God's Highway

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"Comfort, comfort my people,

    says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

    and proclaim to her

that her hard service has been completed,

    that her sin has been paid for" Isaiah 40:1-2

Main Readings: John 1:1-34 & Isaiah 40

Supporting Readings: Psalm 23 & 2 Corinthians 1

It’s a curious thing, that when skeptics engage with Christianity, they often bring the charge that Christians use Christianity like a comfort blanket. To make themselves feel better. They say Christianity is just a crutch for life and nothing more.

It’s a criticism that I heard a lot at university. And it’s one that’s designed to persuade that Christianity is nothing more than a psychological benefit. That it doesn’t really have the truth, the bible claims it has.

And yet, simultaneously, they always seem to be made to feel so acutely uncomfortable by Christianity. They squirm and they wriggle when you share it with them.

Why is that?

The charge that that they make against us, and the way our religion makes them feel, seem to be at odds with each other somehow. And perhaps that is telling.

And yet even though some use the ‘comfort’ strategy to confront Christians in what they believe, they know - and we all know - that deep down we’re all looking for the same thing – we are all looking to be comfortable.

Think about the way we talk. We talk about a comfortable retirement, right?

I was speaking with a financial advisor this week. And his whole goal in life is to build a pension pot large enough so that he’ll be comfortable when he retires. And he thinks everyone should take that approach in life. He’s motivated by comfort. And he’s keen others should be too.

And then there’s our ‘creature’ comforts. And our ‘home’ comforts. These are the ways we talk, aren’t they?

Deep down they are our responses to the fact that we just don’t like to be uncomfortable.

Having said that, I do think, it’s safe to say that we’re all willing to be uncomfortable for a little bit as may be necessary. If the benefits outweigh the cost that is.

People who get a buzz out of running marathons don’t mind the daily discomfort of running 10, or 15, or 20km for example.

But don’t ask them to do it all day, every day. They all enjoy returning to a home with clean clothes, and a shower, and a comfortable place to rest up. Because deep down comfort is the place we’re returning to constantly.

We put people in prison, don’t we? Sometimes we keep them there, if government is really on the ball! We put them in prison because it’s not comfortable to be in a confined space for the vast majority of your life each day. It’s not comfortable to be restricted from going where you want to go. Or seeing who you want to see.

Everyone wants to be comfortable. Even people who accuse Christians of using Christianity as a comfort blanket; want to be comfortable.

And so, it’s surely good news that here we find God saying: ‘Comfort comfort my people’ (verse 1). So eager is God to comfort people that he delivers the determination to do it with this double expression.

And we know this kind of way of speaking, don’t we?

‘We shall fight them on the beaches; we shall fight them on the landing grounds’ - Winston Churchill said.

‘I have a dream that one day…I have a dream that my four little children’ - Martin Luther King said.

‘A government of the people, by the people, for the people’ - Abraham Lincoln said.

‘I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth’ – hopefully we’ll never have to say that one!

This way of speaking serves to strengthen the sense of determination, doesn’t it? And that’s what God is conveying here.

He’s not just keen to comfort people, he is very keen to comfort people. And that is particularly important in this case because the people he’s addressing were sinning their way into a very uncomfortable position.

Imagine, that one day you were doing all the normal things you do. You were getting up in your own home. You were eating at your own table. You were enjoying your favourite TV programme. And then the next day, an enemy was at the gates – an enemy with an evil intent. Their only real design: to ransack your town and take every last person captive to a foreign land. To kerb your every normal freedom.

That’s what this book of Isaiah is anticipating is about to happen to these people. The book, up to this moment, has been largely preoccupied with this calamity which is going to come on the people.

And that raises questions. Is God going to be the one to bring the calamity?

If he is going to be the one, why is he going to do that? And what does their sin have to do with his judgement? And if he’s for their comfort, why is he bringing calamity on them? And what does that have to do with us anyway?

Well, God is bringing the calamity on these people for sure. And it’s owing to their sin - you can see that in verse 2.

It’s because God is not like us. When people mistreat us, we don’t like it – it’s uncomfortable. But we know, deep down, that we are guilty of mistreating others the same way - even if we don’t mean to.

That’s because we have disordered desires. Sometimes our desires put us first and others second, and we end up sinning against them.

But God is not like that. God always behaves perfectly towards people. And their responses to him are always out of whack. We mistreat him, we reject him, we trample him under our feet.

When he deserved our devotion, we gave our hearts to anything but him.

Before you became a Christian, did you ever choose God first? Did you ever order your preferences according to his will? I never did. Like Sinatra said, ‘I did it my way’!

It’s one thing to mistreat and trample another human being - that’s bad enough. But to mistreat and trample underfoot the living God, is a terrifyingly dreadful thing.

In all his worthiness. In all his transcendence. In all his perfection. In all his holiness and beauty - sinning against God is humanity’s greatest error and their biggest problem. And there’s not one single one of us who doesn't have that problem. We’ve all done it – we’re all guilty.

It’s why the 10 commandments start with, ‘you shall have no other gods before me’. Because God won’t trample on his own worth by having people split their loyalty and devotion between him and others.

And in reality, it’s worse than that, because most people don’t give him any of their attention at all. I watch the world go by. I see people who don’t seem to have a single second thought for God. They just go about their lives as if he doesn’t even exist. That’s what I was once like too.

Well, this people in Isaiah had rejected God consistently as well. And that’s why God brought the calamity on them - the invading forces from the north – he brought them against this people. He upturned their whole world. He made them feel lost. He made them feel very uncomfortable.

And you might think ‘well that’s not happening to me so what difference does it make?’ Well, first you don’t know what calamity God might bring into your life this afternoon. To wake you up out of your self-reliance.

And even if he doesn’t, and calamity is deferred your whole life long, a day is coming when every single one of us will meet our maker face to face. Everyone will meet the God they trampled on their whole lives long - and that will be a day of calamity unlike any we can imagine in this lifetime!

It’s true that when people encounter trouble in this life, everyone in their discomfort starts to look for answers. They start to look for solutions. It’s their innate instinct to move to a place of greater comfort – from a place of discomfort.

And so, this discomfort that God was going to bring into the lives of these people was to the end that their discomfort might lead them to the source of all comfort.

Because there’s no one like God himself who comforts people. There’s no one like God who’s ultimate. And the comfort he brings is ultimate comfort. A comfort that is everlasting – which extends beyond this world and beyond this life.

God says to somebody here in Isaiah 1 - and we’ll see that that somebody is John the Baptist in a minute - ‘comfort comfort my people’. He says to him, ‘speak tenderly to them’. He says, ‘Proclaim to them that their hard service - their discomfort - is over’. It’s finished.

Now how can it be finished? Well, verse 2 says, by their sin being paid for. Can you see that in verse 2? They have received double for their sins – and we’re going to come back to that double thing in a minute.

Verses 1 & 2 treat this whole reality as a task completed. As a deed done. And that’s because, whatever God decides to do is as good as done. Nothing can undermine his plans. Nothing can cut across his purposes. What he decides, he will accomplish, for he is God. He is powerful to complete every one of his resolves. All other competition is powerless in his path. They will all fall away. They will all make way for him. They can do no other!

That doesn’t mean his purposes aren’t yet future. They are! It just means they are totally certain - as if they had already been accomplished.

Verse 3, then, billboards, this voice - can you see? A voice making proclamation about this comfort. Making proclamation about the answer to all these questions rising up out of the discomfort that they’re in.

It’s a proclamation in verse 3 that leads to a revelation in verse 5. And when it arrives – this revelation - it’s not what we might expect. It’s not a conquering king who tramples down all the enemies of the people. Instead, we read that its glory! It’s the ‘glory of the Lord’.

In other words, it’s the glory of the Lord that comforts the people. It’s the glory of the Lord that sets them free. It’s the glory of the Lord that answers all their questions about comfort.

And between the proclamation of verse 3 and the revelation of verse 5, notice, there’s a highway. And it’s leading through a desert – which is a metaphor for their discomfort.

It’s not route 66 – that is a highway that leads through a desert. It’s not that. But let’s call it ‘The highway of God’. Because it’s a highway forGod, verse 3 says. 

Where this highway goes, the ground changes. Just like I said, nothing can stand in God’s way. Are there hills - what happens to them? Verse 4 - they get laid low. Are there valleys - what happens to them? Verse 4 again - they get raised up. All the ground ahead of this highway gets made level. The rugged places are made smooth, for God’s great highway that leads to his glory.

So that the glory of the Lord can arrive on the scene – that’s what the highway’s for. And that’s massive because no highway means no glory. And no glory means no comfort, in this teaching of Isaiah 40.

So, what in the world is all this highway business talking about? Well, the apostle John who wrote John’s gospel helps us out a lot here. In fact, let’s turn there and let’s see for ourselves. John chapter 1.

He says in verse 6, there was a man sent from God whose name was John – he’s not talking about himself; he’s talking about John the Baptist.

And he says that John the Baptist was a witness to testify - or we might say ‘to proclaim’ - about the light. Now that’s still quite mysterious. But we probably, at the least, can make a link between the glory of verse 5 in Isaiah and the light of verse 7 in John. Because we often talk of light being glorious, don’t we?

When the sun is up and gives its heat and light, we enjoy that. More so, than when it’s dark. Like it is now in the winter-time. So, there’s a clue here, that glory and light might be talking about the same thing.

Let’s keep going. Let’s see. John then says about the light, that through him all might believe. So, the light is a person now. And the person is a means to belief. That’s going to be really important in a minute.

The light - this person - to whom John the Baptist was pointing, like a voice of one calling in the wilderness (Isaiah chapter 40, verse 3) - the one he’s pointing to, is called ‘the light’ because he gives light to everyone. That is, he gives understanding of the truth. That’s what light means.

And then the Apostle John says, he was coming into the world. So, the light, who is a person, who gives light to everyone, is not from this world, but came into this world. Can you see that? So now we’re on to something.

John goes on. To all who received him - by which he says, is meant, who believed in him - he gave the right to become the children of God.

So, you’ve got people who don’t belong to God, and they are, according to Isaiah, not comforted. Then you’ve got this light coming into the world and whoever trusts in him - that is, believes in his name - is a made a child of God. In other words, they are comforted. Because what can be more comforting than, being translated from an enemy of God to a member of his family?

And then John says this - which clinches it and tells us everything we need to know about what Isaiah 40:1-5 is driving at. He says, the Word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us.

So, he’s not just light anymore; he’s Word. And he’s now becoming flesh. That’s body language. You can touch him. You can talk to him. You can walk with him, because he’s in a body now; he’s amongst us.

John says, we have seen his glory - that is we have seen it with our own eyes; they had seen it - the glory of the one and only Son. So, he’s light. And then he’s Word. And now he’s Son. And he’s always beenSon. That is to say, he’s always been God’s Son.

And notice he’s glory too. Glory from the Lord God.

So can you see that John says he’s glory just like Isaiah says, ‘make straight paths for the revealing of the glory of the Lord’. That link is absolutely vital for understanding Isaiah 40.

And then in verse 17 John puts a name on this person - this Light, this Word, this Son, this Glory - and he calls him ‘Jesus Christ’! And now we have a name for the comforter of Isaiah 40! His name is Jesus Christ!

And what does he say comes through Jesus Christ? It’s grace and it’s truth - that’s the essence of comfort. Isn’t it? Do you see that? Grace is undeserved favour from God – so massively comforting! God’s anger turned away. And it’s truth. It’s not false peace – it’s true peace. And therefore, it’s very comforting!

False peace is false comfort - it offers no confidence that it’ll last. But peace based on truth is trustworthy. And it supplies real and lasting comfort. That’s what we have here in Jesus.

God’s very heart then is to comfort people. The next question is: why do people need comforting? And the answer is because, if they really knew the source of their anxiety, all their fears, all their misery, all their troubles, they would know it’s all ultimately owing to their rejection of the God who made them and their distance from him as a result of their sin.

Temporary comforts can’t cover this depth of dissatisfaction. Only the God they were made in the image of, can do that. ‘Comfort, comfort my people’ he says. ‘Speak tenderly to them’. ‘Proclaim to them that their misery can be at an end’.

God is speaking comfort to us all this morning. He’s speaking tenderly to us. He says ‘comfort my people’ to you – to you! He says, ‘speak tenderly to them’. ‘Proclaim to them, that their misery can be over. It’s such a beautiful word from the Lord God to us this morning if we have ears to hear it.

How can he offer it? Well, verse 2 says, because their sins are paid for. You see, sin can’t be just cancelled. Sin is a debt – a massive debt. It’s a debt that’s got to be paid. Just like all debts have to be paid. And you don’t want to have to pay it yourself. If you pay this debt yourself, you pay it all. And it’s awful! And it’s agony! And it’s totally unending.

But it’s got to be paid. And so, it’s the glory of the Lord, according to verse 5, who comes to pay it. It’s the light. It’s the Word. It’s the son in the flesh. It’s the Glory of the Lord. It’s Jesus Christ who comes to pay it.

God is interested in both the balance of his honour and the justice of his honour. The register of his honour needs balancing; the punishment for the treatment of his honour needs satisfying.

If you were to send one fallen human being to the cross in the stead of one other human being, neither the balance nor the justice would be satisfied. It would be of no worth at all.

The debt owing to God by every one of us is a debt that is as broad as can be, and one that is as deep as can be. It’s not merely one or the other. And so, it won’t do to send a sinner to the cross in the stead of a sinner. And it won’t do to send a mere mortal to the cross in the stead of a mortal.

And that’s why Jesus had to come. Jesus: perfect in holiness. Infinite in being. Capable of satisfying both the balance of God’s honour by his sinlessness and the justice of his honour by the power of his indestructible life. That’s why Jesus’ incarnation is so absolutely necessary. He wasn’t conceived in sin like we are. And it’s why his resurrection is so absolutely necessary too! Death could not hold him.

When Isaiah says ‘double for all her sins’, Jesus fits the bill perfectly. Prepare the way for the Son of God to appear. Prepare the way for the one who will provide double for all our sins - Jesus Christ is his name.

In him all our sin is cleared once and for all - it can never be laid at our door again. In him all our punishment is deflected - it can never be exacted upon again.

God doesn’t brush our sins under the carpet of his forgetfulness. Instead, he wipes our slate clean by sending his precious and perfect Son to the cross.

God doesn’t cancel our punishment in a stay of execution. Instead, he pours out his punishment on his Son, on the cross. And that’s the double satisfaction Isaiah speaks of.

So that, at the end of it all, God is completely satisfied. And we are completely comforted. Fear can fly away. Anxiety can melt. For evermore, God is for us and not against us. Oh happy day!

The message of Isaiah 40:1-5 is that God is poised; God is ready; God is willing; he wants to comfort his people. And the way he brings people to a place where they throw their lot in with him, and depend squarely on him for their comfort, is ironically through this one thing: discomfort.

I would go so far as to say it’s impossible for someone to come into the free and wonderful comfort of God without going through discomfort first. That’s the way he’s set it up.

Who will believe on Jesus if they don’t feel uncomfortable? Nobody! They’ll carry on believing in anything and everything except him.

John says, ‘to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God’. God does everything he does for his people by sending Jesus for them when they put their trust in him. Without faith in Jesus nothing happens.

What does that mean? It means what John says it means: it means when we receive Jesus. What does receive him mean? You can receive in different ways, right?

You could receive him like a transaction? Like Apple Pay? Phone to dock, funds transferred, product exchanged. If you receive him like a transaction that gets you off the hook of hell; you haven’t got him at all.

Receiving Jesus, is more like visiting the Tower of London and leaving with the Crown Jewels - gifted to you. It’s like visiting Buckingham palace and leaving with the king as your personal friend.

If you embrace him as your greatest treasure. If you receive him as your lord and master, you receive him the way John has in mind here.

When you receive Jesus the way John meant, you receive him for him. Because you esteem him as worth more to you than anything else in the whole-wide world.

What it takes to arrive at that place where you receive him like that, is discomfort. And we’re not talking about any type of discomfort. We’re talking specifically about his kind of discomfort.

People don’t get to choose their preferred flavour of discomfort. Like, I prefer social discomfort to physical discomfort for example. It doesn’t work like that. The discomfort God has in mind is the discomfort of recognising, owning, grieving over personal sin.

Until we feel the weight of our offences against God, we cannot come to a place of treasuring Christ above all. Because he will always only be an option amongst competing options for our hearts.

But when we come to the end of ourselves and we know that our sin will mean discomfort - on and off in this life, and eternal misery in the life to come after death. Then we come to the kind of discomfort he intends. The most uncomfortable we’ve ever been. And only then are we ready to receive Jesus as our ultimate treasure and Lord and Master.

Only then can we repent of our sin. Only then can we flee to Jesus for forgiveness. Only then can we be comforted by being reconciled to God as one of his children.

This morning we’re starting out on God’s highway to the coming of his son - Jesus Christ - as we look forward to Advent.

Perhaps you’re thinking to yourself, I’m a Christian and right now, after the week I’ve just had, I don’t feel comforted at all. So, does God really want comfort for his people?

I think the answer to that question is still the same. Christ is still the comfort for your soul, no matter what has happened this week. He is still the treasure that fills the hole in your troubled heart. He is still the only thing deep enough, good enough, complete enough to satisfy your longing heart.

The reality is he never changes, but we do. Sometimes we lose sight of him.

But know this: God has sent his Son, Jesus, to comfort you. No matter what you’re going through.

And maybe what you need is to zero in on him all over again. In order to hear his comforting voice speaking to your heart.

Something like this for example: ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ’. 2 Corinthians 1.

God is just as eager to be your comfort today as he was the day you got saved. He is glorified when, in the middle of your discomfort you turn to him and rely on him to be your comfort all over again.

And Isaiah 40:1-5 is like a promise to you that he will be that comfort to you here and now this morning, because he is well pleased with his glorious Son.

I’m like John the Baptist this morning – I’m proclaiming to you all, believer and unbeliever alike, that God is eager to comfort you through his eternal Son, Jesus Christ.