Saturday
As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. (v. 13)
Background
Handel’s Messiah opens with the words of Isaiah 40:1 “Comfort, O Comfort my people”. After 39 chapters of judgement, including the calamity of the Exile, God announces Israel/Jerusalem has suffered enough. Today we read from the last chapter of Isaiah and 'comfort' is one of the final words.
Have you ever held a young child? They are vulnerable, full of potential and, when not asleep, full of wriggly energy. In this passage the joy promised to Israel/Jerusalem – new life in the place of barrenness – is likened to the joy of parents and family at the birth of a new child.
Isaiah takes the commonplace image of a mother feeding her child in order to picture the way newly born Jerusalem will nurture her people. And, in parallel God is sustaining Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, and its communities of faith, are not just pious or romantic. In the second half of the passage Jerusalem prospers as if a river is accomplishing the delivery of the wealth of the nations so that the formerly impoverished city can become a hub of global trade.
This section of Isaiah would come at the end of the space available on the scroll. It brings to mind when I was a child writing to my aunt in America on an airmail letter. I would pick out key items to fit in before I ran out of space. In the same way, Isaiah speaks of our being a comforted people. But what is the comfort of God? It is an enduring, loving presence which, in the midst of the joys and sorrow of life wills all that is best for us. God is the best parent in the world.
To Ponder:
- Being nurtured and sustained by a lively Christian community is a huge blessing. How do you recognise the presence of God in that care?
- Where in the arc of Israel’s experience – trouble, exile, return – would you place yourself?
- How might God’s presence comfort or sustain you?
Prayer
Watch, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep today or tonight, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend your sick ones, O Lord Christ. Rest your weary ones. Bless your dying ones. Soothe your suffering ones. Pity your afflicted ones. Shield your joyous ones. And all for your love's sake. Amen. (Attributed to Saint Augustine)