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Isaiah 66:10-14 – [The Lord says,] “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her; that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.” For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and the hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants, and He shall show His indignation against His enemies.”
It’s impossible for me to read this passage without remembering the year I nursed my son. He was born early, and he had to eat every 90 minutes. It felt like all I ever did was nurse him!
And because it had been a dangerous pregnancy and a hard first year, I became aware of just how fragile nursing mothers and babies are. So many things can upset that relationship. If the mother eats the wrong things, if the baby is ill, if the family is not in a safe place, if there is constant stress and danger—why, then the mother’s milk supply may dry up, and the baby will suffer for it.
But that’s not the picture God paints for us here. In this passage we see Jerusalem as a happy mother of many children, all of them believers in the Lord. There is no shortage or stress, no fear or harm or disaster; nothing but peace and comfort and joy. How can this be?
Because anyone who has read the Old Testament knows how often Jerusalem is blamed for the evils of her people. Everything from idolatry to cannibalism took place in those city walls over the years—and finally, of course, the rejection of Jesus the Messiah, and His death just outside the walls. I would expect to see this city destroyed and abandoned forever, not a happy mother of children! What happened?
What happened is the Lord. He knows that human hearts aren’t going to change on their own; we are always going astray. But out of His own kindness and love, He has chosen to forgive and save Jerusalem—and all humanity with her. He says, “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river … As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you … and the hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants.”
The hand of the Lord is known to His servants—and it is a hand that carries the nail marks of the cross. Because that is the lovingkindness that God has toward us, a love that is greater than any mother’s love for her children—a love that led God to come into this world to suffer, die, and rise again as our Savior. And His Name among us is Jesus—“The Lord is salvation.” Because that is what He has made Himself for our sake.
WE PRAY: Dear Lord, thank You for loving us and saving us. Help me to rejoice in You. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
- How is God’s care for us like the care of a loving mother?
- When have you received mercy you did not deserve?
- Why do you think Jesus chooses to keep His scars?
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