Day 91: December 25, 2025 – Isaiah 36-39 and Matthew 8-9

Merry Christmas! In Isaiah we see a bit of a transition from words of condemnation and warning, to a ruler whom God trusts and whose Spirit remains in him. Hezekiah is one who is following God’s heart and as a result we see how God delivers him out of two very serious situations. The Assyrians are amassed around Jerusalem ready to take it over, but God tells Hezekiah not to worry about it. This will lead to deliverance. And sure enough God leads His own force and drives them out. Hezekiah is also on his deathbed but prays to the Lord for deliverance, and sure enough, because of his fasting and prayer God gives Hezekiah 15 more years of life. That’s pretty cool.

In Matthew we find ourselves in the time of the Gospel where Jesus definitely acts in ways that are counter cultural and the leaders of the culture don’t know what to do with him. The religious leaders see him eating and partying with tax collectors and think he has disqualified himself. But as he says, the physician comes to heal the sick, not those who are well. In a similar fashion Jesus finds himself being asked to heal people who are directly associated with the synagogue, which implies that he hasn’t totally fallen out of grace. He will one day, fall out of grace with the people that is, but not quite yet. He is useful as long as he heals and does nice things for the leaders of the people.