None Who Knew (Isaiah 41:26)

 


Thursday, 4 December, 2025


Psalm 80

Isaiah 41:17-29

1 Thessalonians 3


Observance: Nicholas Ferrar, deacon, man of prayer (d. 1637)


None Who Knew (Isaiah 41:26)


Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know,
    and beforehand, that we might say, “He is right”?
There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed,
    none who heard your words.


Australian Rugby Union is in a funny place at the moment. Our teams seem to be right about the “above average” line when it comes to leading in games. But their special skill is to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat. I have had more than a few moments in the past months with my heart in my mouth during extra time as I watched the replay on a Sunday afternoon!


When something unexpected happens, there is this almost physical shock to the system. It makes one pay attention, and it also causes not a little discomfort. In today’s first lesson, the prophet Isaiah is giving us God’s words about the Lord Jesus, his incarnation, death and resurrection. No-one could have predicted that God would save humanity this way. Even today, many have trouble even getting it around their heads: that God so loved the world, he sent his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have life eternal.


And so, this Advent, as we return to the Lord in humble penitence, preparing our hearts to celebrate again the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us remember again just how shockingly unexpected this all is. In the beginning was the Word, who was God, and he became flesh, and dwelt among us. He died that we may live, and he rose again that we might live forever with him. God has stirred up one from the north, and he has come, from the rising of the sun, and he called on his Father; he shall trample upon rulers as mortar, as the potter treads clay.


God of our salvation, who is both just and the justifier, emptier of the ancient curse and fulfilment of the eternal blessing: teach our hearts afresh the wonder of what you have done for us in the Lord Jesus Christ.

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