We spend the entire time today in the Gospel of Matthew. Lots of rich stuff. Some apocalyptic stuff. Some stuff warning about different kinds of sin. Ways of thinking about how God’s justice is executed now and on the Day of Judgment. Why did Jesus condemn the Pharisees? Does this have any bearing on modern Judaism, which is an outgrowth of Pharisaic Judaism after the fall of Jerusalem. How much of Jesus’s apocalyptic prophecy was satisfied when the Second Temple was destroyed? All of these questions and many more are volunteered in this section. Ask the questions! Receive the answers.

Matthew 20

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ‘You also go into my vineyard,’ he said, ‘and I will pay you whatever is right.’

So they went.

He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.

About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ he asked.

‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

So he told them, ‘You also go into my vineyard.’

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and moving on to the first.’

The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius.

So when the original workers came, they assumed they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarius.

On receiving their pay, they began to grumble against the landowner.

‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.’

But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Did you not agree with me on one denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you.

Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside and said,

“Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes. They will condemn Him to death

and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. And on the third day He will be raised to life.”

Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and knelt down to make a request of Him.

“What do you want?” He inquired.

She answered, “Declare that in Your kingdom one of these two sons of mine may sit at Your right hand, and the other at Your left.”

“You do not know what you are asking,” Jesus replied. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

“We can,” the brothers answered.

“You will indeed drink My cup,” Jesus said. “But to sit at My right or left is not Mine to grant. These seats belong to those for whom My Father has prepared them.”

When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers.

But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them.

It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave—

just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him.

And there were two blind men sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

The crowd admonished them to be silent, but they cried out all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want Me to do for you?” He asked.

“Lord,” they answered, “let our eyes be opened.”

Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and at once they received their sight and followed Him.

Matthew 21

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent out two disciples,

saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to Me.

If anyone questions you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

“Say to the Daughter of Zion,

‘See, your King comes to you,

gentle and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

So the disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and laid their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.

A massive crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed were shouting:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest!”

When Jesus had entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

The crowds replied, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.

And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them.

But the chief priests and scribes were indignant when they saw the wonders He performed and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked.

“Yes,” Jesus answered. “Have you never read:

‘From the mouths of children and infants

You have ordained praise’?”

Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where He spent the night.

In the morning, as Jesus was returning to the city, He was hungry.

Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. “May you never bear fruit again!” He said. And immediately the tree withered.

When the disciples saw this, they marveled and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

When Jesus returned to the temple courts and began to teach, the chief priests and elders of the people came up to Him. “By what authority are You doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave You this authority?”

“I will also ask you one question,” Jesus replied, “and if you answer Me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

What was the source of John’s baptism? Was it from heaven or from men?”

They deliberated among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will ask, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’

But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered, “We do not know.”

And Jesus replied, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

But what do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first one and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

‘I will not,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.

Then the man went to the second son and told him the same thing.

‘I will, sir,’ he said. But he did not go.

Which of the two did the will of his father?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.

For John came to you in a righteous way and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. Then he rented it out to some tenants and went away on a journey.

When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit. But the tenants seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.

Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group. But the tenants did the same to them.

Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’

So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?”

“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and will rent out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the fruit at harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

‘The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone.

This is from the Lord,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

When the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they knew that Jesus was speaking about them.

Although they wanted to arrest Him, they were afraid of the crowds, because the people regarded Him as a prophet.

Matthew 22

Once again, Jesus spoke to them in parables: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.

He sent his servants to call those he had invited to the banquet, but they refused to come.

Again, he sent other servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

But they paid no attention and went away, one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.

The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.

Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the crossroads and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.’

So the servants went out into the streets and gathered everyone they could find, both evil and good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he spotted a man who was not dressed in wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’

But the man was speechless.

Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words.

They sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and that You teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You seek favor from no one, because You pay no attention to external appearance.

So tell us what You think: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

But Jesus knew their evil intent and said, “You hypocrites, why are you testing Me? Show Me the coin used for the tax.”

And they brought Him a denarius.

“Whose image is this,” He asked, “and whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they answered.

So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

And when they heard this, they were amazed. So they left Him and went away.

That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and questioned Him.

“Teacher,” they said, “Moses declared that if a man dies without having children, his brother is to marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.

Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died without having children. So he left his wife to his brother.

The same thing happened to the second and third brothers, down to the seventh. And last of all, the woman died.

In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? For all of them were married to her.”

Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

In the resurrection, people will neither marry nor be given in marriage. Instead, they will be like the angels in heaven.

But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what God said to you:

‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they themselves gathered together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with a question:

“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?”

Jesus declared, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.

And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

While the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus questioned them: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?”

“David’s,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’? For he says:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at My right hand

until I put Your enemies

under Your feet.” ’

So if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how can He be David’s son?”

No one was able to answer a word, and from that day on no one dared to question Him any further.

Matthew 23

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples: “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

So practice and observe everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love the places of honor at banquets, the chief seats in the synagogues,

the greetings in the marketplaces, and the title of ‘Rabbi’ by which they are addressed.

But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant.

For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’

You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred?

And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’

You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred? So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.

In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.

And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.

You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?

Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute in town after town.

And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!

Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Matthew 24

As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, His disciples came up to Him to point out its buildings.

“Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come.

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another,

and many false prophets will arise and mislead many.

Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination of desolation,’ described by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand),

then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve anything from his house. And let no one in the field return for his cloak.

How miserable those days will be for pregnant and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not occur in the winter or on the Sabbath.

For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again.

If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.

At that time, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it.

For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible. See, I have told you in advance.

So if they tell you, ‘There He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.

For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

Immediately after the tribulation of those days:

‘The sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light;

the stars will fall from the sky,

and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’

At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.

And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near.

So also, when you see all these things, you will know that He is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.

And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.

Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come.

But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.

For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time?

Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’ And he begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.

The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate.

Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise.

The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take along any extra oil. But the wise ones took oil in flasks along with their lamps. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

‘No,’ said the wise ones, ‘or there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

But while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.

Later the other virgins arrived and said, ‘Lord, lord, open the door for us!’

But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions.

To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent—each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey.

The servant who had received the five talents went at once and put them to work and gained five more. Likewise, the one with the two talents gained two more.

But the servant who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

After a long time the master of those servants returned to settle accounts with them.

The servant who had received the five talents came and presented five more. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’

The servant who had received the two talents also came and said, ‘Master, you entrusted me with two talents. See, I have gained two more.’

His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’

Finally, the servant who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what belongs to you.’

‘You wicked, lazy servant!’ replied his master. ‘You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed.

Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received it back with interest.

Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents.

For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne.

All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

He will place the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,

I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me.’

Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?

When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’

And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’

Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink,

I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, I was naked and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’

Then the King will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’

And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

It has been a good season in Isaiah. Today we conclude with the final two chapters. God helps us reckon with the fact that, despite his many mercies, his covenant people largely continue to be faithless in upholding their side. It is only a righteous remnant that he vows to protect and uphold, rather than the entire chosen people. If Christians do not meditate on their own covenant faithfulness in light of their elect status, then they aren’t reading it right. We also stand warned, as those ancient Jews were warned, that we should not assume we are pleasing to the Lord just because we are pleased with ourselves. He warns that, when we are being disobedient in our hearts, our prayers and sacrifices are an insult to him.

The psalms of comfort and trust in the Lord are needed medicine. The proverbs covered give an appreciated change of pace. Nothing like ancient Hebrew wisdom to engage the mind. In particular, some of these proverbs have things to say about worldly rulers and worldly wealth. This wisdom holds up. Why? Because it is of the Lord, and he doesn’t change. So let these things take deep root in you!

Isaiah 65

“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me;

I was found by those who did not seek Me.

To a nation that did not call My name,

I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

All day long I have held out My hands

to an obstinate people

who walk in the wrong path,

who follow their own imaginations,

to a people who continually provoke Me to My face,

sacrificing in the gardens

and burning incense on altars of brick,

sitting among the graves,

spending nights in secret places,

eating the meat of pigs

and polluted broth from their bowls.

They say, ‘Keep to yourself;

do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’

Such people are smoke in My nostrils,

a fire that burns all day long.

Behold, it is written before Me:

I will not keep silent, but I will repay;

I will pay it back into their laps,

both for your iniquities

and for those of your fathers,”

says the LORD.

“Because they burned incense on the mountains

and scorned Me on the hills,

I will measure into their laps

full payment for their former deeds.”

This is what the LORD says:

“As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes,

and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’

so I will act on behalf of My servants;

I will not destroy them all.

And I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

and heirs from Judah;

My elect will possess My mountains,

and My servants will dwell there.

Sharon will become a pasture for flocks,

and the Valley of Achor a resting place for herds,

for My people who seek Me.

But you who forsake the LORD,

who forget My holy mountain,

who set a table for Fortune

and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,

I will destine you for the sword,

and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered,

because I called and you did not answer,

I spoke and you did not listen;

you did evil in My sight

and chose that in which I did not delight.”

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says:

“My servants will eat,

but you will go hungry;

My servants will drink,

but you will go thirsty;

My servants will rejoice,

but you will be put to shame.

My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart,

but you will cry out with a heavy heart

and wail with a broken spirit.

You will leave behind your name

as a curse for My chosen ones,

and the Lord GOD will slay you;

but to His servants He will give another name.

Whoever invokes a blessing in the land

will do so by the God of truth,

and whoever takes an oath in the land

will swear by the God of truth.

For the former troubles will be forgotten

and hidden from My sight.

For behold, I will create

new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered,

nor will they come to mind.

But be glad and rejoice forever

in what I create;

for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy

and its people to be a delight.

I will rejoice in Jerusalem

and take delight in My people.

The sounds of weeping and crying

will no longer be heard in her.

No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days,

or an old man fail to live out his years.

For the youth will die at a hundred years,

and he who fails to reach a hundred

will be considered accursed.

They will build houses and dwell in them;

they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit,

nor plant for others to eat.

For as is the lifetime of a tree,

so will be the days of My people,

and My chosen ones will fully enjoy

the work of their hands.

They will not labor in vain

or bear children doomed to disaster;

for they will be a people blessed by the LORD—

they and their descendants with them.

Even before they call, I will answer,

and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb will feed together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox,

but the food of the serpent will be dust.

They will neither harm nor destroy

on all My holy mountain,”

says the LORD.

Isaiah 66

This is what the LORD says:

“Heaven is My throne,

and earth is My footstool.

What kind of house will you build for Me?

Or where will My place of repose be?

Has not My hand made all these things?

And so they came into being,”

declares the LORD.

“This is the one I will esteem:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit,

who trembles at My word.

Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man;

whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;

whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood;

whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol.

Indeed, they have chosen their own ways

and delighted in their abominations.

So I will choose their punishment

and I will bring terror upon them,

because I called and no one answered,

I spoke and no one listened.

But they did evil in My sight

and chose that in which I did not delight.”

You who tremble at His word,

hear the word of the LORD:

“Your brothers who hate you

and exclude you because of My name

have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified

that we may see your joy!’

But they will be put to shame.”

Hear the uproar from the city;

listen to the voice from the temple!

It is the voice of the LORD,

repaying His enemies what they deserve!

“Before she was in labor, she gave birth;

before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.

Who has heard of such as this?

Who has seen such things?

Can a country be born in a day

or a nation be delivered in an instant?

Yet as soon as Zion was in labor,

she gave birth to her children.

Shall I bring a baby to the point of birth and not deliver it?”

says the LORD.

“Or will I who deliver close the womb?”

says your God.

Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her,

all who love her.

Rejoice greatly with her,

all who mourn over her,

so that you may nurse and be satisfied

at her comforting breasts;

you may drink deeply and delight yourselves

in her glorious abundance.

For this is what the LORD says:

“I will extend peace to her like a river,

and the wealth of nations like a flowing stream;

you will nurse and be carried on her arm,

and bounced upon her knees.

As a mother comforts her son,

so will I comfort you,

and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”

When you see, you will rejoice,

and you will flourish like grass;

then the hand of the LORD will be revealed to His servants,

but His wrath will be shown to His enemies.

For behold, the LORD will come with fire—

His chariots are like a whirlwind—

to execute His anger with fury

and His rebuke with flames of fire.

For by fire and by His sword,

the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh,

and many will be slain by the LORD.

“Those who consecrate and purify themselves to enter the groves—to follow one in the center of those who eat the flesh of swine and vermin and rats—will perish together,” declares the LORD.

“And I, knowing their deeds and thoughts, am coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see My glory.

I will establish a sign among them, and I will send survivors from among them to the nations—to Tarshish, Put, and the archers of Lud; to Tubal, Javan, and the islands far away who have not heard of My fame or seen My glory.

So they will proclaim My glory among the nations.

And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the LORD, “just as the Israelites bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.”

“And I will select some of them as priests and Levites,” says the LORD.

“For just as the new heavens and the new earth,

which I will make, will endure before Me,”

declares the LORD,

“so your descendants and your name will endure.

From one New Moon to another

and from one Sabbath to another,

all mankind will come to worship before Me,”

says the LORD.

“As they go forth, they will see the corpses

of the men who have rebelled against Me;

for their worm will never die,

their fire will never be quenched,

and they will be a horror

to all mankind.”

Psalm 141

I call upon You, O LORD; come quickly to me.

Hear my voice when I call to You.

May my prayer be set before You like incense,

my uplifted hands like the evening offering.

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;

keep watch at the door of my lips.

Do not let my heart be drawn to any evil thing

or take part in works of wickedness

with men who do iniquity;

let me not feast on their delicacies.

Let the righteous man strike me;

let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion.

It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it.

For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked.

When their rulers are thrown down from the cliffs,

the people will listen to my words,

for they are pleasant.

As when one plows and breaks up the soil,

so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

But my eyes are fixed on You,

O GOD the Lord.

In You I seek refuge;

do not leave my soul defenseless.

Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,

and from the lures of evildoers.

Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

while I pass by in safety.

Psalm 142

I cry aloud to the LORD;

I lift my voice to the LORD for mercy.

I pour out my complaint before Him;

I reveal my trouble to Him.

Although my spirit grows faint within me,

You know my way.

Along the path I travel

they have hidden a snare for me.

Look to my right and see;

no one attends to me.

There is no refuge for me;

no one cares for my soul.

I cry to You, O LORD: “You are my refuge,

my portion in the land of the living.”

Listen to my cry,

for I am brought quite low.

Rescue me from my pursuers,

for they are too strong for me.

Free my soul from prison,

that I may praise Your name.

The righteous will gather around me

because of Your goodness to me.

Proverbs 28

The wicked flee when no one pursues,

but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

A land in rebellion has many rulers,

but a man of understanding and knowledge maintains order.

A destitute leader who oppresses the poor

is like a driving rain that leaves no food.

Those who forsake the law praise the wicked,

but those who keep the law resist them.

Evil men do not understand justice,

but those who seek the LORD comprehend fully.

Better a poor man who walks with integrity

than a rich man whose ways are perverse.

A discerning son keeps the law,

but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.

He who increases his wealth by interest and usury

lays it up for one who is kind to the poor.

Whoever turns his ear away from hearing the law,

even his prayer is detestable.

He who leads the upright along the path of evil will fall into his own pit,

but the blameless will inherit what is good.

A rich man is wise in his own eyes,

but a poor man with discernment sees through him.

When the righteous triumph, there is great glory,

but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.

He who conceals his sins will not prosper,

but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.

Blessed is the man who is always reverent,

but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

Like a roaring lion or a charging bear

is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.

A leader who lacks judgment is also a great oppressor,

but he who hates dishonest profit will prolong his days.

A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit;

let no one support him.

He who walks with integrity will be kept safe,

but whoever is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.

The one who works his land will have plenty of food,

but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

A faithful man will abound with blessings,

but one eager to be rich will not go unpunished.

To show partiality is not good,

yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.

A stingy man hastens after wealth

and does not know that poverty awaits him.

He who rebukes a man will later find more favor

than one who flatters with his tongue.

He who robs his father or mother, saying, “It is not wrong,”

is a companion to the man who destroys.

A greedy man stirs up strife,

but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper.

He who trusts in himself is a fool,

but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.

Whoever gives to the poor will not be in need,

but he who hides his eyes will receive many curses.

When the wicked come to power, people hide themselves;

but when they perish, the righteous flourish.

We are nearing the end of the prophecies of Isaiah. In the context of the Babylonian Exile, where Jews were estranged from their homeland after the destruction of the Temple, Isaiah’s words were both a comfort and a warning. God was far from his people because of their sin, but his promise was to draw near again, restoring what had been lost.

God has been faithful to his promise in ways that are astounding. The Israelites should never have been restored to their homeland. Or rather, such a thing hasn’t been seen much in history. Usually people groups conform to the people around them and gradually assimilate. When persecuted, they eventually, like the Zoroastrians, just give in and sell out. Or they, like the Kurds or the Roma, become debased and ignoble. Only the Jews have persisted through every pogrom and persecution, being blessed by the Lord wherever planted, eventually returning again to the Holy Land.

God has been faithful, working his miraculous deeds in our sight. While being faithful to the Jews, he has also raised us up, people grafted into his tree. He has been faithful to us, as well. He has shown us, time and again, his loving faithfulness. I hope that is what comes through as you meditate upon his many promises.

Isaiah 59

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,

nor His ear too dull to hear.

But your iniquities have built barriers

between you and your God,

and your sins have hidden His face from you,

so that He does not hear.

For your hands are stained with blood,

and your fingers with iniquity;

your lips have spoken lies,

and your tongue mutters injustice.

No one calls for justice;

no one pleads his case honestly.

They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies;

they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

They hatch the eggs of vipers

and weave a spider’s web.

Whoever eats their eggs will die;

crack one open, and a viper is hatched.

Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing,

and they cannot cover themselves with their works.

Their deeds are sinful deeds,

and acts of violence are in their hands.

Their feet run to evil;

they are swift to shed innocent blood.

Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;

ruin and destruction lie in their wake.

The way of peace they have not known,

and there is no justice in their tracks.

They have turned them into crooked paths;

no one who treads on them will know peace.

Therefore justice is far from us,

and righteousness does not reach us.

We hope for light, but there is darkness;

for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall,

groping like those without eyes.

We stumble at midday as in the twilight;

among the vigorous we are like the dead.

We all growl like bears

and moan like doves.

We hope for justice, but find none,

for salvation, but it is far from us.

For our transgressions are multiplied before You,

and our sins testify against us.

Our transgressions are indeed with us,

and we know our iniquities:

rebelling and denying the LORD,

turning away from our God,

speaking oppression and revolt,

conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.

So justice is turned away,

and righteousness stands at a distance.

For truth has stumbled in the public square,

and honesty cannot enter.

Truth is missing,

and whoever turns from evil becomes prey.

The LORD looked and was displeased

that there was no justice.

He saw that there was no man;

He was amazed that there was no one to intercede.

So His own arm brought salvation,

and His own righteousness sustained Him.

He put on righteousness like a breastplate,

and the helmet of salvation on His head;

He put on garments of vengeance

and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.

So He will repay according to their deeds:

fury to His enemies,

retribution to His foes,

and recompense to the islands.

So shall they fear the name of the LORD

where the sun sets,

and His glory where it rises.

For He will come like a raging flood,

driven by the breath of the LORD.

“The Redeemer will come to Zion,

to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,”

declares the LORD.

“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the LORD.

Isaiah 60

Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

For behold, darkness covers the earth,

and thick darkness is over the peoples;

but the LORD will rise upon you,

and His glory will appear over you.

Nations will come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Lift up your eyes and look around:

They all gather and come to you;

your sons will come from afar,

and your daughters will be carried on the arm.

Then you will look and be radiant,

and your heart will tremble and swell with joy,

because the riches of the sea will be brought to you,

and the wealth of the nations will come to you.

Caravans of camels will cover your land,

young camels of Midian and Ephah,

and all from Sheba will come,

bearing gold and frankincense

and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.

All the flocks of Kedar will be gathered to you;

the rams of Nebaioth will serve you

and go up on My altar with acceptance;

I will adorn My glorious house.

Who are these who fly like clouds,

like doves to their shelters?

Surely the islands will wait for Me,

with the ships of Tarshish in the lead,

to bring your children from afar,

with their silver and gold,

to the honor of the LORD your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

for He has glorified you.

Foreigners will rebuild your walls,

and their kings will serve you.

Although I struck you in anger,

yet in favor I will show you mercy.

Your gates will always stand open;

they will never be shut, day or night,

so that the wealth of the nations may be brought into you,

with their kings being led in procession.

For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish;

it will be utterly destroyed.

The glory of Lebanon will come to you—

its cypress, elm, and boxwood together—

to adorn the place of My sanctuary,

and I will glorify the place of My feet.

The sons of your oppressors

will come and bow down to you;

all who reviled you

will fall facedown at your feet

and call you the City of the LORD,

Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Whereas you have been forsaken and despised,

with no one passing through,

I will make you an everlasting pride,

a joy from age to age.

You will drink the milk of nations

and nurse at the breasts of royalty;

you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior

and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

Instead of bronze I will bring you gold;

I will bring silver in place of iron,

bronze instead of wood,

and iron instead of stones.

I will appoint peace as your governor

and righteousness as your ruler.

No longer will violence be heard in your land,

nor ruin or destruction within your borders.

But you will name your walls Salvation

and your gates Praise.

No longer will the sun be your light by day,

nor the brightness of the moon shine on your night;

for the LORD will be your everlasting light,

and your God will be your splendor.

Your sun will no longer set,

and your moon will not wane;

for the LORD will be your everlasting light,

and the days of your sorrow will cease.

Then all your people will be righteous;

they will possess the land forever;

they are the branch of My planting,

the work of My hands,

so that I may be glorified.

The least of you will become a thousand,

and the smallest a mighty nation.

I am the LORD;

in its time I will accomplish it quickly.

Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me,

because the LORD has anointed Me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives

and freedom to the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor

and the day of our God’s vengeance,

to comfort all who mourn,

to console the mourners in Zion—

to give them a crown of beauty for ashes,

the oil of joy for mourning,

and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair.

So they will be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins;

they will restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities,

the desolations of many generations.

Strangers will stand and feed your flocks,

and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.

But you will be called the priests of the LORD;

they will speak of you as ministers of our God;

you will feed on the wealth of nations,

and you will boast in their riches.

Instead of shame, My people will have a double portion,

and instead of humiliation, they will rejoice in their share;

and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,

and everlasting joy will be theirs.

For I, the LORD, love justice;

I hate robbery and iniquity;

in My faithfulness I will give them their recompense

and make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their descendants will be known among the nations,

and their offspring among the peoples.

All who see them will acknowledge

that they are a people the LORD has blessed.

I will rejoice greatly in the LORD,

my soul will exult in my God;

for He has clothed me with garments of salvation

and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress,

as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its growth,

and as a garden enables seed to spring up,

so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise

to spring up before all the nations.

Isaiah 62

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,

and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep still,

until her righteousness shines like a bright light,

her salvation like a blazing torch.

Nations will see your righteousness,

and all kings your glory.

You will be called by a new name

that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.

You will be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD,

a royal diadem in the palm of your God.

No longer will you be called Forsaken,

nor your land named Desolate;

but you will be called Hephzibah,

and your land Beulah;

for the LORD will take delight in you,

and your land will be His bride.

For as a young man marries a young woman,

so your sons will marry you;

and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,

so your God will rejoice over you.

On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen;

they will never be silent day or night.

You who call on the LORD

shall take no rest for yourselves,

nor give Him any rest

until He establishes Jerusalem

and makes her the praise of the earth.

The LORD has sworn by His right hand

and by His mighty arm:

“Never again will I give your grain

to your enemies for food,

nor will foreigners drink the new wine

for which you have toiled.

For those who harvest grain

will eat it and praise the LORD,

and those who gather grapes

will drink the wine in My holy courts.”

Go out, go out through the gates;

prepare the way for the people!

Build it up, build up the highway;

clear away the stones;

raise a banner for the nations!

Behold, the LORD has proclaimed

to the ends of the earth,

“Say to Daughter Zion:

See, your Savior comes!

Look, His reward is with Him,

and His recompense goes before Him.”

And they will be called the Holy People,

the Redeemed of The LORD;

and you will be called Sought Out,

A City Not Forsaken.

Isaiah 63

Who is this coming from Edom,

from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments?

Who is this robed in splendor,

marching in the greatness of His strength?

“It is I, proclaiming vindication,

mighty to save.”

Why are Your clothes red,

and Your garments like one who treads the winepress?

“I have trodden the winepress alone,

and no one from the nations was with Me.

I trampled them in My anger

and trod them down in My fury;

their blood spattered My garments,

and all My clothes were stained.

For the day of vengeance was in My heart,

and the year of My redemption had come.

I looked, but there was no one to help;

I was appalled that no one assisted.

So My arm brought Me salvation,

and My own wrath upheld Me.

I trampled the nations in My anger;

in My wrath I made them drunk

and poured out their blood on the ground.”

I will make known the LORD’s loving devotion

and His praiseworthy acts,

because of all that the LORD has done for us—

the many good things for the house of Israel

according to His great compassion and loving devotion.

For He said, “They are surely My people,

sons who will not be disloyal.”

So He became their Savior.

In all their distress, He too was afflicted,

and the Angel of His Presence saved them.

In His love and compassion He redeemed them;

He lifted them up and carried them

all the days of old.

But they rebelled

and grieved His Holy Spirit.

So He turned and became their enemy,

and He Himself fought against them.

Then His people remembered the days of old,

the days of Moses.

Where is He who brought them through the sea

with the shepherds of His flock?

Where is the One who set

His Holy Spirit among them,

who sent His glorious arm

to lead them by the right hand of Moses,

who divided the waters before them

to gain for Himself everlasting renown,

who led them through the depths

like a horse in the wilderness,

so that they did not stumble?

Like cattle going down to the valley,

the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.

You led Your people this way

to make for Yourself a glorious name.

Look down from heaven and see,

from Your holy and glorious habitation.

Where are Your zeal and might?

Your yearning and compassion for me are restrained.

Yet You are our Father,

though Abraham does not know us

and Israel does not acknowledge us.

You, O LORD, are our Father;

our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.

Why, O LORD, do You make us stray from Your ways

and harden our hearts from fearing You?

Return, for the sake of Your servants,

the tribes of Your heritage.

For a short while Your people possessed Your holy place,

but our enemies have trampled Your sanctuary.

We have become like those You never ruled,

like those not called by Your name.

Isaiah 64

If only You would rend the heavens and come down,

so that mountains would quake at Your presence,

as fire kindles the brushwood

and causes the water to boil,

to make Your name known to Your enemies,

so that the nations will tremble at Your presence!

When You did awesome works that we did not expect,

You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence.

From ancient times no one has heard,

no ear has perceived,

no eye has seen any God besides You,

who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.

You welcome those who gladly do right,

who remember Your ways.

Surely You were angry, for we sinned.

How can we be saved if we remain in our sins?

Each of us has become like something unclean,

and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

we all wither like a leaf,

and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.

No one calls on Your name

or strives to take hold of You.

For You have hidden Your face from us

and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.

But now, O LORD, You are our Father;

we are the clay, and You are the potter;

we are all the work of Your hand.

Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure;

do not remember our iniquity forever.

Oh, look upon us, we pray;

we are all Your people!

Your holy cities have become a wilderness.

Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.

Our holy and beautiful temple,

where our fathers praised You,

has been burned with fire,

and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.

After all this, O LORD,

will You restrain Yourself?

Will You keep silent

and afflict us beyond measure?

I worship with a crew of Christian brothers and sisters four mornings every week. Lately, they have been helping me to see just how aligned against our culture the scriptures are. From a young age, most of us in the post-Christian West are raised with the presupposition that we are basically in alignment with the Christian faith, even if we haven’t read a lot of scripture.

In a way, this presupposition is true. A recent interview with Tom Holland gave him the opportunity to succinctly make the case that modern leftism is undergirded by a distinctly and uniquely Christian ethos. I have a hard time disagreeing, though I would volunteer very readily that leftism bastardizes this ethos. Even so, there are many things, even among western atheists, that would not be seen if they weren’t undergirded by a distinctly Christian ethos.

That acknowledged, the scriptures hit our culture at a lot of soft spots. Our culture is NOT generally in alignment with what we find in God’s Word. Rather, we find vast portions of it stand in correction, if not condemnation, of us. We would be wise to receive the chastisement now, turning from our ways, right that persisting in our willful wickedness. Repent, for the Kingdom is at hand!

Isaiah 56

This is what the LORD says:

“Maintain justice and do what is right,

for My salvation is coming soon,

and My righteousness will be revealed.

Blessed is the man who does this,

and the son of man who holds it fast,

who keeps the Sabbath without profaning it

and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say,

“The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.”

And let the eunuch not say,

“I am but a dry tree.”

For this is what the LORD says:

“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,

who choose what pleases Me

and hold fast to My covenant—

I will give them, in My house and within My walls,

a memorial and a name

better than that of sons and daughters.

I will give them an everlasting name

that will not be cut off.

And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD

to minister to Him,

to love the name of the LORD,

and to be His servants—

all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it

and who hold fast to My covenant—

I will bring them to My holy mountain

and make them joyful in My house of prayer.

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices

will be accepted on My altar,

for My house will be called a house of prayer

for all the nations.”

Thus declares the Lord GOD,

who gathers the dispersed of Israel:

“I will gather to them still others

besides those already gathered.”

Come, all you beasts of the field;

eat greedily, all you beasts of the forest.

Israel’s watchmen are blind,

they are all oblivious;

they are all mute dogs,

they cannot bark;

they are dreamers lying around,

loving to slumber.

Like ravenous dogs,

they are never satisfied.

They are shepherds with no discernment;

they all turn to their own way,

each one seeking his own gain:

“Come, let me get the wine,

let us imbibe the strong drink,

and tomorrow will be like today,

only far better!”

Isaiah 57

The righteous perish,

and no one takes it to heart;

devout men are swept away,

while no one considers

that the righteous are guided

from the presence of evil.

Those who walk uprightly enter into peace;

they find rest, lying down in death.

“But come here, you sons of a sorceress,

you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!

Whom are you mocking?

At whom do you snarl and stick out your tongue?

Are you not children of transgression,

offspring of deceit,

who burn with lust among the oaks,

under every luxuriant tree,

who slaughter your children in the valleys,

under the clefts of the rocks?

Your portion is among the smooth stones of the valley;

indeed, they are your lot.

Even to them you have poured out a drink offering

and offered a grain offering.

Should I relent because of these?

On a high and lofty hill you have made your bed,

and there you went up to offer sacrifices.

Behind the door and doorpost

you have set up your memorial.

Forsaking Me, you uncovered your bed;

you climbed up and opened it wide.

And you have made a pact with those whose bed you have loved;

you have gazed upon their nakedness.

You went to Molech with oil

and multiplied your perfumes.

You have sent your envoys a great distance;

you have descended even to Sheol itself.

You are wearied by your many journeys,

but you did not say, “There is no hope!”

You found renewal of your strength;

therefore you did not grow weak.

Whom have you dreaded and feared,

so that you lied and failed

to remember Me or take this to heart?

Is it not because I have long been silent

that you do not fear Me?

I will expose your righteousness and your works,

and they will not profit you.

When you cry out,

let your companies of idols deliver you!

Yet the wind will carry off all of them,

a breath will take them away.

But he who seeks refuge in Me will inherit the land

and possess My holy mountain.”

And it will be said,

“Build it up, build it up, prepare the way,

take every obstacle out of the way of My people.”

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,

who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“I dwell in a high and holy place,

and with the oppressed and humble in spirit,

to restore the spirit of the lowly

and revive the heart of the contrite.

For I will not accuse you forever,

nor will I always be angry;

for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me,

with the breath of those I have made.

I was enraged by his sinful greed,

so I struck him and hid My face in anger;

yet he kept turning back

to the desires of his heart.

I have seen his ways,

but I will heal him;

I will guide him and restore comfort

to him and his mourners,

bringing praise to their lips.

Peace, peace to those far and near,” says the LORD,

“and I will heal them.”

But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea,

for it cannot be still,

and its waves churn up mire and muck.

“There is no peace,” says my God,

“for the wicked.”

Isaiah 58

“Cry aloud, do not hold back!

Raise your voice like a ram’s horn.

Declare to My people their transgression

and to the house of Jacob their sins.

For day after day they seek Me

and delight to know My ways,

like a nation that does what is right

and does not forsake the justice of their God.

They ask Me for righteous judgments;

they delight in the nearness of God.”

“Why have we fasted,

and You have not seen?

Why have we humbled ourselves,

and You have not noticed?”

“Behold, on the day of your fast, you do as you please,

and you oppress all your workers.

You fast with contention and strife

to strike viciously with your fist.

You cannot fast as you do today

and have your voice be heard on high.

Is this the fast I have chosen:

a day for a man to deny himself,

to bow his head like a reed,

and to spread out sackcloth and ashes?

Will you call this a fast

and a day acceptable to the LORD?

Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen:

to break the chains of wickedness,

to untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

and tear off every yoke?

Isn’t it to share your bread with the hungry,

to bring the poor and homeless into your home,

to clothe the naked when you see him,

and not to turn away

from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will come quickly.

Your righteousness will go before you,

and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;

you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

If you remove the yoke from your midst,

the pointing of the finger and malicious talk,

and if you give yourself to the hungry

and satisfy the afflicted soul,

then your light will go forth in the darkness,

and your night will be like noonday.

The LORD will always guide you;

He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land

and strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins;

you will restore the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of the Breach,

Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.

If you turn your foot from breaking the Sabbath,

from doing as you please on My holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delight,

and the LORD’s holy day honorable,

if you honor it by not going your own way

or seeking your own pleasure or speaking idle words,

then you will delight yourself in the LORD,

and I will make you ride on the heights of the land

and feed you with the heritage of your father Jacob.”

For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Matthew 17

After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

There He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared before them, talking with Jesus.

Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You wish, I will put up three shelters —one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”

When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown in terror.

Then Jesus came over and touched them. “Get up,” He said. “Do not be afraid.” And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Do not tell anyone about this vision until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

The disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

Jesus replied, “Elijah does indeed come, and he will restore all things.

But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him whatever they wished. In the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.”

Then the disciples understood that He was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus and knelt before Him.

“Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.

I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

“O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to Me.”

Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

Afterward the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

“Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

When they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.

They will kill Him, and on the third day He will be raised to life.” And the disciples were deeply grieved.

After they had arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your Teacher pay the two drachmas?”

“Yes,” he answered.

When Peter entered the house, Jesus preempted him. “What do you think, Simon?” He asked. “From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs and taxes: from their own sons, or from others?”

“From others,” Peter answered.

“Then the sons are exempt,” Jesus declared.

“But so that we may not offend them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take the first fish you catch. When you open its mouth, you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for My tax and yours.”

Matthew 18

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Jesus invited a little child to stand among them. “Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me.

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!

If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.

And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

See that you do not look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven.

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?

And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.

In the same way, your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’

If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, regard him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Again, I tell you truly that if two of you on the earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.

For where two or three gather together in My name, there am I with them.”

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!

Because of this, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

As he began the settlements, a debtor was brought to him owing ten thousand talents.

Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.

Then the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Have patience with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’

His master had compassion on him, forgave his debt, and released him.

But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’

So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’

But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt.

When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and recounted all of this to their master.

Then the master summoned him and declared, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me.

Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed.

That is how My heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

Matthew 19

When Jesus had finished saying these things, He left Galilee and went into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there.

Then some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’

and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses order a man to give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart; but it was not this way from the beginning.

Now I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman, commits adultery.”

His disciples said to Him, “If this is the case between a man and his wife, it is better not to marry.”

“Not everyone can accept this word,” He replied, “but only those to whom it has been given.

For there are eunuchs who were born that way; others were made that way by men; and still others live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

Then the little children were brought to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them and pray for them. And the disciples rebuked those who brought them.

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

And after He had placed His hands on them, He went on from there.

Just then a man came up to Jesus and inquired, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to obtain eternal life?”

“Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

“Which ones?” the man asked.

Jesus answered, “ ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness,

honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“All these I have kept,” said the young man. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

When the young man heard this, he went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

“Look,” Peter replied, “we have left everything to follow You. What then will there be for us?”

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for the sake of My name will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.

Isaiah the prophet spends a few chapters describing the man who would turn out to be Jesus. He is actually speaking on a couple different levels at the same time: Israel, God’s chosen people, had been defaced and deformed by that Babylonian captivity. Also, Jesus was eventually our atoning sacrifice.

I am always surprised when I learn that there are Christians who do not think that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross atones for our sin. When it says, “Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer,” I don’t see how folks who follow Jesus avoid the explicit implications of God’s wrath, and the direct connection between Jesus’ suffering and our own salvation. It is indeed pretty uncomfortable, but that doesn’t mean we can look away.

Jesus’ death wasn’t the only thing about him that made folks uncomfortable. In today’s gospel reading, he warns against the teachings of the leaders in his society, and he chastens his own followers for being dense. In almost the same breath he blesses Peter for recognizing him as the Christ, and then he curses him, calling him Satan, for failing to understand the necessity of the crucifixion. He was a hard man to love and follow.

But where else can we go? To whom else can we turn? There is nobody else. It is Christ alone who has the words of life. We cling to him though he burn us alive. This is what abundant life looks like, it turns out: holiness.

Isaiah 52

Awake, awake,

clothe yourself with strength, O Zion!

Put on your garments of splendor,

O Jerusalem, holy city!

For the uncircumcised and unclean

will no longer enter you.

Shake off your dust!

Rise up and sit on your throne, O Jerusalem.

Remove the chains from your neck,

O captive Daughter of Zion.

For this is what the LORD says:

“You were sold for nothing,

and without money you will be redeemed.”

For this is what the Lord GOD says:

“At first My people went down to Egypt to live,

then Assyria oppressed them without cause.

And now what have I here?

declares the LORD.

For My people have been taken without cause;

those who rule them taunt,

declares the LORD,

and My name is blasphemed continually

all day long.

Therefore My people will know My name;

therefore they will know on that day

that I am He who speaks.

Here I am!”

How beautiful on the mountains

are the feet of those who bring good news,

who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings,

who proclaim salvation,

who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,

together they shout for joy.

For every eye will see

when the LORD returns to Zion.

Break forth in joy, sing together,

O ruins of Jerusalem,

for the LORD has comforted His people;

He has redeemed Jerusalem.

The LORD has bared His holy arm

in the sight of all the nations;

all the ends of the earth will see

the salvation of our God.

Depart, depart, go out from there!

Touch no unclean thing;

come out from it, purify yourselves,

you who carry the vessels of the LORD.

For you will not leave in a hurry

nor flee in haste,

for the LORD goes before you,

and the God of Israel is your rear guard.

Behold, My Servant will prosper;

He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.

Just as many were appalled at Him —

His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man,

and His form was marred beyond human likeness—

so He will sprinkle many nations.

Kings will shut their mouths because of Him.

For they will see what they have not been told,

and they will understand what they have not heard.

Isaiah 53

Who has believed our message?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no stately form or majesty to attract us,

no beauty that we should desire Him.

He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.

Like one from whom men hide their faces,

He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

Surely He took on our infirmities

and carried our sorrows;

yet we considered Him stricken by God,

struck down and afflicted.

But He was pierced for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him,

and by His stripes we are healed.

We all like sheep have gone astray,

each one has turned to his own way;

and the LORD has laid upon Him

the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet He did not open His mouth.

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,

so He did not open His mouth.

By oppression and judgment He was taken away,

and who can recount His descendants?

For He was cut off from the land of the living;

He was stricken for the transgression of My people.

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with a rich man in His death,

although He had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him

and to cause Him to suffer;

and when His soul is made a guilt offering,

He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days,

and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

After the anguish of His soul,

He will see the light of life and be satisfied.

By His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many,

and He will bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will allot Him a portion with the great,

and He will divide the spoils with the strong,

because He has poured out His life unto death,

and He was numbered with the transgressors.

Yet He bore the sin of many

and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 54

“Shout for joy, O barren woman,

who bears no children;

break forth in song and cry aloud,

you who have never travailed;

because more are the children of the desolate woman

than of her who has a husband,”

says the LORD.

“Enlarge the site of your tent,

stretch out the curtains of your dwellings,

do not hold back.

Lengthen your ropes

and drive your stakes in deep.

For you will spread out to the right and left;

your descendants will dispossess the nations

and inhabit the desolate cities.

Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame;

do not be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated.

For you will forget the shame of your youth

and will remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.

For your husband is your Maker—

the LORD of Hosts is His name—

the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;

He is called the God of all the earth.

For the LORD has called you back,

like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit,

like the rejected wife of one’s youth,”

says your God.

“For a brief moment I forsook you,

but with great compassion I will bring you back.

In a surge of anger

I hid My face from you for a moment,

but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,”

says the LORD your Redeemer.

“For to Me this is like the days of Noah,

when I swore that the waters of Noah

would never again cover the earth.

So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you

or rebuke you.

Though the mountains may be removed

and the hills may be shaken,

My loving devotion will not depart from you,

and My covenant of peace will not be broken,”

says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

“O afflicted city, lashed by storms,

without solace,

surely I will set your stones in antimony

and lay your foundations with sapphires.

I will make your pinnacles of rubies,

your gates of sparkling jewels,

and all your walls of precious stones.

Then all your sons will be taught by the LORD,

and great will be their prosperity.

In righteousness you will be established,

far from oppression,

for you will have no fear.

Terror will be far removed,

for it will not come near you.

If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me;

whoever assails you will fall before you.

Behold, I have created the craftsman

who fans the coals into flame

and forges a weapon fit for its task;

and I have created the destroyer

to wreak havoc.

No weapon formed against you shall prosper,

and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.

This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,

and their vindication is from Me,”

declares the LORD.

Isaiah 55

“Come, all you who are thirsty,

come to the waters;

and you without money,

come, buy, and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

without money and without cost!

Why spend money on that which is not bread,

and your labor on that which does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.

Incline your ear and come to Me;

listen, so that your soul may live.

I will make with you an everlasting covenant—

My loving devotion promised to David.

Behold, I have made him a witness to the nations,

a leader and commander of the peoples.

Surely you will summon a nation you do not know,

and nations who do not know you will run to you.

For the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel,

has bestowed glory on you.”

Seek the LORD while He may be found;

call on Him while He is near.

Let the wicked man forsake his own way

and the unrighteous man his own thoughts;

let him return to the LORD,

that He may have compassion,

and to our God,

for He will freely pardon.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways My ways,”

declares the LORD.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so My ways are higher than your ways

and My thoughts than your thoughts.

For just as rain and snow fall from heaven

and do not return without watering the earth,

making it bud and sprout,

and providing seed to sow and food to eat,

so My word that proceeds from My mouth

will not return to Me empty,

but it will accomplish what I please,

and it will prosper where I send it.

You will indeed go out with joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will grow,

and instead of the brier, a myrtle will spring up;

they will make a name for the LORD,

an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”

Matthew 16

Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven.

But He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘The weather will be fair, for the sky is red,’

and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times.

A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.

When they crossed to the other side, the disciples forgot to take bread. “Watch out!” Jesus told them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

They discussed this among themselves and concluded, “It is because we did not bring any bread.”

Aware of their conversation, Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you debating among yourselves about having no bread?

Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?

Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?

How do you not understand that I was not telling you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

Then they understood that He was not telling them to beware of the leaven used in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven.

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Then He admonished the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ.

From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!”

But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”

Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!" - Matthew 18:6-7

Happy New Year Everyone! This week we finished chapter 18 of the Gospel of Matthew. In this chapter we find the disciples asking Jesus who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, the parable of the wandering sheep, sin in the church, & the parable of the unmerciful servant.

Happy New Years Eve everyone. Pastor Jeffrey sat down to give a short report on the state of the church over this last year. The Lord has blessed us and we are looking forward to big things happening in 2025!

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It is such a strange thing to meditate upon Isaiah’s words and realize that God 1) remembers and loves beyond human capacity, but he also 2) punishes beyond our comprehension those who disobey him. In a world of mediocrity and milquetoast quality, we encounter a God of such intensity, such purity, at whose mercy we are. There is no middle road to take; no grey disposition to adopt. There is no way to sit on the fence. One is either right with God, or his wrath is turned upon him.

What is to be done in face of such absolute power, married to threats and promises? There is only one course charted: submit, repent, obey. Trust. As we read these words, the desired response, the only response, is trust. My hope is that, as you continue to meditate upon God’s words day and night, that all your trust is placed on him. He is faithful. He alone saves.

Isaiah 48

“Listen to this, O house of Jacob,

you who are called by the name of Israel,

who have descended from the line of Judah,

who swear by the name of the LORD,

who invoke the God of Israel—

but not in truth or righteousness—

who indeed call yourselves after the holy city

and lean on the God of Israel;

the LORD of Hosts is His name.

I foretold the former things long ago;

they came out of My mouth and I proclaimed them.

Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.

For I knew that you are stubborn;

your neck is iron and your forehead is bronze.

Therefore I declared it to you long ago;

I announced it before it came to pass,

so that you could not claim, ‘My idol has done this;

my carved image and molten god has ordained it.’

You have heard these things; look at them all.

Will you not acknowledge them?

From now on I will tell you of new things,

hidden things unknown to you.

They are created now, and not long ago;

you have not heard of them before today.

So you cannot claim,

‘I already knew them!’

You have never heard; you have never understood;

for a long time your ears have not been open.

For I knew how deceitful you are;

you have been called a rebel from birth.

For the sake of My name I will delay My wrath;

for the sake of My praise I will restrain it,

so that you will not be cut off.

See, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act;

for how can I let Myself be defamed?

I will not yield My glory to another.

Listen to Me, O Jacob,

and Israel, whom I have called:

I am He; I am the first,

and I am the last.

Surely My own hand founded the earth,

and My right hand spread out the heavens;

when I summon them,

they stand up together.

Come together, all of you, and listen:

Which of the idols has foretold these things?

The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out His desire against Babylon,

and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.

I, even I, have spoken;

yes, I have called him.

I have brought him,

and he will succeed in his mission.

Come near to Me and listen to this:

From the beginning I have not spoken in secret;

from the time it happened, I was there.”

And now the Lord GOD has sent me,

accompanied by His Spirit.

Thus says the LORD your Redeemer,

the Holy One of Israel:

“I am the LORD your God,

who teaches you for your benefit,

who directs you in the way you should go.

If only you had paid attention to My commandments,

your peace would have been like a river,

and your righteousness like waves of the sea.

Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,

and your offspring as numerous as its grains;

their name would never be cut off

or eliminated from My presence.”

Leave Babylon!

Flee from the Chaldeans!

Declare it with a shout of joy,

proclaim it,

let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying,

“The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”

They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts;

He made water flow for them from the rock;

He split the rock, and water gushed out.

“There is no peace,” says the LORD,

“for the wicked.”

Isaiah 49

Listen to Me, O islands;

pay attention, O distant peoples:

The LORD called Me from the womb;

from the body of My mother He named Me.

He made My mouth like a sharp sword;

He hid Me in the shadow of His hand.

He made Me like a polished arrow;

He hid Me in His quiver.

He said to Me, “You are My Servant, Israel,

in whom I will display My glory.”

But I said, “I have labored in vain,

I have spent My strength in futility and vanity;

yet My vindication is with the LORD,

and My reward is with My God.”

And now says the LORD,

who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,

to bring Jacob back to Him,

that Israel might be gathered to Him—

for I am honored in the sight of the LORD,

and My God is My strength—

He says: “It is not enough for You to be My Servant,

to raise up the tribes of Jacob,

and to restore the protected ones of Israel.

I will also make You a light for the nations,

to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Thus says the LORD,

the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel,

to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,

to the Servant of rulers:

“Kings will see You and rise,

and princes will bow down,

because of the LORD, who is faithful,

the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.”

This is what the LORD says:

“In the time of favor I will answer You,

and in the day of salvation I will help You;

I will keep You and appoint You

to be a covenant for the people,

to restore the land,

to apportion its desolate inheritances,

to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’

They will feed along the pathways,

and find pasture on every barren hill.

They will not hunger or thirst,

nor will scorching heat or sun beat down on them.

For He who has compassion on them will guide them

and lead them beside springs of water.

I will turn all My mountains into roads,

and My highways will be raised up.

Behold, they will come from far away,

from the north and from the west,

and from the land of Aswan.”

Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth;

break forth in song, O mountains!

For the LORD has comforted His people,

and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me;

the Lord has forgotten me!”

“Can a woman forget her nursing child,

or lack compassion for the son of her womb?

Even if she could forget,

I will not forget you!

Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

your walls are ever before Me.

Your builders hasten back;

your destroyers and wreckers depart from you.

Lift up your eyes and look around.

They all gather together; they come to you.

As surely as I live,” declares the LORD,

“you will wear them all as jewelry

and put them on like a bride.

For your ruined and desolate places

and your ravaged land

will now indeed be too small for your people,

and those who devoured you will be far away.

Yet the children of your bereavement

will say in your hearing,

‘This place is too small for us;

make room for us to live here.’

Then you will say in your heart,

‘Who has begotten these for me?

I was bereaved and barren;

I was exiled and rejected.

So who has reared them?

Look, I was left all alone,

so where did they come from?’ ”

This is what the Lord GOD says:

“Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations,

and raise My banner to the peoples.

They will bring your sons in their arms

and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

Kings will be your foster fathers,

and their queens your nursing mothers.

They will bow to you facedown

and lick the dust at your feet.

Then you will know that I am the LORD;

those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”

Can the plunder be snatched from the mighty,

or the captives of a tyrant be delivered?

Indeed, this is what the LORD says:

“Even the captives of the mighty will be taken away,

and the plunder of the tyrant will be retrieved;

I will contend with those who contend with you,

and I will save your children.

I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;

they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine.

Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD,

am your Savior and your Redeemer,

the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Isaiah 50

This is what the LORD says:

“Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce

with which I sent her away?

Or to which of My creditors

did I sell you?

Look, you were sold for your iniquities,

and for your transgressions your mother was sent away.

Why was no one there when I arrived?

Why did no one answer when I called?

Is My hand too short to redeem you?

Or do I lack the strength to deliver you?

Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea;

I turn the rivers into a desert;

the fish rot for lack of water

and die of thirst.

I clothe the heavens in black

and make sackcloth their covering.”

The Lord GOD has given Me

the tongue of discipleship,

to sustain the weary with a word.

He awakens Me morning by morning;

He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

The Lord GOD has opened My ears,

and I have not been rebellious,

nor have I turned back.

I offered My back to those who struck Me,

and My cheeks to those who tore out My beard.

I did not hide My face from scorn and spittle.

Because the Lord GOD helps Me,

I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set My face like flint,

and I know that I will not be put to shame.

The One who vindicates Me is near.

Who will dare to contend with Me?

Let us confront each other!

Who has a case against Me?

Let him approach Me!

Surely the Lord GOD helps Me.

Who is there to condemn Me?

See, they will all wear out like a garment;

the moths will devour them.

Who among you fears the LORD

and obeys the voice of His Servant?

Who among you walks in darkness

and has no light?

Let him trust in the name of the LORD;

let him lean on his God.

Behold, all you who kindle a fire,

who array yourselves with firebrands,

walk in the light of your fire

and of the firebrands you have lit!

This is what you will receive from My hand:

You will lie down in a place of torment.

Isaiah 51

“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness,

you who seek the LORD:

Look to the rock from which you were cut,

and to the quarry from which you were hewn.

Look to Abraham your father,

and to Sarah who gave you birth.

When I called him, he was but one;

then I blessed him and multiplied him.

For the LORD will comfort Zion

and will look with compassion on all her ruins;

He will make her wilderness like Eden

and her desert like the garden of the LORD.

Joy and gladness will be found in her,

thanksgiving and melodious song.

Pay attention to Me, My people,

and listen to Me, My nation;

for a law will go out from Me,

and My justice will become a light to the nations;

I will bring it about quickly.

My righteousness draws near,

My salvation is on the way,

and My arms will bring justice to the nations.

The islands will look for Me

and wait in hope for My arm.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

and look at the earth below;

for the heavens will vanish like smoke,

the earth will wear out like a garment,

and its people will die like gnats.

But My salvation will last forever,

and My righteousness will never fail.

Listen to Me, you who know what is right,

you people with My law in your hearts:

Do not fear the scorn of men;

do not be broken by their insults.

For the moth will devour them like a garment,

and the worm will eat them like wool.

But My righteousness will last forever,

My salvation through all generations.”

Awake, awake,

put on strength, O arm of the LORD.

Wake up as in days past,

as in generations of old.

Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces,

who pierced through the dragon?

Was it not You who dried up the sea,

the waters of the great deep,

who made a road in the depths of the sea

for the redeemed to cross over?

So the redeemed of the LORD will return

and enter Zion with singing,

crowned with everlasting joy.

Gladness and joy will overtake them,

and sorrow and sighing will flee.

“I, even I, am He who comforts you.

Why should you be afraid of mortal man,

of a son of man who withers like grass?

But you have forgotten the LORD, your Maker,

who stretched out the heavens

and laid the foundations of the earth.

You live in terror all day long

because of the fury of the oppressor

who is bent on destruction.

But where is the fury of the oppressor?

The captive will soon be freed;

he will not die in the dungeon,

and his bread will not be lacking.

For I am the LORD your God

who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

the LORD of Hosts is His name.

I have put My words in your mouth,

and covered you with the shadow of My hand,

to establish the heavens, to found the earth,

and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’ ”

Awake, awake!

Rise up, O Jerusalem,

you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD

the cup of His fury;

you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—

the cup that makes men stagger.

Among all the sons she bore,

there is no one to guide her;

among all the sons she brought up,

there is no one to take her hand.

These pairs have befallen you:

devastation and destruction,

famine and sword.

Who will grieve for you?

Who can comfort you?

Your sons have fainted;

they lie at the head of every street,

like an antelope in a net.

They are full of the wrath of the LORD,

the rebuke of your God.

Therefore now hear this, you afflicted one,

drunken, but not with wine.

Thus says your Lord, the LORD,

even your God, who defends His people:

“See, I have removed from your hand

the cup of staggering.

From that goblet, the cup of My fury,

you will never drink again.

I will place it in the hands of your tormentors,

who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’

so that you made your back like the ground,

like a street to be traversed.”

Matthew 14

At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,

because John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” Although Herod wanted to kill John, he was afraid of the people, because they regarded John as a prophet.

On Herod’s birthday, however, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give to her whatever she asked.

Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

The king was grieved, but because of his oaths and his guests, he ordered that her wish be granted and sent to have John beheaded in the prison.

John’s head was brought in on a platter and presented to the girl, who carried it to her mother.

Then John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. And they went and informed Jesus.

When Jesus heard about John, He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. But the crowds found out about it and followed Him on foot from the towns.

When He stepped ashore and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them and healed their sick.

When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is already late. Dismiss the crowds so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

“They do not need to go away,” Jesus replied. “You give them something to eat.”

“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

“Bring them here to Me,” Jesus said.

And He directed the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He spoke a blessing. Then He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. About five thousand men were fed, in addition to women and children.

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds.

After He had sent them away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone,

but the boat was already far from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

During the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them, walking on the sea.

When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus spoke up at once: “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”

“Lord, if it is You,” Peter replied, “command me to come to You on the water.”

“Come,” said Jesus.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus.

But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and took hold of Peter. “You of little faith,” He said, “why did you doubt?”

And when they had climbed back into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God!”

When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret.

And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding region. People brought all the sick to Him

and begged Him just to let them touch the fringe of His cloak. And all who touched Him were healed.

Matthew 15

Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.”

Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?

For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’

But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’

he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:

‘These people honor Me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from Me.

They worship Me in vain;

they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”

Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand. A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it.”

Then the disciples came to Him and said, “Are You aware that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

But Jesus replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots.

Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

Peter said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”

“Do you still not understand?” Jesus asked. “Do you not yet realize that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then is eliminated?

But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man.

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.

These are what defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile him.”

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.”

But Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came and urged Him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

But Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

“Yes, Lord,” she said, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

“O woman,” Jesus answered, “your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Moving on from there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then He went up on a mountain and sat down.

Large crowds came to Him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them.

The crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled restored, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.

Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I have compassion for this crowd, because they have already been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may faint along the way.”

The disciples replied, “Where in this desolate place could we find enough bread to feed such a large crowd?”

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

And He instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground.

Taking the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. A total of four thousand men were fed, in addition to women and children.

After Jesus had dismissed the crowds, He got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

“I am the LORD and there is no other besides me” is a refrain we hear time and again in Isaiah. In today’s segment, we hear him twice mock those who make idols: once for those who fashion out of wood; another for those who fashion out of metal. Some are not aware that Isaiah is not being entirely accurate in how he depicts the worship of people around Israel. They did not actually believe that the wooden or metal figure was a god. Rather, they believed the spirit of their god inhabited the figure, and it was the meaning of such idols they found worthy of worship. Israel’s God was unique in that he refused to let his people depict him in any form. Jesus’ words today strike me in their confidence: “I am the Lord of the sabbath…one greater than Jonah is here…one greater than Solomon is here…” Of course, these things are true. In an era of false humility and humblebragging, a man who says plainly who he is strikes against our culture. He struck against his own, as well, which is why he ended up on a cross.

Both books from which we read today equip us for countercultural ministry. We see the pious practices of the culture around us as every bit as silly as ancient Near Eastern idolatry. We continue to lift up Christ as the only-begotten Son of the Living God. The world continues to take offense. Christ will come again in glory someday. In the meantime, we have work to do:

Isaiah 44

But now listen, O Jacob My servant,

Israel, whom I have chosen.

This is the word of the LORD, your Maker,

who formed you from the womb and who will help you:

“Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant,

Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

For I will pour water on the thirsty land,

and currents on the dry ground.

I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants,

and My blessing on your offspring.

They will sprout among the grass

like willows by flowing streams.

One will say, ‘I belong to the LORD,’

another will call himself by the name of Jacob,

and still another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’

and will take the name of Israel.”

Thus says the LORD,

the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts:

“I am the first and I am the last,

and there is no God but Me.

Who then is like Me?

Let him say so!

Let him declare his case before Me,

since I established an ancient people.

Let him foretell the things to come,

and what is to take place.

Do not tremble or fear.

Have I not told you and declared it long ago?

You are My witnesses!

Is there any God but Me?

There is no other Rock;

I know not one.”

All makers of idols are nothing,

and the things they treasure are worthless.

Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend,

so they are put to shame.

Who fashions a god or casts an idol

which profits him nothing?

Behold, all his companions will be put to shame,

for the craftsmen themselves are only human.

Let them all assemble and take their stand;

they will all be brought to terror and shame.

The blacksmith takes a tool

and labors over the coals;

he fashions an idol with hammers

and forges it with his strong arms.

Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength;

he fails to drink water and grows faint.

The woodworker extends a measuring line;

he marks it out with a stylus;

he shapes it with chisels

and outlines it with a compass.

He fashions it in the likeness of man,

like man in all his glory,

that it may dwell in a shrine.

He cuts down cedars

or retrieves a cypress or oak.

He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest.

He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.

It serves as fuel for man.

He takes some of it to warm himself,

and he kindles a fire

and bakes his bread;

he even fashions it into a god and worships it;

he makes an idol and bows down to it.

He burns half of it in the fire,

and he roasts meat on that half.

He eats the roast and is satisfied.

Indeed, he warms himself and says,

“Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”

From the rest he makes a god, his graven image.

He bows down to it and worships;

he prays to it and says,

“Save me, for you are my god.”

They do not comprehend or discern,

for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see

and closed their minds so they cannot understand.

And no one considers in his heart,

no one has the knowledge or insight to say,

“I burned half of it in the fire,

and I baked bread on its coals;

I roasted meat and I ate.

Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it?

Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”

He feeds on ashes.

His deluded heart has led him astray,

and he cannot deliver himself or say,

“Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

Remember these things, O Jacob,

for you are My servant, O Israel.

I have made you, and you are My servant;

O Israel, I will never forget you.

I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud,

and your sins like a mist.

Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.

Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this;

shout aloud, O depths of the earth.

Break forth in song, O mountains,

you forests and all your trees.

For the LORD has redeemed Jacob,

and revealed His glory in Israel.

Thus says the LORD,

your Redeemer who formed you from the womb:

“I am the LORD,

who has made all things,

who alone stretched out the heavens,

who by Myself spread out the earth,

who foils the signs of false prophets

and makes fools of diviners,

who confounds the wise

and turns their knowledge into nonsense,

who confirms the message of His servant

and fulfills the counsel of His messengers,

who says of Jerusalem,

‘She will be inhabited,’

and of the cities of Judah,

‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’

who says to the depths of the sea,

‘Be dry, and I will dry up your currents,’

who says of Cyrus,

‘My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,’

who says of Jerusalem,

‘She will be rebuilt,’

and of the temple,

‘Let its foundation be laid.’ ”

Isaiah 45

This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed,

whose right hand I have grasped

to subdue nations before him,

to disarm kings,

to open the doors before him,

so that the gates will not be shut:

“I will go before you

and level the mountains;

I will break down the gates of bronze

and cut through the bars of iron.

I will give you the treasures of darkness

and the riches hidden in secret places,

so that you may know that I am the LORD,

the God of Israel, who calls you by name.

For the sake of Jacob My servant

and Israel My chosen one,

I call you by name;

I have given you a title of honor,

though you have not known Me.

I am the LORD, and there is no other;

there is no God but Me.

I will equip you for battle,

though you have not known Me,

so that all may know,

from where the sun rises to where it sets,

that there is none but Me;

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

I form the light and create the darkness;

I bring prosperity and create calamity.

I, the LORD, do all these things.

Drip down, O heavens, from above,

and let the skies pour down righteousness.

Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout

and righteousness spring up with it;

I, the LORD, have created it.

Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—

one clay pot among many.

Does the clay ask the potter,

‘What are you making?’

Does your work say,

‘He has no hands’?

Woe to him who says to his father,

‘What have you begotten?’

or to his mother,

‘What have you brought forth?’ ”

Thus says the LORD,

the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:

“How dare you question Me about My sons,

or instruct Me in the work of My hands?

It is I who made the earth

and created man upon it.

It was My hands that stretched out the heavens,

and I ordained all their host.

I will raise up Cyrus in righteousness,

and I will make all his ways straight.

He will rebuild My city

and set My exiles free,

but not for payment or reward,

says the LORD of Hosts.”

This is what the LORD says:

“The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush,

along with the Sabeans, men of stature,

will come over to you

and will be yours;

they will trudge behind you;

they will come over in chains and bow down to you.

They will confess to you:

‘God is indeed with you, and there is no other;

there is no other God.’ ”

Truly You are a God who hides Himself,

O God of Israel, the Savior.

They will all be put to shame and humiliated;

the makers of idols will depart together in disgrace.

But Israel will be saved by the LORD

with an everlasting salvation;

you will not be put to shame or humiliated,

to ages everlasting.

For thus says the LORD,

who created the heavens—He is God;

He formed the earth and fashioned it;

He established it;

He did not create it to be empty,

but formed it to be inhabited:

“I am the LORD,

and there is no other.

I have not spoken in secret,

from a place in a land of darkness.

I did not say to the descendants of Jacob,

‘Seek Me in a wasteland.’

I, the LORD, speak the truth;

I say what is right.

Come, gather together, and draw near,

you fugitives from the nations.

Ignorant are those who carry idols of wood

and pray to a god that cannot save.

Speak up and present your case—

yes, let them take counsel together.

Who foretold this long ago?

Who announced it from ancient times?

Was it not I, the LORD?

There is no other God but Me,

a righteous God and Savior;

there is none but Me.

Turn to Me and be saved,

all the ends of the earth;

for I am God,

and there is no other.

By Myself I have sworn;

truth has gone out from My mouth,

a word that will not be revoked:

Every knee will bow before Me,

every tongue will swear allegiance.

Surely they will say of Me,

‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and strength.’ ”

All who rage against Him

will come to Him and be put to shame.

In the LORD all descendants of Israel

will be justified and will exult.

Isaiah 46

Bel crouches; Nebo cowers.

Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle.

The images you carry are burdensome,

a load to the weary animal.

The gods cower; they crouch together,

unable to relieve the burden;

but they themselves go into captivity.

“Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,

all the remnant of the house of Israel,

who have been sustained from the womb,

carried along since birth.

Even to your old age, I will be the same,

and I will bear you up when you turn gray.

I have made you, and I will carry you;

I will sustain you and deliver you.

To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal?

To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?

They pour out their bags of gold

and weigh out silver on scales;

they hire a goldsmith to fashion it into a god,

so they can bow down and worship.

They lift it to their shoulder

and carry it along;

they set it in its place, and there it stands,

not budging from that spot.

They cry out to it, but it does not answer;

it saves no one from his troubles.

Remember this and be brave;

take it to heart, you transgressors!

Remember what happened long ago,

for I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is none like Me.

I declare the end from the beginning,

and ancient times from what is still to come.

I say, ‘My purpose will stand,

and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’

I summon a bird of prey from the east,

a man for My purpose from a far-off land.

Truly I have spoken,

and truly I will bring it to pass.

I have planned it,

and I will surely do it.

Listen to Me, you stubborn people,

far removed from righteousness:

I am bringing My righteousness near;

it is not far away, and My salvation will not be delayed.

I will grant salvation to Zion

and adorn Israel with My splendor.

Isaiah 47

“Go down and sit in the dust,

O Virgin Daughter of Babylon.

Sit on the ground without a throne,

O Daughter of Chaldea!

For you will no longer be called

tender or delicate.

Take millstones and grind flour;

remove your veil;

strip off your skirt, bare your thigh,

and wade through the streams.

Your nakedness will be uncovered

and your shame will be exposed.

I will take vengeance;

I will spare no one.”

Our Redeemer—the LORD of Hosts is His name—

is the Holy One of Israel.

“Sit in silence and go into darkness,

O Daughter of Chaldea.

For you will no longer be called

the queen of kingdoms.

I was angry with My people;

I profaned My heritage,

and I placed them under your control.

You showed them no mercy;

even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.

You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’

You did not take these things to heart

or consider their outcome.

So now hear this,

O lover of luxury who sits securely,

who says to herself,

‘I am, and there is none besides me.

I will never be a widow

or know the loss of children.’

These two things will overtake you in a moment,

in a single day:

loss of children, and widowhood.

They will come upon you in full measure,

in spite of your many sorceries

and the potency of your spells.

You were secure in your wickedness;

you said, ‘No one sees me.’

Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray;

you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’

But disaster will come upon you;

you will not know how to charm it away.

A calamity will befall you

that you will be unable to ward off.

Devastation will happen to you

suddenly and unexpectedly.

So take your stand with your spells

and with your many sorceries,

with which you have wearied yourself

from your youth.

Perhaps you will succeed;

perhaps you will inspire terror!

You are wearied by your many counselors;

let them come forward now and save you—

your astrologers who observe the stars,

who monthly predict your fate.

Surely they are like stubble;

the fire will burn them up.

They cannot deliver themselves

from the power of the flame.

There will be no coals to warm them

or fire to sit beside.

This is what they are to you—

those with whom you have labored and traded from youth—

each one strays in his own direction;

not one of them can save you.

Matthew 12

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.

When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

Jesus replied, “Have you not read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?

He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for them to eat, but only for the priests.

Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and yet are innocent?

But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.

If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

Moving on from there, Jesus entered their synagogue, and a man with a withered hand was there. In order to accuse Jesus, they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

He replied, “If one of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out?

How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Then Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored to full use, just like the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them all, warning them not to make Him known.

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“Here is My Servant,

whom I have chosen,

My beloved,

in whom My soul delights.

I will put My Spirit on Him,

and He will proclaim justice to the nations.

He will not quarrel or cry out;

no one will hear His voice in the streets.

A bruised reed He will not break,

and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish,

till He leads justice to victory.

In His name the nations will put their hope.”

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed the man so that he could speak and see.

The crowds were astounded and asked, “Could this be the Son of David?”

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “Only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, does this man drive out demons.”

Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So then, they will be your judges.

But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.

He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the one to come.

Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.

But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

The men of Nineveh will stand at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now One greater than Jonah is here.

The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and now One greater than Solomon is here.

When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.

Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its return, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order.

Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there; and the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So will it be with this wicked generation.”

While Jesus was still speaking to the crowds, His mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to Him.

Someone told Him, “Look, Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to You.”

But Jesus replied, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” Pointing to His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers.

For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

Matthew 13

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. Such large crowds gathered around Him that He got into a boat and sat down, while all the people stood on the shore.

And He told them many things in parables, saying, “A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.

But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings.

Still other seed fell on good soil and produced a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.

He who has ears, let him hear.”

Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do You speak to the people in parables?”

He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. This is why I speak to them in parables:

‘Though seeing, they do not see;

though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’

In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled:

‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

For this people’s heart has grown callous;

they hardly hear with their ears,

and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts,

and turn, and I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.

For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Consider, then, the parable of the sower:

When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.

The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.

But since he has no root, he remains for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.

The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

But the seed sown on good soil is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and produces a crop—a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.”

Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

But while everyone was asleep, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and slipped away. When the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared.

The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

So the servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

‘No,’ he said, ‘if you pull the weeds now, you might uproot the wheat with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat into my barn.’ ”

He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field.

Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and mixed into three measures of flour, until all of it was leavened.”

Jesus spoke all these things to the crowds in parables. He did not tell them anything without using a parable. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:

“I will open My mouth in parables;

I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”

Then Jesus dismissed the crowds and went into the house. His disciples came to Him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

He replied, “The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

The field is the world, and the good seed represents the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,

and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age.

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness.

And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

He who has ears, let him hear.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he found one very precious pearl, he went away and sold all he had and bought it.

Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea and caught all kinds of fish.

When it was full, the men pulled it ashore. Then they sat down and sorted the good fish into containers, but threw the bad away.

So will it be at the end of the age: The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous,

and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Have you understood all these things?”

“Yes,” they answered.

Then He told them, “For this reason, every scribe who has been discipled in the kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

When Jesus had finished these parables, He withdrew from that place.

Coming to His hometown, He taught the people in their synagogue, and they were astonished. “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?” they asked.

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

Aren’t all His sisters with us as well? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at Him.

But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own household is a prophet without honor.” And He did not do many miracles there, because of their unbelief.

Fatherhood requires that one be in relationship with one’s children. The Father models this by bearing with us, his adopted children. At the time of filming this segment, my daughters were needy, and my wife was unable to shoulder them. My eldest needed to read for me, and my youngest needed to be held by me. For that reason, I wasn’t able to pay attention as well as I would hope.

Even so, the Isaiah scriptures were familiar. Lots about turning arid regions into lush, and vice versa. Blessings and curses, conditioned upon covenant obedience. Jesus is undergirding all of these things, unseen until he appeared, still not seen by those who haven’t been given eyes to see.

Jesus’ teachings are beyond critique. We are blessed to receive them in purity today.

Isaiah 40

“Comfort, comfort My people,”

says your God.

“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

and proclaim to her

that her forced labor has been completed;

her iniquity has been pardoned.

For she has received from the hand of the LORD

double for all her sins.”

A voice of one calling:

“Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness;

make a straight highway for our God in the desert.

Every valley shall be lifted up,

and every mountain and hill made low;

the uneven ground will become smooth,

and the rugged land a plain.

And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,

and all humanity together will see it.

For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry out!”

And I asked, “What should I cry out?”

“All flesh is like grass,

and all its glory like the flowers of the field.

The grass withers and the flowers fall

when the breath of the LORD blows on them;

indeed, the people are grass.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God stands forever.”

Go up on a high mountain,

O Zion, herald of good news.

Raise your voice loudly,

O Jerusalem, herald of good news.

Lift it up,

do not be afraid!

Say to the cities of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,

and His arm establishes His rule.

His reward is with Him,

and His recompense accompanies Him.

He tends His flock like a shepherd;

He gathers the lambs in His arms

and carries them close to His heart.

He gently leads the nursing ewes.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

or weighed the mountains on a scale

and the hills with a balance?

Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD,

or informed Him as His counselor?

Whom did He consult to enlighten Him,

and who taught Him the paths of justice?

Who imparted knowledge to Him

and showed Him the way of understanding?

Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

they are considered a speck of dust on the scales;

He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

Lebanon is not sufficient for fuel,

nor its animals enough for a burnt offering.

All the nations are as nothing before Him;

He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.

To whom will you liken God?

To what image will you compare Him?

To an idol that a craftsman casts

and a metalworker overlays with gold

and fits with silver chains?

To one bereft of an offering

who chooses wood that will not rot,

who seeks a skilled craftsman

to set up an idol that will not topple?

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?

Have you not understood since the foundation of the earth?

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth;

its dwellers are like grasshoppers.

He stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

He brings the princes to nothing

and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.

No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown,

no sooner have their stems taken root in the ground,

than He blows on them and they wither,

and a whirlwind sweeps them away like stubble.

“To whom will you liken Me,

or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high:

Who created all these?

He leads forth the starry host by number;

He calls each one by name.

Because of His great power and mighty strength,

not one of them is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob,

and why do you assert, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the LORD,

and my claim is ignored by my God”?

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary;

His understanding is beyond searching out.

He gives power to the faint

and increases the strength of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

and young men stumble and fall.

But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength;

they will mount up with wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 41

“Be silent before Me, O islands,

and let the peoples renew their strength.

Let them come forward and testify;

let us together draw near for judgment.

Who has aroused one from the east

and called him to his feet in righteousness ?

He hands nations over to him

and subdues kings before him.

He turns them to dust with his sword,

to windblown chaff with his bow.

He pursues them, going on safely,

hardly touching the path with his feet.

Who has performed this and carried it out,

calling forth the generations from the beginning?

I, the LORD—the first and the last—

I am He.”

The islands see and fear;

the ends of the earth tremble.

They approach and come forward.

Each one helps the other

and says to his brother, “Be strong!”

The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,

and he who wields the hammer

cheers him who strikes the anvil,

saying of the welding, “It is good.”

He nails it down so it will not be toppled.

“But you, O Israel, My servant,

Jacob, whom I have chosen,

descendant of Abraham My friend—

I brought you from the ends of the earth

and called you from its farthest corners.

I said, ‘You are My servant.’

I have chosen and not rejected you.

Do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be afraid, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you; I will surely help you;

I will uphold you with My right hand of righteousness.

Behold, all who rage against you

will be ashamed and disgraced;

those who contend with you

will be reduced to nothing and will perish.

You will seek them but will not find them.

Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.

For I am the LORD your God,

who takes hold of your right hand

and tells you: Do not fear,

I will help you.

Do not fear, O worm of Jacob,

O few men of Israel.

I will help you,” declares the LORD.

“Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge,

new and sharp, with many teeth.

You will thresh the mountains and crush them,

and reduce the hills to chaff.

You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away;

a gale will scatter them.

But you will rejoice in the LORD;

you will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The poor and needy seek water, but there is none;

their tongues are parched with thirst.

I, the LORD, will answer them;

I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.

I will open rivers on the barren heights,

and fountains in the middle of the valleys.

I will turn the desert into a pool of water,

and the dry land into flowing springs.

I will plant cedars in the wilderness,

acacias, myrtles, and olive trees.

I will set cypresses in the desert,

elms and boxwood together,

so that all may see and know,

may consider and understand,

that the hand of the LORD has done this

and the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

“Present your case,” says the LORD.

“Submit your arguments,” says the King of Jacob.

“Let them come and tell us what will happen.

Tell the former things,

so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome.

Or announce to us what is coming.

Tell us the things that are to come,

so that we may know that you are gods.

Yes, do something good or evil,

that we may look on together in dismay.

Behold, you are nothing

and your work is of no value.

Anyone who chooses you is detestable.

I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—

one from the east who calls on My name.

He will march over rulers as if they were mortar,

like a potter who treads the clay.

Who has declared this from the beginning,

so that we may know,

and from times past,

so that we may say: ‘He was right’?

No one announced it, no one foretold it,

no one heard your words.

I was the first to tell Zion:

‘Look, here they are!’

And I gave to Jerusalem

a herald of good news.

When I look, there is no one;

there is no counselor among them;

when I ask them,

they have nothing to say.

See, they are all a delusion;

their works amount to nothing;

their images are as empty as the wind.

Isaiah 42

“Here is My Servant, whom I uphold,

My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights.

I will put My Spirit on Him,

and He will bring justice to the nations.

He will not cry out or raise His voice,

nor make His voice heard in the streets.

A bruised reed He will not break

and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish;

He will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow weak or discouraged

before He has established justice on the earth.

In His law the islands will put their hope.”

This is what God the LORD says—

He who created the heavens

and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and its offspring,

who gives breath to the people on it

and life to those who walk in it:

“I, the LORD, have called you

for a righteous purpose,

and I will take hold of your hand.

I will keep you and appoint you

to be a covenant for the people

and a light to the nations,

to open the eyes of the blind,

to bring prisoners out of the dungeon

and those sitting in darkness

out from the prison house.

I am the LORD;

that is My name!

I will not yield My glory to another

or My praise to idols.

Behold, the former things have happened,

and now I declare new things.

Before they spring forth

I proclaim them to you.”

Sing to the LORD a new song—

His praise from the ends of the earth—

you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,

you islands, and all who dwell in them.

Let the desert and its cities raise their voices;

let the villages of Kedar cry aloud.

Let the people of Sela sing for joy;

let them cry out from the mountaintops.

Let them give glory to the LORD

and declare His praise in the islands.

The LORD goes forth like a mighty one;

He stirs up His zeal like a warrior.

He shouts; yes, He roars

in triumph over His enemies:

“I have kept silent from ages past;

I have remained quiet and restrained.

But now I will groan like a woman in labor;

I will at once gasp and pant.

I will lay waste the mountains and hills

and dry up all their vegetation.

I will turn the rivers into dry land

and drain the marshes.

I will lead the blind by a way they did not know;

I will guide them on unfamiliar paths.

I will turn darkness into light before them

and rough places into level ground.

These things I will do for them,

and I will not forsake them.

But those who trust in idols

and say to molten images, ‘You are our gods!’

will be turned back in utter shame.

Listen, you deaf ones;

look, you blind ones, that you may see!

Who is blind but My servant,

or deaf like the messenger I am sending?

Who is blind like My covenant partner,

or blind like the servant of the LORD?

Though seeing many things, you do not keep watch.

Though your ears are open, you do not hear.”

The LORD was pleased, for the sake of His righteousness,

to magnify His law and make it glorious.

But this is a people plundered and looted,

all trapped in caves or imprisoned in dungeons.

They have become plunder with no one to rescue them,

and loot with no one to say, “Send them back!”

Who among you will pay attention to this?

Who will listen and obey hereafter?

Who gave Jacob up for spoil,

and Israel to the plunderers?

Was it not the LORD,

against whom we have sinned?

They were unwilling to walk in His ways,

and they would not obey His law.

So He poured out on them His furious anger

and the fierceness of battle.

It enveloped them in flames,

but they did not understand;

it consumed them,

but they did not take it to heart.

Isaiah 43

Now this is what the LORD says—

He who created you, O Jacob,

and He who formed you, O Israel:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by your name; you are Mine!

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you go through the rivers,

they will not overwhelm you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be scorched;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the LORD your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

I give Egypt for your ransom,

Cush and Seba in your place.

Because you are precious and honored in My sight,

and because I love you,

I will give men in exchange for you

and nations in place of your life.

Do not be afraid, for I am with you;

I will bring your offspring from the east

and gather you from the west.

I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’

and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back!’

Bring My sons from afar,

and My daughters from the ends of the earth—

everyone called by My name and created for My glory,

whom I have indeed formed and made.”

Bring out a people who have eyes but are blind,

and who have ears but are deaf.

All the nations gather together

and the peoples assemble.

Who among them can declare this,

and proclaim to us the former things?

Let them present their witnesses to vindicate them,

so that others may hear and say, “It is true.”

“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD,

“and My servant whom I have chosen,

so that you may consider and believe Me

and understand that I am He.

Before Me no god was formed,

and after Me none will come.

I, yes I, am the LORD,

and there is no Savior but Me.

I alone decreed and saved and proclaimed—

I, and not some foreign god among you.

So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD,

“that I am God.

Even from eternity I am He,

and none can deliver out of My hand.

When I act, who can reverse it?”

Thus says the LORD your Redeemer,

the Holy One of Israel:

“For your sake, I will send to Babylon

and bring them all as fugitives,

even the Chaldeans,

in the ships in which they rejoice.

I am the LORD, your Holy One,

the Creator of Israel, and your King.”

Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea

and a path through the surging waters,

who brings out the chariots and horses,

the armies and warriors together,

to lie down, never to rise again;

to be extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

“Do not call to mind the former things;

pay no attention to the things of old.

Behold, I am about to do something new;

even now it is coming. Do you not see it?

Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness

and streams in the desert.

The beasts of the field will honor Me,

the jackals and the ostriches,

because I provide water in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert,

to give drink to My chosen people.

The people I formed for Myself

will declare My praise.

But you have not called on Me, O Jacob,

because you have grown weary of Me, O Israel.

You have not brought Me sheep for burnt offerings,

nor honored Me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings,

nor wearied you with frankincense.

You have not bought Me sweet cane with your silver,

nor satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices.

But you have burdened Me with your sins;

you have wearied Me with your iniquities.

I, yes I, am He

who blots out your transgressions for My own sake

and remembers your sins no more.

Remind Me, let us argue the matter together.

State your case, so that you may be vindicated.

Your first father sinned,

and your spokesmen rebelled against Me.

So I will disgrace the princes of your sanctuary,

and I will devote Jacob to destruction and Israel to reproach.”

Matthew 10

And calling His twelve disciples to Him, Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they could drive them out and heal every disease and sickness.

These are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;

Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go onto the road of the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.

As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

Do not carry any gold or silver or copper in your belts. Take no bag for the road, or second tunic, or sandals, or staff; for the worker is worthy of his provisions.

Whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy there and stay at his house until you move on. As you enter the home, greet its occupants.

If the home is worthy, let your peace rest on it; but if it is not, let your peace return to you.

And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town.

Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

But beware of men; for they will hand you over to their councils and flog you in their synagogues.

On My account, you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.

But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to respond or what to say. In that hour you will be given what to say.

For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death.

You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Truly I tell you, you will not reach all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.

It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!

So do not be afraid of them. For there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.

What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops.

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven.

But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.

Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn

‘a man against his father,

a daughter against her mother,

a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

A man’s enemies will be the members

of his own household.’

Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;

and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me.

Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.

And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”

Matthew 11

After Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

Meanwhile John heard in prison about the works of Christ, and he sent his disciples to ask Him, “Are You the One who was to come, or should we look for someone else?”

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see:

The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.

Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”

As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swaying in the wind?

Otherwise, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? Look, those who wear fine clothing are found in kings’ palaces.

What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:

‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You,

who will prepare Your way before You.’

Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subject to violence, and the violent lay claim to it.

For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.

He who has ears, let him hear.

To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:

‘We played the flute for you,

and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge,

and you did not mourn.’

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by her actions.”

Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles had been performed, because they did not repent.

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.

But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.

All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”