Isaiah 63:7–14

Is 63:7-14

⁷I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. ⁸For he said, "Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely." And he became their Savior. ⁹In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. ¹⁰But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them. ¹¹Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit, ¹²who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, ¹³who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. ¹⁴Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.

I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord! We have seen it with our eyes. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord," (Luke 2:11). The angels announced it; the shepherds saw it; Simeon held it in his arms. "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen the salvation of which you have prepared in the face of all people," (Luke 2:29-31). Like Simeon of old we too have held the salvation of God in our arms in the word and the sacraments over the past week. And we have sung his praises according to all that the Lord has granted us according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

Yes, we have received the steadfast love. We have received compassion. We have received goodness. We have received salvation. But what was it? Was it a great miraculous sign? Was it some grand victory over our enemies? Was it a present wrapped up in nice shiny paper and tied up with a ribbon and bow? What was this compassion, this love, this salvation that all Israel hoped for? That Simeon sang about? That John preached about? That the prophets longed to see? That comes after John the Baptist but was before him?

Now we have seen it: it was a baby. Laying in a manger; wrapped in strips of cloths. What is this salvation of God? It is a baby boy whose name is Salvation; Jesus. "Surely they are my people, and he will become their Savior." The word Salvation in the Hebrew language is Yeshua; the Hebrew name for Jesus. "And you shall name him Yeshua, Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

God's Salvation has become flesh and blood. There he is lying in a manger. A tiny, little baby. Surrounded by sheep and oxen. This is love incarnate; the love of God who took on our human flesh and blood.

God's salvation which he spoke about in all the Old Testament is a man; a man named Jesus. God's Son, Salvation, Yeshua, who wrapped himself in our humanity and clothed himself in our guilt and shame. A man acquainted with sorrow and full of grief. A man who was afflicted in all our afflictions. As we suffer, he suffered. As we are tempted, he was tempted. "He was tempted in every respect as we are tempted, yet he was without sin," (Heb 4:15). A man whose name is Salvation who went to the cross and became our Savior by dying in our place. He saved us from death by taking our place in death. He saved us from eternal punishment of God by being punished by God in our place. There we saw the Salvation of God, hanging on a cross, wrapped in the clothing of our sin, our shame, our guilt. The stench of death was all around—our death.

There, hanging on a cross was the presence of God. Emmanuel, God with us, to save us. Destined to eternal punishment of God from birth, there the Salvation of God redeemed us, ransomed us with his blood by sacrificing his life he bought us back from the wrath and punishment of God and placed us on God's right hand of Salvation. There he made us people of God, children who will not deal falsely. There he became our Savior. It was Christ who was afflicted. It is Christ, the angel of God's presence who saved us. It is Christ, the Love of God incarnate.

This was the very same angel of God's presence who saved Israel of old, who brought them out of bondage and death through the sea. This is the very same angel of God's presence who lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. It was the Christ child, that son of a virgin, that baby lying in a manger of whom the angels did sing. The one whom we worship and praise with songs of thanksgiving and joy.

But the children of God rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. They followed their own will, their own reason, their own desires and rebelled against this very angel of his presence who saved them. They did not trust in Salvation, but turned to their own devices and sins. Just like us. We have beheld Yeshua, the Salvation of God, lying in a manger, but how quickly we forget. How quickly we turn away. We hold him in our arms on Christmas Eve then go back to our homes and forget this miraculous thing we have beheld. Yes, even the shepherds were more faithful than we. They returned home glorifying God and telling all whom they encountered what they had seen. But we, silently go back to our business as usual. We may even complain about how uneventful this Christmas was. We groan at our overstuffed stomachs. We quickly hasten to the mall to return our gifts or exchange them for the things we really wanted.

Perhaps that's just a sign of our human nature. So anxiously the world waited for the hope of the ages, but when he came what a letdown. Just a little baby. What kind of Yeshua is that? Did he come with a receipt so we can take it back to the store? Can we exchange him for what we really wanted for Christmas? Was your Christmas a letdown again this year? Family members being tired and cranky or just the same old usual orneriness of uncle Joe? Were family relationship strained or even hostile? It wasn't the Christmas joy and love that we so yearn for. The cookies were burnt; the turkey caught fire in the oven; the lights on the tree weren't working properly so I got mad and threw the tree out the day before Christmas. Was that the kind of Christmas you had? A disappointment?

All we got for Christmas this year was a baby. Crying at midnight, needing to be fed, diapers to change. What a letdown. And after Christmas things didn't improve much either. We had hoped he was the promised Savior, the Yeshua, we even named him Jesus. But then he ran into opposition and resistance until finally they put him on a cross and there he died. We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel, but our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him (Luke 24:20). Just another letdown.

That's how we are. We rebel and grieve the Holy Spirit. We are never satisfied with what God gives us. We always want something else or something more. We never quite have the faith to see what God has given us. Just an ordinary baby. A poor, itinerate man. A condemned criminal with pierced hands and feet, hanging from a cross. That's all we get? Just a drop of water? Just a small piece of bread and a sip of wine? That's all? What can these tiny, weak, simple, ordinary things do for us?

Where is he who was with Moses of old? Who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of this flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit? Where is he who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses? Who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name, who led them through the depths? Where is he? That's the kind of salvation we need today. That's the kind of salvation we desire to bring us up out of the mire of this life; the confusion, the uncertainty, the fears, the hurts, the injustice. We want God to come with a bang! Doing splendid deeds to show the world. Miracles and signs to amaze us and vindicate us before the world and our skeptic friends and unbelieving relatives. Something to razzle and dazzle them until they see we are right. Someone to get us out of our misery and pain. Where is he?

He is here! Simeon held him in his arms and said, "Mine eyes have seen the Salvation of the Lord, the Yeshua of YHWH." The eyes of faith see him. The eyes that see God in the simple, plain, ordinary things. The eyes that behold the power of God and the greatness of Salvation in our weakness, in our humility, in the poor, the destitute, the sick, the aged.

We have seen Salvation! We have seen him in the simple water of baptism which when connected to God's promise washes away our sin and clothes us with Christ himself and makes us children of God. We have seen his salvation! We have seen it in the bread and wine which when joined to God's word of promise becomes a covering for the body and blood of Jesus, Yeshua, Salvation. That blood which pours from the cross and atones for our sin and gives eternal life. That blood which redeems us and restores us rebellious children who have separated ourselves from God. That blood which brings us back into the presence of God and restores us to his family, sealing us as his children, making us heirs of his kingdom.

Yes, that is what we have seen this past week. That is what the eyes of faith behold. In that little baby in a manger we have seen the steadfast love of the Lord. We have sung the praises of the Lord. We have received all that the Lord has granted us according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. For he said, surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely. And he became our Savior. Jesus Christ the Lord who redeemed us and carries us all the days of our life until we reach our eternal home and find our rest and peace in the plush green valley. Amen.