Isaiah 61:1 God keeps promises

The prophet Isaiah came tell us some good news. He came to tell us about one God anointed and sent out. God moved Isaiah to speak boldly,

“The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me;

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and release to the prisoners; Isaiah 61:1 NRSV

God keeps his promises. Isaiah's words for the people returning from exile were words meant to renew hope. Hope can be scarce; but God's revelation helps us to see that God is still at work in our world. Advent is about hope. It's about the hope that we discover as we remember the God who keeps promises. God always has and he always will. We forget God; but God hasn't forgotten us. We forget God's promises, but that doesn't mean that God has forgotten them.

The prophet Isaiah announced great news 2500 years ago to the people of Israel. They'd just come home after exile. They found nothing in Israel as they'd hoped to discover it. And the prophet started to announce something huge. God's coming. And in order help us remember that God is in the business of keeping promises God's sending somebody to earth to remind us. Isaiah helps us remember that promises from God matter. As a guarantee that the Word would reach us God promised that he would send somebody to earth as his messenger. Jesus is the guarantee for all of us to see.