Salvation is by His Word: Meditations on Isaiah 2

Isaiah wrote his prophecies many years ago, and more than seven centuries before the coming of Jesus.  His task was to receive from God messages of both salvation and destruction, for the people of God first, and then for the rest of the world.  In Isaiah we read many wonderful and terrifying things that span his long life as a prophet, speaking both to the people of his own time and place, and to peoples of every time and place.  But this is not surprising, since what Isaiah writes is not his own word, but God’s Words.

In the second chapter, Isaiah begins with a vision of God’s people set upon His Holy Mountain, making them a beacon of light and life to the whole world.  Gentiles, or the nations of the world, come to hear the Word of the Lord and walk in it.  As the Gentiles arrive, they are rebuked and judged by God, which results in them beating their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and giving up the ways of war, rebellion, and conflict.  They hear the Word of the Lord, believe Him, repent of their evil, and are ushered into life and security forever—a life and security they could not gain by their own evil and selfish powers, but are given freely through the gracious gift of God by faith.  In this vision of the restoration of the world, the People of God are identified as those who hear the Word of the Lord and keep it, regardless of their national or cultural roots.  Jew and Gentile, men and women, young and old, slave and free, all worship and live in the light and life of God’s good grace.  This is the focus of verses one through five.

However, the emphasis of the rest of chapter two, all the way through chapter five which completes this particular vision, reveal that just as God’s grace and mercy come to all who receive His Word and keep it, so too does the judgment of God fall on all who reject His Word.  With God, there is no respect of persons, no fudging at the edges.  He sees all things rightly, no matter how we try to mask them.  His omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent presence sees and understands all things rightly, and executes judgment without partiality or prejudice.  While the external appearance of those who gather to God to hear His Word and keep it is irrelevant in the grace and mercy He pours out upon them, so too is the external appearance of all those who refuse His Word irrelevant, as He pours out upon them His wrath.  Whether Jew or Gentile, men or women, young or old, slave or free—none is spared His wrath, who reject His Word.

And though this sounds brutal to our modern ears, it is a word we need to hear.  Regardless of the finery and pleasantries we wrap ourselves in, God is not deceived, and neither is He mocked.  What we sow, we shall reap:  either grace by faith, or judgment by rebellion.  Whether we call ourselves Christians or not, God sees the hearts of all.  Whether we call ourselves Lutherans or Romans, Methodists or Baptists, Quakers or Mennonites, He sees the hearts of all and His judgment is always by His Word.  We can hide no better behind our ceremony and beauracracy today, than the ancient Israelites did in their day.  Our pious manners and fine vestments, our canons, liturgies and creeds, mean nothing, if we do not hold to the Word of God.  To Him, every heart is laid bare, and there is no partiality with Him.  If we think we can hide behind our offices, our pointy hats, our jeweled staves, our stained glass windows, our great cathedrals, or our patriotic pride, we will find them all as chaff in the wind of God’s fiery judgment.  No human pretence will survive the glory of His appearing.

So at root, the question comes to us:  will we hear His Word, keep it, and live?  Or will we reject His Word, and perish?  It is the only question worth asking, for every person who was ever born, and every person who will ever pass upon this earth.  For there is salvation found in none other, hope and life found nowhere else, than in the Word of God.  Only the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.  Only the Word of God spoke all things into being, and to Him alone shall all things return.  Only the Word of God seeks and saves the lost, taking upon Himself the sins and evils of the whole world through His Cross, that His death may be our death, and His eternal life be our eternal life.  Only the Word of God speaks peace to His disciples, in a world torn with war and vice.  Only the Word of God calls to the entire world, calling all to repent, believe and live in Him.  Only the Word of God is life, salvation, and hope forever.  Only the Word of God is Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory.

Where do we hear our Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, the Eternal Word of the Father?  Where is the Mountain He has called us to, that we may hear the Word of the Lord and keep it?  He has spoken through His prophets and apostles, and left us His Word in the Holy Scriptures.  He continues to send forth His servants to preach His Word, to be stewards of His Mysteries, and administer the Signs of His Covenant with His People.  He is the one who calls, gathers, enlivens, and creates the Church by the power of His Holy Spirit working through His Word, giving life, forgiveness of sins, salvation, and hope to all who will hear Him, repent, and believe.  And it is He who will come again, to judge the living and the dead.  With Him there is no respect of persons, but only good and righteous judgment.  For all who are found in Him by grace through faith, there is life forevermore.  For all who are found apart from His Word, there is destruction and condemnation forevermore.

Here the People of God stand, though the whole world give way.  Here the Church stands, upon the Eternal Word of God, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.  Here we live by grace through faith in the Word of our Lord Jesus, who has given His life as a ransom for many, that all who believe in Him shall never be put to shame.  Here we gather together, from every nation and tribe, tongue and tradition, to hear what the Lord will speak to us:  of His Law, calling us to repentance, and of His Gospel, calling us to faith in His forgiveness and mercy for Jesus’ sake.

Here on the Word and person of Jesus Christ we stand.  Here we live.  Amen.