This past Sunday our Scripture passage was from the Old Testament book of Isaiah. More than one scholar has called Isaiah Chapter 35 the most beautiful poem ever written. We might say that about many of the Scriptures that we hear during the Advent season. For example, listen to these sample verses from Isaiah 9,11, and 35:
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given… The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat… The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra… everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (ESV)
Those strange and wonderful images have captured the imagination of those outside and inside the Christian Church for 2,000 years. Isaiah explains his whole argument in Chapter 1 where it says,
“Come now let us reason together says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet; they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (ESV)
Chapter 35 like every part of Isaiah is an argument to come to the LORD and “eat the good of the land.” Consider verse 8 where it says, “And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness.” (ESV) The word holiness can trigger images of puritanical grumpy curmudgeons or wild-eyed violent crusaders. That pseudo-holiness can make us feel afraid and anxious. The Gospel according to Isaiah’s view of holiness is altogether unique.
Isaiah 35:1 says this: “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.” Isaiah’s vision of a renewed earth puts holiness in the context of the earth renewed to the point that it becomes Instagram worthy! Holiness makes human beings all that God created them to be. We become free to truly be ourselves as God intended.
Specifically verse 8 is sandwiched between images of the safety of a land without violent animals and the healing of the blind, lame, deaf, and mute. Here the Lord invites us to reconsider holiness under the images of healing and safety. The Father invites us to consider that through faith in Christ He has given us safety and healing so that we might walk down this joyful path. How might you approach 2026 differently if you trusted that the Word, sacraments, prayer, and fellowship are for your healing? How might that calm your fears and empower you to approach life’s challenges with more courage? Imagine a 2026 where you grow in feeling more of the gleeful freedom of this “Highway.” That is the image of the lame man who leaps like a deer because of the life-giving power of the living water - Jesus Christ.
A Prayer: Father, we thank you that in your Son, Jesus Christ, we already walk by faith in a renewed land that is safe and healed. Father, in 2026 give us more of your Son, the living water, so we might approach life’s challenges with courage. Give us trust to walk down this joyful Highway of Holiness until that day we see you face to face.