December 6, 2020

Breaking Open the Scripture Scripture for December 6th: Isaiah 40:1-11, Psalm 85:1-2,8-13; 2 Peter 3:8-15, Mark 1:1-8; Theme: 2nd Sunday of Advent, Song: O Come O come Emmanuel Isaiah: Going through a national crisis affects the way in which you read the scriptures. You come to realize that much of the bible was written to deal with dark times in history. The prophet Isaiah was considered the most important prophet in the bible. But the almost 60 chapters are actually three different books, written by three different people in three different times. This chapter is the beginning of Second Isaiah. The country is in utter shock that God would let someone come in and destroy their country. They don’t know what to do, think or believe. Isaiah speaks to their pain and grief, and promises that God will being comfort to their souls. It will help to get through the pain knowing that things will get better, and to know that God feels our pain. A Prophecy for a dark advent season. Mark: Mark is a very practical gospel writer. His gospel does not begin with any cute nativity stories. He gets down to business and talks about who Jesus is as the messiah. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise in Isaiah. Mark begins by telling the story of John the Baptist. Jesus cousin is the one to prepare the hearts of the faithful for a savior. John tells people someone else is coming. The story starts with John’s ministry of baptism. Eventually his cousin will also come to him to be baptized, and that will truly start Jesus one year ministry on earth. Prophecy is the theme of advent – creating a brand new future. Questions: What do you think will become of this very dark time in our history? Do you see God’s presence in the midst of the chaos? If you could create the future, what would it look like? What good news does the world need to hear in order to move forward?