2nd Sunday Of Advent, Year B. Series

Isaiah 40:1-11, Psalm 85:1-2, Psalm 85:8-13, 2 Peter 3:8-15, Mark 1:1-8

A). COMFORT YE…

Isaiah 40:1-11.

We have before us a passage which may well be familiar to us: yet please do not allow its very familiarity to breed contempt. This is a little Gospel, a sort of proto-Gospel written by the prophet many years before the event. Our task is to ask Isaiah concerning the what? when? why? and who? of his message - and the what? of ours.

1. What is his message?

It is a message of comfort (Isaiah 40:1), of good tidings of great joy to all people (Luke 2:10).

It has been hinted at already (Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6-7) as Isaiah prepares us for Immanuel’s land (Isaiah 8:8).

It is a message of preparation, of levelling the land and clearing the highway to make way for the coming of the LORD (Isaiah 40:3-4).

It is a message of revelation (Isaiah 40:5), when the presence of the LORD draws near in the Person of His own Word (John 1:14).

It is a message of certainty (Isaiah 40:8).

It is good news concerning the coming of the Lord (Isaiah 40:9), which brings renewal of strength (Isaiah 40:31).

He brings judgement against those who oppose Him, but reward for those who have persevered in His seeming absence (Isaiah 40:10).

This message speaks of the tenderness and compassion of the Good Shepherd (Isaiah 40:11).

2. When, what time, does this message speak of?

After 39 chapters of comparative doom and gloom, judgement and warning, Isaiah leads us out on to a new plain. It is a word of comfort for the children of Israel under the Assyrian threat.

It is a message of encouragement for the exiles in Babylon 150 years later (Isaiah 40:2).

It is a word for the generation who would hear the preaching of John the Baptist (John 1:23), who proclaimed the coming of Jesus.

It is for the church in all generations, and for the church to proclaim to all generations.

3. Why?

By now Israel has suffered enough for her sins (Isaiah 40:2). “Double” may mean tit for tat, an exact mirror image of what she deserves - or it may even mean she has paid more than enough. Whichever it may be, her warfare is accomplished, her iniquity is pardoned.

For the Christian this means we no longer have to suffer the full penalty of our sin. This is not a license to sin, but a severing of our former relationship with sin (Romans 5:21-6:2). Sin does reap consequences, but the penalty of our sin has been paid by our Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 1:9-2:2).

4. Who shall proclaim this message?

The prophets from Isaiah himself through to John the Baptist;

Jesus (Isaiah 2:2-3), and His Apostles (Acts 1:8);

the Church and ourselves.

5. Who is this message for?

It is for Isaiah’s contemporaries in times of upheaval.

It is for those in the Babylonian captivity, and those returning from exile.

It for those who await Messiah in John the Baptist’s days.

It is for us, as we await Jesus’ return.

Yet let us not stand gazing into heaven (Acts 1:11): we need to be proactive as a living witness to those around us. There is no end of people who need a word of comfort, good news, and encouragement in the midst of the doom and gloom of World news.

6. What shall we cry (Isaiah 40:6)?

We remind the church of her forgiveness (Isaiah 40:2), her need for preparedness for the return of Jesus (Isaiah 40:3), and her mission (Isaiah 40:9).

We remind the people around us of the brevity of life (Isaiah 40:6-8), but also of the certainty of God’s word (Isaiah 40:8).

B). THE EMBRACE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND PEACE.

Psalm 85:1-2, Psalm 85:8-13.

In Psalm 85 we have first a prayer (Psalm 85:1-7), then what has been termed “an answer of peace” (Psalm 85:8-13).

The Prayer begins, not with personal desires, but by recalling to mind God’s past favours (Psalm 85:1-2).

We must learn to “count our blessings, name them one by one,” as the hymn writer exhorts us, to raise up our “Ebenezers,” our “stones of help” as the word means, saying with Samuel of old, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12). This will temper our prayers with gratitude, and also fuel our faith as we recognise that whatsoever we ask in accordance with His will, God is able and willing to perform: that He is able to do “exceeding abundantly above all” (how many superlatives are there in Ephesians 3:20?) “all that we ask or think.” How so? “According to the power that worketh in us.”

The Psalmist - the believer, standing for the church - stops in his tracks and listens to what God has to say (Psalm 85:8-9). It is as we systematically and habitually study the Bible that we will be in a position to hear the still small voice which applies God’s Word to our own perplexities. This is a good place to receive an answer to our prayers.