Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, January 31, 2013 Read – Isaiah 64 I have suggested that we omit Isaiah 63 and move on to Isaiah 64. Isaiah 63 speaks of vengeance, especially against Edom who was despised by the people at the time Isaiah wrote. Edom had assisted the Babylonians in defeating Judah and had laid claim to some of the land. Psalm 137, a dreadful psalm of vengeance, reminds us of that same animosity between Edom and Judah. There is a real humanness to the Bible and to the prophets, even the Isaiah we have been listening to, even though Isaiah’s voice is mostly a positive voice. Isaiah 64 returns to the longing for the Messiah in bold and wonderful terms. Isaiah’s words in the beginning of this chapter likely inspired Mark in his telling of the baptism of Jesus – “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down!” We have already noticed how Luke has softened Mark’s story. Yet, in his own way, Luke was telling a story of God coming down from heaven to save. So it is good for us to hear this chapter. One can hear the longing – the desperate longing for the Messiah! Luke would rejoice that the desperate longing has found its fulfillment in the coming of Jesus. We can share in that rejoicing. Luke is also aware, as Isaiah before him, that the Messiah comes to a people who need to be forgiven. The marvel is that God comes to forgive! Luke’s story is of the visitation of God – a visitation that ought to cause some fear and trembling on the part of those to whom God comes – and a visitation which results in a new people of God who will carry the good news to the ends of the earth.