The Message of Christmas

by    6th December 2009    0 responses
Part of the series

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Image: mrlerone @ Flickr

Isaiah 52: 7-10   Expand passage

7 How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"

8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;
together they shout for joy.
When the LORD returns to Zion,
they will see it with their own eyes.

9 Burst into songs of joy together,
you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.

10 The LORD will lay bare his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see
the salvation of our God.

Collapse passage

Aside from university term time, I have lived in London all of my life.  I love living there because everything seems to happen in London – it’s a very vibrant place to grow up!  London is going to become a more exciting place to live in the next couple of years as preparations are made for the Olympic Games in 2012.  I can remember when it was announced that London would host the Olympics: I was at school at the time, and when the announcement was made everyone rushed out to the courtyard in excitement.  A minute or two later, the Red Arrows flew over the school, on their journey across London to herald the news.  The air display seemed to make the whole thing a bit more real – the Olympics wasn’t about a committee picking a city any more, but was about to become part of the fabric of the city – seeing them fill the sky with red, white and blue smoke meant that the Olympics was big news for London!

We began our Christmas series of articles in Isaiah because we need to see why Jesus coming is great news before we can appreciate it properly.  In our first article in this Christmas series, we saw God’s people comforted because they were going to be saved; we saw God’s people prepared so they could recognise him as saviour; and we saw that God’s glory was going to be revealed as his King comes to save.  In Isaiah 52, we see the news about a saviour being spread, and we hear that it is not just relevant for a few people but is for the whole world!

The passage we are focussing on, verses 7-10, are all about the news of the saving King being spread.  Verses 7 to 10 show three pictures of messengers carrying the great news that a saviour is coming.  The first, in verse 7, is of a single messenger travelling over mountains, from across the land, to announce the news.  The second, in verse 8, is of watchmen, looking out from the city walls, seeing a messenger, and anticipating the message by shouting for joy.   Finally, in verse 9, the people in the city hear the message and sing together for joy.  This message carried must be very important news, because a sole messenger has laboured to travel long distances in harsh conditions to tell others.  It must be news that is anticipated, for when the watchmen see the messenger from afar they react immediately.  And it must also be joyous news, which causes all who hear it to sing together on the streets!  What a fantastic message that causes such efforts to have it heard, and warrants such excitement as shouting and singing for joy at the first sight of the messenger!

As we approach Christmas, it would be a good time to ask whether we leap for joy at the message about Jesus.  Do we feel the joy of the people in the city, hearing this message and responding in happy song?  If the good news about salvation has grown stale, these verses are a great encouragement to shout for joy as we remember our saviour.  But we must also be carriers of this message to: for Christians, the news of this saving King is the most exciting news we know and we should love to share it like the messenger of verse 7.  Paul, in his letter to the Romans, uses this verse to argue that we must be messengers of this good news – this gospel – of Jesus Christ.  Writing about people who have not heard the gospel, he writes:

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
Romans 10:14-15

The picture is one of those who know the news about a saviour wanting to and loving to share it with those who do not.  If we hear this news with joy, we will surely want to tell other people?  Again, these verses are a great encouragement to do so as we are reminded of the great gospel.

And the gospel is great.  Verse 10 shows just how big this news is – all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God!  God is at work in all of the nations!  No wonder the people were singing for joy – the news of salvation we have heard is for everyone, the whole world over.  This passage is a fantastic reminder of how big the gospel is.  Especially at Christmas, where the nativity story and familiar carols are repeated again and again, Jesus can seem slightly twee and even mundane.  But the news about Jesus is so much bigger than mince pies and mulled wine: it is about God sending his saviour to save us.  In all our talk about Jesus this Christmas, it would be tragic if we forgot the message we were celebrating!  I pray that we will be filled with joy at the news of Jesus, and that we would be faithful messengers of it.

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Ali grew up in London, but is currently at university in the North East of England. He helped to re-launch Crossring in 2009, and has acted as Managing Editor of the website since then. He occasionally dabbles in photography and web development - he also designed and maintains the Crossring website.

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