Good News

This week’s chapter is an exciting passage of Scripture. The exile that Isaiah has been writing about is going to come to a glorious end. Those exiles in Babylon will be released and allowed to return to the Promised Land. This will certainly be good news for them. Bear in mind that this return is not automatic. There have been lots of nations that were swallowed up by their enemies, assimilated into that new culture and never heard from again. And I can’t help but think that this was a concern for these Jews in Babylon. But Isaiah has good news for them. However, while Isaiah writes about the end of the exile in Babylon, the Spirit intended our chapter to point to something more. This week’s text is also about the end of a greater exile. This week’s text is about the Good News of Jesus and how He has come to bring our exile to a glorious end. Here we have a reminder about how to understand the Old Testament. The first part of the Bible isn’t simply about a particular ethnic group and their travails through history from which we can draw pointers on proper moral behavior. The Old Testament is about the same topic that the New Testament is about. It’s all about Jesus and His Gospel of grace. And that’s what we’re going to be looking at this morning.

Listen as I read Isaiah 52.

I’m going to talk about just one verse from our text, verse 7. ‘How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”’ What we have here are parallel statements of the same theme. Isaiah writes about good news, peace, salvation and the declaration, ‘Your God reigns!’ Each of these is about the Gospel of Jesus. I’m going to spend most of our time on the last of these. But before I do, let me say a bit about each of the others.

First, there is Isaiah’s comment about ‘good news’. Please note label he uses. Isaiah isn’t ecstatic about ‘good rules’ or ‘new law’. He’s writing about good news. The Gospel is not about a new and better method for people like us to make things right with God. The Gospel isn’t about better rules to live by. The Gospel is news. It isn’t about telling you what you need to do. It’s about telling you what Jesus has already done. Once again, we are reminded that the Gospel is all about grace. What did the exiles in Babylon do so that they could return home? Was there something that they did that persuaded the king to act or even to persuade God to act? Is that what Isaiah is excited about? Absolutely not! Those exiles did nothing to bring about their rescue. And neither have we. Jesus has acted not because of what we have done. Actually, He has acted despite what we have done. The Spirit wants you to hear the good news of what Jesus has graciously done for you. If anyone tells you that your standing before God depends on you doing something, walk away from him. That person is at the least deceived if not an outright liar. Just walk away. Don’t listen to him. Your standing before God does not depend on you at all. Now, someone is going to say that there is something that we need to do. ‘We need to have faith; we need to believe. Our standing before God does depend on what we do.’ But recall what this believing is. It’s the exact opposite of doing something. It is stopping your doing. Jesus has told us that if we would stop our lame attempts at trying to make things right with the Father, then He would take care of it all. We do nothing. He does everything. Faith is not something we do. Stop your doing and trust Jesus to keep His promise. That’s the Gospel. And when people actually get this, it really is to them Good News.

Isaiah also talks about those ‘who publish salvation’. We’ve looked at this church word recently. I would just remind you of what I’ve told you. ‘Salvation’ means ‘rescue’. In this context, the emphasis is on being rescued from something. We are rescued from all that is evil and twisted and ugly. The flip side of this is the word ‘peace’, which Isaiah also includes in our text. Peace is about being rescued to something. Peace is all about being whole, instead of being broken. It’s about being complete instead of being partial. Peace is about enjoying perfection in a way that fully satisfies. We are rescued from and rescued to. This is also Good News.

You’ll note that Isaiah includes this phrase, ‘good news’, more than once. The second time it shows up he adds something to it. It’s the ‘good news of happiness’. This is so helpful because it reminds us what the goal of the Gospel is. The goal is that you would be happy. Think about it. What would make you happy? What comes to mind? Whatever it is, Jesus promises more than that. Our imaginations are too limited to comprehend what this promised happiness is. But this is what Jesus promises. Happiness. I yearn to be happy. And so do you. Jesus promises that we will be, and that is so exciting. Good News of happiness.

So, Isaiah shouts about the Good News of Jesus. He is excited about salvation, peace, happiness. That’s what the Gospel is about. These are gifts for you to enjoy. So, stop your doing. Listen to Jesus. And trust Him. Jesus has done all that is necessary and that is very Good News.

This leaves that last phrase Isaiah uses to describe the Gospel, ‘Your God reigns.’ Now, let me translate this into more familiar language. Since the resurrection of Jesus, we say it a little differently. Now, instead of, ‘Your God reigns’, it’s, ‘Jesus is Lord.’ It’s the same idea just different words. And this is also what the Gospel is about: the Lordship of Jesus. So, Paul writes, ‘… if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’ There’s the Gospel in one simple phrase, Jesus is Lord.

Since Jesus is Lord there are some things that are not. Satan is not lord. Sin is not lord. And you are not lord. Jesus is Lord.

Satan was lord, but he is no longer. Listen to what Jesus said. ‘Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.’ This tells us two things. Satan was lord: ‘the ruler of this world’. And it tells us that he is no longer lord. At the Cross, Jesus cast him out of that role. Paul comments on this. ‘Disarming the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross.’ [NET Bible] Satan is no longer lord. Jesus is.

And since Jesus is Lord, sin isn’t. It did exercise dominion over you, lordship, but now it doesn’t. Paul wrote this to the Christians in Rome. ‘For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.’ Sin enslaved you. It was lord of your life. But, no longer. Now, Jesus is Lord.

It actually makes a big difference that Jesus is Lord and that Satan and sin are not. For one thing, it means that you can resist Satan’s temptations. It also means that you can put to death the sin that you find in your life. Now be careful. Hear what I said. I did not say that you must resist Satan’s temptations and that you must put sin to death. That’s not good news. The Gospel is not a new rule about the need to be good, the need to resist Satan’s temptations, the need to put sin to death. The Gospel is not good rules, but Good News: Satan and sin are no longer lords in your life. Jesus is Lord. He has broken their power and set you free. As a result, you can defeat them when they confront you. You really can. And this is important because this is the route to happiness. Slaves are not happy when they are enslaved to harsh masters like Satan and sin. But now, ‘Your God reigns’, Jesus is Lord. And that is such Good News. Now that freedom has come, freedom from Satan and sin, happiness is possible.

Jesus is Lord. So, Satan isn’t lord and sin isn’t lord. And that also means that you aren’t lord. You are not lord of your life. Jesus is Lord of your life. Again, Paul: ‘For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.’ I am not the lord of my life. You are not the lord of your life. Jesus is Lord. He calls the shots. All of them. And this is very Good News. I’m sure that you will agree with that once I ask this question. Are you wise enough to achieve, on your own, the kind of happiness that Jesus promises in the Gospel? Can you attain that extraordinary kind of happiness all by yourself? When confronted with the question of gaining happiness, most people out there in the world either say, ‘Yes, I can do that; I can gain happiness on my own’, or they say that being happy – really happy – is not possible. They may not say it with words, but this is what their choices say. But who here agrees with them? Who here thinks that he can create happiness, Jesus’ kind of happiness, on his own? We are not wise enough nor do we know enough to make all the right choices – and there are lots of choices to make – so that we end up happy, completely happy. But Jesus is wise. Jesus knows all that He needs to know. He can guide us to happiness. So, submitting to His Lordship makes sense. That is the route to happiness, and it’s the only route. Jesus is Lord of your life, and that is really good news.

It needs to be said, however, that there will be times when submitting to His Lordship will cut against the grain. One of Jesus’ themes when it comes to following Him is self-denial. And let’s face it, saying ‘No’ to yourself when saying ‘Yes’ will feel so good, is difficult. But who knows what’s best? Who has all the data? Who is wise enough to put it all together the right way? Only Jesus. Submitting to His Lordship just makes sense.

There will be times when Jesus will call you to follow a path that will seem impossible. Remember what He said to the rich young ruler? ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ Really? All of it? I think that if you give this even just a moment’s thought you’ll find it easy to be sympathetic to this young man. But if Jesus is Lord, obedience is the way to go. Submitting here to His Lordship would have led to happiness for that young man. But it does seem like more than a person can do. Or is it?

Here, I have two thoughts that I think might be helpful. The first comes from one of our recent Gospel readings. ‘In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”’ I think that it’s safe to say that when most Christian folk read this they usually think about doing the impossible with things like mountains and fig trees, things out there. But what if we were to turn this inward? What if we were to think about doing impossible things like selling all and giving it to the poor, if that’s what Jesus calls for? To be able to do something like that seems impossible. But Jesus promises that the prayer of faith for the impossible will be granted. ‘And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.’

Here’s my second thought. It has to do with Zacchaeus. When I say that name what jumps into lots of people’s minds is that he was a ‘wee little man’. But go back and think about what happened. Do you remember what Zacchaeus did? ‘And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”’ Zacchaeus did what the rich, young ruler thought was impossible, and he did it without being asked.

So, you are not lord of your life. Jesus is. He makes the decisions in your life. He rules. Good News. So, in light of this, let me suggest a few things. First, give thanks that Jesus is Lord of your life. Remember, His goal for you is your happiness, a happiness that is beyond what you can imagine. Because He is wise, He will get you there by the best route. So, give thanks that He is your Lord and that He has this goal in mind for you. Second, I think that it would be good if you would make it a habit to pray something like this. ‘Lord Jesus, I want to do whatever You want me to do. [By the way, ‘whatever’ here really means whatever.] Just tell me what it is, and give me the ability to do it.’ Praying something like this makes sense if you believe that Jesus’ goal for your life is your happiness. It just makes sense. And it seems good to make it a habit because Satan and sin can distract us. They can fool us into thinking that we can create our own happiness, that we can make wise decisions on our own. And that really is foolishness as well as the height of pride. So, it’s good to make this a habit so that you will be reminded who really knows the best route to being happy.

So, what have I done? I’ve once again explained the Gospel to you. And what do you need to do? You need to stop your doing, listen to Jesus and trust Him. That’s the only route to happiness.