The Prophet Isaiah’s concluding chapter summons flagging hearts to the anticipated joy of salvation:
“Rejoice, Jerusalem, be glad for her, all you who love her. Like a son comforted by his mother will I comfort you. At the sight your heart will rejoice.”
This promised salvation, expressed in language of unparalleled intimacy, struggled to describe God’s love for his people. The God of Israel would reach down to his people with the tenderness of a mother for a suckling child. This salvation would engage our complex humanity at every level; it would be a salvation of embrace, something to savour with delight.
The Word that became flesh broke down the isolation of sinful humanity. The mission of the 72 disciples, sent before the Lord, was an integral part of this encounter between God and man.
