11/23/14
Chris Breslin
Isaiah 61:10-11
“…’joy’ in Philippians is a defiant ‘Nevertheless!’ that Paul sets like a full stop against the Philippians’ anxiety…” –Karl Barth
“Joy abides with God, and it comes down from God and embraces spirit, soul, and body; and where this joy has seized a person, there it spreads, there it carries one away, there it bursts open closed doors.” –Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Joy is what God gives, not what we work up for ourselves.” –Eugene Peterson
Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming from tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming, as men of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright, amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.Isaiah ’twas foretold it, the Rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it, the virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright, she bore to men a Savior,
When half spent was the night.The shepherds heard the story proclaimed by angels bright,
How Christ, the Lord of glory was born on earth this night.
To Bethlehem they sped and in the manger found Him,
As angel heralds said.This Flower, whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere;
True Man, yet very God, from sin and death He saves us,
And lightens every load.O Savior, Child of Mary, who felt our human woe,
O Savior, King of glory, who dost our weakness know;
Bring us at length we pray, to the bright courts of Heaven,
And to the endless day!
–Lo How A Rose E’er Blooming, Theodore Baker
“Joy is nurtured by anticipation… it builds on the past and borrows from the future.” –Eugene Peterson
Further Reading:
Revelation by Richard Bauckham
Isaiah: WJK OT Library by Brevard Childs
Biblical Prophecy: Interpretation by Ellen F. Davis
Truly the Community by Marva Dawn
Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis
The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Normal People by John Ortberg
The Book of Isaiah 40-66: NICOT by John N. Oswalt
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson
Why We Lost the Marriage Plot by W. David O. Taylor
Isaiah 34-66: Word Bible Commentary by John Watts
