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Harbinger of peace

CHENNAI: About 700 years before the birth of Jesus the Messiah, the Anointed One, the prophet Isaiah prophesied His coming into the world and fervently urged his people to prepare the way for His coming and what He would do when He came.

Isaiah appealed to his people to comfort or encourage one another in the best and in the worst of times by the fact that all turbulences, upheavals and violence would be over, our sins would be forgiven and they would be filled with the goodness of life with the coming of the Messiah.

God is God of all comfort and therefore we need to comfort or encourage each other with the purpose of building up each other.

Secondly, “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.”

Our pride in our own merit and worth must be made low; our prejudices due to various reasons must be made straight; and rough edges of self and selfishness must be made plain. In other words, what Christ the Messiah expects from each one of us is repentance individually and as a community, in order to see the glory of God, that is, the reality of His miraculous intervention in our life. The Prophet reminds us that in the light of the coming of the Christ the Messiah, we must commit ourselves to eternal values as, “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of God will stand for ever.”

Instead of just focusing on the mundane matter of life, the God-incarnate has come to enable us to focus on eternal values, such as a personal experiential knowledge in Him, building up the character of integrity, justice and love, and investing in people.

The Messiah has come to rule us with peace and harmony, and He will take care of His people and “will carry them in His bosom and gently lead them like a good shepherd who leads his sheep.

Francis Sunderaraj,

Hyderabad

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