“Indeed I have given Him as a witness to the people, A leader and commander for the people. Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, And nations who do not know you shall run to you. Because of the Lord your God, And the Holy One of Israel, For He has glorified you.” (Isaiah 55:4-5, NJKV). “Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king, then?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’ “ (John 18:37, NKJV).
Isaiah chapter 55 stands as one of the great evangelistic chapters of the Old Testament. The invitation is sounded in the first verse: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!” Then the Lord promises to renew His covenant with the people, and that will be done by sending a mighty Leader who will be known by all nations, not just the nation of Israel. This Messianic prophecy, set within the context of a plea to ‘hear Me that your soul may live” (v. 3), at a time when the prophet was giving needed encouragement to his exiled and persecuted people, amazingly came the prophecy that the Holy One of Israel would come and would be known by all nations. For the Jews who were exclusive concerning matters of national pride, this prophecy was indeed radical. And then when Jesus stood trial before Pilate He was asked, “Are you a king, then?” (John 18:37). Jesus responded unhesitatingly, “For this cause I was born…that I should bear witness to the truth.” And the truth is that He is for all people—those not even recognized as a people by the Jews—by every nation, tribe and people—every individual—who will acknowledge Him as Lord and Messiah.
Today is third Sunday in Advent Season. All around the world people meet, in cathedrals and stately church sanctuaries, in store-front stores and tents, in home-churches and one-room country church houses, under shade trees and by the seashore. They raise voices in praise to Jesus, the New-born King! Does it not thrill you that in the 2,000 years since His birth, His name and position have come to be known in all the world, “to people who were not before a people” but upon whom the light of His redeeming love shines? But Jesus admonished that we should be watchful, even in these times: “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:12-14, NIV). Jesus came to us, a “people afar off.” He is our Messiah and Lord. Let us keep faithful watch, abide in Him, until His blessed Second Coming. And we have a job to do: we are to be among those faithfully spreading the Word of His grace until the whole world knows!
c Ethtlene Dyer Jones; Sunday, December 12, 2010
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