Isaiah

The prophet Isaiah’s sense of God’s relationship with the world is incarnational. He sees the tangible effects of God’s power in the restoration of God’s gifts, unjustly taken away from God’s people.

Isaiah speaks of a true transformation that is coming–not just an inner spiritual rebirth, but also the liberation of those who are in chains and the transformation of all creation. Justice is God’s response to evil in the world and a cause for hope.

Isaiah tells us, “As the earth brings forth its plants, and a garden makes its growth spring up, so will the Lord God make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.”

The scriptures call us to move away from our focus on the world to God’s focus on the world, as exemplified by John the Baptist, who during his time in the desert directed attention away from himself and onto Jesus. The more we focus our attention on the teachings and ministry of Jesus, the more we are able to respond as Isaiah did and as Jesus did and to experience the transformation that is our destiny as children of a loving God.