We hear from the prophet Isaiah today, as we often do during Advent. Isaiah prophecies bring a message foreshadowing and foretelling the coming of Christ into our world. Today, Isaiah foretells of a new king who will be guided by the Spirit of the Lord, a king who will sit on the throne of David. He won't be just any king, but a judge without peer. This king will bring new possibilities to the governance of Ancient Israel and in the justice that is to be lived out in that nation. Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann describes Isaiah's vision as the birth of a new innocence in creation, in which trust, gentleness, and friendship are not only possible, but are appropriate.
Isaiah uses imagery that appeals to our imagination. He describes a peace so profound in all of creation that the wolf will live alongside the lamb, the leopard will exist together with the baby goat, the calf and lion will live together, and all of these animals will be led by a small child. All these things would be unthinkable in the "normal" order of things in our world.
If we really believe in the peace that Jesus could bring into our lives and into all of creation through his birth, think of what a different place our world would be. While this vision appeals to our imagination, it is so different from the reality of creation today, where wolves eat lambs, leopards devour baby goats, and little children wouldn't stand a chance in the presence of wild beasts, let alone leading them anywhere.
Isaiah's vision may seem absurd in the brokenness of the world. There is certainly a fine line between hope and absurdity. The reality of our world can often destroy hope. Yet, hope is exactly what we have in Isaiah's message in this season of Advent. Jesus, from the branch of Jesse, from the lineage of David, is the source of peace and hope. It is a hope that is to bring us wisdom and understanding.
God's hope transforms the impossible into reality. The shoot that Isaiah describes has the power to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. New life comes into our world. We see the promise of God's kingdom in Isaiah’s message as we long for the coming of Christ's birth into our world, as we long for the fulfillment of that kingdom.
May the Lord of justice and mercy bring us strength and wisdom as we await the coming of his Son. May we find peace in the painful situations that confront us in our lives, until that time when God’s eternal peace comes here on earth.
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