Fourth Sunday of Advent (OTA)

Isaiah 40:1-8
1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
3 A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Cry!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Is 40:1-8). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

There is a voice of one crying in the wilderness. He stands ready to prepare for the arrival of the Lord. He speaks of a level highway for the Lord. He is the one who is supposed to bring comfort to the people of God. This voice cries out repentance to the people. He reminds them they are like grass and flowers.

All of humanity is like flowers and grass. Flowers fade and grass withers. All these things are just blowing in the wind. God stands forever. God's Law will never be removed. The Word of God will always be there. All of us are alive today and could be dead tomorrow.

Jesus Christ has come for this flower and grass. He has come to save these fleeting things. He has come to die for you and me. He has come to die for his people. John the Baptist is to bring comfort to these people by pointing them to Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. Jesus Christ comes to comfort his people by saving them from their sins. The Law never goes away but our relationship with God changes with Christ's sacrifice.