Leithart
Let us pray.
Father, we gather this night in hope that You will dispel our every darkness by the glorious resurrection of Jesus Your Son. Raise us and make us shine with the brightness of Your glory. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and with the Holy Spirit, age after age. Amen.
Yahweh’s plan succeeds. He plans to restore His exiled people so that through them He can pour out His blessing on the nations. Through the folly of His Servant, He achieves His purpose. By obediently bearing Zion’s sins, sickness, and sorrows, the Servant lifts her from her mourning, raises her from the dust, raises her from the dead.
Zion begins to stir, and noise is the first sign that she is alive again. “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed.” Jerusalem’s homes and streets have been empty, silent as graves. But when the Servant bears away sin and prolongs His life, Zion breaks into song.
She sings because she is no longer alone. The barren woman has become a joyful mother of children. “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed; for the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman, says the Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent; stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations and will resettle the desolate cities.” Yahweh tells Zion to embiggen her tent because her house will once again be filled with children, her courts once again teeming with worshipers.
Yahweh’s marriage to Israel was a tempestuous one from the beginning. On their honeymoon at Sinai, Israel was unfaithful, and ever since, she has turned from Yahweh to other lovers. In anger, He abandoned her and left her a widow. That’s all over. Zion’s husband is back, her shame is removed. He drowns her painful and shameful memories in the joy of reunion.
“Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; and do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; but you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the Lord of hosts; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of all the earth. For the Lord has called you, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected, says your God. For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer.” Yahweh was Zion’s first husband. Now He returns as her second husband, her Redeemer, raising up a heritage by covering widow Zion with the wing of his garment.
Yahweh is back, and He is not leaving again. He renews His marriage oath and promises that He will never again forsake His bride. “For this is like the days of Noah to Me, when I swore that the waters of Noah would not flood the earth again; so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you nor will I rebuke you. For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken, says the Lord who has compassion on you.” This has the sound of a lover’s declaration: My love will outlast every world. Let the mountains fall and the hills flatten; let the stars fall from the sky and the sun and moon go out; let the earth shake until nothing stands. Still “My lovingkindness will not be removed from you.”
Disfigured, ruined Zion has been longing to be made new, and when Yahweh returns He glorifies His bride. She will no longer be tossed like a ship on a turbulent sea, but set firm on a solid foundation of gems and precious stones. “O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, Behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and your foundations I will lay in sapphires. Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, and your gates of crystal, and your entire wall of precious stones.” Zion is a Bride in her sparkling gown, a crystal city, with foundation, gates, and walls of rubies and sapphires. She is placed in the firmament, a sapphire pavement under her feet and a sun shining within her.
Zion the jeweled city will be utterly safe. “All your sons will be taught of the Lord; and the well-being of your sons will be great. In righteousness you will be established; you will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; and from terror, for it will not come near you. If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you.” Yahweh created the weapons manufacturer, and He created the destroyer. “Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and brings out a weapon for its work; and I have created the destroyer to ruin.” As Creator, He will ensure Zion’s safety: “No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.”
Zion had become a harlot. The city once full of justice became a haven for murderers. Her rulers were rebels and thieves, lovers of bribes. Instead of defending orphans and widows, Zion preyed on them. Innocent blood was on her hands. Now that the Servant has come, Zion has once again become a “city of righteousness, a faithful city” (Isaiah 1:26). Because of the Servant, the Righteous One, she will be established in righteousness and the Lord will silence all the blasphemy against Himself, and all the slanders against Zion. By building His crystal city, He justifies His bride. “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me, declares the Lord.”
Tonight, we mark the resurrection of Jesus with shouts and songs of joy, with a great noise. We mark the resurrection of Jesus by enlarging our tent to make room for the multitudes that will stream to Zion. We mark the resurrection by putting away every fear, all shame and reproach. We mark the resurrection by forgetting God’s anger, because Christ is Risen and the Husband of the church has returned. By His resurrection, we are made over into a crystal city, a bride descending from heaven, a city of gold and jewels, where justice dwells. The resurrection is our vindication because it is the vindication of God’s Righteous One, His Servant Jesus.
Easter is an event in the life story of Jesus. But we don’t simply believe that a dead man returned to life. Resurrection happened to Jesus, but because He is the Lord’s Servant filled with the Spirit, resurrection happens to Zion, to the people and city of God. It happens to us.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us pray.
Lord, You are our Husband, our Maker, our Redeemer, the God of all the earth. In your mercy, You gather us, and with everlasting lovingkindess You have had compassion on us. Put away all sorrow, all shame and reproach, all fear, and fill us with the joyful noise that declares, Christ is Risen. He is Risen Indeed. Amen.
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