants to fill our hearts with the fullness of His love, and to receive us in warm fellowship.  He will wash away all of our spiritual dirt and hold us close, never letting us go or forsaking us. That is His promise.

Lord, I confess I have been a failure in keeping Your law and commandments.  Wash me clean right now through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  I turn to You now – draw me close and never let me go!  Fill my heart with Your Holy Spirit, now and forever. We ask this In Jesus’ name, Amen.

May the Lord bless and protect you today, and give you peace.