The Bill Has Been Paid

A few weeks ago, my wife and I and Marilyn’s mother had a great lunch at a Mexican restaurant in California. When I asked for the bill, the waitress said someone had paid for your bill. That was a shock because we had no idea who could have done that. It turns out that we were picked at random by a generous person. That is precisely what God said to his people through the prophet Isaiah.

“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her sin has been paid for” (Isa 40:2).

God paid for our bill of sin, but it was not at random; instead, it was because he specifically picked us. We cannot pay this debt, but God has paid it for us by sending his Son to this earth. He came that first Christmas and entered the human experience. Isaiah, in his prophecy, predicted he would become a savior that transforms lives, “Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain” (Isa 40:4-5).

Isaiah is not talking about changes to the landscape’s topography but to messed up human lives.

Isaiah is describing how much Jesus would change the spiritual landscape. Christ would raise up the oppressed and lift up the despondent. The savior would level out the pompous person nobody can stand. Christ would change that man and woman who has made a mountain of heartache with addictions and bad choices.

We have evidence of a perverse world all around us—broken hearts and lives—families separated—addictions and dysfunctional living patterns that have produced shattered lives. We can’t straighten our paths, we can’t level our mountains, and we can’t make the rough places smooth, but there is one who can. He is the same one who came on that Christmas night—born in a stable in Bethlehem. As the angel told Joseph, “you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt 1:21). He is still doing it even today!