Scripture: Matthew 12:17-21, Isaiah 42:1-9
In this 2nd Sunday of Advent, we come to
realize that this season is not only one of great expectation, but must also be a time of personal
reflection. Jesus, even
though He was divine and glorious in His Being as the Son of God, He was also a
humble Man of this plane. He seldom
proclaimed His greatness, but rather left the acceptance of His truth to each
person individually.
In 1 Corinthians 1:21-23,
Paul wrote “21 For since in the wisdom
of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased
through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who
believe. 22 Jews
demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a
stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles”
Jesus gave the people all of the signs that they
needed to be pointed directly toward the truth of God. And yet, they still wanted their Messiah to
be exactly who they imagined that He would be! Unfortunately for Israel, the signs that
should have led them to their Jesus Messiah showed that He was gentle, humble,
loving, and caring of all people, regardless of who they might have
been.
Jesus is the very One whom we all need, but people
of all times, will continue to seek Him through their own wisdom, foolishness,
and personal vision, instead of in the One who God sent to heal us all.
Read Matthew 12:17-21
As we read through this prophecy of Isaiah, we
discover the depth of who Jesus is for us. He was never one to complain about
those who worked against Him, or to personally seek after glory for Himself, or
to call the ones who the world would see as the best to serve Him, or to
condemn anyone who would refuse to follow the ways He proclaimed. He was the meek and obedient servant of God,
and in that way, He served as the servant of all who would accept Him as their
Lord and Master. He never claimed to be
Spirit filled, even though He truly was.
And even though several of the prophets tell us that He will be Lord of
many nations, Israel wanted Messiah to be theirs alone, and many rejected Jesus
over that singular issue.
They could never understand how a meek and gentle
servant could ever be victorious over the ways of Earth. Even with all that the Lord Jesus endured and
suffered through, He never saw Himself in the role of victim. It would have diminished the qualities of
Victor and Conquer that were the true significance that He would bring to the
lives of all who gave themselves over to His way. He may have come to this place in the form of
a helpless infant, and yet, even in this humble way, He is still the mighty, triumphant
and victorious King of all.
Read Isaiah 42:1-9
The beginning of this passage is the prophecy that
Matthew was referring to in his gospel. But
Isaiah goes even further in proclaiming all that Jesus Messiah will be for the
people of Earth. He reveals that the
Lord Jesus was involved with all of Creation, and that it was given for the
benefit of the people who were also an important part of all that God had put
in place. And for every being on the
face of the Earth, God also filled them with breath and life that they might
live with Him. We were never meant to be
inanimate objects or helpless beings. In
Genesis 1:26-30, we discover,
first of all, that men and women alone were created in the image of God
Himself, and second, that humanity is the only aspect of creation who were
given responsibilities regarding the rest of creation!
And as the prophecy continues, it is revealed that
God has also called His faithful to be His representatives in sharing the
covenantal promise that we find in Jeremiah 7:23-24,
that 23 … but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be
my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.
And we were also called to be bearers of the Light of
God that others might come into the Light that reveals and details the Lord’s
desires and plans for our lives.
We are to lead others into divine freedom from the
“darkness” of Earth through our faithful witness to the Lord and our love for all people. But this freedom isn’t simply a release from
the imprisonment that sin brings to our lives, but more importantly, to open
our eyes and give us a renewed and true vision of all that God is and has done
on our behalf. The past lives that we
have lived are ones of condemnation, and yet, this sentence doesn’t have to be
the controlling aspect for that which is yet to come. God, through our faith in Jesus, has given all of us the opportunity to
leave the darkness behind, and to live a new life that is bathed in the Light
of eternity.
The Lord of Hope has come into our lives! And we have received His call to be part of
His ministry of Light to all of the people who struggle in this dark and
burdened world. Consider all that our
Savior has done for us, and continues to prepare for those who have yet to come
to Him in faith! And all that God asks
of us is to follow Him, and to be a blessing to others wherever He leads.
This is the greatest gift that we could ever give to
anyone – a divine relationship through God’s Light of truth and His Hope for
eternity! Don’t let the gift go begging
– share it with someone who is still trapped in the hopelessness of the world’s
darkness, especially during this time of Christmas Light.
