Isaiah 35:1-10

"He will come and save you." The Prophet Isaiah foresaw it. Isaiah had told the Israelites that they would be carried off into captivity. God was allowing them to be punished. Because they had worshipped false gods and bowed down to idols, God was allowing the Babylonians to conquer them and destroy their temple and carry them off into captivity.

But that was not all Isaiah foresaw. He also foresaw their deliverance from that captivity. God told him that they would come out of their exile and there would be a second exodus out of slavery to the Promised Land.

This second exodus is what Isaiah is describing. The desert would bloom the dry places would be watered. The weak would be strengthened. And the people would return rejoicing! "He will come and save you!"

How would God save them?

First of all God would save them physically. They were physically separated from the land that God had promised them. For decades they lived in Babylon and it was a long march to get back to the Promised Land. They would have to physically be relocated. And they would need strength to get there; strength of character and strength of body. Isaiah said that the Glory of God would, "Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. He also said, "Say to those who are of a fearful heart, 'Be strong, do not fear!'"

God gives us strength and saves us physically. Often in this life we are weak. We are physically unable to do what we want or need to do. Sometimes it is our physical bodies and sometimes our strength of character is not up to the challenges of life.

But God can strengthen us. The Almighty can give us the physical and emotional ability to stand firm. God can heal our bodies and lift our spirits. God can deliver us from our captivity to fear and illness and enable us to journey forth toward a promised land flowing with mild and honey.

God would save the Israelites physically and God would save them socially. In Babylon the Israelites were under the rule of pagan kings. Sometimes they had an opportunity to witness to and influence those kings. But socially and politically they were oppressed. God would deliver them from that. God would lead them out of that oppression to a place that would enable them to live as they felt led by God.

For citizens of the United States of America it may be difficult for us to relate to that situation. We live in a land where the basic laws of the land protect the right to worship freely. But we still experience social pressures. Even in America we sometimes feel put down by a culture that belittles our ideals. And people are still oppressed socially by stereotypes and prejudices. Even within the church sometimes women and ethnic minorities are denied opportunities to serve as God is leading them. For some Christians in other part of their world they are persecuted and even killed for practical their faith in Jesus Christ.

God will save us from that social and political oppression. Sometimes the kind of social change that counteracts stereotypes and prejudices can take decades or even centuries. Even in our day and age women are still not allowed to preach in some churches. But we know that Jesus will come again. He will bring an end to all oppression, all prejudice, all hatred. And all who are downtrodden will be lifted up.

Just like the Israelites, we will be liberated socially.

God would save the Israelites physically, and socially, and God would save them spiritually. Their deliverance was more than deliverance from a place and from a political power. Describing them Isaiah said, "everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." "Everlasting joy" is something that only comes from a soul that has been released. Only the Holy Spirit can give a person that kind of Joy.

In the same way God can save us spiritually. Like the Israelites all human beings are under oppression to sin and death. God can take that sin away. God can give us eternal live. God can save us.

God can give us joy; an everlasting Joy and peace that passeth understanding.

But most importantly it is God that will save them. They would not save themselves. They would not leave that foreign land and return to Israel on their own strength. They would not break the bonds of their political oppression by their own ability. And they would not save their souls and obtain eternal joy by their own deeds.

In fact Isaiah said that God Himself would come to save them. This prophesy came to fulfillment not just in the year that the Persian King released them to return to Israel. The ultimate fulfillment of this prophesy was when Jesus, God in the flesh, came. He came to live a perfect human life and then to die as a sacrifice for our sins.

In Jesus, God came to save you. But you need to let him. Jesus can save you physically, socially, and spiritually. Jesus can give you eternal life and everlasting joy. But you need to decide to let him. Ask Jesus into your heart today and "He will come and save you."

John was in prison and he sent messengers to Jesus to ask a question. He sent them to ask Jesus if he was the one to come or should they look for another. It seems strange that John should ask this question. A careful reading of the four Gospels shows us that John should already know the answer to this question. After all, only about a year before this John baptized Jesus and acknowledged Jesus as Messiah. And the Spirit in the form of a dove landed on Jesus and a voice from heaven declared that Jesus was God's beloved Son. Could John have forgotten all that so quickly?

Apparently he had. You know human memory is often faulty. We tend to forget past events rather quickly. It is not just older people who forget. Sometimes younger ones do too. The events of the intervening time get in the way of remembering.

Apparently the intervening events clouded John's memory so that he was unsure of the past. Had it really happened the way he thought it had or was that really his imagination. John was in a prison and the months of bad food, rats, lice, and dampness of the dungeon had affected his memory. If Jesus was really the Messiah come to free the prisoners, why was God's prophet stuck in a pit. If the Son of God had arrived to pour out the Holy Spirit on the faithful and fire on the wicked, why hadn't he done it? Maybe he remembered it wrong. Maybe God hadn't said, "This is my beloved Son." Maybe God had said, "This is just another prophet and my Son is coming later."

Months in King Herod's dungeon had dulled John's memory. They had also dimmed his eyes. He could no longer see that Jesus was the Messiah as clearly he had that day that he was honored enough to baptize God's Son. So Jesus decided to help his old friend see more clearly. So he sent a message and he said, "Look, what do you see? The blind see again, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the sick are strengthened, lepers are cleansed, and the dead are raised. Brother John, even the poor and oppressed hear Good News."

The answer to John's question was right there in front of him but he failed to see it. The answer was in the works that Christ was performing all around. It was in the healings, the proclamation of Good News, the resurrections. Jesus the Messiah the Son of God was at work in the world. The evidence was all around to be seen.

But John couldn't see it. John's own situation kept him form seeing that reality clearly. And the dilemmas of the present clouded his memory of the past.

I like John. In many ways he is you and I writ large. Often times we see Christ in a moment of glory as John did. The heavens open and we hear God's voice. And if is clear to us that God is at work in the world. God has sent the Messiah to bring life and light and all those wonderful blessings we read about in Isaiah.

But then the years pass. And like John we find ourselves in a pit. Our memory of the time when we saw Christ so clearly is clouded. And we wonder, "Is that how it really happened, or was I imagining that heavenly light." As we look around we fail to see the evidence that Christ is in the world bringing comfort and salvation.

Like John we need someone to open our eyes again. We need someone to uncloud our memories and remind us of what Christ has done in our lives. Someone to open our eyes to see the works of Christ in our world today. Maybe that is what this season is all about. Reminding us that Christ came, is coming and will come again.

Like John many people ask, "Is he the one or should I look for another." I am here today to tell you that he is the one. Jesus, the salvation and light of the world, is here. And he is bringing light and life to human hearts. The sick are healed, the hungry are fed. Those who are spiritually dead are given new life, the blind see. The lost have Good News preached to them.

Do you want to see God's Son at work? Look into the faces the people of poverty stricken parts of the world who have hope because people are committed to helping them rebuild. Go to Oliver Gospel Mission on Christmas day and see the poor fed. Join our youth as they feed the needy on the first Sunday of each month. Go to the stores and see people giving Toys for Tots or change to the Salvation Army. Look at what your own church is doing this holiday season with Angel tree.

If like John you find yourself asking, "Has God's salvation come or should we keep looking for it," then look around. And ask Jesus, as John did, to show you God's salvation at work.

It may be hard to see that salvation at times but look for it. The pits that we live in blur our eyesight and dull our vision. The commercialism of this season often clouds the true meaning of it. The hustle and bustle creates noise in our lives that makes it hard to hear Angels singing to shepherds. The electric lights and electronic gadgets seem so far removed from that stall in Bethlehem. So sometimes we forget. We forget a poor homeless baby, born the son of God and son of Mary.

Look for Christ in Christmas. He is here. The signs are all around us, and they are not red and green neon billboards. They are the same signs Jesus pointed out to John: the sick are healed, the enslaved are freed, the lifeless are given new life, and the Good News is preached to poor souls.

Ask God to help you see these signs. Ask God to restore that lost vision of Christ that you had in the past. Or perhaps ask God to give you a new vision of Christ in this season of light and hope. And ask God to show you that we need not look for another. The light of the world has come. His name is Jesus, Son of Mary, Son of God.

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