Isaiah 52:1-15: a reflection

1Awake, awake! Put on your strength, Zion. Put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city, for from now on the uncircumcised and the unclean will no more come into you. 2Shake yourself from the dust! Arise, sit up, Jerusalem! Release yourself from the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Zion! 3For the LORD says, “You were sold for nothing; and you will be redeemed without money.” 4For the Lord GOD says: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to live there; and the Assyrian has oppressed them without cause. 5“Now therefore, what do I do here,” says the LORD, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them mock,” says the LORD, “and my name is blasphemed continually all day long. 6Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore they shall know in that day that I am he who speaks. Behold, it is I.” 7How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8Your watchmen lift up their voice. Together they sing; for they shall see eye to eye when the LORD returns to Zion. 9Break out into joy! Sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for the LORD has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. 10The LORD has made his holy arm bare in the eyes of all the nations. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 11Depart! Depart! Go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Go out from among her! Cleanse yourselves, you who carry the LORD’s vessels. 12For you shall not go out in haste, neither shall you go by flight; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard. 13Behold, my servant will deal wisely. He will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high. 14Just as many were astonished at you— his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men— 15so he will cleanse many nations. Kings will shut their mouths at him; for they will see that which had not been told them, and they will understand that which they had not heard.

This chapter is full of good news. How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace, who says to Zion, Your God reigns! God has redeemed his people, not with money but by his own arm, and made his salvation known to the ends of the earth. And toward the end, the chapter turns to God's servant, who will be exalted, though his appearance was marred beyond that of any man, the suffering servant through whom this salvation comes.

Notice the heart of the good news here: your God reigns, and he has redeemed his people. This is the message whose bringers have beautiful feet: that God reigns, that he has acted to save, that he has redeemed his people not by their payment but by his own doing. It is good news of God's reign and God's redemption, freely given. And it comes, the chapter hints, through a servant who would suffer, whose form would be marred, that many might be made clean.

That good news is for us, and it is worth carrying and sharing. The message that God reigns, and that he has redeemed his people freely, at his own cost and not ours, through the servant who suffered, is the best of news; and those who bring it have, as Isaiah says, beautiful feet. Let this good news gladden your own heart: your God reigns, and he has redeemed you, not by your payment but by his own doing, through the servant who bore what you could not. And carry this good news to others; for the feet that bring the news that God reigns and has redeemed his people are called beautiful. Rejoice in the good news yourself, and be one who brings it, announcing peace and saying, your God reigns, and has redeemed his people freely, through his suffering servant.

Lord, this chapter is full of good news: how beautiful are the feet of him who announces peace and says to Zion, your God reigns; you have redeemed your people not with money but by your own arm, made known to the ends of the earth, through the servant who would suffer, his appearance marred, that many might be made clean. Let that good news gladden my heart: you reign, and you have redeemed me, not by my payment but by your own doing, through the servant who bore what I could not. And help me carry this good news to others; for the feet that bring the news that you reign and have redeemed your people are called beautiful. Help me rejoice in this good news myself, and be one who brings it, announcing peace and saying, your God reigns, and has redeemed his people freely, through his suffering servant. Thank you for so good a message, Lord; make me glad in it, and make me a bearer of it.