Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8
December 7, 2014
© 2014
In 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day with
the refrain “Of peace on earth, good-will to men!” In 1914, all along the
western front of World War I, allied and German soldiers came out of the
trenches to celebrate together on Christmas before returning to killing each
other. Since the angels announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds, we have
struggled with the incongruity the promise of peace and the world’s harsh
realities. Peace is the theme for the second Sunday of Advent, and we yearn for
the fulfillment of Isaiah’s cry of “Comfort, O comfort, my people, says your
God.”
As we will hear shortly from Mark 1:1-8, John
the Baptizer proclaimed the way to personal peace when our hearts and our world
are in turmoil. Confident in God’s comfort, during Advent we prepare
spiritually for Christmas by confessing our sins.
When our world seems at odds with the peace
of Christmas, it is easy to grumble about the sins of others. My friend Ted
Ward, who used to teach at Michigan State, calls these “L” shaped amens. We
cheer calls for others to repent while minimizing our own sins.
I was confronted by this when our Milwaukee
son sent us a DVD of the musical Oklahoma!
when we took the interim in Midwest City. I had played in the orchestra when my
high school did it as a school play. The song Curly sings to Judd became
popular. “Poor Judd is dead. A candle lights his head. He’s lying in a coffin
make of wood, and the daisies in the dell let out a different smell because
poor Judd is underneath the ground.” We all laughed at someone who was a “Judd”
to us. But watching it recently, I had to say, “Ouch! That’s a terrible case of
bullying presented in a way that normalized it.”
God’s comfort announced in Isaiah 40:1 is for
the “Judds” of the world who have been beaten down and for those of us who regret
that they are the ones beating them down.
I know scholars disagree whether all of
Isaiah was written by him in the 8th century BCE or whether chapters
40-55 and 56-66 were written later by two other prophets. I posted a summary of
that at the bottom of this post. Whether God spoke in advance or contemporaneously,
all agree that this word of comfort was for Judah in Exile.
At the lowest point in their history, God’s
word of comfort came. The penalty for their sins has been paid double, meaning
completely, not because they deserved to be forgiven but because God is
gracious and merciful.
Fading flowers and withering grass illustrate
human frailty. People are weak and will sin again. But by contrast, God is
mighty and gentle.
Mark 1:1-8 introduces Jesus starting with
this prophecy from Isaiah. The first verse is really the title of the whole
Gospel of Mark, suggesting that the good news keeps going after the cryptic account
of Jesus’ resurrection that leaves us hanging.
The beginning of
the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2As it is written in
the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will
prepare your way; 3the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare
the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’”
4John
the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance
for the forgiveness of sins. 5And
people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were
going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing
their sins. 6Now
John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and
he ate locusts and wild honey. 7He
proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not
worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8I
have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
John’s baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy of a messenger crying out, “Prepare
the way of the Lord!” The image of highways in Isaiah suggests making
connections between people. For them to be level and straight suggests that
even the lame and feeble will freely connect to God.
In Isaiah’s and John’s times, highways were repaired
and adorned to welcome royalty and dignitaries. But John’s way of preparing
people for Jesus Christ and his good news was to proclaim a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Those who would be prepared were the
ones who had been baptized confessing their sins. Bringing these two passages
together in Advent suggests that confident in God’s comfort, during Advent we
prepare spiritually for Christmas by confessing our sins.
We are uncomfortable with such spiritual
preparation. We’d rather decorate, cook, shop and party. Preparing for God’s
arrival changes us, which is what confession is all about. No status quo. No
safe, sentimental piety. As James wrote, “Confess your sins to one another, and
pray for one another, so that you may be healed.” (5:16)
Preparing the way may be personal, but it is
not private. Isaiah called Judah to proclaim good news from a high mountain. We
add our voices to John’s, “Prepare the way of the Lord.”
Proclaiming good news is not wallowing in failure
and shame but introducing Jesus! Isaiah wrote to proclaim, “Here is your God!”
John the Baptizer announced, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world!” (John 1:29,36) What good news to connect with him!
I am convinced that introducing people to
Jesus during Advent is a lot more profound that fussing about public pronouncements,
advertising, or greeting cards that say “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings”
rather than “Merry Christmas.” I am afraid that makes us seem cranky to those
who are not Jesus’ disciples. Instead of correcting others, I suggest asking
the Holy Spirit to open opportunities to affirm how Jesus has comforted you.
When asked if you are ready for Christmas, ask
yourself how you are doing with your spiritual preparation.
How many
prophets wrote Isaiah?
You don’t have to be a scholar when reading
Isaiah to recognize that a very significant change takes place between chapters
39 and 40 and a less obvious change takes place between chapters 55 and 56.
Chapters 1-39 were clearly written by Isaiah to people about events that were happening
in Judah in the 8th century BCE. Chapters 40-55 do not mention
Isaiah or any of the people or events of 8th century BCE and speak
quite directly to the conditions Judah was facing while in exile in Babylon.
Chapters 56-66 also do not mention any people or events of the 8th
century BCE and seem to fit conditions when the people of Judah had returned to
Jerusalem after the exile in Babylon.
I grew up and was educated in a tradition
that insisted that the prophet Isaiah wrote the entire book in the 8th
century BCE. Very learned and responsible scholars marshalled the arguments and
evidence for what they the called the integrity of Isaiah’s authorship. At some
points this position became a litmus test (Shibboleth – Judges 12:6) of
theological orthodoxy and scholarly acceptability. Most of these scholars
recognize the three sections of Isaiah were written for these three distinct
times in Judah’s history and say that God inspired Isaiah to write them in
advance of the time they would be needed.
Many other scholars believe the second and
third sections were written by other prophets than Isaiah at the time Judah
needed those specific messages from God. Most believe that the prophet who
wrote the third section (chapters 56-66) is likely also the one who assembled
the book of Isaiah as we have it today. They also believe those two other
prophets were likely descendants of the original Isaiah’s disciples who kept
his message and ministry alive through the terrible years of exile. Though the
three sections are distinct, they do share some common themes and literary
approaches.
Personally I would suggest
that whichever approach makes the most sense to you, you should not treat it as
a test of faith and condemn those who hold the other opinion. I certainly
believe God is quite capable of inspiring Isaiah in the 8th century
BCE to write what the people of Judah were going to need going into and coming
out of exile. I also believe God is quite capable of raising up new prophets in
the descendants of Isaiah’s disciples to speak God’s Word contemporaneously
with the events to which it connects. Since Isaiah’s name and other people and
events of his time drop out from chapter 40 on, I see no reason to postulate any
factual contradictions if they were written by others. From a strictly literary
perspective, Isaiah as a whole is commonly viewed as a towering pinnacle of
human literary achievement in any language at any time. From a faith
perspective, whether written by one or three prophets, I recognize Isaiah as
God’s Word, Scripture divinely inspired, reliable and authoritative.
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