HOPE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Many followed Him, and He healed all their sick, warning them not to tell who He was. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

"Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.”

“He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory.”

“In his name the nations will put their hope."

Matthew 12:15b-21

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Do you have hope?

If so, what is the source of your hope?

Is it a sense in confidence in the fact that you are financially well off? Maybe that you have tenure and job security? Or maybe that you feel you are in good health and postured for a long life?

The world certainly offers us no shortage of things to hope for. The problem is that most of what we hope for today could be gone tomorrow…leaving us too often feeling hopeless.

A deep recession could cause our financial status to suffer and fail. Changes in corporate America or the economy can shake even the most stable employers to the core and lead to job cuts or layoffs. And there is any number of afflictions that could strike us, even despite our best efforts to stay in good health.

Yes…place your hope in the world and its ways too often result in disastrous results.

Well, as we look at our passage in Matthew, Chapter 12, we find Jesus having traveled away from the Pharisees who were plotting to kill Him. As He went on, “many followed Him and He healed all their sick”.

Scripture tells us that His actions were “to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah” who said (see Isaiah 42:1-4):

"Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the One I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.”

“He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory.”

“In his name the nations will put their hope."

So what do we learn from Isaiah?

We learn the reasons that Israel could not wait to receive their Messiah…and in learning this, we find where their hope was…and where ours should be as well.

One reason that Israel looked forward to Jesus coming was because He would God was sending Him as a servant…and not just any servant…but a servant who was willing to offer up Himself fully and die for those He came to serve. And Jesus did just that…not just for the people of Israel but for us as well.

A second reason that Israel longed for their Messiah was the promise of justice. Jesus would come to ensure that holy justice would reign supreme in the world…a world that was just as full of injustices in biblical times as it is today. We live fully in the hope that when Jesus returns as promised, the world as we know it will become cleansed and purified. Justice will reign supreme and Jesus will bring that justice.

Yet a third and final reason that Isaiah shares as to why Israel anticipated Jesus’ coming is that He would bring peace. And indeed, Isaiah had given the coming Messiah the name. “Prince of Peace” earlier in his book (Isaiah 9:6). The coming hope for all the nations would not quarrel or take advantage of the weak. No…He would give strength to the weary and increase the power of the weak.

And He would bring them hope…just as He still does today…hope that would allow the weak and weary to renew their strength…to soar on wings like eagles…to run and not grow weary…to walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:29, 31)

Friends, there’s only one source for true hope in life…and that’s Jesus…the Messiah who came to Israel to bring hope and salvation…the Savior who continues to do so today.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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