December 10, 2017

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for December 10th: Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-15; Mark 1:1-8, Psalm 85:1-2,8-13; Second Sunday of Advent Isaiah : Isaiah is calling for a catastrophic change in the ways of the world. God is the only one who can make that significant of a change in the order of things. So this passage speaks not of earth, but of heaven. God is speaking to the angels about what is going on on earth. God says to the angels to bring comfort to my people, they have suffered long enough. When God comes into the world and makes a change, there is no mistaking that God is present. There will be no room not to believe in God, because God will turn everything upside down, there will be chaos and confusion, but finally there will be order. Isaiah is preparing the people, so that they know when God comes into the world. But we do not need to be afraid, we can have hope on that day. Mark: This is the first chapter of Mark. Mark never talks about Jesus as a baby. Mark says that the beginning of the good news is that the prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled. How Jesus came into the world is not important to him. He starts out with a prophecy from John the Baptist. John is going out into the countryside to tell people that the day of the Lord is coming, because the messiah is present and about to start the work of changing the world. John’s concern is to make sure that we welcome Jesus into our world by repenting and changing our ways. Even Jesus responds to John and begins his ministry be being baptized into repentance. Questions: What kind of comfort does the people of God need today? What ways are you seeing God’s presence in the world? Why is repentance important in our lives? What do you need to repent and turn away from? What does the world need to repent from?