Have you ever been near the top of a high mountain with a huge view of the valley below? Looking out over all that land, have you ever shouted as loudly as you could to see how far your voice would carry? If you have, what did you say? “Hello!” “Hey down there!” What would you shout if you really wanted people to hear it?
The writer of our call to worship this week is thinking about just this kind of scene. God is telling his people to climb a high mountain and not to be afraid to shout as loudly as they can:
Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not (Isaiah 40:9a).
What do you think God wants his people to shout about? He tells them:
Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” (Isaiah 40:9b).
Do you know what the word “herald” means? To be a herald means someone who announces things, similar to an announcer at a sporting event who would shout, “Touchdown!” or “It’s a home run!” That announcer is a herald of good news for the team that scored and their fans.
How about the word “behold?” That’s not a word we use very often. It would be pretty funny if you held up a picture you had just colored and said to your parents, “Behold my artwork!” Still, beholding is a special kind of looking; not just seeing something but also giving it your full attention and really thinking about it.
Isaiah is shouting that he wants us to BEHOLD our GOD and he tells us some of the things that we will discover if we give God our full attention and really think about who he is and what he is like:
Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young (Isaiah 40:10-11).
What do you learn about God from this description? Do you notice how God shows us that he is both very strong and very gentle? What are some other things you have learned about what God is like?
Pray: Dear Jesus, thank you for coming to live among us as a human being so that we could behold what God is really like. Thank you that you are the strong ruler of everything and also a kind and gentle friend who leads us and cares for us like a shepherd who loves his sheep. Please help us to grow to see you and know you more and more. Thank you for laying down your life for us so that we can be with you forever.
We heard the good news preached from Revelation chapter 1 that Jesus is coming to us again to make all things new! John, who wrote this letter to the church is teaching us to look for Jesus in every part of our lives because everything is moving toward Him:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (Revelation 1:4-6).
Did you notice that some of the same things that Isaiah said about Jesus in the Old Testament are said about him here in the very last part of the New Testament? John says that Jesus is the “ruler of the kings on earth” and that he “loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.”
What do you think it means that Jesus is the one “who is and who was and who is to come” (verse 4)?
Just like Isaiah, John tells us to “Behold” Jesus:
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen (verse 7).
John says that Jesus is coming again to make all things new. This is very good news because all that is sad and broken in the world will one day be made right, and it’s good to imagine what life will be like in that gloriously new world.
This good news also comes with a warning: All of us have participated in sin and brokenness. All of us have hurt others and have failed to love God and love people as we were made to do. This makes sense of what John says about people wailing on account of Jesus because the brokenness of the world needs judgement.
This warning pushes us toward Jesus. John has already reminded us that Jesus is the “firstborn of the dead.” That means that he has gone through judgement and death and has come back to life. The judgement and death he went through would have been our judgement and our death because of our sin, but Jesus loved us and freed us from our sins by his blood.
Pray: Our hope is in our Redeemer. Though we fail, His love is sure. Christ has paid for our every failing. We will be his forevermore. All is grace. Amen.
Next week, we will continue reading in the book of Revelation, thinking about the four-part story of the Scriptures: Creation, Rebellion, Redemption and Restoration. Finish this time by prayerfully reading the following verses, asking the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus as his Word is preached, received and lived out by his people.
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength (Revelation 1:12-16).