Day 96 – January 4, 2024: Isaiah 56-58 and Matthew 17-19

There is again richness in Isaiah.  By this I mean passages that are familiar and passages that refer back to the work and the covenant that Jesus has established.  In 56 we find a space for those who were not born Jewish but still love God.  This space widens significantly in the New Testament, but it is good to see that it describes that there will be a place for those who love God in the house of the Lord, but who were not born as people of God.  The reason this is, Isaiah implies, is that there is vast corruption in the people of God.  Interesting how it pivots from there being a space to a castigation against the corruption of Israel.

We then find in Isaiah 58 some powerful verses in 5-12  I know it is a lot, but it reminds us that God loves those who love their neighbor.  Matthew takes this theme back up, as we have seen it repeatedly in this Gospel as he focuses on righteousness as the calling card of those who follow Jesus.  We find the wonderful example of the parable of the lost sheep in chapter 18, but it isn’t matched with the prodigal son like we find in Luke, and in Luke alone.  We do see an emphasis on forgiving, even as we receive a prescription on how to work out differences with someone who consistently is disobedient in the community.

The teaching about divorce is not to be passed over lightly.  As Presbyterians we take marriage seriously, even if it is not a sacrament.  But divorce is not a sin greater than any other.  But in divorce sin has taken place, in some form or shape, and the objective is to confess that sin and to move on with what God wants in our life.  Righteousness should always be pursued regardless of the reality in which we find ourselves.