As we have just celebrated Easter this past Sunday, we have commemorated the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. With this in mind, it seems to be a good time to ask “who is Jesus Christ for us today?” Throughout history, the different cultural and social settings in which Christians have found themselves have prompted them to emphasize different aspects of Jesus Christ. Many ancient cathedrals have names like “Christ the King” or “Christ the Emperor”; a couple of centuries ago, there was a great emphasis on the ‘historical Jesus’; today, in most evangelical circles, it seems that ‘Jesus as friend’ is the dominant image; and for most television evangelists, Jesus as guarantor of health and prosperity seems to dominate. I do not wish to get into an evaluation of these images. What I would like to emphasize is that whatever one’s image, it must build on who Jesus was during his life on earth, and must look forward to who he will be when he is fully revealed to us in all his glory on the day of judgment, while taking into consideration Christ’s work in the world today. An image that neglects any of these is not an image of Jesus Christ, but of some one else.
In Isaiah 35, Isaiah prophecies about a highway that will bring the redeemed of the Lord into Zion. This text, while only a small part of Scripture’s revelation about Jesus Christ, goes a long way to answering the question raised, “Who is Jesus Christ for us today?”, for the highway image has these three elements contained within it: the prepared way, the journey, and the destination.
So who is Jesus Christ for us, in any day? Jesus Christ is he who prepares the way for his people to come to the Father, Jesus Christ is he who guards his people on this way, and Jesus Christ is he who waits for his people at the end of the journey along the highway. In this we see that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross at the end of his life on earth prepared the way for his people, his intercession for his people throughout history guards his people, and he awaits his people at the end of their journey as he is seated at the right hand of the Father in glory.
In verse 4 of Isaiah 35 we read that “God will come with vengeance and divine retribution to save us”. And when he comes, then blind will see, the deaf hear, the lame walk and the mute shout for joy. All of nature, all of creation, will be refreshed and renewed. Added to the end of this is the verses we are considering, which start with “and a highway will be there.” On top of the healing and renewing brought about by God’s salvation, there is a highway which will take the Lord’s ransomed to Zion, into joy and gladness.
In Matthew 11, messengers from John the Baptist come to Jesus and ask if he is the one that John was waiting for. Replying to this, Jesus points to his works of healing and preaching. He says in verse 5 that “the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” What we see here is Christ fulfilling Isaiah 35:5 and 6, but also surpassing what was prophesied. Not only do the lame walk, blind see, mute speak and the deaf hear, but also the dead are raised, and the good news of God’s salvation is preached. Also in Matthew we read, in chapter 1, that Jesus will save his people from their sins, Jesus, then, is God’s salvation given to his people. Since it is Jesus who is God’s salvation, and who fulfills the preceding verses of Isaiah 35, then it is also Jesus who creates this highway. Christ prepares the way for his followers, those that have been given to him, to come to him and the Father.
Not only did Christ prepare this way through his sacrifice and death on the cross, thereby fulfilling God’s justice and mercy, but he also prepared the way through his life as the Incarnate Son of God. He took on our nature, took on our weaknesses, our trials, and lived a life that we, in ourselves, are not able to lead. He lived the blameless life that we are called to live, in spite of our weaknesses and failings. He was tempted, but did not submit; he did not work on his own or for his own glory, but in all things worked for the glory and honour of God the Father, and performing his service. He obeyed the Father even unto death, even in the humiliation of death on a cross. He obeyed the Father as we should, but cannot.
Thus, through Jesus Christ, the mercy and justice of God was fulfilled. Article 20 of the Belgic Confession states this beautifully: “Out of a most perfect love God gave his Son to die for us and he raised him for our justification that through him we might obtain immortality and life eternal”. God’s Son became Incarnate, taking on our weakness and flesh, so that the justice of God would be fulfilled and we would be restored to righteousness and life. Through Christ we became children of God, and have obtained what we ourselves never could; the forgiveness of our sins. We are eternally indebted to Jesus Christ, our Saviour, who himself professed that he is the only way to the Father (John 14). And because of this, the highway that Isaiah mentions is only for those that are clean, as we have been made clean through Christ, and only those that follow Christ will walk upon it.
But this, albeit more than we could ever have hoped, is not the extent of what Christ does for his people. Isaiah 35 also states that no lion nor ferocious beast will be found on this highway. According to the NIV, which we have read, neither will wicked fools go about on it. Other translations, however, like the ESV and the King James, read that even if the people that walk in this way are fools, they shall not wander or go astray. Either reading, though, serves to show that the people who walk along this highway are protected; protected from wild beasts and wicked men who deny God (Psalm 14:1), or protected from straying from this into the lair of wild beasts and wicked fools.
Jesus, when he prays before his arrest and trial in the gospel of John, prays to the Father that his disciples will not be taken out of the world, but protected from the evil one (John 17:15). Also, in the first letter of John, we read that “anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him” (1 John 5:18). Thus Jesus’ work in the world is not done. Although he has overcome the world, and those that are born of God have overcome the world through Jesus, but the entire world is still under the control of Satan (1 John 5:19), and while we are still in the world we still need protecting. Christ’s resurrection defeated the power of death, and through this we need not fear even death, since death is for us an end to sin and an entrance into eternal life.
It is also this that lies at the end of the highway in Isaiah 35. At the end of the highway, those who travel it will enter Zion. Because of the sacrifice of Christ, which satisfied the justice and mercy of God, the redeemed of the Lord will enter into Zion. In fact, Isaiah 35:10 says that the ransomed of the Lord will return. In Isaiah’s prophecy, this shows that after the exile (Isaiah 1:7-9), the Jews who had been dispersed would once again return to Jerusalem, from wherever they had been living. However, this also looks to a distant future, when Christ shall return and those that belong to him will appear with him in glory, for our lives are now hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:4).
But it is not simply the case that the redeemed of the Lord would return to Zion, they will return with singing, crowned with everlasting joy, overtaken by gladness and joy, while sorrow and sighing will be no more. This is a return in victory, a return which will never be undone, since the redeemed will enter Zion with crowns of everlasting joy upon their heads, a joy the likes of which we have merely sampled in this life. The quality of existence at the end of this journey along the highway is radically different than the quality during the journey. While we are protected and guided along the way, we are still within the domain of the Evil One therefore we still need protecting. But once the journey is done, that protection will no longer be necessary, as we will have entered into Zion, the dwelling-place of the Lord, and the house of rest in which Christ has prepared rooms.
In the book of Acts (7:56), when the martyrdom of Stephen is recounted, we are told of the vision that Stephen has during his trial before the Sanhedrin, in which he saw heaven open, and the Son of Man seated at the right hand of God. This is where Christ said that he was going, when he appeared to Mary Magdalene after his resurrection (John 20:17). And this is where Christ is seated, waiting until the time set by the Father in which those who belong to him will be gathered to him, gathered into glory and everlasting joy.
But this is not simply the goal that we are striving for. This joy that we are journeying toward is not simply a mere desire for the future. In fact, we already have a foretaste of this abundant joy (HC, Q&A 58), and in so tasting, our pace ought to be quickened along this highway, as we strive to fill this foretaste with the abundant joy that we can have through Christ.
So who is Christ for us today? The answer to this question has been richly shown to us this past weekend, as we remember Christ’s death on the cross on Good Friday, his resurrection on Easter, and also as we look forward to Ascension Day in a few weeks. Christ has prepared for us the way to the Father, the way into everlasting joy. And through his Lordship over all that exists, he continues to guard and protect us on our way along the path that he prepared, as he is the Good Shepherd. And once this path is complete, we will be with him in glory, we will finally be able to follow where he went. And who will Jesus Christ be for us on that day? He will simply be Jesus Christ, in all his glory and power and righteousness. We will not need to ask the question, nor wonder about the answer, for Jesus Christ will be all that he is, and we will see this and praise him as the only proper response.
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