Speak tenderly to Jerusalem… that her warfare is ended. Isaiah 40:2
These people have been in a great conflict with God. They have always been the object of his love, but they have lost his blessing, and their constant idolatry has brought them to the place where they are exiles, prisoners of war!
But now the Word of God comes to them with this announcement: “Your warfare is ended!” This is the purpose for which Jesus Christ came into the world. When he was born, the angels said, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14 KJV).
Here is God reaching out, in Jesus Christ, to end a war that goes back to the beginning of time. Here is God giving amnesty to his enemies. Here is God reaching out to make his enemies into his friends. And God does this in the person of Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to resolve the conflict that lies deeper in you than any other conflict. How does he do that? Peace with God comes through a pardon: “Her iniquity is pardoned” (Isa. 40:2). This God, whose claim on our lives we have been resisting, against whom we have been sinning, reaches out in love to forgive us, to embrace us, and to reconcile us.
A paralyzed man was carried on a mat by four friends to Jesus. Jesus looked at the man and said, “Your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:5). That’s pretty insensitive! Why does Jesus say that? The man is paralyzed! He came to Jesus to be healed, not forgiven. But Jesus saw that the man’s need for pardon was greater by far. Our greatest need is to be reconciled to God.
What do you see as your greatest need today?
