Wait, what?  Feet.  Our feet.  Look down for a moment and look at your bare feet.  How beautiful are they?  My feet were growing in a deformed way causing my gait to become more painful each year.  I finally let an orthopedic surgeon correct both feet in two separate surgeries with months of healing between each surgery.  Today, I wouldn’t say my scared feet from surgery are physically beautiful, but they are fully functional!  I praise God for my corrected feet!  I can walk and do life on two feet without assistance.  To me, in this way, they are beautiful!

Speaking of feet…we now come to THE passage in Isaiah that is quoted often when we speak of what Jesus commanded all his disciples then and all His followers now to be and do on earth.    

“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Matthew 28:18-20 NLT

Yes, how beautiful the feet of the messengers of Good News of salvation in Jesus who tell of His great love, mercy, and grace!  Given this definition of beautiful feet, just how beautiful are my feet?  Am I going and telling?  Are my feet anxious to tell the Good News of redemption for all sins? 

“Get up and pull on your boots”, shouts Isaiah, “brush off the dust and get to your feet”.  “Throw off your chains” of timidness and anxieties caused from being a captive of sin and brokenness.  God has come and He has healed you.  Your sins forgiven AND forgotten!  So, run on your beautiful redeemed feet and tell others they can be free, too!

Isaiah 52, The Message

God Is Leading You Out of Here

^1-2 Wake up, wake up! Pull on your boots, Zion!
    Dress up in your Sunday best, Jerusalem, holy city!
Those who want no part of God have been culled out.
    They won’t be coming along.
Brush off the dust and get to your feet, captive Jerusalem!
    Throw off your chains, captive daughter of Zion!

³ God says, “You were sold for nothing. You’re being bought back for nothing.”

^4-6 Again, the Master, God, says, “Early on, my people went to Egypt and lived, strangers in the land. At the other end, Assyria oppressed them. And now, what have I here?” God’s Decree. “My people are hauled off again for no reason at all. Tyrants on the warpath, whooping it up, and day after day, incessantly, my reputation blackened. Now it’s time that my people know who I am, what I’m made of—yes, that I have something to say. Here I am!”

^7-10 How beautiful on the mountains
    are the feet of the messenger bringing good news,
Breaking the news that all’s well,
    proclaiming good times, announcing salvation,
    telling Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Voices! Listen! Your scouts are shouting, thunderclap shouts,
    shouting in joyful unison.
They see with their own eyes
    God coming back to Zion.

Break into song! Boom it out, ruins of Jerusalem:
    “God has comforted his people!
    He’s redeemed Jerusalem!”
God has rolled up his sleeves.
    All the nations can see his holy, muscled arm.
Everyone, from one end of the earth to the other,
    sees him at work, doing his salvation work.

^11-12 Out of here! Out of here! Leave this place!
    Don’t look back. Don’t contaminate yourselves with plunder.
Just leave, but leave clean. Purify yourselves
    in the process of worship, carrying the holy vessels of God.
But you don’t have to be in a hurry.
    You’re not running from anybody!
God is leading you out of here,
    and the God of Israel is also your rear guard.

It Was Our Pains He Carried

^13-15 “Just watch my servant blossom!
    Exalted, tall, head and shoulders above the crowd!
But he didn’t begin that way.
    At first everyone was appalled.
He didn’t even look human—
    a ruined face, disfigured past recognition.
Nations all over the world will be in awe, taken aback,
    kings shocked into silence when they see him.
For what was unheard of they’ll see with their own eyes,
    what was unthinkable they’ll have right before them.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

The defeat of Babylon by Cyrus was certainly good news to the Jews because it meant freedom for the captives. The good news we share today is that Jesus Christ can set the prisoners free (Rom. 10:15). For decades, the remnant had suffered in a foreign country, without an altar or a priesthood, but now they would return to their land, rebuild their temple, and restore their God-given ministry.

Jesus is our Deliverer, Savior, Redeemer and Lord to all who believe on his Name and believe in what He did for each one of us.  We repent.  Jesus forgives all our sins and remembers them no more.  Believe and be saved for eternity.

Isaiah added a final word of encouragement: “For the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard”. This reminds us of Israel’s exodus from Egypt when the Lord went before them and stood between them and the enemy. When God’s people obey God’s will, they can always count on God’s leading and protection.

Lord,

Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole to live for you, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint on beautiful feet that is able to deliver Your Good News of salvation for all.  Thank you for this teaching this morning in the quiet of this hour with you.  Thank you for being with us always. 

In Jesus Name, Amen