Matt Jenson at Scriptorium Daily has a very nice devotional thought for advent. You might even consider reading through Isaiah this advent season to walk with Israel in their expectation for the first coming of the Messiah as we focus on waiting for His return.
Often spoken of as a ‘fifth gospel’, the book of Isaiah is a feast for Old Testament Jesus-watchers. That’s helped by Handel, whose Messiah teaches us to hear the prophet as evangelist. And we are right so to do.
As long as we’re patient.
In Advent, we sing of the ‘long expected Jesus’. To hear Israel’s Scriptures faithfully is to hear in them the slow, painful, hopeful building of expectation. It is to hear a people fumbling toward a future usually only hinted at, but occasionally emerging from the fog in visions as brilliant as they are evanescent....
Now, only God carries. Only he bears. Isaiah is a grand vindication of God’s glory, constantly bearing witness to the God who is unlike any other, who will share his glory with no one (e.g., 42.8). And yet, he will share his glory with his servant (see 52.13). What’s more, the servant does what we thought only God could do – he carries the people of God.
God is definitely good. Hid grace and mercy carries us through
Posted by: Aleja Bennett | December 01, 2010 at 08:18 PM