Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. The Word of the Lord comes to us from the prophet Isaiah: “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God…will come and save you!’” (Isa. 35:3-4, ESV).[1] Amen. When I was in high school, there was a poster hanging in the weight room that said, “BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER.” That was the goal of everyone who entered the weight room (or at least a passing grade in gym class!). You entered the weight room to build a better body, to become a better you. Of course, all the football players and wrestlers worked out there, but so did the basketball and volleyball players and even the cross-country runners (like me!). When you’re an athlete, you want to be bigger, stronger, and faster, because that’s what it takes to win. A better body means a better game, a bigger win, or a faster time.
But even outside of high school athletics, many of us wish we had a better body—and not just bigger, stronger, faster. Many of us wish we were younger, or healthier, or not so stressed out. A better body means a better life. Sometimes when we look in the mirror, we’re frustrated by our balding spots and our bulging bellies. We get annoyed at our hair color or height or weight or any other number of things we wish we could change about ourselves. After all, we live in a world that is obsessed with bodies. How else do you explain all the bizarre reality shows like TV’s Biggest Loser and all the make-over sessions on talk shows?
But there are worse problems with our bodies than just the usual annoyances of not being as fit or trim as we would like. Some of you struggle with chronic pain that makes it difficult to work or enjoy life. Others of you have severe illnesses or diseases that disable you. A few of you have even shared with me that your body’s pain and suffering are so great that you wish the Lord would just take you home. You’re tired and worn out and frustrated with the body you have, a body that sometimes seems more trouble than it’s worth. Isaiah’s words resonate with you: “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees” (Isa. 35:3), because you know all about weak knees and feeble hands (just think about how many shoulder, hip, and knee replacements we pray about here).
Of course, we try to diet, exercise, take pain pills, and get surgery to put off the inevitable. But no matter what we do to postpone our date with death, all of our bodies will weaken, break down, and eventually die.
Death and disease are the curse we bear because of Adam and Eve’s sin, an original sin that we inherit from birth. “The wages of sin is death…” (Rom. 6:23). Whether cancer or the common cold, AIDS or arthritis, every disease, every ache and pain, is a reminder that we are mortal. “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19). Eventually, all of us crumble into a pile of the dust from which we came. The only people who will never die are the ones who remain alive at Christ’s return. Otherwise, ain’t nobody gonna make it out of this life alive.
TROUBLE IN THE TEXT
The people of ancient Israel were feeling a little weak in the knees as well, very much aware of their own mortality. After the kingdom split in civil war, both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah suffered from wave after wave after wave of corrupt kings and depraved priests. Even though a few good kings like Hezekiah and Josiah came along once every blue moon, the situation was mostly hopeless. Wicked kings and false priests oppressed the poor and led the people astray to worship idols and the false gods of the nations around them. And as the people turned away from the Lord, he turned them over to foreign invaders who raided, attacked, and occupied their land.
God’s people were war-weary, hungry, and battle-scarred. Their cities and villages were full of disease and starvation—God’s punishment for their sins and crimes. Earlier in Isaiah, God described his people’s punishment in terms of hunger, thirst, physical weakness, and even blindness (cf. Isa. 29:7-9). God wanted to be sure his people knew that he takes sin very seriously.
GRACE IN THE TEXT
But the LORD also knows his people can only take so much. He is rightly angered by sin and wickedness. But his anger doesn’t last forever. As David sings in the Psalms, “His anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Ps. 30:5). Eventually God relents. He must, because he is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Ex. 34:6). God’s actions prove his character.
Because of God’s love and mercy, he cannot bear to hold a grudge against his people. And that’s why he promised to save them from their enemies and drive them from the land of Israel (Isaiah 34). But in our Old Testament lesson today, the LORD promises an even better peace and a time of wholeness and healing.
“Strengthen the weak hands” (Isa. 35:3a), he says, those hands that are worn out from wielding sword and shield. “Make firm the feeble knees” (Isa. 35:3b), those knees that are aching from running into battle and fleeing from disaster. “Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not!’” (Isa. 35:4a). Don’t fret and worry anymore—God is going to give you strength. And, what’s more, “He will come and save you” (Isa. 35:4c).
And then Isaiah describes that salvation in ways that can only be called miraculous! “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy” (Isa. 35:5-6a). The bodies that were weak and sick will be strong! The bodies that were maimed will be made whole! Where earlier blindness was a sign of God’s judgment, now the Lord promises incredible hope: the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap, and the mute sing songs of joy!
The people of Isaiah’s time did not know when that new day would dawn, but we can certainly see a foreshadowing of Jesus’ own healing ministry in Isaiah’s words. For, as Jesus told the disciples of John the Baptist in our Gospel lesson: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Matt. 11:4-6).
GRACE IN THE WORLD
Sure, Jesus did miracles 2,000 years ago, but what about today? He may have helped those people in ancient times, but what about us—what about me? We are still waiting for Isaiah’s vision to come to fulfillment while suffer the wreckage of sin in our bodies, get sick, weaken, and die. Yet the promise remains, and God keeps his Word. So his Word still gives hope. We still wait with eager longing and expectation for the second coming of our Savior Jesus, the Great Physician, who comes with healing hands.
The words of Isaiah and Jesus’ words to John are God’s Word for you. Don’t give up! Keep hope alive! You have a God “who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases” (Ps. 103:3). Even now we have a Lord who loves to heal his people. Sometimes he does this through doctors and nurses. Sometimes he does this through miracles and prayer. And some healings he will not grant until the Last Day at the resurrection of all flesh.
I cannot tell you how many people God has healed of cancer, pneumonia, or serious injuries after we have prayed for them in our church. But in our naturalistic, scientific mindset, we are quick to dismiss these miracles as mere coincidences or the result of medical intervention. Nevertheless, Jesus remains our healer.
So look to his second Advent! For on the Last Day, when Christ returns, all death and disease will finally be banished forever. Jesus will return in all his glory and raise the dead from their graves. He will give us new bodies, no longer subject to the death and disease of this world. He will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body (Phil. 3:21). In the resurrection, we will have perfect bodies to enjoy forever! On that day, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will leap, and the mute will sing for joy! There will be no more hunger and thirst, no more sorrow or pain. There will be only joy and peace—wonderful abundant joy.
And in the meantime, we have the hope of God’s Word as a guarantee of this promise. So, in the words of Isaiah, “strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those with an anxious heart, ‘Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God…will come and save you!” (Isa. 35:3-4). In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] All Scripture references, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.