For centuries the church has linked Isaiah 35 with abounding joy. (If searching for a reason to sing “Joy to the World,” the church would put this passage high on the list of reasons why!) In this episode, I do my best to explain why this poetic vision is cause for rejoicing, how it is...
Tag: what to Christians hope for
Advent 2 – Lions, Lambs & a World without Enemies
How does one put words a vision of a world in which peace and compassion had become the truest laws of nature? That is the work given by God to Isaiah – putting language to the depth of shalom that is coming, a picture of creation as it will be when the project of salvation is...
Advent 1 – A Vision of Shalom (Peace)
In this first week of Advent – the season of preparation for Christ’s coming – we turn to an early oracle of the prophet Isaiah in which recounts a vision of God’s coming salvation and the blessings of peace: For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He...