WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK
"Behold, Daughter of Zion, Your Salvation Comesâ€
Isaiah 62:11
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
"Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your salvation comes; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him†(Isaiah 62:11).
Zion is the hilltop in Jerusalem where Solomon was instructed to build the Temple. Zion is synonymous with the Temple in the way that Washington is synonymous with the American government or Hollywood with the film industry. Zion was the place of God's promised presence. It was also the place of the Law. For the ark of the covenant sat in the Temple. The tablets God's finger had inscribed with His Law and which Moses had smashed in frustration were there in the Temple. They stood as a constant accusation against the guilt of man. They were broken in more ways than one.
In the face of that holy Law, justice was served on Zion by the slaughter of animals offered to God on behalf of man's sins. The animals died so that the people could be forgiven and live. The life of an innocent being was exchanged for the life of the guilty. God was present in the Temple in mercy through sacrifice. Day after day these sacrifices were made in Zion. The blood of bulls and goats drained down the sides of that hill. It was blood of grace, blood of the Old Covenant, blood of peace. Still, it was never enough. It was never enough to actually cover and remove all the sins of all the people. But through that blood God delivered to His people the benefits of the perfect Sacrifice of His Son. And that sacrifice is enough. That is why He came. That is why He died, how He rose, and why He is coming back.
To be a Daughter of Zion then is not to have the right color of skin and DNA. To be a daughter of Zion is to be a daughter of sacrifice, a daughter spared by, and born in, blood. The salvation that draws near is the completion of what God began in you when He laid down His life between two malefactors and named you as His own in the waters of Holy Baptism. Though you must now carry on in this sad valley, soon you shall have gladness of heart. You shall be restored, saved, made strong. The Lord's face will shine upon you graciously, in mercy and acceptance. You shall hear the Lord's glorious Voice, the Voice beckoning you to His side, not as a mere servant, but as His dearly beloved Bride, chaste, pure, and immaculate in the Grace He so generously bestows.
The blood that poured down Zion is gone. But the Blood that issued forth from Jesus' sacrifice will never end. He Himself is eternal, so also now is the Flesh He assumed. He comes to us this day, in that Flesh, in the Blood of the New Testament, for the forgiveness of our sins, to wipe us clean, to give us strength for the trials to come, and to give us hope.
Therefore, "Behold, Daughter of Zion, your salvation comes; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.†Behold, the Blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Receive it, and depart in peace. In His Holy and Precious Name. Amen.
Now the peace of God that passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting. Amen.