“Strengthen the weak hands
and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
“Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.” - Isaiah 35:3-4
These words speak to us about resilience. In an age of great fragility and resentment, the biblical injunctions we regularly encounter call God’s covenant people to be anti-fragile and resilient. If we truly believe what we say we believe, then nobody and nothing can truly hurt us.
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which we also cover today, talks about the same foundation upon which we build: the rock of Jesus the Christ. We mark our election by biblical obedience. These themes cohere. There are some things in scripture that are quite nuanced and complicated, but these things aren’t. May we share this clarity about how we are to live, what foundation we should share, and how obedience should mark our lives.
Isaiah 33
Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed,
O traitor never betrayed!
When you have finished destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you have finished betraying,
you will be betrayed.
O LORD, be gracious to us!
We wait for You.
Be our strength every morning
and our salvation in time of trouble.
The peoples flee the thunder of Your voice;
the nations scatter when You rise.
Your spoil, O nations, is gathered as by locusts;
like a swarm of locusts men sweep over it.
The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high;
He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
He will be the sure foundation for your times,
a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.
Behold, their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets;
the envoys of peace weep bitterly.
The highways are deserted;
travel has ceased.
The treaty has been broken,
the witnesses are despised,
and human life is disregarded.
The land mourns and languishes;
Lebanon is ashamed and decayed.
Sharon is like a desert;
Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
“Now I will arise,” says the LORD.
“Now I will lift Myself up. Now I will be exalted.
You conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble.
Your breath is a fire that will consume you.
The peoples will be burned to ashes,
like thorns cut down and set ablaze.
You who are far off, hear what I have done;
you who are near, acknowledge My might.”
The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling grips the ungodly:
“Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire?
Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?”
He who walks righteously
and speaks with sincerity,
who refuses gain from extortion,
whose hand never takes a bribe,
who stops his ears against murderous plots
and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
he will dwell on the heights;
the mountain fortress will be his refuge;
his food will be provided
and his water assured.
Your eyes will see the King in His beauty
and behold a land that stretches afar.
Your mind will ponder the former terror:
“Where is he who tallies? Where is he who weighs?
Where is he who counts the towers?”
You will no longer see the insolent,
a people whose speech is unintelligible,
who stammer in a language you cannot understand.
Look upon Zion,
the city of our appointed feasts.
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander;
its tent pegs will not be pulled up,
nor will any of its cords be broken.
But there the Majestic One, our LORD,
will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals,
where no galley with oars will row,
and no majestic vessel will pass.
For the LORD is our Judge,
the LORD is our lawgiver,
the LORD is our King.
It is He who will save us.
Your ropes are slack;
they cannot secure the mast or spread the sail.
Then an abundance of spoils will be divided,
and even the lame will carry off plunder.
And no resident of Zion will say, “I am sick.”
The people who dwell there
will be forgiven of iniquity.
Isaiah 34
Come near, O nations, to listen;
pay attention, O peoples.
Let the earth hear, and all that fills it,
the world and all that springs from it.
The LORD is angry with all the nations
and furious with all their armies.
He will devote them to destruction;
He will give them over to slaughter.
Their slain will be left unburied,
and the stench of their corpses will rise;
the mountains will flow with their blood.
All the stars of heaven will be dissolved.
The skies will be rolled up like a scroll,
and all their stars will fall
like withered leaves from the vine,
like foliage from the fig tree.
When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens,
then it will come down upon Edom,
upon the people I have devoted to destruction.
The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood.
It drips with fat—
with the blood of lambs and goats,
with the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
And the wild oxen will fall with them,
the young bulls with the strong ones.
Their land will be drenched with blood,
and their soil will be soaked with fat.
For the LORD has a day of vengeance,
a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.
Edom’s streams will be turned to tar,
and her soil to sulfur;
her land will become a blazing pitch.
It will not be quenched—day or night.
Its smoke will ascend forever.
From generation to generation it will lie desolate;
no one will ever again pass through it.
The desert owl and screech owl will possess it,
and the great owl and raven will dwell in it.
The LORD will stretch out over Edom
a measuring line of chaos
and a plumb line of destruction.
No nobles will be left to proclaim a king,
and all her princes will come to nothing.
Her towers will be overgrown with thorns,
her fortresses with thistles and briers.
She will become a haunt for jackals,
an abode for ostriches.
The desert creatures will meet with hyenas,
and one wild goat will call to another.
There the night creature will settle
and find her place of repose.
There the owl will make her nest;
she will lay and hatch her eggs
and gather her brood under her shadow.
Even there the birds of prey will gather,
each with its mate.
Search and read the scroll of the LORD:
Not one of these will go missing,
not one will lack her mate,
because He has ordered it by His mouth,
and He will gather them by His Spirit.
He has allotted their portion;
His hand has distributed it by measure.
They will possess it forever;
they will dwell in it from generation to generation.
Isaiah 35
The wilderness and the land will be glad;
the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.
It will bloom profusely
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the glory of the LORD,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the limp hands
and steady the feeble knees!
Say to those with anxious hearts:
“Be strong, do not fear!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance.
With divine retribution He will come to save you.”
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then the lame will leap like a deer
and the mute tongue will shout for joy.
For waters will gush forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert.
The parched ground will become a pool,
the thirsty land springs of water.
In the haunt where jackals once lay,
there will be grass and reeds and papyrus.
And there will be a highway
called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not travel it—
only those who walk in the Way—
and fools will not stray onto it.
No lion will be there,
and no vicious beast will go up on it.
Such will not be found there,
but the redeemed will walk upon it.
So the redeemed of the LORD will return
and enter Zion with singing,
crowned with everlasting joy.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.
Matthew 5
When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.
For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
You have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not murder’ and ‘Anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.
Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.
You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to depart into hell.
It has also been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’
But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, brings adultery upon her. And he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ But I tell you not to swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one.
You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also;
if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well; and if someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘Hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 6
“Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.
But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
So then, this is how you should pray:
‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.
When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
so that your fasting will not be obvious to men, but only to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 7
“Do not judge, or you will be judged. For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?
How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye?
You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock.
But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
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