Happy New Year!!!!
Text is Isaiah 52:7-10 specifically looking
In our text for today Isaiah speaks of beautiful feet. Now most people find feet ugly and disgusting. They are stinky and gross. They can have bunions and calluses and nothing about them expresses beauty. However, in Isaiah’s prophecy, these feet are beautiful because they are carrying good news. They are carrying a messenger, who has good news of peace, happiness, and salvation. Good news that “God Reigns!” It is because of the message that these feet are carrying that makes them beautiful.
So if the feet of this random person that brings good news of peace, happiness, and salvation are beautiful; then the feet our Lord who is the good news of peace, happiness, and salvation are majestic. The feet of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are feet that look just like ours and felt just like ours and seemed to be just normal feet. However, when you look at how the Bible speaks of the feet of Christ you can quickly see that these feet are not just ordinary feet.
When the Gospels tell the Christmas story, none of them ever specifically reference Jesus’ feet. But we know that He was born a healthy baby with ten fingers and ten toes. Now you may think that because Jesus was born with two feet and ten toes is earth shattering news; however, the fact that our God left His throne and all the perfection of Heaven behind to come to this sinful world and take on the flesh of human being is entirely earth shattering. He took on our form to be just like us. He chose to be born with feet and toes so that He could live in the same sinful condition that we live in. He is God and He could have stayed purely 100% only God, but instead He became 100% man on top of 100% God. He was born with feet and toes on that first Christmas, becoming man to save all of mankind. That’s what the celebration of Christmas is all about. We are here this morning to celebrate this miracle birth of our Lord.
Then as this sweet baby Jesus grew up into a child and eventually a man, John the Baptist references to Christ’s feet. When John speaks of Jesus, he says that he is not worthy to bend down and untie the sandals from Jesus’ feet. John feels unworthy to be at the lowest level of Christ serving Him in the simplest of ways. This is kind of ironic since Jesus will reference to John as the greatest of men being born of a woman and the fact that John is the Elijah to come, the prophet sent ahead to serve Christ by preaching repentance in baptism. John has been specifically called to serve Christ and His Gospel message and yet he sees himself as unworthy to be face in the dirt in front of the Messiah. If John, the greatest man born to a woman feels this way, we most certainly should feel unworthy to be face down, kneeling in front of Christ. We should feel unworthy as sinners to be in the presence of our God. And yet every Sunday He welcomes us into His house to be in His presence, to hear His Word, and to receive His gifts. We as sinners should not be allowed to serve Him in even the simplest of ways because by our own merit we are certainly not good enough. However, Christ has called each one of us to serve Him daily through the power of the Spirit. He has enlightened us in the faith and empowered us with the Spirit to serve Him in more ways than simply untying His sandals. He has called us to share the good news of peace, happiness, and salvation that He brought when He was born into this world as a human being with His feet carrying Him throughout His ministry.
Jesus walked into the river to be baptized by John, but later He will walk on the water when He comes out to the disciples on the boat. There is a Biblical theme of water that can be seen throughout both the New Testament and the Old Testament. The theme is that flowing water is life and still water is chaos. So when Jesus walks on the sea where the disciples are in the boat, this is still-water or symbolic for chaos. Yes, it is a miracle that Christ can walk on water, something no other human can do; but it is an even more powerful miracle when you see the sea as chaos. Christ is calmly walking on top of the chaos with all evil is under His feet. His feet carried Him on top of the water to show He is Lord of all creation, but they also carried Him on top of the chaos because He is the Lord of all power and authority who has the peace that can overpower any chaos.
His feet carrying Him across the water were sure to get wet, another place we see Jesus’ feet get wet is in Luke 7 where the woman is crying. This woman referred to as a sinner, comes into the house of the Pharisees where Jesus is eating. She is weeping, most likely because of her awareness of her sinful condition. She serves Him in the same way He will serve His disciples at the Last Supper by washing their feet, but she does it in an even more personal way using her tears as the cleansing agent and her own hair as the towel. She knows this is the one who has brought good news of salvation, good news of forgiveness that can free her from her sinful condition and she very personally serves Him by lowering herself to the ground and washing His feet. I am sure she was much like John and felt unworthy to be in His presence even at the level of His feet, but she knows He is her Lord, so she cleans His feet, kisses them repeatedly, and anoints them with expensive perfume. She knows this is her Lord and she hears Jesus say the most beautiful words she ever heard when He looked at her and said, “Your sins are forgiven, go in peace.” She washed the feet of her Lord, knowing He is the good news of salvation and forgiveness, and she heard that good news from His mouth. The same good news that He has brought to all peoples.
Eventually we see Christ’s feet leading Him somewhere He did not want to go. In the Garden of Gethsemane He prays for the Father to take this cup from Him. However, the Father does not take the cup form Him and allows His plan for salvation to continue. Christ’s feet carry Him to His trial where He is questioned, accused, beaten, mocked, and finally sentenced. His feet carry Him and His cross up the hill to Golgotha where He will be laid upon that cross and have a nail driven through both of His feet. His now bloody feet with a nail through them would hold Him up on that cross long enough for Him to ask God to forgive mankind for they know not what they do. They do not know that they are killing the one who has come to save them. Then as He exclaims “It is finished”, life leaves His body leaving Him a dead corpse upon that cross. His feet along with the rest of His dead body would be wrapped up and laid in the tomb where it appeared would be His final resting place.
However, three days later His feet carry Him out of that tomb, risen and alive. Resurrected in the flesh, His feet carry Him to appear to the woman, the disciples, and the masses. The same feet that John felt unworthy to bow down in front of, the same feet that carried Him across the water and on top of the chaos, the same feet that the woman washed, kissed, and anointed, the same feet that were nailed to the cross and still have the nail hole in them now carried our Savior out into the world to proclaim the good news that He truly is the Savior who has won peace, happiness, and salvation.
From the very beginning of sin, in the Garden of Eden, God promised that He would send His Son to be the Savior. He told the devil that the devil would bruise His Son’s heel but His Son would crush the devil’s head. That is exactly what Christ did by being born a human with flesh, feet, and toes. By being nailed to a cross to give up His own life for the price of all sin, Christ’s heel was bruised. He suffered pain, but that bruise, the pain Christ suffered is nothing compared to the crushed head of the devil, being defeat and crushed once and for all. I love this image of this promise because if you crushed a snake’s head with your bare heel, the broken bones and rough scales would bruise your heel, and this is exactly what Christ did. Through His life, death, and resurrection He crushed the devil, that ancient serpent’s head with His bare heel, bruising Himself for the life of us all. And even though His heel is bruised, even though His feet still have the nail holes in them, they are the most beautiful thing we could ever hope to see. They are the majestic feet that brought us ALL good news of peace, happiness, and salvation.
And now that He reigns in heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father, St. Paul tell us that every enemy is under His feet. In Ephesians St. Paul states, “seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet”. Because Christ was born into this world in the form of a human with two feet and ten toes, He now reigns in Heaven at the right hand of God with all authority and power. Every other authority, power, dominion, and name, including sin, death, and the devil are under His feet, completely under His control. And just as we are welcomed to be in His presence here in His house hearing His good news and receiving His gifts, one day we will be in His presence in front of His throne, kneeling at His feet knowing He is our good news of peace, happiness, and salvation! Those beautiful, majestic feet will be the most glorious sight we have ever seen as we spend the rest of eternity living in His presence!
In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
In our text for today Isaiah speaks of beautiful feet. Now most people find feet ugly and disgusting. They are stinky and gross. They can have bunions and calluses and nothing about them expresses beauty. However, in Isaiah’s prophecy, these feet are beautiful because they are carrying good news. They are carrying a messenger, who has good news of peace, happiness, and salvation. Good news that “God Reigns!” It is because of the message that these feet are carrying that makes them beautiful.
So if the feet of this random person that brings good news of peace, happiness, and salvation are beautiful; then the feet our Lord who is the good news of peace, happiness, and salvation are majestic. The feet of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ are feet that look just like ours and felt just like ours and seemed to be just normal feet. However, when you look at how the Bible speaks of the feet of Christ you can quickly see that these feet are not just ordinary feet.
When the Gospels tell the Christmas story, none of them ever specifically reference Jesus’ feet. But we know that He was born a healthy baby with ten fingers and ten toes. Now you may think that because Jesus was born with two feet and ten toes is earth shattering news; however, the fact that our God left His throne and all the perfection of Heaven behind to come to this sinful world and take on the flesh of human being is entirely earth shattering. He took on our form to be just like us. He chose to be born with feet and toes so that He could live in the same sinful condition that we live in. He is God and He could have stayed purely 100% only God, but instead He became 100% man on top of 100% God. He was born with feet and toes on that first Christmas, becoming man to save all of mankind. That’s what the celebration of Christmas is all about. We are here this morning to celebrate this miracle birth of our Lord.
Then as this sweet baby Jesus grew up into a child and eventually a man, John the Baptist references to Christ’s feet. When John speaks of Jesus, he says that he is not worthy to bend down and untie the sandals from Jesus’ feet. John feels unworthy to be at the lowest level of Christ serving Him in the simplest of ways. This is kind of ironic since Jesus will reference to John as the greatest of men being born of a woman and the fact that John is the Elijah to come, the prophet sent ahead to serve Christ by preaching repentance in baptism. John has been specifically called to serve Christ and His Gospel message and yet he sees himself as unworthy to be face in the dirt in front of the Messiah. If John, the greatest man born to a woman feels this way, we most certainly should feel unworthy to be face down, kneeling in front of Christ. We should feel unworthy as sinners to be in the presence of our God. And yet every Sunday He welcomes us into His house to be in His presence, to hear His Word, and to receive His gifts. We as sinners should not be allowed to serve Him in even the simplest of ways because by our own merit we are certainly not good enough. However, Christ has called each one of us to serve Him daily through the power of the Spirit. He has enlightened us in the faith and empowered us with the Spirit to serve Him in more ways than simply untying His sandals. He has called us to share the good news of peace, happiness, and salvation that He brought when He was born into this world as a human being with His feet carrying Him throughout His ministry.
Jesus walked into the river to be baptized by John, but later He will walk on the water when He comes out to the disciples on the boat. There is a Biblical theme of water that can be seen throughout both the New Testament and the Old Testament. The theme is that flowing water is life and still water is chaos. So when Jesus walks on the sea where the disciples are in the boat, this is still-water or symbolic for chaos. Yes, it is a miracle that Christ can walk on water, something no other human can do; but it is an even more powerful miracle when you see the sea as chaos. Christ is calmly walking on top of the chaos with all evil is under His feet. His feet carried Him on top of the water to show He is Lord of all creation, but they also carried Him on top of the chaos because He is the Lord of all power and authority who has the peace that can overpower any chaos.
His feet carrying Him across the water were sure to get wet, another place we see Jesus’ feet get wet is in Luke 7 where the woman is crying. This woman referred to as a sinner, comes into the house of the Pharisees where Jesus is eating. She is weeping, most likely because of her awareness of her sinful condition. She serves Him in the same way He will serve His disciples at the Last Supper by washing their feet, but she does it in an even more personal way using her tears as the cleansing agent and her own hair as the towel. She knows this is the one who has brought good news of salvation, good news of forgiveness that can free her from her sinful condition and she very personally serves Him by lowering herself to the ground and washing His feet. I am sure she was much like John and felt unworthy to be in His presence even at the level of His feet, but she knows He is her Lord, so she cleans His feet, kisses them repeatedly, and anoints them with expensive perfume. She knows this is her Lord and she hears Jesus say the most beautiful words she ever heard when He looked at her and said, “Your sins are forgiven, go in peace.” She washed the feet of her Lord, knowing He is the good news of salvation and forgiveness, and she heard that good news from His mouth. The same good news that He has brought to all peoples.
Eventually we see Christ’s feet leading Him somewhere He did not want to go. In the Garden of Gethsemane He prays for the Father to take this cup from Him. However, the Father does not take the cup form Him and allows His plan for salvation to continue. Christ’s feet carry Him to His trial where He is questioned, accused, beaten, mocked, and finally sentenced. His feet carry Him and His cross up the hill to Golgotha where He will be laid upon that cross and have a nail driven through both of His feet. His now bloody feet with a nail through them would hold Him up on that cross long enough for Him to ask God to forgive mankind for they know not what they do. They do not know that they are killing the one who has come to save them. Then as He exclaims “It is finished”, life leaves His body leaving Him a dead corpse upon that cross. His feet along with the rest of His dead body would be wrapped up and laid in the tomb where it appeared would be His final resting place.
However, three days later His feet carry Him out of that tomb, risen and alive. Resurrected in the flesh, His feet carry Him to appear to the woman, the disciples, and the masses. The same feet that John felt unworthy to bow down in front of, the same feet that carried Him across the water and on top of the chaos, the same feet that the woman washed, kissed, and anointed, the same feet that were nailed to the cross and still have the nail hole in them now carried our Savior out into the world to proclaim the good news that He truly is the Savior who has won peace, happiness, and salvation.
From the very beginning of sin, in the Garden of Eden, God promised that He would send His Son to be the Savior. He told the devil that the devil would bruise His Son’s heel but His Son would crush the devil’s head. That is exactly what Christ did by being born a human with flesh, feet, and toes. By being nailed to a cross to give up His own life for the price of all sin, Christ’s heel was bruised. He suffered pain, but that bruise, the pain Christ suffered is nothing compared to the crushed head of the devil, being defeat and crushed once and for all. I love this image of this promise because if you crushed a snake’s head with your bare heel, the broken bones and rough scales would bruise your heel, and this is exactly what Christ did. Through His life, death, and resurrection He crushed the devil, that ancient serpent’s head with His bare heel, bruising Himself for the life of us all. And even though His heel is bruised, even though His feet still have the nail holes in them, they are the most beautiful thing we could ever hope to see. They are the majestic feet that brought us ALL good news of peace, happiness, and salvation.
And now that He reigns in heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father, St. Paul tell us that every enemy is under His feet. In Ephesians St. Paul states, “seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet”. Because Christ was born into this world in the form of a human with two feet and ten toes, He now reigns in Heaven at the right hand of God with all authority and power. Every other authority, power, dominion, and name, including sin, death, and the devil are under His feet, completely under His control. And just as we are welcomed to be in His presence here in His house hearing His good news and receiving His gifts, one day we will be in His presence in front of His throne, kneeling at His feet knowing He is our good news of peace, happiness, and salvation! Those beautiful, majestic feet will be the most glorious sight we have ever seen as we spend the rest of eternity living in His presence!
In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment