For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10-11
Three straight days of Minnesota snow. Not our ideal, but certainly needed. The ground thirsty, the lake low. Finally it comes, and just when you think it ought to be spring.
Maybe it’s a metaphor. Or a reminder. A prophetic word picture, at the perfect time.
Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
Isaiah 1:18
Snow on Easter Sunday. Sins washed clean as a white wool sweater.
I’ve spent these snowbound days meditating on Easter texts and thinking of all the ways the Word went forth, and all the miracles three days accomplished.
We should never get used to Easter.
A criminal whose fate had him uttering his own last words hung within earshot of Jesus. A guilty man, dripping blood, gasping for breath. “This man has done nothing wrong,” he says. “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 23:41-42)
Your kingdom.
How could he have known about Jesus’ kingdom? A criminal, at that.
A dying man asks to be remembered, and it is Paradise he’s given.
The Word who had become flesh—now flesh ripped to bloody shreds. But this word will not return to me empty… This Word would accomplish Paradise and more.
Though your sins are scarlet…
Does blood pool in Jesus’ eyes? Does it drip freely from a busted nose?
He looks down at a mocking crowd. Vision blurred, he sees—
What could he possibly see?
Just hours before. He’d been sweating blood in a garden, beseeching the Father. Remove this cup.
Now he pleads again. For their pardon. Our pardon, too.
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
Before Jesus breathes his last, he will finish the work his Father started.
“It is finished.” The Greek means total completion. Not it is over—but it is COMPLETE.
In the very beginning, after creating the heavens and the earth, God looked and saw that he had finished all the work he had been doing, and then he rested. And now Jesus finishes the work needed to usher in a new creation. He too will rest.
It shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Like snow watering parched spring soil, the Word who became flesh would bring everything dead back to life.