Sometime in reading Scripture, I am struck by the number of times certain words are repeated. In our readings this morning, the words “joy” and “rejoice” appear seven times, four in the Old Testament and three in the New Testament.
They appear because both readings are describing, in one form or another, communities that point to the coming Kingdom of God. Isaiah is encouraging the former exiles who have returned to Jerusalem. He promises a community where illness and poverty and hunger shall disappear. That is the Kingdom of God. That is a beloved and joyful community, and the people should rejoice at its coming. It may not have arrived in full yet, but we can rejoice in the existing community of returned exiles as a promise of what will be. Read more…