*Scripture: Isaiah 51:17—52:12 (NKJV)* 51:17 Awake, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, and drained it out. 18 There is no one to guide her among all the sons she has brought forth; Nor is there any who takes her by the hand among all the sons she has brought up. 19 These two things have come to you; Who will be sorry for you?—desolation and destruction, famine and sword—by whom will I comfort you? 20 Your sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, like an antelope in a net; They are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of your God. 21 Therefore please hear this, you afflicted, and drunk but not with wine. 22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD and your God, Who pleads the cause of His people: "See, I have taken out of your hand the cup of trembling, the dregs of the cup of My fury; You shall no longer drink it. 23 But I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to you, 'Lie down, that we may walk over you.' And you have laid your body like the ground, and as the street, for those who walk over."
52:1 Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; Put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. 2 Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! 3 For thus says the LORD: "You have sold yourselves for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money." 4 For thus says the Lord GOD: "My people went down at first into Egypt to dwell there; Then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause. 5 Now therefore, what have I here," says the LORD, "That My people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them Make them wail," says the LORD, "And My name is blasphemed continually every day. 6 Therefore My people shall know My name; Therefore they shall know in that day that I am He who speaks: 'Behold, it is I.'" 7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!" 8 Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together; For they shall see eye to eye when the LORD brings back Zion. 9 Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem! For the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 11 Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the LORD. 12 For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight; For the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. *Devotion* In our reading for today we are reminded of the early persecution which has plagued the Church with the continued attacks by both the uncircumcised tyrant and unclean hypocrite, or as Luther states, "uncircumcised Gentiles and unclean Pharisees." We see that persecution still today by those who reject the true joy of knowing the purpose of Christ being born; how it was the beginning of God freeing man from the curse of the law which is death, the bondage sin, and restoring the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth until He returns; and the hypocrite Pharisee who never saw the person of Jesus Christ anything more than Joseph's son. We are told of the coming of the One who will restore the Church where there is that peace that surpasses all understanding; it is the peace that comes from hearing the Word of God proclaimed in it's truth and purity. And that Word is Christ! It is a Word that says depart from the ways of the world, depart from the realm of sin and conscience. In other words, embrace the Gospel, and walk in the Light while we have the opportunity. This is the true joy of the Christmas Season which we are now in, enjoying that message of the peace that comes from believing that God is revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ, Who has attained mercy and grace for all who by faith believe in His saving Name. Let us pray: Kings shall bow down before Him and gold and incense bring; All nations shall adore Him, His praise all peoples sing; To Him shall prayer unceasing and daily vows ascend, His kingdom still increasing, a kingdom without end.
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