Experiencing God 204 - I Will Never Forget You

"Does a woman forget her baby at the breast, or fail to cherish the child of her womb? Yet even if these forget, I will never forget you."
Isaiah

When you hear the news today from the Near East, one would almost believe that you are hearing about biblical times.  Some of the same players involved in our current day disputes in the Near East are the very ones present when Isaiah wrote his powerful prophecies during 740-690 BC.  

At that time, Assyria became the principal threat, particularly to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  So Northern Israel made a coalition with Syria to brace themselves against a possible attack.  This coalition of Northern Israel and Syria wanted Judah, the Southern part of Israel, to join them.  But Judah refused.  So they attacked this Southern Kingdom.  Judah called upon Assyria to help them.  The Assyrians came to the rescue, overthrew the coalition to the North, and tore a great part of the Northern Kingdom away from Israel.  But Assyria did not stop there.  They later invaded the very one who called on them for help, Judah.  

It was during this very turbulent time that Isaiah, a prophet from Judah, began his proclamations. When all hope was lost, Isaiah comes forth as a person to restore hope to a defeated people. 

The People cried out: "The Lord has abandoned us.  The Lord has forgotten us."  And Isaiah's encouraging words:  "Does a woman forget her baby at the breast, or fail to cherish the child of her womb?  Yet even if these forget, I will never forget you."  Words of hope for a desolate and defeated nation. Words that even today bring us consolation when we are at our wits end, and everything around us seems to be falling apart.

We find the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecies in Christ.  "Even if these other forget, I will never forget you.  I go and prepare a place for you so that where I am, you may be also."  One of the purposes of John in writing his Gospel is to let his readers know, to let us know, of the connection we have with a loving Father through Christ, a connection that is not broken even at death, a moment that may seem to be the time of our greatest loss.  

Even death is conquered through Christ.  God continues to embrace us at our most troubling and desperate moments to restore our hope.  "Thus the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to anyone He chooses.  I tell you solemnly, whoever listens to my words, and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life."  

Of course we know that this requires a little more than a superficially listening with our heads.  This listening requires us to embrace the truth of Christ with out hearts, to encounter this Spirit residing deep within the recesses of our own being, to know in that personal way that we are saved through Christ.

This is the Good News of Christ, news that fills us with a joy that we wish to share.  May that joy of the risen Christ be with each of you this Lent.