Title: YHWH’s All-Comfort

Summary:With his first quotation, Mark pointed his audience’s eyes to the ‘good news’ of justice in the Incarnation. In verse three he turns our attention to the reality of comfort in the appearance of King Jesus, drawing from YHWH’s prophecy through Isaiah (40:1–5). Proclaimed to Judah prior to its exile in 587/586 B.C., this message conveyed hope to God’s people when their moral failure was obvious and abundant. In Isaiah 39, we read about YHWH extending King Hezekiah’s life in the face of impending death, only to watch him act pridefully in showing off his kingdom to the Babylonians. YHWH sent a follow-up message to show that Hezekiah’s sin, which reflected the sinful hearts of God’s people, would bring about the Exile after Hezekiah’s death. But this justice was not the end of Israel’s story. Chapter forty opens with a message of comfort, that when their discipline is complete, YHWH will restore His people—a grand vision of complete healing culminating in the return of God to the midst of His people. The message begins with YHWH’s command to an unknown group of messengers to comfort “my people”, language that reflects His covenantal faithfulness in spite of Israel’s sin (v. 1). This comfort encompasses every part of human existence: emotional (“speak tenderly” or literally “to the heart”), physical (“her warfare is ended”), and spiritual (“her iniquity is pardoned”). The cause of Israel’s comfort is then revealed: YHWH is coming, and He has called His messengers to prepare His way. Beginning with the portion of Isaiah that Mark quotes, these verses compare the coming of YHWH to two historic events. The “wilderness” and “desert” signal that His coming will be a new Exodus, pointing to YHWH’s blessing on Israel as He led them to the land of Canaan. YHWH is a god that causes fruitfulness in His people, even in the barren wastes of the earth—just as He did in Creation. The lifting up of the valleys and leveling of the mountains points to the reversal of the Flood, a time when the depths burst forth and reshaped the earth in judgment for the grievous sin that mankind was practicing (Gen. 6–8). What was marred because of rebellion will be smoothed out in righteousness. But that is not all. The arrival of YHWH would signal an unparalleled event in history: all flesh would see His glory. This is the prophetic reality behind Mark’s reference, and shows that the ‘good news’ of Jesus Christ is the essence of comfort to YHWH’s covenant people. The passage in Isaiah tips its hand regarding its application in YHWH’s use of the plural imperative. YHWH’s comfort was a message 1) to His people, 2) through His prophets, 3) inaugurated in the message of John the Baptist, 4) fulfilled in Christ, and 5) and now carried by all who receive it to those who have not. It is a message of complete restoration, one that God’s people are commissioned to both bear and practice. And it is the promise of a final Exodus, a final Flood (of fire!), when the fullness of YHWH’s glory is revealed at the Last Day in the return of the King.