YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD (Isa 49:13-23)
#sunday after christmas
Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. Your children hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you. Lift up your eyes and look around; all your children gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the Lord, “you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride. “Though you were ruined and made desolate and your land laid waste, now you will be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away. The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in.’ Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up? I was left all alone, but these—where have they come from?’” This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I will beckon to the nations, I will lift up my banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their hips. Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground; they will lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”
Even though Jesus, the Son of God, was born, human babies died. This is the vulnerability of God. Therefore, Jesus understands the situation where your children cannot help but live under the temptation of worldly power. In the end, Jesus, who received the sword of worldly power, calls us to the place of victory.
This passage is read after celebrating Christmas according to the church calendar. The passage is a prophecy from Isaiah. As with prophetic words, it ultimately speaks of salvation. The passage also conveys that God will ultimately save Israel. In particular, it speaks of liberating Israel from being taken captive to Babylon.
Stumbling block of the passage
However, after reading the passage, my thoughts became complicated. I paused especially at verse 20.
"When you lose a child, the children born later will say to your ears, 'This place is too narrow for me; make room for me to live.'"
The reason I paused at verse 20 is that I thought of the massacre in Matthew 2. When Jesus was born, the Magi from the East followed the star to the land of Judea and asked Herod, "Where is the king of the Jews born?" Fearing the usurpation of his throne, Herod calculated the time when the Magi first discovered the star and ordered the massacre of all male children under two years old in Bethlehem and its vicinity.
The birth of Jesus was said to bring glory in heaven and peace on earth, but the massacre of infants in Bethlehem negates that statement. Moreover, even though Jesus, the Son of God, was born, human babies died. Some people say that Jesus came to save us from sin, but they do not mention the massacre of infants in Bethlehem. They emphasize the fact that Jesus came humbly to a lowly place while covering up the shocking event. However, we cannot help but ask God, "God, the angels said that there would be peace on earth when Jesus came to us, but what we actually experienced was the mass murder of babies. How should we understand this?" The Bible says that the birth of Jesus is like light shining in the darkness and life coming upon death. The lyrics of Mary's praise when she became pregnant with Jesus do not match the killing of children.
"He has looked on the low estate of his servant ... He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty" (Lk 1:48-53).
But when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the blood of babies flowed under Herod's sword. How do you view the mass murder that occurred during Jesus' birth, especially the sacrifice of babies to the sword?
What is faith?
The scripture describes God in this way:
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you" (Isa 49:15).
The cries of the babies killed in Bethlehem are the sounds of Zion's lament: "The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me." How can it be anything other than the Lord forsaking and forgetting us when our baby is slaughtered by Herod's sword? Yet, the Bible says, "I have not forsaken or forgotten you."
We realize here that faith is not about the small comfort or consolation we gain from religious life. The words "I have engraved you on the palm of my hand" (Isa 49:16) may be powerful and comforting, but in a situation where our child is dying, these words sound painful and deceitful rather than comforting. Our faith is not about the small comfort or amulet we obtain by relying on something. Our faith is based on the stark reality of having to hear the words "I have engraved you on the palm of my hand," "You are my child," and "I love you," even as our child dies.
Let's look a little further and wider. Let's calmly think about how Jesus, who was born to the sound of angels singing "Glory in the highest heaven, and on earth peace," lived on this earth and how he died as a result. How can Jesus, the Son of God, die so miserably, putting aside everything else? Isn't he facing death like a young lamb heading to the slaughterhouse, powerless and unable to resist? Aren't the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus similar to the babies who bled and died from Herod's sword?
Just as Jesus, the Son of God, could not avoid suffering and crucifixion, even if we are engraved on the palm of God's hand, we cannot overcome the powers of this world. Even though our identity belongs in heaven, we will be sacrificed to Herod's sword, struggle in the sea of suffering, and eventually sink into the raging waves without even seeing a glimpse of light. John the Baptist was said to be the greatest among those born of women, but even he was beheaded by Herod's sword. In this way, we cannot overcome the powers of this world. When the temptations of the world come, we cannot help but fall. Like one of the murderers crucified next to Jesus, we too will be hung on the cross. The powers of the world will drag us around as Christians, and eventually nail us to the cross like the Lord.
However, one clear fact is that in the desperate moments when we can only say, "Lord, have mercy on me," the Lord will hear our plea and say, "Today you will be with me in paradise." If the death of Jesus is no different from the death of the brutally slaughtered babies, then the resurrection of Jesus, who conquered the power of death, is the resurrection of the babies. Jesus emphasizes this fact:
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (Jn 16:33).
We hope to hear the Lord's declaration, "I have overcome the world," once again in our lives.
Suffering Together
Now, we must adopt a different perspective. We must look at Jesus, who faced death like the infants dying under Herod's blade. Although you are God, when you came to this earth in human form, we see the vulnerability of God, who had to bear our limitations. Jesus had to endure the bloodshed caused by his own birth and ultimately faced death, unable to resist the mockery and abuse. The Son of God was completely subjected to the powers of this world.
Therefore, the Lord understands that although we are children of God, we cannot help but live under the temptations of worldly power. The Lord also knows that the world's power thoroughly exploits us and eventually strikes us down with a sword. Verse 18 says, "I swear by my life." This is God's promise to save His people by offering His own life. How can we know the image of God? We see it in the image of Jesus, who was exploited by worldly power and died, and in the helpless birth of the Son of God, who could not save even one infant's life.
However, this is not the end. The resurrected Jesus calls us, who have been brutally trampled, to His resurrection. He calls us, who had to face the sword wielded by worldly power, to the place of victory. Verse 23 carries this meaning: "You will know that I am the Lord. Those who hope in me will not be put to shame." In the moments of our direst crises, we will not be put to shame. We will surely confess with our lips, "Now I know that you are the Lord."
"At that time you will say in your heart, 'Who has borne these for me, since I have lost my children and am desolate, a captive and wandering to and fro? Who has brought up these? Indeed, I was left alone; from where then did these come?'" (21).