Encountering Jesus: The Questions of the Risen Christ

Now we turn to Luke’s accounts of meeting with the risen Christ. If you are alert you will have spotted that I didn’t look at Mark. Simply because Mark doesn’t have any words of the risen Christ – at least not in the bit we definitely know is from Mark. And so we move to Luke, and what we find in Luke is very intriguing. The women who go to the tomb encounter the angel, and then Luke doesn’t record their meeting with the risen Christ. Instead they tell the disciples who don’t believe a word – the women’s words seem like nonsense. Then Peter goes and looks – but doesn’t see Jesus – though he goes away marvelling at the empty tomb.

Then Luke switches the scene to two disciples walking to Emmaus – a village some 7 miles from Jerusalem. Luke chooses to tell us of this appearance of Jesus first. The two disciples – perhaps Cleopas and his wife – are walking and Jesus appears – presumably a little way off so that it can look like he has reached them naturally, and they don’t recognize him – “their eyes were kept from recognizing him” – whether kept by God directly, or simply kept by their utter sadness and desolation as they walk we don’t know. 

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.

17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas,asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

19 “What things?” he asked.

Luke 24:13-19a

He begins a conversation:  “what are these things you are discussing (perhaps even arguing about)?” Luke tells us they have been discussing Jesus’s death and the events of the weekend. They are sad. They are broken. And this stranger begins by asking what they are talking about. Luke tells us poignantly that they didn’t answer straight away. They stood still, looking sad. Almost too heartbroken to speak. And when they do it is to respond with a question of their own – are you the only one who doesn’t know about these things that have happened. Jesus’s response is just one word in the Greek – “what-kind-of-things?” It sounds at first almost deliberately obtuse, but he is drawing them out. The conversation is a strange one, but his intention is to lead them to explain what has happened. 

And so they tell him about what had happened, and even about what the women had said. Jesus’s response is a mild rebuke – how foolish they are, and how slow to believe what the prophets have spoken about. And then, Luke tells us he launches into a bible study – beginning with Moses he opened up what was said in Moses and the Prophets concerning himself. When we read about Jesus doing that, we shouldn’t imagine him just reading a few prophecies and saying how he interpreted them – but rather about how he explained the whole OT story reaches its climax and fulfilment in him, and how his life makes sense of all that they had grown up reading and knowing.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Mosesand all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

Luke 24:19-32

They still don’t recognize him, but they do invite him in, and it is as he breaks the bread that they recognize him – their eyes were opened – again, whether directly by God or finally as a result of the familiar action they realize who it is we don’t know for sure. And then he vanishes. He is gone. And they are left alone – to recall how their hearts burned within them on the road as he opened the scriptures to them. 

Why does Luke tell us this story here in this way? I think he is reminding us who have not seen the risen Jesus that it is the open book of his word and the broken loaf of his people gathered round the table that we encounter him today. The Bible points us to Jesus. Knowing our Old Testaments will mean we can come to know him as he wants to be known. We come to recognize who Jesus is in the same way as those who first encountered him as risen. We sometimes think if we could have been there it would be so much easier. But I doubt that. Many of those who saw the risen Christ only saw him once. And for many he was there, and then he wasn’t – their encounter lasted just minutes, and it must have been possible in moments of darkness to rationalise it away. There is something about this Emmaus road encounter that testifies to the fleeting nature of much of our relationship with Christ. 

When we read the breaking of the bread we are likely to think communion. I’m not sure we should narrow it to that. Giving thanks and breaking bread was something that Jesus did repeatedly with his disciples. It was how they did life together. The disciples would recognize this signature act of Jesus because eating together was a central part of their life with Jesus. And so I think it is a good reminder to us that we can encounter the risen Christ when we meet and eat with other Christians. 

The other thing that telling this story like this is that it highlights the reticence of Christ. He doesn’t burst in on the two disciples making everything clear immediately. Instead he takes seriously their grief and their sorrow. He takes seriously their confusion, and enters their world by asking questions. He shows them reality by opening the book that testifies about him, and as he does that their hearts burn and they realise they have seen him.

It’s an encouragement to us to open our bibles and gather together at a table and read. And then we will find times of being surprised and rejoicing because in our confusion, our sorrow, our despair, or whatever other state of mind we are in, the risen Christ has come among us. 

Perhaps now is the time to imagine ourselves on that road to Emmaus. I wonder what that event is for you that throws all else into confusion. Is it a tragic family situation? A broken relationship? A sense of betrayal in a church community? The loss of a job? An illness for someone you love?

Whatever the situation is, sense the presence of Christ as he asks you to name that thing. Bring it to him. Listen to him. Perhaps he has more questions for you. Maybe that situation is going to bring more about you to the surface. Maybe it is going to show you new aspects of how Christ is present with you, and how he wants to change you.

The first step on that journey is to pause. And to be still. As you come to that place perhaps pray too about who could share that Emmaus road with you. Ask God to bring someone into your life who you can walk this road with. Listen for the Risen Christ and his probing gentle questions that lead you to the next steps.

The Risen Christ Calls: Disciples Who Make Disciples

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:16-20

In Matthew’s gospel this is the only account we have of the risen Christ speaking with his disciples. But they are vital words for the churches mission. Words that point us to Jesus’ work done Jesus’s way. 

Each part of what Jesus says is vital. 

All authority has been given to him.

All. Jesus is lord over everyone and everything. He has the right to command everyone. We are to submit to Jesus’ rule – and everyone should do this. Jesus claim is to universal total rule. He is the king, and to him every knee will bow.

He has the right to tell us how to live. He has the right to tell us what is right and wrong. He decides. Not us. But note also that if he is lord, we are not. Christians don’t get to order others how to live. Instead notice how the mission is carried out. 

Therefore, as you go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. I’ve deliberately translated ‘as you go’ to highlight that the imperative verb here is ‘make disciples’. It is almost as if the ‘going’ is assumed. Disciples will go. They will move to wherever Jesus’s mission calls them. To be a disciple is to be on the move. Then to be a disciple is to make disciples of all nations. Disciples need to be on the move because they need to see all nations coming to Christ. 

That may mean a long move, but it may also not need us to go very far. There are many nations right now in the hotel up the road from us who have fled to the UK from persecution and trouble at home. Where we lived before there were many nations studying in the universities. Many nations working in all sorts of vital roles. All churches need to be welcoming to people from other nations, and show them God’s love in all sorts of practical ways. As Christians our own nations are incidental. We have a higher loyalty – to Christ and his kingdom. 

As they go to the nations disciples are to make disciples by baptizing and teaching. Baptism is a symbol of the first response disciples make on the journey of discipleship – a death to self and a rising to new life in Christ. It implies that disciples have explained the message of Jesus and told of the risen Christ, so that others want to repent and believe – summed up for Matthew in the idea of baptism. 

This baptism is in the name (singular) of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – the three members of the Trinity. The gospel writers don’t make the idea of Trinity explicit in their work – but they do show us the Trinity in action. Earlier in his gospel Matthew has told us of Jesus’s baptism where the Son was baptized and as the Son was baptized the Father spoke from heaven and the Spirit descended like a dove. Matthew has shown us the three in action together. And so baptism from the earliest times makes sure that new disciples know something of the mystery of the Triune God.

These disciples have to be taught – everything Jesus has taught the first disciples originally. This stems from Jesus’s authority over all. Jesus teaches his disciples to teach other disciples everything that Jesus taught them. We don’t need to teach the world to obey all of Jesus’s individual teachings – the world cannot obey those until it submits to him as Lord. Rather we live in whatever situations we are called to as the community of disciples who show Jesus’s love and compassion in our actions to those around us and cause them to want to know what it is we believe and why it has such an impact. We teach them, by word and deed, what it means for Jesus to be our Lord, so that they will want to live with him as their Lord too.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. As we do that, Jesus promise remains. The NIV translates the word older translations (and the ESV) translate as “behold” – a word we don’t use any more – as “surely”, emphasising the truth of his promise. More fundamentally the “behold” is a word that means “pay attention to this” – “pay attention to this” says Jesus – I am with you every day, until the completion of the age.

Jesus is with his disciples as they go about making disciples of others. He is always with us. He is not physically present now, but he is here by his Spirit. He is with us. The great promise of the Bible is that God comes to live with his people. We know that by faith now, and one day we too will see the Risen Jesus when he comes to restore all things. Until that day we can be those who can live out our lives of obedience to Jesus as we show others and help others to be his disciples too. 

Our discipleship stands in line with those first disciples who heard Jesus give them this commission. We stand with them as those who have encountered the risen Christ, and we seek to live out his life in our world that the world might see and believe.

Words of the Risen Christ: To the Women

Lo Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb
Lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom

THIne be the glory

In the period from Easter to Pentecost Tom Wright suggests that it is a good time to find something to take up – much as during Lent we are supposed to find something to abstain from. So I want to take up writing again. To start with I want to listen to the words of the risen Christ that we have recorded in the gospels.

We will start with Matthew’s gospel. Matthew begins with the account of the women going to the tomb and finding it empty except for two angels who tell them that Jesus is risen. As they leave to tell the disciples Matthew records this account.

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Matthew 28:8-10

Before we listen to Jesus’s words we need to notice who they are spoken to. Jesus appears first to the women. It has often been noted that this adds to the authenticity of these accounts. No one in the 1st century would have regarded women as reliable witnesses. That the gospels record this can only be because it actually happened.

But having noted this reality we also need to ponder the significance. Jesus did this deliberately, and not simply as a useful extra piece of evidence for people trying to make a case for the resurrection. Jesus goes first to the women. The women were the last to leave him, and now they are the first to see and hear him. Jesus honours them and their devotion. He doesn’t minimise their loyalty and love. He does not belittle their worship. 

Instead he meets them and reassures them. Do not be afraid. So far, so obvious – they are frightened and need reassurance. But he does not stop there. He tells them to tell his disciples to go to Galilee where he will be seen by them. The women are treated with respect, and they are given the task of proclaiming jesus’ words to his disciples. They are the first witnesses and the first messengers. 

The risen Christ does not ‘need’ to do this. He can just walk through walls. He can tell the disciples himself. But here he chooses to let the women tell the disciples. Jesus views them as partners in his mission. Jesus does not see them as second class. 

The question is will the disciples believe the women? Based on how other gospels fill in the accounts it seems not. Yet Jesus chooses to go to the women first. So, as a man, this rebukes all those conversations I have ever witnessed and failed to intervene in where women have been belittled explicitly or implicitly. Sadly more of those conversations have taken place in church contexts than outside it in my experience.

I’m glad to work for an organisation that trains women to preach and that publishes books by women preachers and scholars. I’m sad when organisations elevate a principle of male only leadership to the same level as the gospel.

But that gladness and sadness are useless if in my own life I don’t treat women as equals, and if I don’t teach my sons that they are to treat women as equals. The devastating reality is that in terms of abuse and lack of living by Jesus’ teachings churches that declare they believe women are equal partners in ministry can just as easily fall short of treating women with respect and care in actual practice. Conversely a church that holds to the principle of male leadership can treat women as fully human if they listen and learn from Jesus about listening and involving with respect. So as a man, whatever my theological convictions on the precise nature of ministries open to men and women, I need to listen and learn from Jesus and his utter respect and care for women.

And then notice how Jesus refers to his disciples. Brothers. These people who let him down, one of whom denied him. They are brothers. Part of the same family. Hebrews 2 describes how Jesus died to be firstborn among many brothers – and crucially how he is not ashamed to call those who trust him brothers.

It isn’t just Peter, John, James and the others who Jesus calls brothers – it is us too, it is all believers. And he doesn’t do that reluctantly. He is not ashamed. It is easy to be ashamed of others – and easier to be ashamed of ourselves. But Jesus is not ashamed of me, and he’s not ashamed of you. 

These brothers are called to go back to Galilee, back to where it all began, where Jesus will meet with them once more. According to Luke the final ascension of Jesus takes place at the Mount of Olives, outside Jerusalem, so after Easter Sunday they, after some time, are to head back to Galilee, and will then come back to Jerusalem.

So why does Jesus need to go back to Galilee? Why do his disciples need to meet him there? We can only guess, but maybe it is because they need to go back to the place where it all started to experience the risen Christ anew. The end of John’s gospel has to happen (John 21) and the obvious place for that is the shore of Galilee where the disciples were first called. Perhaps too there are those in Galilee who Jesus wants to have the chance to see him risen. Maybe this is where the appearance to 500 (1 Cor 15) at once can happen out of the way of the Jerusalem crowds?  

Most fundamentally perhaps for Matthew, Galilee is where Jesus called the disciples, and so it is an appropriate place for him to commission them to the next stage of his ministry. Here they left their nets to follow him. Here he will explain what it means to carry out his ministry in the world. The next post will explore his “great commission” to the disciples.

Lenten Walk to Resurrection Sunday through Isaiah

Isaiah 66 & Matthew 27:27-55

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The final chapter of Isaiah and Matthew 27:27-55. Good Friday.

Rightly so the readings today are somber, not particularly comfortable or easy. What we must not do is place false humility on ourselves. Let us see our rebellious hearts for what they are, let us be honest about our love or lack of love for justice, mercy, caring for those in need. Let us also see the cross with Christ on it. Let us recognise there is no other way to God. Let us receive His gift of His life for ours. Let us sit today with the weight of that. Let’s not rush to Easter Sunday. Praying for each of you this day to not miss the gift of the cross because of false humility. In Jesus name

Isaiah 66

This is what the Lord says:

“Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
    Where will my resting place be?
2 Has not my hand made all these things,
    and so they came into being?”
declares the Lord.

“These are the ones I look on with favor:
    those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
    and who tremble at my word.
3 But whoever sacrifices a bull
    is like one who kills a person,
and whoever offers a lamb
    is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever makes a grain offering
    is like one who presents pig’s blood,
and whoever burns memorial incense
    is like one who worships an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,
    and they delight in their abominations;
4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for them
    and will bring on them what they dread.
For when I called, no one answered,
    when I spoke, no one listened.
They did evil in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.”

5 Hear the word of the Lord,
    you who tremble at his word:
“Your own people who hate you,
    and exclude you because of my name, have said,
‘Let the Lord be glorified,
    that we may see your joy!’
    Yet they will be put to shame.
6 Hear that uproar from the city,
    hear that noise from the temple!
It is the sound of the Lord
    repaying his enemies all they deserve.

7 “Before she goes into labor,
    she gives birth;
before the pains come upon her,
    she delivers a son.
8 Who has ever heard of such things?
    Who has ever seen things like this?
Can a country be born in a day
    or a nation be brought forth in a moment?
Yet no sooner is Zion in labor
    than she gives birth to her children.
9 Do I bring to the moment of birth
    and not give delivery?” says the Lord.
“Do I close up the womb
    when I bring to delivery?” says your God.
10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
    all you who love her;
rejoice greatly with her,
    all you who mourn over her.
11 For you will nurse and be satisfied
    at her comforting breasts;
you will drink deeply
    and delight in her overflowing abundance.”

12 For this is what the Lord says:

“I will extend peace to her like a river,
    and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried on her arm
    and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
    so will I comfort you;
    and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”

14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice
    and you will flourish like grass;
the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants,
    but his fury will be shown to his foes.
15 See, the Lord is coming with fire,
    and his chariots are like a whirlwind;
he will bring down his anger with fury,
    and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For with fire and with his sword
    the Lord will execute judgment on all people,
    and many will be those slain by the Lord.

17 “Those who consecrate and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one who is among those who eat the flesh of pigs, rats and other unclean things—they will meet their end together with the one they follow,” declares the Lord.

18 “And I, because of what they have planned and done, am about to come[a] and gather the people of all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory.

19 “I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations—to Tarshish, to the Libyans[b] and Lydians (famous as archers), to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations. 20 And they will bring all your people, from all the nations, to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord—on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,” says the Lord. “They will bring them, as the Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the Lord in ceremonially clean vessels. 21 And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,” says the Lord.

22 “As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,” declares the Lord, “so will your name and descendants endure. 23 From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the Lord. 24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

Matthew 27:27-55

27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”). 34 There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35 When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews.

38 Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,[a] lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).[b]

47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[c] went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs.

Lenten Walk to Resurrection Sunday through Isaiah

Isaiah 63:15-65:25 and John 13:1-20.

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The end of 63 into 64 might feel a jar after yesterday’s reading of God’s delight. I find comfort though in these words, a rawness and reality of people of faith with questions, with longing for God but wondering how they can saved, a reminder to God that He is their Father, they the work of His hands. Right there in scripture is faith that is not neat, ordered and tidy. It’s full of questions, doubt, calling on God all rolled into one. My faith and if we are all honest I suspect we could all say the same is similar. Listen to God speak, let Him define his ways, his reasons. Submit yourself to Jesus words in John’s gospel. Let Jesus truly be Lord in your life and let Him be so as He sets out His way, not how we think it should be. Praying for courage to hear and submit to His ways. In Jesus name

Isaiah 63:15- 65

5 Look down from heaven and see,
    from your lofty throne, holy and glorious.
Where are your zeal and your might?
    Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us.
16 But you are our Father,
    though Abraham does not know us
    or Israel acknowledge us;
you, Lord, are our Father,
    our Redeemer from of old is your name.
17 Why, Lord, do you make us wander from your ways
    and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?
Return for the sake of your servants,
    the tribes that are your inheritance.
18 For a little while your people possessed your holy place,
    but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.
19 We are yours from of old;
    but you have not ruled over them,
    they have not been called[a] by your name.

]Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
    that the mountains would tremble before you!
2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze
    and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name known to your enemies
    and cause the nations to quake before you!
3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
    you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
4 Since ancient times no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
    who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
    you were angry.
    How then can we be saved?
6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
7 No one calls on your name
    or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
    and have given us over to[b] our sins.

8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
    We are the clay, you are the potter;
    we are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord;
    do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
    for we are all your people.
10 Your sacred cities have become a wasteland;
    even Zion is a wasteland, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you,
    has been burned with fire,
    and all that we treasured lies in ruins.
12 After all this, Lord, will you hold yourself back?
    Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?

65 “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
    I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
    I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’
2 All day long I have held out my hands
    to an obstinate people,
who walk in ways not good,
    pursuing their own imaginations—
3 a people who continually provoke me
    to my very face,
offering sacrifices in gardens
    and burning incense on altars of brick;
4 who sit among the graves
    and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,
    and whose pots hold broth of impure meat;
5 who say, ‘Keep away; don’t come near me,
    for I am too sacred for you!’
Such people are smoke in my nostrils,
    a fire that keeps burning all day.

6 “See, it stands written before me:
    I will not keep silent but will pay back in full;
    I will pay it back into their laps—
7 both your sins and the sins of your ancestors,”
    says the Lord.
“Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains
    and defied me on the hills,
I will measure into their laps
    the full payment for their former deeds.”

8 This is what the Lord says:

“As when juice is still found in a cluster of grapes
    and people say, ‘Don’t destroy it,
    there is still a blessing in it,’
so will I do in behalf of my servants;
    I will not destroy them all.
9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
    and from Judah those who will possess my mountains;
my chosen people will inherit them,
    and there will my servants live.
10 Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,
    and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,
    for my people who seek me.

11 “But as for you who forsake the Lord
    and forget my holy mountain,
who spread a table for Fortune
    and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,
12 I will destine you for the sword,
    and all of you will fall in the slaughter;
for I called but you did not answer,
    I spoke but you did not listen.
You did evil in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.”

13 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“My servants will eat,
    but you will go hungry;
my servants will drink,
    but you will go thirsty;
my servants will rejoice,
    but you will be put to shame.
14 My servants will sing
    out of the joy of their hearts,
but you will cry out
    from anguish of heart
    and wail in brokenness of spirit.
15 You will leave your name
    for my chosen ones to use in their curses;
the Sovereign Lord will put you to death,
    but to his servants he will give another name.
16 Whoever invokes a blessing in the land
    will do so by the one true God;
whoever takes an oath in the land
    will swear by the one true God.
For the past troubles will be forgotten
    and hidden from my eyes.

17 “See, I will create
    new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
    nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
    in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
    and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
    and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
    will be heard in it no more.

20 “Never again will there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[c] a hundred
    will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
    or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
    so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
    the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,
    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,
    they and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer;
    while they are still speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
    and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

John 13:1-20

 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

18 “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned[a] against me.’[b]

19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. 20 Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

Lenten Walk to Resurrection Sunday through Isaiah

Isaiah 62 & 63:14

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Having read through some tough desolation passages we come to these which seem so the total opposite. Sometimes I wonder though if it is actually easier to hear the tough passages than to understand that as part of God’s people these words of jubilee and joy are spoken over us. That actually in our attempts to be humble we miss what God actually has to say over us and focus on being sinful while at the same time think subconsciously/consciously that we are good people? I was struck in there also with 62:5 and wondering what those words say to each of you? Are you able to receive God’s delight in you? You may find it easier to say yes in theory to God’s delight. If though it is a struggle to believe and receive it I would invite you to spend sometime talking to God and asking Him into those places that hinder that happening. It is not an attempt to ignore one’s sin, in fact it is more evident to us. The brighter, the bigger the joy is, the great our awareness of our sinful ways and the quicker our hearts are to repent and the more genuine our humility becomes. Praying for the ways God’s Holy Spirit will guide you through these words today. In Jesus name.

Isaiah 62 – 63:14

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
    for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her vindication shines out like the dawn,
    her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your vindication,
    and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
    that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
3 You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand,
    a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 No longer will they call you Deserted,
    or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah,[a]
    and your land Beulah[b];
for the Lord will take delight in you,
    and your land will be married.
5 As a young man marries a young woman,
    so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
    so will your God rejoice over you.

6 I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem;
    they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the Lord,
    give yourselves no rest,
7 and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem
    and makes her the praise of the earth.

8 The Lord has sworn by his right hand
    and by his mighty arm:
“Never again will I give your grain
    as food for your enemies,
and never again will foreigners drink the new wine
    for which you have toiled;
9 but those who harvest it will eat it
    and praise the Lord,
and those who gather the grapes will drink it
    in the courts of my sanctuary.”

10 Pass through, pass through the gates!
    Prepare the way for the people.
Build up, build up the highway!
    Remove the stones.
Raise a banner for the nations.

11 The Lord has made proclamation
    to the ends of the earth:
“Say to Daughter Zion,
    ‘See, your Savior comes!
See, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense accompanies him.’”
12 They will be called the Holy People,
    the Redeemed of the Lord;
and you will be called Sought After,
    the City No Longer Deserted.

63 Who is this coming from Edom,
    from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?
Who is this, robed in splendor,
    striding forward in the greatness of his strength?

“It is I, proclaiming victory,
    mighty to save.”

2 Why are your garments red,
    like those of one treading the winepress?

3 “I have trodden the winepress alone;
    from the nations no one was with me.
I trampled them in my anger
    and trod them down in my wrath;
their blood spattered my garments,
    and I stained all my clothing.
4 It was for me the day of vengeance;
    the year for me to redeem had come.
5 I looked, but there was no one to help,
    I was appalled that no one gave support;
so my own arm achieved salvation for me,
    and my own wrath sustained me.
6 I trampled the nations in my anger;
    in my wrath I made them drunk
    and poured their blood on the ground.”

7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord,
    the deeds for which he is to be praised,
    according to all the Lord has done for us—
yes, the many good things
    he has done for Israel,
    according to his compassion and many kindnesses.
8 He said, “Surely they are my people,
    children who will be true to me”;
    and so he became their Savior.
9 In all their distress he too was distressed,
    and the angel of his presence saved them.[c]
In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
    he lifted them up and carried them
    all the days of old.
10 Yet they rebelled
    and grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he turned and became their enemy
    and he himself fought against them.

11 Then his people recalled[d] the days of old,
    the days of Moses and his people—
where is he who brought them through the sea,
    with the shepherd of his flock?
Where is he who set
    his Holy Spirit among them,
12 who sent his glorious arm of power
    to be at Moses’ right hand,
who divided the waters before them,
    to gain for himself everlasting renown,
13 who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in open country,
    they did not stumble;
14 like cattle that go down to the plain,
    they were given rest by the Spirit of the Lord.
This is how you guided your people
    to make for yourself a glorious name.

Lenten Walk to Resurrection Sunday through Isaiah

Isaiah 60 & 61

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What a glorious picture of the Kingdom to come. Do not though leave it aside because it is a picture of what is to come and say that’s fine for then but right now I need to do this or that. Let it enlarge your understanding of God for both now and the future, let it shape how you live in the now. Let these glorious words give shape to your jobs and relationships now. It can feel hard to see how to marry the two, the now and not yet. Reread these passages and see how big God is, see what matters to Him, remember that He is the Creator. Spend time with Him asking how you do your jobs with a Kingdom mindset. Sit with Isaiah 61 and remember it is He who has entered the gates of Jerusalem to shouts of praise. It is He who will suffer through the night of Thursday before the torture of the cross on Friday. Praying for each of us as we walk through this week. In Jesus name.

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.
3 Nations will come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

4 “Lift up your eyes and look about you:
    All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar,
    and your daughters are carried on the hip.
5 Then you will look and be radiant,
    your heart will throb and swell with joy;
the wealth on the seas will be brought to you,
    to you the riches of the nations will come.
6 Herds of camels will cover your land,
    young camels of Midian and Ephah.
And all from Sheba will come,
    bearing gold and incense
    and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
7 All Kedar’s flocks will be gathered to you,
    the rams of Nebaioth will serve you;
they will be accepted as offerings on my altar,
    and I will adorn my glorious temple.

8 “Who are these that fly along like clouds,
    like doves to their nests?
9 Surely the islands look to me;
    in the lead are the ships of Tarshish,[a]
bringing your children from afar,
    with their silver and gold,
to the honor of the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has endowed you with splendor.

10 “Foreigners will rebuild your walls,
    and their kings will serve you.
Though in anger I struck you,
    in favor I will show you compassion.
11 Your gates will always stand open,
    they will never be shut, day or night,
so that people may bring you the wealth of the nations—
    their kings led in triumphal procession.
12 For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish;
    it will be utterly ruined.

13 “The glory of Lebanon will come to you,
    the juniper, the fir and the cypress together,
to adorn my sanctuary;
    and I will glorify the place for my feet.
14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing before you;
    all who despise you will bow down at your feet
and will call you the City of the Lord,
    Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

15 “Although you have been forsaken and hated,
    with no one traveling through,
I will make you the everlasting pride
    and the joy of all generations.
16 You will drink the milk of nations
    and be nursed at royal breasts.
Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior,
    your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
17 Instead of bronze I will bring you gold,
    and silver in place of iron.
Instead of wood I will bring you bronze,
    and iron in place of stones.
I will make peace your governor
    and well-being your ruler.
18 No longer will violence be heard in your land,
    nor ruin or destruction within your borders,
but you will call your walls Salvation
    and your gates Praise.
19 The sun will no more be your light by day,
    nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your God will be your glory.
20 Your sun will never set again,
    and your moon will wane no more;
the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your days of sorrow will end.
21 Then all your people will be righteous
    and they will possess the land forever.
They are the shoot I have planted,
    the work of my hands,
    for the display of my splendor.
22 The least of you will become a thousand,
    the smallest a mighty nation.
I am the Lord;
    in its time I will do this swiftly.”

61 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,[b]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3     and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
    that have been devastated for generations.
5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
    foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
6 And you will be called priests of the Lord,
    you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
    and in their riches you will boast.

7 Instead of your shame
    you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
    you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
    and everlasting joy will be yours.

8 “For I, the Lord, love justice;
    I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
    and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
    and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
    that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

10 I delight greatly in the Lord;
    my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
    and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
    and praise spring up before all nations.

Lenten Walk to Resurrection Sunday through Isaiah

Isaiah 58 &59

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Holy Week. Jesus arrived to cheering crowds on what we now call Palm Sunday. Where are we in that crowd? Are we in the streets cheering, do we know why we are cheering? Are we at home letting it all pass us by internationally or not? Are we observing, looking down to see who is ignoring our teaching as they celebrate Jesus, are we looking for trouble, are we curious but don’t want to get on the wrong side of leaders? There are any number of places we might find ourselves if it was in our time. As we journey through this week let us be aware of our own journey from where we envision ourselves on Palm Sunday to where we find ourselves looking on at the events of Easter weekend.

It is easy to fall into patterns of living for God, for serving Him which seem good if not even right and proper but aren’t actually the things that matter to God. As you journey this week ask God’s Holy Spirit to show you actions, ways you are doing/living that are creating a separation from God. It is easy to fall into patterns that are easy to justify. I long to see more of God in my life but I know that is not because He is silent or absent but because of choices I make. Praying for each of you..in Jesus name

Isaiah 58 -59

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

59 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
    nor his ear too dull to hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated
    you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
    so that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are stained with blood,
    your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken falsely,
    and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice;
    no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies;
    they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
5 They hatch the eggs of vipers
    and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
    and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
    they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are evil deeds,
    and acts of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet rush into sin;
    they are swift to shed innocent blood.
They pursue evil schemes;
    acts of violence mark their ways.
8 The way of peace they do not know;
    there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
    no one who walks along them will know peace.

9 So justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
    for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind we grope along the wall,
    feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
    among the strong, we are like the dead.
11 We all growl like bears;
    we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
    for deliverance, but it is far away.

12 For our offenses are many in your sight,
    and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
    and we acknowledge our iniquities:
13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord,
    turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
    uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice is driven back,
    and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
    honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found,
    and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased
    that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one,
    he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
    and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
    and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
    and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done,
    so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
    and retribution to his foes;
    he will repay the islands their due.
19 From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord,
    and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood
    that the breath of the Lord drives along.[b]

20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion,
    to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
declares the Lord.

21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

Lenten Walk to Resurrection Sunday through Isaiah

Isaiah 57

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It all hangs on the second part of v13. Throughout the book of Isaiah there is no other way. There is nothing of our own doing or even the good works we do prepared by God that can save us. Salvation is in God alone, through Christ on the cross. God does not let sin go by. He will deal with it all, He sees the corruption we see around us and that we cry out about. He sees the idols we hold onto and say nothing about. But when we turn to Him we don’t need to come with guilt and shame. We need to take Him at His word, that when we go to Him as our refuge, our rock, our salvation we will inherit the Kingdom. Praying for you as you ask God to show you the idols you hold onto without even deliberately setting them up as idols but simply there in a pocket to hold and finger from time to time. That as we walk towards the cross you will name them and lay them aside. In Jesus name.

Isaiah 57

The righteous perish,
    and no one takes it to heart;
the devout are taken away,
    and no one understands
that the righteous are taken away
    to be spared from evil.
2 Those who walk uprightly
    enter into peace;
    they find rest as they lie in death.

3 “But you—come here, you children of a sorceress,
    you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
4 Who are you mocking?
    At whom do you sneer
    and stick out your tongue?
Are you not a brood of rebels,
    the offspring of liars?
5 You burn with lust among the oaks
    and under every spreading tree;
you sacrifice your children in the ravines
    and under the overhanging crags.
6 The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion;
    indeed, they are your lot.
Yes, to them you have poured out drink offerings
    and offered grain offerings.
    In view of all this, should I relent?
7 You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill;
    there you went up to offer your sacrifices.
8 Behind your doors and your doorposts
    you have put your pagan symbols.
Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed,
    you climbed into it and opened it wide;
you made a pact with those whose beds you love,
    and you looked with lust on their naked bodies.
9 You went to Molek[a] with olive oil
    and increased your perfumes.
You sent your ambassadors[b] far away;
    you descended to the very realm of the dead!
10 You wearied yourself by such going about,
    but you would not say, ‘It is hopeless.’
You found renewal of your strength,
    and so you did not faint.

11 “Whom have you so dreaded and feared
    that you have not been true to me,
and have neither remembered me
    nor taken this to heart?
Is it not because I have long been silent
    that you do not fear me?
12 I will expose your righteousness and your works,
    and they will not benefit you.
13 When you cry out for help,
    let your collection of idols save you!
The wind will carry all of them off,
    a mere breath will blow them away.
But whoever takes refuge in me
    will inherit the land
    and possess my holy mountain.”

14 And it will be said:

“Build up, build up, prepare the road!
    Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”
15 For this is what the high and exalted One says—
    he who lives forever, whose name is holy:
“I live in a high and holy place,
    but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
    and to revive the heart of the contrite.
16 I will not accuse them forever,
    nor will I always be angry,
for then they would faint away because of me—
    the very people I have created.
17 I was enraged by their sinful greed;
    I punished them, and hid my face in anger,
    yet they kept on in their willful ways.
18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them;
    I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners,
19     creating praise on their lips.
Peace, peace, to those far and near,”
    says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”
20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea,
    which cannot rest,
    whose waves cast up mire and mud.
21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

Lenten Walk to Resurrection Sunday through Isaiah

Isaiah 55 & 56

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Come to God, come to the cross, come and hear His word. Seek Him, know Him, walk in His ways. Delight as God draws others to Him, worship with them. Celebrate God and His faithfulness. His ways are not our ways. I don’t think any of us would choose the way of the cross but it is the way of God so let us follow Him to the cross on Good Friday. Let us learn from the journey what it means to walk in His ways, to worship in Spirit and Truth. Praying as we journey to the cross. In Jesus name.

Isaiah 55-56

“Come, all you who are thirsty,
    come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
    and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
    and you will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
    listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
    my faithful love promised to David.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
    a ruler and commander of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,
    and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has endowed you with splendor.”

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy
    and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
    will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
    will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper,
    and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,
    for an everlasting sign,
    that will endure forever.”

56 This is what the Lord says:

“Maintain justice
    and do what is right,
for my salvation is close at hand
    and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
2 Blessed is the one who does this—
    the person who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
    and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”

3 Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say,
    “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.”
And let no eunuch complain,
    “I am only a dry tree.”

4 For this is what the Lord says:

“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose what pleases me
    and hold fast to my covenant—
5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls
    a memorial and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
    that will endure forever.
6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
    to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
    and who hold fast to my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain
    and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
    a house of prayer for all nations.”
8 The Sovereign Lord declares—
9 Come, all you beasts of the field,
    come and devour, all you beasts of the forest!
10 Israel’s watchmen are blind,
    they all lack knowledge;
they are all mute dogs,
    they cannot bark;
they lie around and dream,
    they love to sleep.
11 They are dogs with mighty appetites;
    they never have enough.
They are shepherds who lack understanding;
    they all turn to their own way,
    they seek their own gain.
12 “Come,” each one cries, “let me get wine!
    Let us drink our fill of beer!
And tomorrow will be like today,
    or even far better.”