I love the desert southwest of America. Tucson is nice in the winter when it is frigid and frozen in New England. Yet, the desert was a very different place for a Jew returning to the Promised Land from exile in Babylon. Depending on what route the Jewish returnees took, that journey was 500 miles as the crow flies, straight across a blazing desert. Or it was between 1000 and 1600 miles if they followed a more northerly route that kept them closer to water supplies and civilization. No matter how they went, it was a harrowing journey even for the strongest, let alone the weak and the disabled. Many can relate to being in a desert. Some have been sick for a long time or are chronically disabled. Others are wandering in a wilderness with little resources and nowhere to go for help. They have "sorrow and sighing" in their hearts and on their lips. Our passage provides images of a trackless desert transformed into a lush green paradise with a superhighway running straight through it! Isaiah 35 offers a beautiful picture of hope and joy. At the heart of it is the simple promise of verse 4, "Your God will come … to save you." That's the message of Advent every year, and Isaiah 35 gives that promise deeper understanding. When your God comes to save you, he will transform your desert into a garden and create a highway from exile to home!
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David Bodanza is the pastor of Mission of Grace Church in Westborough, Massachusetts. He is also a practicing lawyer. He holds an M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a J.D. from New England School of Law. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, four...
