(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
Deserts and arid places shall bloom and produce abundant flowers. People with disabilities will become able-bodied and able-minded. Loss shall become gain, for nothing is impossible for God.
Not only will the exiled Israelites return from captivity, but they shall safely come back through the desert. The normal route from Babylon to Israel was northwest up the Euphrates to toward the Mediterranean and then southwest down to Israel. God, on the other hand, who is extraordinary and magnificent in power, will lead them straight west across the desert, and the desert with welcome them and make their journey easier and safer.
Such is the God who is presented us in this passage from Isaiah. Such also is the God revealed in Luke’s Gospel. This God not only can cure paralyzed people who come to him through ceiling tiles, but who can also and does forgive sins.
If God can bring exiles back home and forgive sins, then we have every right to expect God to continue doing this for us and our families. A God who can and does condemn and not forgive is a god with little, if any, power. The God revealed by the prophets and revealed in Jesus, God’s Son, is the God of power and might, who creates and saves, who leads people from death into life.
This is good news. We do not need to tremble fearfully because of our sins. All of us are called by God into forgiveness and grace. God does not grow tired of what God has created and never is so disgusted with us as to disown us. When we realize this, we can say, “We have seen incredible things today.” Then, we shall enter God’s Zion singing for joy.