Isaiah 2:2-3a “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.”

The last days is used throughout the Old Testament to refer to the period from Jesus’ birth to the end of the world. It is the time in which we now live. During these last days, God promises a new glory for Zion and his temple. It would not merely be restored to its former glory. It would become chief of all the mountains. It would be raised up on high for all to see.

If you go to Jerusalem today, Mount Zion is still there. It isn’t any higher than it ever was.  The temple is gone. It isn’t even a pile of rubble. Nothing but the foundation walls are left. In order to understand this prophecy, we need to recognize where God has located his temple in the New Testament, and what he means by “Zion.”

The Apostle Paul says that each one of us is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Peter says that we are like living stones being built into a spiritual house, built on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ. Together with all believers, we are part of God’s Zion, God’s temple, which is the Holy Christian Church. Wherever you have believers, you have God’s temple, God’s Zion in plain sight for everyone to see.

This is how our Savior establishes peace on earth. He does not work through political policies or treaties or human diplomacy. He does it by raising up his Church, his Zion, his Temple. He does it by making the people who belong to him a force to be reckoned with. They are a safe haven all the world can see. As he gathers his people together and the Church grows, it is lifted higher and higher and the nations come streaming in.

Those people, Isaiah promises, come from all the nations of the world. “Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.'”  When Isaiah wrote these words, God’s people weren’t from many nations. They were from one nation–the Jews. Relatively few Christians have Jewish ancestry. But we have the privilege of living after the Savior has come, and the Gospel has spread to all nations, so that we can be included as God’s children, too. Every Christian believer is part of those many nations Isaiah sees streaming to God’s temple and asking to go up to God’s house.

Don’t these words give us a sense of optimism as we work to bring our Savior’s peace to more and more people?  It can become easy for us to get a discouraged by what we see going on in our own churches. We may go for years without numerical. Internal controversies and battles afflict our congregations. Christianity seems to teeter on the edge of defeat.

But here God promises that the nations come streaming into it. People will come flooding in like a river. They are eager to come to the house of the Lord. And that is what is going on all around the world. Remember that God’s Church is more than just the little gathering with whom we meet each Sunday. It includes every believer around the world and throughout time. More Christians today live south of the equator than live north of it, and in many places the Christian faith is growing exponentially. Even if our own congregations have less worshipers today, those faithful members who have gone home to heaven haven’t been lost to us. They are secure in heaven. And each child we baptize, every adult we bring into the fold, only adds to the stream of people flowing into God’s house.

Our Lord is still gathering a Church for himself. We are part of the many peoples streaming to him. We are also part of the way he lifts his temple high. Our love, our life, our witness help the world find God’s house.

Isaiah 35:8-10 “And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that way; wicked fools will not go about on it. No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads.  Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

We can travel this highway safely. We can tell just by looking around at our fellow travelers. Isaiah says none of them are unclean. None of them are wicked fools. Only those who have had their sins washed away in Jesus blood travel this road. Only those who place their faith in him, who walk in that Way, will make this journey. This highway of faith leads in only one direction, and everyone on it is going the right way. We travel in good company.

Nor do we have to worry about any obstacles along the way. Isaiah assures us that no lion or other wild beast can attack us on this road. When we are walking the walk of faith, we are walking in the only safe way to heaven. Some people try to get there by a way of their own making. They won’t go even a step before sin has stopped them in their tracks.

But when we cling to our Savior in faith, then the entire way to heaven has been cleared for us. We could even say that the entire way to heaven has been traveled for us. No sin can stop us while we are in the faith. Satan can’t accuse us. When we follow our Savior, when Jesus himself is carrying us along, the way ahead is always clear.

We don’t travel this highway of faith just for the sake of travel. Our destination is what gives us joy. Our Savior is leading his redeemed to their home, a home Isaiah calls Zion. “But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”

When the Old Testament Jews heard of Zion, they thought of Jerusalem and the temple. When the prophets mention the future Zion, they often had in mind something more. In part, they were writing about the New Testament Church in which we live today. And in part, Isaiah’s description here fits the Church as we experience it. When God called us to faith, he started us on this walk, and he led us into his Church. It is a spiritual home for us in this world. In it we enjoy forgiveness and spiritual growth. In it we already possess eternal life.

But ultimately, coming to this Zion means joining with all believers across the great span of time in heaven. That is where “everlasting joy” will crown our heads. That is where sorrow and sighing will flee away. When we have reached that Zion, we can truly say our Savior has led us home.

As we approach Christmas this Advent season, remember: Christmas isn’t a deadline. It’s our Savior’s birthday. It is the beginning of his saving story. Keep your eyes fixed on him in faith, and let him lead you home to joy.

Isaiah 35:3-6 “Strengthen the feeble hands, and steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shout for joy.”

It’s not only Americans getting ready for Christmas who become depressed and discouraged.  Isaiah’s people felt that way, too. The remnant of believers in Israel no longer enjoyed the respect of the rest of the people. They were a minority. And when the time came for the nation to be taken away into exile, the believers had to leave their homes and property behind just like everyone else.

We all face obstacles that make our hands feeble and our knees give way. The story is different for each of us. Is it the responsibility you don’t feel entirely qualified for? Is it the person at work or in the neighborhood who seems like a constant thorn in the side? Is it a physical problem that has changed your life? We all know that living the Christian life also means bearing a cross. Whatever your own story is, the Lord keeps many things like these in our lives as constant reminders and consequences of our sinfulness. It goes back to the garden of Eden and the curses laid upon Adam and Eve for their sin. We are no better, just as much under God’s judgement as they were.

But the Lord does not want us to live in a constant state of fear and discouragement because we are sinful people living in a sinful world. Our Savior comes with a message of strength.  His encouragement takes away our fears. He gives reason to make those feeble hands strong and those wobbly knees steady: “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he comes to save you.”

We may not feel comfortable desiring vengeance. We generally don’t consider it a Christian attitude. It’s true that God warns us against seeking vengeance ourselves. He is not looking for bloodthirsty mob of followers. But he does promise vengeance as one of the ways he supports his people. Our Savior comes as judge of the world. He will destroy all the enemies of his church and his people.  When God says “vengeance is mine, I will repay,” that is no idle threat.  We are the ones who benefit from this work. Our Savior comes to defeat all the enemies of our faith and take them out of the way. That is a legitimate reason for his people to renew their inner strength.

More important still are the positive things Jesus came to do for his people. Isaiah looks to his ministry of miracles: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shout for joy.”

An old Sunday School teacher once mused about why we don’t simply enjoy the miracle accounts from Jesus’ life more. We don’t have to tear them apart to find their meaning. Each one is a simple confirmation that Jesus really is the Son of God. He is the promised Savior of the world. He genuinely has the power to pay for my sins, raise me from the dead, and take me to heaven. When John the Baptist sent his disciples to find out if Jesus was the Christ, Jesus told them, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”

Did our Savior have Isaiah 35 in mind? Both he and the prophet understood that every miracle he performed is good news. These strengthen our spirits, because they assure us Jesus really is the Savior.