Sermons On The First Readings
The early Christians were good at using the Hebrew Scriptures when confessing the meaning of Jesus as a saving power in their lives. There they discovered images and statements that put to words their own experiences of Jesus. One of those texts is the Old Testament lection for today. Isaiah 7:2--9 is likely a creation honoring King Hezekiah as he ascended the throne. Some of us might remember a similar instance of Robert Frost offering poetry at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy.