The prophecy we read from Isaiah today came at a time when Judah’s future did not look promising at all. They were in exile, away from Jerusalem, away from the temple, away from everything that gave them a sense of identity and stability. And yet, one of the first words of Isaiah chapter 35 is: “Rejoice.”
Isaiah dares to speak joy into a situation that looked hopeless. He asks God’s people to rejoice, not because their situation was good, but because there was hope — hope in a God who was still with them even in exile. A God whose glory they would yet see. A God who would strengthen them even in captivity.
Many people in our country and our world can identify and understand what the exiled Judah felt. We live today in a world where a lot of people seems to have an uncertain and even frightening future. Our stability is constantly being threatened by: Wars and violence, by climate change and natural disasters, by political turmoil and division, economic insecurity, disease and global crises. Sometimes it feels like our future grows darker all the time. And yet, because of what God has done in Jesus Christ — because God became one of us — we are still called by the prophet to rejoice.
Many people might ask: How can Christians talk about joy when the world is the way that it is? How can we speak of joy when: So many families are going through grief? Or are being separated, when so many people around us are suffering? How can we speak about joy when we see so many disturbing videos of people being abused and when so many nations are in turmoil? The answer is simple, but profound: We rejoice not because of our condition, but because of our God. The joy we celebrate on this Third Sunday of Advent is not the product of favorable circumstances, but it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is a gift from God to those with feeble hands, knees that give way, and fearful hearts.
This Sunday, Isaiah speaks directly to people like that: “Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those of a fearful heart, ‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God.’” (Isaiah 35:3–4).
The joy celebrated today is not a product of human effort. Rather, it arises externally originating in God. This concept is reflected in Nehemiah 8:10: “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” The prophet Nehemiah underscores that confidence and resilience are rooted not in personal emotion or achievement, but in God’s steadfast grace and His pleasure in His people.
In our reading this morning, Isaiah does not deny Juda’s reality. He does not pretend things are easy. He speaks about wilderness, dry land, and desert — because that’s where God’s people were living, physically and spiritually. But then he says something astonishing full of hope and joy, “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom…Springs will burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water.” (Isaiah 35:1,6–7)
This joy we celebrate in Advent comes from the assurance that God can and will transform our reality. Verses 1 and 2 say, the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. And verses 5 to 6 say that the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the lame will leap, the mute tongue will shout for joy, the desert will bloom, and the dry land will become a pool of water. That is the kind of transformation God promises and delivers.
This is not just a small change. It is a radical transformation of people and of the world. And this promise finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. When Jesus healed the lame, …When He gave sight to the blind and proclaimed the good news to the poor…
He was showing us that Isaiah’s vision was not just poetry. It was coming true in Him.
Let us not misunderstand the joy of the Lord. This joy does not mean we ignore pain. This joy does not mean pretending everything is fine. The joy Isaiah and Nehemiah were talking about was not denial, distraction, or pretending everything was fine. Instead, it was the strength to face reality with God at the center of it. Biblical joy is not the absence of pain—it is the presence of God in pain. Jerusalem in Nehamiah’s time still had broken walls, enemies, hard work ahead, and a long spiritual rebuilding process. Yet Nehemiah reminded them that God’s grace, faithfulness, and delight in them were greater than their fear or shame. Christian joy is not blind optimism; it is a deep confidence that God is restoring, redeeming, and walking with us—no matter what life looks like. Therefore, we do not ignore our struggles; we face them with the assurance that we are not alone, and that God’s joy over us gives us the strength to keep going.
So, let me ask you this: Should we rejoice in the midst of grief? I say yes, not because of grief, but because of the hope we have in Jesus Christ. Should we rejoice in the midst of sickness? I say yes, not because of sickness, but because we have a healer, and our sickness becomes an opportunity to see Him at work. Should we rejoice in the midst of need? Yes, not because of our need, but because we have a loving Provider who will never abandon me and because as Paul said, nothing will separate us from the love of God in Jesu Christ.
Isaiah assures all of us that the day is coming when our personal and communal desert will blossom. When every tear will be wiped away. When the ransom of the Lord will return with singing. When everlasting joy will rest upon our heads and all sorrow and sighing will flee forever. But until that day fully come, God gives us a taste of that joy now — whenever we see Him at work… and whenever we become part of His work…whenever we are the reason for others to have joy. Therefore, let us rejoice, not because life is easy, but because God is faithful.
Let us rejoice, not because the night is here, but because the morning is surely coming. And let us rejoice, knowing that God has chosen us to be instruments of His joy in a world still walking through the desert.
Rejoice in the Lord always…The Lord is near.
Amen.
