, God puts Himself on trial in order to demonstrate to His people that He is their only qualified deliverer.
In our text for this Sunday, God puts Himself on trial in order to demonstrate to His people that He is their only qualified deliverer. He is Israel’s God and He alone orders and controls the world’s affairs. In the first part of our text, He is reminding them how He has created them, established them, and watches over them. It is true that He is discipling them, but the discipline does not disprove His ability to bring them into better days. His devotion to them never wavers. He asserts that His acts in the past (the Exodus) are proof He is able and will deliver them again. God is faithful to His people no matter what, and no matter how bad it gets.
Verse 19 is key to developing the gospel proclamation of this sermon. The “new thing” God does is He gives His own Son for us at Calvary. Isaiah speaks of “the way” God sets in the desolate place. He describes it as a life-giving stream which will flow, ultimately, from the riven side of Jesus in the water and the blood of the crucified Messiah. This reminds us of the waters of baptism and the blood for the sacrifice that marks us at the new Passover of the Lord’s Supper. God’s acts of deliverance in the past will be done again in Jesus. God always acts for the blessing and benefit of His people.
Perhaps a work of art will serve as a means of deepening our devotion to this text. Ivan Kramskoi has a painting entitled “Christ in the Desert” or “Christ in the Wilderness.”[1] Though the painting depicts Christ in the wilderness during His temptation, there is something about it which captures some of the ideas in our text as well.
The temptation of Israel was to doubt God. They were tempted and tried. But God speaks of a day that is coming where even the jackals and other desert dwelling creatures will see the glory of God and praise Him (verse 20). So, in the painting you have Christ looking like He is ready to explode. He is ready to face the trial God has for Him in order to demonstrate for us that He is our only qualified deliverer. The cold colors of the painting draw you into the expression on His face. Jesus has a look of determination and singular focus, just like Yahweh in our text. His hands are clasped as if He is waiting for a ready defense. And the painting is split in two by the dawn of a new day. A “new thing” is about to happen, and Christ is going to accomplish it. Deliverance from fear, sin, death, and the Devil are coming. God has raised up a Messiah and He is Christ the Lord.
Developing this single image will draw your hearers into a meaningful reflection on the words of this text. Using an “Image Based Structure” with a “Central Image” focus will give you the framework you need for developing this sermon:
“This sermon structure uses a single image throughout the sermon and fosters devotional contemplation of an image.
In the opening of the sermon, the preacher describes the image for the hearers. The preacher then uses that image as a source for continuing devotional contemplation throughout the sermon: The image serves as a lens through which one views the textual exposition, the theological confession, the evangelical proclamation, and the hearer interpretation of the sermon. Having a single image lends coherence to the sermon.
As the preacher returns to the image periodically throughout the sermon, he may approach it in one of two ways: Through a single focus or a multiple focus.
With a single focus, the image remains the same throughout the sermon. The preacher may approach that image from one perspective (for example, viewing the image from the perspective of the artist who created it) or the preacher may approach that image from a variety of perspectives (for example, viewing the same image from the perspective of different people who come into contact with it), but the image itself remains the same.
If approaching the image from one perspective, the sermon can reinforce a single theme in a variety of situations. For example, the first encounter with the image can establish a theme and then, as the preacher uses the image again in the sermon, it can locate that theme in relation to the text and then, later, in relation to the hearers.
If approaching the image from a variety of perspectives, the sermon can develop or unfold the theme. For example, the first encounter with the image could evoke an interpretation which will later be expanded or even corrected in the sermon. By changing how the image is seen, the hearers are able to track the basic development of a larger theme in the sermon. Each stage of development (like moving from a misconception to a clearer vision, moving from application in terms of one’s relationship to God to application in terms of one’s relationship to others, or moving from repentance to forgiveness and finally to restoration) is captured by preaching the image through a different perspective.
With a multiple focus, each time the preacher returns to the image, he focuses upon a different aspect of that image. The preacher may begin by looking at the whole image and then focus upon one detail and then another. Or he may look at smaller details and, at the conclusion of the sermon, consider the image as a whole. If the image is displayed, the preacher may crop the image so that only a small detail is revealed, helping the hearers focus on that particular aspect at that point in the sermon. In terms of the progression of the sermon, the image itself serves as a map of the ideas of the sermon, each portion meditated upon at different points in the sermon. For example, the preacher may use an artistic representation of a biblical event to walk the hearers through the text, slowing down the progression of the story to meditate upon various individuals and their experience of the event.”[2]
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Isaiah 43:16-21.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Isaiah 43:16-21.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaeching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_in_the_Desert#/media/File:Christ_in_the_Wilderness_-_Ivan_Kramskoy_-_Google_Cultural_Institute.jpg
[2] https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/dynamic/imagistic-structures/central-image/
