Wednesday after Jubilate Sunday
Posted on May 3, 2023 by under
Scripture: Isaiah 66:10-14 (NKJV)
66:10 “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her; Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her;
11 “That you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom, that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.”
12 For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed; On her sides shall you be carried, and be dandled on her knees.
13 “As one whom his mother comforts, So I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.”
14 When you see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like grass; The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants, and His indignation to His enemies.
Devotion
The true Church exists where God’s Word is faithfully proclaimed and His Sacraments rightly given. In this, she becomes the new Jerusalem. Isaiah says of her: “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her; that you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom, that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.” Indeed, we delight in the nourishment found in God’s Means of Grace, and we are glad to hear these words on Sunday morning, “…let us go to the house of the Lord” (Ps. 122:1).
But Isaiah also inserts a troubling saying, that we also “mourn” for the Church. The Church has been under attack since God first set her into existence. She suffers from persecution without, and from troubles within. She has been scourged visibly and verbally, and yet she still remains. Jesus promises that not even the gates of hell will prevail over her. Let us both defend and extend our havens of heaven here on earth, that we and many others may be fed with the medicine of immortality.
Prayer: Almighty God, Who showest to them that be in error the light of Thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness: Grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s Religion that they may eschew those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
