October 04th, 2019

​Today’s Bible Reading: Isaiah 60-63

Handel's handwritten score for the MESSIAH from the Treasures of the British Library

“Arise, shine; for your light has come,
And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.” -Isaiah 60:1

I read those words this morning and my heart gave a little skip.  The words from Handel’s Messiah are now ringing in my head.  To a people who were in darkness, to a people who had rebelled and lost everything that God has promised them comes this message of hope.

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord
And the day of vengeance of our God;
o comfort all who mourn,
To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. -Isaiah 61:1-3

It would be many, many years before this prophecy would be fulfilled.  In between the testaments we have a period that is known as the silent years which traditionally is considered to be 400 years.  Imagine waiting for God for 400 years to do what He said He would do?  Imagine that your suffering continues while you wait.  You wait your whole lifetime and God is silent.  I imagine it could be hard to not lose hope.  The problem is we occupy such a small piece of the whole story.  We are but a note in the musical score of God’s great oratorio.  And as with any piece of music, it is made up of notes and rests.  The rests create moments of silence that add to the whole wonderful masterpiece.  That silence does not mean that the composer/conductor is not present.  It means that the musicians look eagerly for the cue that the silence is over and the notes swell up once more.  And, oh, what a joyous sound was heard when that rest came to an end.

And he (Jesus) came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
​                                                                         -Luke 4:16-21

Grace and Mercy,