“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor… comfort the brokenhearted… proclaim freedom for captives… to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” Isa. 61:1–3
Lord Jesus, your 1st Advent inaugurated everything promised in these hope-saturated words from Isaiah. Your 2nd complete the eternal plan which caused prophets to ponder and angels to rejoice (1 Peter 1:10-12).
Though Mary nursed you, she depended on you for her next breath. As a vulnerable babe, needing comfort, you came to comfort all who mourn. Having to be carried as a child, you came to carry the weight of our sin.
O, holy and profound mystery—a newborn child came to make all things new, and put all things right. Even as a babe, the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord was on you, for you are the Sovereign Lord—creator, sustainer, redeemer. The One by whom our sins are forgiven, all oppression will cease, and every bondage is broken. Hallelujah, indeed.
By you, mourning is transformed into gladness, broken hearts become dancing hearts, the disfavored, become the favored of the Lord. Our dis-grace, void-of-grace, and grace-allergies are all replaced with grace upon grace upon grace.
The meekness of your birth was a sure pointer to the weakness of your death. As surely as you were placed in an unlikely crib, you were nailed to an undeserved cross—All. For. Us. We praise, bless, and adore you, Lord Jesus. So very, very Amen.