To comfort all who mourn

“to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,” (Isaiah 61:2)

 

This year is almost over and today is the Sunday for Christmas. Christmas is coming this week, so many people will spend their time excitedly. However, having a fun meeting with others has become the matter of the most alert because of COVID-19. This situation is same either the church or the general community. God the Lord doesn’t like people to spend time of Christmas loudly with noise in the name of a global holiday. If you ask people who are pleased at Christmas holiday what Christmas means, what will they say? Let’s reflect well on the lessons given by Isaiah the prophet.

 

Isaiah declared here the prophecy of God which had been prophesied toward himself. To see the content, we know that is the prophecy about Jesus Christ, the Messiah to come, after all. Jesus read the verse Isaiah 61:2 on the Sabbath in the synagogue, and said, “This has been fulfilled to your ears today.” This is a scene recorded in Luke 4:16~21. From the direct testimony of Jesus, it is confirmed that the character that Isaiah prophesied was Jesus Himself.

The holy birth of Christ is a historical fact fulfilled in the eternal providence of God. Christ was born in the world as a son of man. That’s probably the limit for many people to worship Jesus and celebrate Christmas. But it is only a small part of the whole understanding of Jesus. Jesus is God the Son of Trinity who has forever existed before the beginning of the world. He is God who with the Holy Spirit. So Christ could send the Holy Spirit to His people after the resurrection. And, Christ’s existence was not made by human will. God gave Him confirm as Christ by pouring oil through the Holy Spirit. From the mentioned, we have well understood what the basic identity of Jesus is. To enjoy Christmas holiday without understanding Jesus’ identity is like doing play a general holiday. We should pay attention to know what the Christ wants us really is, rather than enjoy commonly the holiday like them.

Christ’s advent into the world is good news for all the poor on the earth. In fact, everyone had lived in spiritually poor and sick. They were brokenhearted, bounded by the chains of sin, and locked in a dark world. But after Christ came, people became to be owed the sunshine of Jehovah’s grace. Human soul can revive in Jehovah’s light, as all things maintain life through the sun. Thus all diseases of the spirits who had been wounded for a long time in the past can be cured in Jesus Christ. For the purpose of that, God Himself came into the world with human body in person. Now anyone who asks salvation in the name of Jesus can be comforted for one’s grief.

By believing in Jesus, people have peace and joy. Therefore, praise and thanks to the Lord are now the main elements of their life. Like a tree of righteousness, Christ is planted in our spirits and makes bear fully fruits for the glory of God. Let’s not spend the time of Christmas like doing of the bunches who do chitchat and sinning. Furthermore, this year, it is undesirable to have gatherings, on account of the spread of COVID-19. Seeing the epidemic so rampant, can’t you imagine how much God reproaches people for their wrongs? Don’t you have anything realized through the fact that God have covered everyone’s mouth with a mask? Let’s carefully think about who Jesus is. Let us bear in mind deeply what Christ came into the world for. And let’s find out for sure how we can get out of this serious situation.

 

Everything of our environments is very uncertain and the shadows of darkness surround us. There seems to be no hope for individuals, homes, companies, countries, the world, or anything else. But remember Christ came to save people into the world. I believe, if we stand firmly in the true position of faith, we can overcome even any difficulties or concerns. Anyone who is in Jesus can enjoy whole security by becoming priest holy in Him, I believe. Amen.

 

(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on Dec 20th 2020)