This passage has many affinities with the prophecies of Second Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55), and it has often been attributed to him. But there are differences. In Isaiah 40:3, the “way” is for the Lord, here it is for the redeemed and ransomed (vv. 9-10). In Isaiah 51:11, the reference is to the return from Babylonian exile. Here in verse 10, that context is missing, and those who are returning to Zion are the members of Israel dispersed throughout the ancient Near East. Thus, this text is probably from a time after Second Isaiah and sometime after 538 B.C. The problem that faces the preacher, however, is how to make this passage relevant for a modern congregation.

If we note the repetitions of words in the passage, it becomes clear that we have two strong figurative contrasts. First, there is emphasis on the dryness and heat of the desert (vv. 1, 6) which is a place of burning sand, thirsty ground, and the haunt of jackals (v. 7). That is contrasted with life-giving waters, streams (v. 6), a swamp, reeds and rushes (v. 7), and crocuses that grow abundantly in swampy land (v. 1). But as in Second Isaiah, the desert and wilderness are figures for life without God — its dryness, its thirst for something, its death. Contrarily, the references to water and the abundant life that it gives are figures for the life with God — its satisfaction of thirst and hunger, its vitality, its wholeness and permanence.

Other biblical passages immediately spring to mind in such a connection — the fact that those who follow the will of God are like trees planted by streams of water, that never wither and that bring their forth fruit in due season (Psalm 1:3); or the fact that Christ, the fountain of living water (John 7:38), can keep us from ever thirsting again (John 4:13). Thus, the preacher can contrast the old life without God, that so many in any congregation still know, with the fullness of life given by fellowship with God.

Alongside that, there is in our text a strong contrast set forth between the fear, sorrow, and sighing (vv. 4, 10) known to the old life, and the joy, gladness, and singing that are given in the new life with God (vv. 1, 2, 6, 10). And that goes along with the first contrast given above. Thus, the congregation, still immersed in the ways of B.C., can be given a picture of the life they may have in Jesus Christ, in A.D. But their question is: Will that life come to them?

The prophet announces in verses 3-4 that it will indeed come, that God is on the way, to avenge those who have done wrong and to save those who trust his coming. Indeed, the faithful will see the glory of the Lord (v. 2) — that is, God’s presence on earth, which is the meaning of “glory” here. But is that not the message that we are given at Christmastime, that the glory of the Lord has shown in the heavens (Luke 2:9) and that in the babe of Bethlehem, we have in fact seen his glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14)? God has in truth come to us in his Son.

So those who are fearful, can take courage, and those who are weak can be strong (v. 4), for God has come to turn their desert of death into the eternal and watered abundance of life. In short, God has come to establish his kingdom of life on earth, even as it is in heaven.

That kingdom began in the birth of our Savior at Bethlehem. The Isaiah traditions repeatedly announce that when the kingdom comes, the blind and deaf, the lame and dumb will be restored to wholeness (vv. 5-6; cf. Isaiah 29:18-20; 32:3-4; 33:24; 42:7, 16). Thus when John the Baptist inquires who Jesus is, in our gospel lesson, he learns that the Son of God has indeed fulfilled that ancient prophecy (Matthew 11:2-11). The new life of the Kingdom of God has begun to break into our lives in the person of Jesus Christ! And the New Testament tells us that if we trust our Lord, we can begin to participate in the vitality and powers of that new age that he brings, leaving behind us the wilderness of death and the thirst of sin. We can begin now to inherit the goodness of the new age of the kingdom.

Our text not only applies to our lives now, however. It also holds out before us the picture of a glorious future. Intended originally for the people of Israel, dispersed throughout the Mediterranean world, this pronouncement by Isaiah pictures the time when the covenant people are gathered once again to the temple on Zion in Jerusalem to praise their Lord in joy and gladness (v. 10). God will prepare the way for them, announces the prophet, a “Holy Way,” which means a way set apart for God’s purpose. No one who has violated God’s commandments (the “unclean”) will walk the way, no wicked (“fools,” as in Wisdom literature) will be found on it, and no natural enemies will prevent the return of the faithful. God will “redeem” or “ransom” his own from their captivity and dispersion among the nations, that is, he will buy them back. And faithful Israel will be free to return to her God and to his praise and worship.

Have we too not been “redeemed” by our God, bought back by the death and resurrection of his Son, and set free from our captivity to sin and death? And have we too not been given a “Holy Way” to return to the worship and praise of our God? But the “way” for us is Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life, and through him, we all may return to fellowship with the Father. Indeed, Jesus Christ is now our incarnate temple, our place of worship (John 3:19-20; 4:21), and our return to him is our return to Zion.

But the picture is, you see, also a picture of the future, when not only we, but all the faithful throughout the world gather to Jesus Christ, and every knee bows and every tongue confesses that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (cf. Isaiah 45:23; Philippians 2:10-11). Then God’s kingdom will have come on earth, and God will be all in all.

So strengthen your weak hands and make firm your feeble knees. Be strong and fear not! This day by trust in Jesus Christ, our Lord, who has come to us at Bethlehem, you may leave behind you the dust and dryness and death of your old life, and you may inherit the beginning of the watered, abundant life of God’s new age, looking forward in joy and gladness to the future, when God’s good kingdom will be established over all the earth.