Week 28, July 5–11: Isaiah 52–66; 2 Corinthians 1–6

• Sun      Jul 5    Isa. 52–54
• Mon     Jul 6    Isa. 55–57
• Tue      Jul 7    Isa. 58–60
• Wed     Jul 8    Isa. 61–63
• Thu      Jul 9    Isa. 64–66
• Fri        Jul 10  2 Cor. 1–3
• Sat       Jul 11  2 Cor. 4–6

Last week we mentioned the “good news” language in Isaiah, looking at the way this prophetic book serves as an important foundation to the gospel message of the NT. Another example is in Isaiah 52:7, which is quoted in Rom. 10:15. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news (the one who evangelizes, or proclaims the gospel), who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘your God reigns.’”  The prophet is extoling the one who will come proclaiming the good news of God’s kingdom, the gospel of God’s peace and his goodness.

This praise of the one who would come proclaiming the good news of God’s kingdom sets the stage for perhaps the most familiar passage in all of Isaiah, the Suffering Servant song of Isaiah 52:13–53:12. We have read of the Lord’s Servant earlier in Isaiah, but this passage gives us the OT’s most detailed look ahead to the atoning, redeeming, saving work of Jesus. Again, this is the gospel in Isaiah.

The last chapters of Isaiah bring the book to a conclusion with a mixture of themes and tones that can feel a bit disruptive. On the one hand, the end of Isaiah draws together some of the dark and ominous threads of Isaiah’s prophetic rebuke. God’s people, he says, “have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations.” So God’s judgement will come upon them. “I also will choose harsh treatment for them, because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight.” (Isa. 66:3–4) The Lord has turned his judgement on his own people, because they have turned from him.

On the other hand, the thread of hope for a future of God’s mercy and grace is also interwoven with the thread of sin and judgement. The Lord calls the people to “rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her.” (Isa. 66:10) The day is coming when God’s people will repent and return to him with humility and a spirit of contrition (see Isa. 66:2), and they will be restored. Of Jerusalem, God says, “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream.” He offers these comforting words: “You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants, and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.” (Isa. 66:12, 14)

The message of the prophets is a message of judgement in the present and in the near future, coupled with a message of eventual repentance and restoration. This anticipates the good news that was coming in Christ. There would be a new covenant, something that was still in the future from Isaiah’s perspective, but has now come in Jesus.

First and Second Corinthians address several issues of church life and Christian practice. Although they were both written to the same church, and 2 Corinthians was probably written sometime shortly after 1 Corinthians, the two letters differ in emphasis and tone. Whereas 1 Corinthians is more corrective, addressing divisions and some of the problems with the church, 2 Corinthians is more positive and encouraging. Paul is less concerned with correcting them and more concerned with defending his own ministry, a self-defense Paul says he indulges in so the church will be edified and strengthened against sin (12:19–21; 13:8–10).

In 1 Corinthians Paul opened by thanking God and proclaiming his faithfulness, then he jumped right into an appeal to the church in Corinth to stop their divisive ways. In fact, much of that earlier letter dealt with different aspects of divisiveness in the church. Other areas of sin were addressed too, and Paul leveled strong rebuke both against those who were engaged in sin and against those who tolerated it in the church. On the other hand, 2 Corinthians reads as a more personal correspondence, meant to encourage and build up the church he had rebuked earlier.

This second canonical letter to the Corinthians church and to us includes some profound and moving sections on the gospel and its implications for us. As Christians throughout history have read 2 Corinthians, we cannot help but be stirred in our sense of purpose as witnesses to what Christ has done for us and what he is doing in and through us.

Paul gives praise and thanks to God who “in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” (2 Cor. 2:14)

Though we are not sufficient for the task to bear witness to Christ on our own, we have a confidence that comes through Christ toward God. Through him we have been made sufficient to be minsters of the new covenant (3:4–6).

There is freedom in the Lord through the Spirit (3:16); and we all are being transformed into the image of Christ “from one degree of glory to another.” (3:18).

We are encouraged not to lose heart in this ministry of God’s mercy. We proclaim Christ, serving each other for the sake of Jesus, because God has “shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.” (4:1–6)

This gospel ministry is a treasure we hold, though we who hold it are fragile and sometimes persecuted, though not forsaken by our mighty God (4:7–9). We bear Christ’s death, and we will bear his life (4:10), confident he will raise us up and bring us into his presence (4:14–15).

So we are encouraged not to lose heart, to be of good courage. He is renewing us and we can trust him for the eternal hope of glory he promises (4:16–18). One day we will be home with the Lord, and we aim to please him as we walk by faith until that time (5:6–9).

And as we wait, we also aim to persuade others of this hope and of the good news of Christ. Christ’s love controls and compels us. His death was for all, that those who live might live for the one who died and was raised for them. (5:14–15)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:17–21)