*Scripture: Isaiah 62:1-12 (NKJV)* 1 For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. 2 The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD will name. 3 You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; For the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. 5 For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
6 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, 7 and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. 8 The LORD has sworn by His right hand and by the arm of His strength: "Surely I will no longer give your grain as food for your enemies; And the sons of the foreigner shall not drink your new wine, for which you have labored. 9 But those who have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; Those who have brought it together shall drink it in My holy courts." 10 Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; Build up, build up the highway! Take out the stones, lift up a banner for the peoples! 11 Indeed the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the world: "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.'" 12 And they shall call them The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD; And you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken. *Devotion* In this pericope we find another reference to the Gentiles. This is to be understood as all the nations. The Word of the Lord's salvation will be preached to all nations by the Apostles, pastors and teachers, evangelists, and all those rightly called and ordained to preach the Gospel and administer the blessed Sacraments, through the out-pouring of the Holy Ghost. This preaching and administering takes place in the Church—in Zion, the spiritual Jerusalem. We are promised in this reading that the Gentiles shall see the Lord's righteousness—His perfect obedience to the Law for them and His sacrifice on the holy Cross for their atonement. This salvation won on the holy Cross shines in all the world "as a lamp that burns." It destroys the darkness of sin and death, and brightens our sin-sick souls with the light of the knowledge that our sins have been forgiven. For this reason we are called by a new name. According to Isaiah we are called "Hephzibah," and the Church is called "Beulah." Hephzibah means "my delight is in her," and Beulah means "to be married." The Church has often been called the Bride of Christ, and we are her children, those who are born of the water and spirit of Holy Baptism and who are fed with the Body and Blood of our Lord in bread and wine. Our Lord delights in us, for we have been united to Him in such a way that now our reality is under one Lord, in one faith, on account of one Holy Baptism. These wonderful things are accomplished through the Holy Ministry, the work of the Holy Ghost.
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