Isaiah 2:1-5
1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
2 In the last days
the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.
3 Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.
5 Come, descendants of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Come, Let Us Go
There is a similar call that rings through each of these readings assigned for today. We are called to make the journey to the mountain of the Lord (Isaiah 2), to go to the house of the Lord (Psalm 122), to put aside the deeds of darkness (Romans 13) and to keep watch (Matthew 24). Each of these calls would echo through the initial hearers as a call to something familiar…but with an unexpected twist.
In Isaiah, the people of Israel are caught up short when they hear that other nations will also be streaming up to the mountain of the Lord. Unexpectedly the mountain of the Lord is not the private domain of Israel. In Psalm 122 we see that the tribes are to go up to Jerusalem, but it’s not just the tribes of Israel, it is here the tribes of the Lord. Suddenly the ties of kinship and family are expanded.
In Romans, God’s people are called to put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. We immediately want to say but isn’t this the stuff of the unbelievers, those who are outside the community? But Paul is insisting, in a way that intrudes upon our hearing that this is our stuff and we need to put it aside. Matthew’s Gospel challenges us to keep watch. Not just of events that are happening around us, but especially within our hearts and our attitudes.
Each of our texts for today challenge us with something new and unprecedented that is breaking in upon us: the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom of God challenges and calls and expects. It is bigger than we imagine and larger than we know. The surprise of the Kingdom is that it includes those we might not expect as we see in Isaiah. Perhaps those we would rather not associate with as we are reminded in the Psalm. And this Kingdom demands a transformed character, not based on our performance and perseverance but based on the character of our Lord Jesus Christ as we see in Romans.
Matthew sums it up for us this advent … keep watch. This advent is our reminder that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Let’s walk up the mountain together.
Author: David Brown
Other Scriptures for today:
- Psalm 122
- Romans 13:11-14
- Matthew 24:36-44
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