PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2025-2026

Much of the Isaiah Scripture has to do with pointing out what a bad idea it is for Israel to align with Egypt. Historically we see that happen where a large group from Israel in order to avoid the takeover of Babylon of the land and of their families, emigrate into Egypt in order to align themselves with that group of people. They leave the land and go to Egypt. Now, this doesn’t help because Babylon comes and takes over Egypt as well and also takes over all the people who had left Israel and gone there. This creates a double jeopardy where not only do they leave their own homes and their own land, which the Lord had given them, but they also find themselves in the same predicament, even worse than before. Isaiah says it was not God’s plan for them to leave. They should have stayed.

Jesus is tempted by Satan and then calls his disciples after that period of preparation. That time that Jesus spends in the wilderness equips him for the work that he has to do, including calling his disciples. Making your way through the hardships of life prepares you for what comes next. Jesus is proof of that.

It is so appropriate to read the Christmas story at this time of year. Yesterday was a highlight to see close to 25 kids sitting down on the steps of the sanctuary to take part in the children’s message. To hear Jesus being born in an almost nonchalant way and then the ensuing massacre, which was anything but nonchalant, is very, very disturbing. I can’t imagine what our church would be like if we found ourselves in a time in history where the ruler of the land was not only allowed, but gives the command to kill all children under 2. The wailing of Rachel, as Matthew describes, and that she refuses to be consoled, is a line that would resonate tremendously. But in its place, at least in our situation, we see the children and we smile for we consider it a blessing to have children as part of our fellowship.

We continue for the most part the woes against the other nations who, like Israel, are being prophecied to meet destruction. There really is no space in these verses for the work of the Lord to flourish in nations and for the promises of God to grow in ways that can produce life and abundance. Rather, these statements in these chapters really call nations to repentance and are reminders that God has created all things, even the nations that serve other gods and worship idols. God has created all and will, as Psalm 145 states, be good to all and his compassion will be over all. I love that verse which doesn’t allow us to distinguish between those who believe correct, or even those who act correctly, and those whom we consider to be outside of the fold that we have created called the church.

We know from Abraham to this day that the people of God have always been defined as the Israelites, those whom God chose to carry out his purposes and that the Messiah would come from the family of David. Now, with Jesus we know that this covenant with God’s people has been expanded to all people regardless of nationality or ethnicity. But this is a concept that comes from the New Testament. Here in Isaiah it is surprising to me to hear of the prophet speaking of Egypt and Assyria as blessed by God and as worshipping God in a similar fashion as to how Israel worship God, with sacrifices.

The day that all nations shall stream to the Lord is seen as a culmination of the fulfilment of prophecy that only the Messiah is able to bring about. We see that this prophecy is fulfilled today because all nations have remnants who worship the Lord through Jesus Christ the Messiah. But it is still strange to hear of other nations in the Old Testament carrying on as if they were the people of God. But this is a sign that even back then, all of creation was made to worship God.

Isaiah seems to move from predicting the coming of the Messiah and restoration, to a chapter on restoration, but the rest is on destruction and recompense for disobedience. It is within these types of chapters that Isaiah gets his reputation for being a prophet that describes the future destruction that is to come, and yet no one seems to listen to him. Not quite the weeping prophet like Jeremiah, but nevertheless we do see a message that is consistently delivered and consistently ignored. There is a real affinity to Isaiah’s message the nature of things in our day and age. God speaks, but we do not obey. We may listen, we may hear, but we do not follow. This has been the way of the Lord, always to give us His message of hope and restoration, but we consistently choose that which leads to destruction. The morbidity with which these words are given aren’t meant to discourage, but rather to motivate.

The prophet Isaiah is replete with references to the coming Savior, also known as the Messiah, or the anointed one. This Messiah is prophesied to be the one who will take Israel out of bondage into freedom, out of misery into joy, out of persecution into normalcy. These Scriptures for today give us two of the most well known Scriptures which define the coming Messiah as a baby. These are used often for the Advent Season as the prophet tells us of the coming of the Messiah as something for which we ought to anticipate.

Look at 7:14 and 9:6-7 which describe the coming of the Emmanuel, the God with us. Do we not always associate these Scriptures with Christmas? So much so that Handel even created a masterpiece called Messiah based upon these verses which are repeated over and over again as a description of the Messiah that is to come and who did come in Jesus, the Word made flesh. They are no longer words for an ancient people, they are words that we are able to use in order to love our Savior even more.

A word about Isaiah. We do not know what it is like to live in a country or a setting where might makes right in a most brutal and violent way. Isaiah was a prophet to Israel in a time that the kingdom was divided, north and south, and a time when in order to maintain or at least survive, violence was implemented and used. There was not peace in the land. Every day you wondered if your life was required of you. This is almost impossible for us to understand, although this is the setting for many people in the world. It is not dangerous for us to go to the marketplace or the grocery store. For many people this simple chore is one where you are taking your life in your hand.

As a result Isaiah is describing how the people of Israel have seen turmoil and are desiring a time of peace and tranquility which they have not experienced. We see the prophet speak about Israel in a way that it is described as a transgressor and so it will be transgressed against. Not a very comforting passage, even if there is hope here for the future which is not quite in reach. As we make our way through Isaiah there are certain verses that are well known. We see the phrase that there will come a day that we will learn war no more. How can we not think of Peter, Paul and Mary.

Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, like Romans, is one that emphasizes the grace of God as it pertains to salvation. We see in the first chapter that Paul reminds us that we are saved by grace. This is a concept that might be hard to grasp if we have been trained to think that salvation only comes to the worthy. Every year when I do confirmation, even if I teach the kids over and over again that there is nothing we can do to earn salvation, on the test when I say we can earn our salvation by being good and having faith in Jesus, almost inevitably the answer comes True. But the truth is that we cannot earn our salvation at any time for any reason. Grace is just that, grace. It is not earned in any way shape or fashion.

Ephesians 5:21 is also quite important as it reminds us that we are to be subject to one another. This is a reminder that one is not be subject without the other being subject, especially when we are talking about spousal relationships. We are to be subject to one another. Often the subjectivity of the woman is emphasized because it seems like Paul emphasizes it. But we can’t overlook how he begins and this theme carries through. Be subject to one another.

I always remain amazed at the length of chapters that cover the passion of Jesus. The last week of Jesus’ live is given more space than his birth, much more space. It is also given almost as much space as his 30 years of ministry. It should remind us that this passion of Jesus, this last week of his life, where we see him ride into Jerusalem, spend time in the temple, take the Passover with his disciples, and be arrested and killed and rise from the dead, all within the span of a week, is vitally important to understanding who Jesus really is.

The lesson on the resurrection earlier in this reading is not by chance, it is given to us to remind us that the resurrection is not only real, but it is very different from what we think or what we might expect. It is not like what we think it is. Fortunately for us Paul takes a lot more time to describe the perfect body and the being in the presence of God in a way that is not fantastical, but rather mundane. This is to what we look forward in our own resurrection.

We have some of Jesus’ most popular sayings in this section. The prodigal son is a crowd favorite, but when heard within the context of the other kingdom parables, the lost sheep, the lost coin, it is clear that Jesus is describing God’s love for all people, and not a preference for certain people as some might think. There is no recoil in God when he is considering those who have disobeyed or those who have chosen to squander all that they have in that which God would not want. Disobedience takes us away from God’s plan, but does not disqualify anyone from the kingdom.

So much of what we read in the Gospel is not merit based, but rather grace based. We see consistently the faithfulness of God matched with our unfaithfulness, and guess which one wins out time after time? When we are faithful, like the widow who persistently knocks, we see God’s response. When we are unfaithful, we also see God’s response and it can catch us off guard. This is not an encouragement to be unfaithful, it is an encouragement to be faithful and to notice God’s response when it happens. Because it will happen.