The Third Sunday of Easter (OTA)

Isaiah 28:14-22

¹⁴    Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,

who rule this people in Jerusalem!

¹⁵    Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,

and with Sheol we have an agreement,

       when the overwhelming whip passes through

it will not come to us,

       for we have made lies our refuge,

and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;

¹⁶    therefore thus says the Lord God,

       “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,

a stone, a tested stone,

       a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:

‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’

¹⁷    And I will make justice the line,

and righteousness the plumb line;

       and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,

and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”

¹⁸    Then your covenant with death will be annulled,

and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;

       when the overwhelming scourge passes through,

you will be beaten down by it.

¹⁹    As often as it passes through it will take you;

for morning by morning it will pass through,

by day and by night;

       and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.

²⁰    For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,

and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.

²¹    For the Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim;

as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused;

       to do his deed—strange is his deed!

and to work his work—alien is his work!

²²    Now therefore do not scoff,

lest your bonds be made strong;

       for I have heard a decree of destruction

from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.

There is a stone laid in Zion. The stone is Jesus Christ our Lord. He has become our plum line. He is our measuring mark. If we are not perfect as God is perfect, or as Christ is perfect, than we are not perfect. The stone has been tested, and found perfect. This stone is our perfect foundation. It is in Jesus Christ that we find forgiveness.

The average Christian in our modern age is moved by the many winds of doctrine. They can easily fall into, antinomianism or mysticism or even legalism. These trappings lead us away from our true foundation. They lead us to line our life with other ideas, and philosophies.

The truth is God has placed a stone in Zion. This stone conforms us to its image. It confirms us in His Righteousness. The stone provides forgiveness and aligns us on how to live a Godly life. The life we now live in Christ Jesus is a life of continued repentance and forgiveness.