Isaiah 52:7-10 Joy to the World
Isaiah 52:7-10 (Evangelical Heritage Version)
7How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of a herald,
who announces peace and preaches good news.
He announces salvation and says to Zion, “Your God is king!”
8The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voices.
Together they shout for joy,
because with both eyes they will see it
when the LORD returns to Zion.
9Break out, shout for joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem,
because the LORD is comforting his people.
He is redeeming Jerusalem.
10The LORD lays bare his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation from our God.
Joy to the World
I.
Are you excited? Today is a day when children’s faces light up with the excitement of opening gifts. It’s a day when families gather together for another feast.
The day isn’t about family, even though we do like getting together with family for Christmas. The day isn’t about food, even though many enjoy a Christmas meal rivaled only by Thanksgiving meals. My family is gathering for a feast today just like yours probably is.
The day isn’t about gifts under the tree, whether those given or received. I pray that the concept of giving gifts at Christmas helps you focus on the gift God has given, the gift we have been privileged to see, the gift in which our Savior-God gave Joy to the World.
II.
“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of a herald, who proclaims peace and preaches good news, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God is king!’” (Isaiah 52:7, EHV).
Sometimes this verse of today’s First Reading gets used when missionaries are being sent out, or when graduates from the Seminary are being ordained and installed as pastors. Pastors and other called workers are important to get the message out about peace and good news.
They are also to “proclaim salvation.” The Hebrew word for salvation is the same as Jesus’ Name: Yeshua, the Lord Saves. God and his plan of salvation were right here in this text from Isaiah.
Yeshua, Jesus, the Lord Saves, is the reason for all our celebrations at Christmas. He is the reason we have set aside time from our family gatherings to come to church this morning.
“The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voices. Together they shout for joy, because with both eyes they will see it when the LORD returns to Zion” (Isaiah 52:8, EHV).
Last night in the Christmas Eve Gospel we heard about the watchmen. Humble shepherds, watching their flocks at night. They hurried in from the fields to see “The Lord Saves” lying there in his humble bed, and all the “wonders of his love” displayed for us in Bethlehem.
“Together they shout for joy.” So many prophets looked ahead to the birth of the Savior. So many songs from the Psalms of the Old Testament pointed to Jesus, including the Psalm of the Day for today, Psalm 98, from which the hymn Joy to the World was written.
It might seem as though few noticed when Jesus came, bringing the wonders of God’s love. There were people who noticed. The shepherds noticed. Mary wrote her song of joy; Zechariah wrote one, too. Simeon sang for joy when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple for his naming day.
III.
“Break out, shout for joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, because the LORD is comforting his people. He is redeeming Jerusalem” (Isaiah 52:9, EHV). When a tow truck shows up on the scene of an accident, there’s still a car or truck there, but it’s in ruins. God created mankind in his image: perfect and holy. Sin left us all in ruins.
There are obvious and notorious sinners from history. There are plenty in society right now whose sin is obvious. Just as people who have fender-benders might not realize how much damage has been done and try to drive away, many of us don’t recognize our own spiritual ruins. No sin is insignificant to God. Each one destroys our relationship with him.
Just as a body shop restores a car to look like new again, God wanted the work of restoration to be done for the crown of his creation. Elsewhere in his prophecy Isaiah spoke about weak sinners as “bent reeds” and “dimly burning wicks” (Isaiah 42:3, EHV). He called us “broken hearted” people (Isaiah 61:1) who recognize their need for comfort and joy.
These are the ones—we are the ones whom God’s Servant came to free from the tyranny of sin.
IV.
“The LORD lays bare his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation from our God” (Isaiah 52:10, EHV).
Long before, God’s mighty arm was laid bare when he brought his people out of their slavery in Egypt. As Isaiah prophesied, he laid bare his arm in the most important way—to bring salvation to the world.
God’s mighty arm is a powerful figure of speech. It refers to his omnipotence—there is nothing our God cannot do. His power is so great and his undeserved love so overwhelming that he was willing to come to this earth to carry out the work of our salvation. John said it in today’s Gospel: “The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. We have seen his glory, the glory he has as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, EHV).
It’s interesting. When the prophet Isaiah said “proclaim salvation” he meant a person. He meant proclaim Yeshua, proclaim Jesus.
V.
Today God’s holy arm is laid bare in a very special way—the Baby Jesus, lying in a manger. It won’t be long until Good Friday, when we see the Roman soldiers stretch out that mighty, bared arm, and nail it to the tree. That Christmas Day, Mary and Joseph and the shepherds didn’t know exactly how God’s mighty arm would bring salvation, but they knew and believed it was there, lying in the manger.
With the eyes and ears of faith we have seen all these things. We have heard the angels announce his birth. We heard the shepherds, who immediately started telling others what they had heard and seen.
We have seen the rest of the story. We’ve seen the arms nailed to the cross, and heard Jesus declare: “It is finished!” (John 19:30, EHV). Joy to the world! We have seen God’s salvation worked out for us.
“Break out, shout for joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, because the LORD is comforting his people. He is redeeming Jerusalem” (Isaiah 52:9, EHV). God grant you a blessed Christmas. He brought Joy to the World! Amen.
