Your Redeemer

Advent Day 13

Second Friday in Advent

December 9, 2011

Reading: Isaiah 48:17–18 (NRSV)

¹⁷ Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for your own good, who leads you in the way you should go. ¹⁸ O that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your prosperity would have been like a river, and your success like the waves of the sea;

Theme: Your Redeemer

Reflection:

The prophet Isaiah named God as “Your Redeemer” when speaking to the Israelites back almost six centuries before Jesus was born. We have been taught that Jesus redeems us from our sins, but God was being called Redeemer before even Jesus came to earth. For the Hebrews, a redeemer was someone who purchased a person out of trouble. An older brother, for instances, might redeem his younger brother by paying off the debts of the younger one and keeping him out of debtor’s prison or slavery. When Isaiah spoke of God as Redeemer he was prophesying that God would “purchase” the Israelites out of exile in Babylon and return them to their homeland.

But notice what else the Redeemer does in this passage. The Holy One of Israel reminds the people that the Lord teaches and leads them also. God will not just free the people from exile, but teaches them for their own good and leads them on the path they should go. Isaiah is promising a full service God—one that not only frees people from slavery, but then continues to lead and guide them in starting a new life.

In this Advent season, we look toward Jesus’ coming, the one whom God sends to redeem and save us. One of the texts that we often read in Advent is the “annunciation” to Joseph found in the Gospel of Matthew. When the angel of the Lord comes to Joseph to tell him about the baby that Mary is carrying, Joseph is told that the child has been conceived in the Holy Spirit, and that Mary will bear a son. Joseph is also instructed to name the child Jesus, “for he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus’ very name, which is the Greek version of the Hebrew name Joshua, means ‘one who saves’.

God continues the saving work that was begun with the people Israel, by sending God’s own Son Jesus, the one who will save. God continues to lead you and guide you with the Law—the commandments—that God insists that you pay attention to. But the Gospel, or Good News, for you is that God also recognizes your weakness and sends his Son, Your Redeemer, who helps you and saves you when you slip into trouble.

Prayer: Redeeming God, I thank you that you save me when I get into trouble. I thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus, whom you sent to save all your people, including me. Amen