Check out all the previous Christmas readings here.
Christmas Reading Plan | Week 1 | Day 4
Prayer
Take a moment to be silent and still. In order to be fully present in body and mind, take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Do this three times. Ask God to speak to you through His word – to show you more of what He is like today.
Bible Reading: Isaiah 42:1-9
Read these verses three times slowly.
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”
This is what God the Lord says—
the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out,
who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:
“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
“I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not yield my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.”
Reflection & Questions
We continue our journey through Isaiah’s prophecies of the Messiah (God’s promised King Jesus) and today as we come to Isaiah 42. We have read this week that this Messiah will be a child-King, will be like a shoot from a stump, and his reign will bring justice, peace and righteousness forever. The next few prophecies tell the story of how he will establish that.
Today, we read that this Messiah will come not with force or power, but with gentleness. Where humanly we assume that power and might are what this world needs to be changed, God in his wisdom knows far better. This world needs someone who speaks into the brokenness with grace. Unlike any other god or ruler, the Messiah “will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” He will bring so gently a message of grace and hope. And because of this grace, because of this upside down approach to the broken world, he is able to “open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Transformation for those who thought there was no hope for them!
This approach of the Messiah, this gentle graceful way, is a joy to the Father. He says that this is “my chosen one in whom I delight.” The Father is over the moon about his Son. That His son loves the broken and wants to redeem us. This is the hope of Christmas. God says in Isaiah hundreds of years before Jesus, “new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” We sit this side of Jesus’ first coming in staggered awe, that Jesus would come humbly to die that we, the rebellious broken, could be saved.
- Do you try to bring change through force, anger or other similar means? How is that working out for you?
- What do you learn from Jesus’ approach to a broken world that you can apply today?
Prayer
Talk to God in response to today’s reading.
Worship Song
You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:
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Questions?
Ed Applegate
