Comfort, Power, Tender
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Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
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Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
3 A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
AndI said, “What shall I cry?”
“All peopleare like grass, and all theirfaithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
9 You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, “Here is your God!”
10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?
13 Who can fathom the Spirit[d] of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding?21 Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
25 “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you complain, Jacob?Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
I was knocked off my feet at the seafront, Ventnor a couple of years ago. There was such force, the power of the waves.
I wonder have you sensed God’s comfort, power and tenderness - his gracious presence? For example, in worship or when we pray or read the Word?
In our churches today it is not new ideas or initiatives that are winning people’s hearts, but fresh encounters with the living God.
Isaiah 40 begins with words of comfort and then proclaims God’s power and yet a gentleness. In this chapter of Isaiah we see these 3 aspects of God's nature Comfort, Power & Tenderness.
God of: Comfort, Power, Tenderness
1. Comfort
2. Power
3. Tender
Comfort of God
In Isaiah 40v1, the prophet begins with the words - ‘Comfort my people prepare the way for the Lord’ (v1,2)
These are words of comfort to weary people - people going through hard times. The context for the people to whom this was first written was a people in exile. It is still so relevant for us here today.
If someone offers you words of comfort it is right to ask who offered those words and can they truly help us.
At the time of my accident, my darkest moment, I heard words of comfort that I could depend on. It was words of the Lord from Isa 41:10 ‘I am with you.’ Those words kept me going until I got to the haven of ICU at Whitehaven Hospital in the Lake District.
Isaiah 40v29 says, ‘He gives strength to the weary, increases the power of the weak.’
These comforting words tell us our God is an ever-present Lord. That presence meant everything to me and still does today.
When bad things happen, we have a choice - run to God or to run away from him. ‘Lord I need you, every hour I need you.’ That was my response.
If you run away - saying ‘there can't be a God because this has happened to me’ - then we are on our own, we try and work it out for ourselves but we become isolated and alone.
In Isaiah 40 the Lord says - don't look at the issue, don't look within - look to me your God of comfort. Your ever-present helper (Psalm 46:1).
He is also a powerful God.
Power of God
Secondly, God’s power. Isaiah 40:9 ‘You who bring good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid, say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God’ v10. The sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm.’
Isaiah 40:12-14 Depicts God's power and his greatness. Gives us pictures. He measures the oceans in the hollow of his hand, he weighs the mountains and hills on scales. It is a picture of God almighty - beyond our understanding. Oceans are vast, waves are powerful, see the storms Darragh before (Dec 2024), Éowyn (Jan 2025) powerful. Mountains are colossal, and yet verse 12 says imagine God walking with the mountains in two carrier bags to put them on the scales to be weighed. Isa 40:28 ‘Do you not know the Lord is an everlasting God the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
There is always a mystery about natural disasters and about suffering.
God is so much greater than we are, all-knowing. Isa 40:13 ‘Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord or instruct the Lord as his counsellor? Sometimes when bad things happen, we have to leave the why question hanging, so that we can worship him. Our relationship with God is both personal and to be in awe of him. He is both transcendent and immanent. Glorify & enjoy him.
Our Gospel reading teaches us that suffering is not always connected with sin of individuals. In Luke 13, Galileans were killed by despot Pilate and in Jerusalem a tower of Siloam fell, killing 18. Some suffering is due to the sins of humanity, some the carlessness of humanity, some as a result of the fall of humanity, and some ‘natural causes.’
I believe God, is with us through it all, weeping with those who weep. The Lord does not make it all better, but Luke 13 challenges us to repent & make sure we are ‘saved’ so that when our time comes to stand before him we are known by him and have a personal relationship with him. Leads to God’s tenderness
God’s Tenderness
Notice what the mighty God does with his power. (v11) ‘He gathers his lambs and holds them close to his heart.’ That's what the Lord is like. Tender and compassionate. He invites you and I to call him father – Abba (Rom 8:15). Dad - it is a family matter. Not only does God want a personal relationship with us (as a father to a child) but we find in his presence he is gentle and lowly of heart (Matt 11:29).
NB. In Isaiah 40:1, it is not necessary to repeat the word comfort for this command to make sense. By repeating comfort, comfort there is a tenderness conveyed rather like the way you would say ‘there-there’ to a child who is distressed or ‘it's OK it's OK’ to someone in tears. The prophet Isaiah voices the words of God and these are emotional words this is God longing to connect with the people, ‘with us’ ‘softly and tenderly Jesus is calling.’
Christian here today no matter how small and weak you feel, here at today, you can know his tenderness. You are not like a rugby ball knocked about in the runner's hand. You are tenderly held close to his heart. ‘He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart.’ Isaiah 40:11. This is up close and personal, not God from a distance. He is present with you now and ever shall be - close to his heart. I hope you know that, I hope you know him?
Application
Isaiah calls us ‘in the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’
Isaiah 40:3. How do we make a way in our lives for our God?
1. Long for Psalm 42:1, yearn, ache for God in prayer, in the Word and worship.
2. Be open to the supernatural of God's presence.
3. Trust God, Isaiah 40:31 but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
We know what Jesus did to get close to you.
What are you going to do to get close to Jesus? Yearning, longing, being open, and trusting in Him?
Cover Photo Jason Swain Photography https://jasonswain.co.uk/
