The following is my translation of the notes and useful applications forthe Old Testament of the Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete), Isaiah 40:1–8, as they are found in Das Weimarische Bibelwerk (1877). Square brackets indicate my own notes and additions. For the useful applications, I recommend the reader see this very helpful article by Dr. Benjamin T. G. Mayes.
I. A prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah, and His forerunner, John the Baptist, what he will preach. (v. 1–11)
Annotated Translation
1. “Comfort (with these words God speaks to the prophets, apostles, and their true successors, the servants of Christ, who carry out the office of the New Testament, that they ought to kindly comfort the people of God with these words), comfort My people!” says your God.
2. “Speak * kindly with Jerusalem,1 and preach to her, that her hard service2 (Luther: “the Divine Service in the Old Testament”) has an end (that the burdensome Divine Services and the arduous exercises in the manifold ceremonies of the Mosaic Law have come to an end, that they are also redeemed from the curse and bane of the Law, as well as from the various accusations of the conscience), for her misdeeds are forgiven3 (for Christ’s sake), for she has received twofold (grace upon grace, John 1:16, Romans 5:20) from the hand of the Lord, for all4 her sins (Luther: “Namely, forgiveness of sins and freedom from the Law of Moses, that is, pure grace for sin, life for death,” etc.).
(Zephaniah 3:18; Daniel 9:24; Ephesians 5:2; Hebrews 9:8ff.)
1 Hebrew: “Speak to Jerusalem in her heart” (that is, preach to her what will be comforting to her. See Genesis 34:3, 50:21; Judges 19:3; Hosea 2:14; Zephaniah 3:9).
2 Hebrew: “Her hard (military) service” (her Divine Service, which she carried out in the army of God, the Israelite Church, according to the Levitical order, which was a hard yoke both in itself, and also on account of the frequent great judgments of wrath. See Acts 15:10; Deuteronomy 8:24ff.).
3 Hebrew: “reconciled” [i.e., propitiated], see Leviticus 1:4
4 Hebrew: “in” or “among all” — regardless of their greatness and number.
3. There is * a voice of a preacher in the wilderness (namely, John the Baptist, who began the New Testament with his preaching and teaching), ‘Prepare (through true repentance and correction) for the Lord (the Messiah, who is true God with the Father and the Holy Spirit) the way (that He may take up lodging in your hearts through true faith), make a level path in the field for our God (that He may enter in among you freely and unhindered).
* Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23 (Malachi 3:1)
4.All valleys (all hearts that are oppressed by the burden of the Law) shall be exalted (be set right again through the preaching of the Gospel), and all mountains and hills (proud hearts and hypocritical work-saints) shall be made low (brought to the recognition of their sins, and their trust in their own works will be laid low in their hearts), and what is unlike shall be made even, and what is rough shall be made smooth (Christ will make everything fine and straight, in that all men must live by His grace alone and no one will have any advantage over the other, Acts 10:34–35);
(Isaiah 42:16; Zephaniah 3:11ff.)
5. for the glory of the Lord shall be revealed (in Christ and in all His works and miracles); and all flesh shall see it together (Jews and Gentiles, Colossians 3:11; Isaiah 66:23) for the mouth of the Lord has spoken (for Christ’s mouth is truly God’s mouth, therefore, whoever has heard Christ speak has heard God speak).
(Isaiah 52:6–10; John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:16)
6. A voice says, “Preach!” (Christ will command His servants to preach.) And he (the servant of God) said, “What shall I preach?” (Answer, this:) “All * flesh is hay1 (all men, as they are now born after the fall into sin, are sinful and mortal, also unfit for all good, and cannot stand before God’s judgment), and all its goods (Luther: “All good deeds or good living which reason can do and does”) are as flowers in the field (therefore, they only ought to seek their righteousness and salvation in Christ alone, who is proclaimed to them in the Gospel).
* Isaiah 51:12ff.; 1 Peter 1:24 (Matthew 6:30; James 1:10–11)
1 Hebrew: “grass;” compare Psalm 37:2, as well as v. 7 here.
7. The hay withers, the flower fades, for the Spirit of the Lord blows on them (when the Spirit of God tests the works of men who are not yet reborn, stirs their conscience, sharpens the Law, and thereby shines into the heart, then everything upon which they rely withers and falls apart, and all boasting lies down). Indeed, (all) the people are as hay (not only the wicked and godless people, but also the people of God are sinful, mortal, and perishable by nature).
8. The hay withers, the flower fades, but the * Word our God (through which we are born anew and reborn to eternal life) remains forever.
* Psalm 119:89; Luke 21:33; 1 Peter 1:25
9. Zion, you preacher (by this are to be understood the holy apostles, who first preached the Gospel in Jerusalem and in the Jewish land, but afterward had preached it in the entire world, Luke 24:47, Acts 1:8)1, go up onto a high mountain (that your voice may be heard far and wide); Jerusalem, you preacher, lift up Your voice with power, lift it up and fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold, there is (Christ) your God (revealed in the flesh, 1 Timothy 3:16, who now Himself speaks with you in His assumed human nature, Isaiah 52:6).
(Matthew 10:27; Romans 10:18; Malachi 3:1)
1 † The Hebrew word generally means to proclaim a joyful message. See Isaiah 52:7.
10. For behold, the Lord YHWH (Christ, the Chief Shepherd of His Church, 1 Peter 5:4) comes with power1 (to content against the devil and everything that hinders and prevents us from salvation, and to cast out the prince of this world, John 12:31), and His arm is glorious (He will powerfully gather together a kingdom out of the human race in which He will rule with His Word and Spirit). Behold, His reward (His gift of grace, which He has acquired by His obedience and suffering) is with Him, and His * recompense (according to which He will do good to believers and will punish unbelievers) is before Him.
* Romans 2:6ff. (Isaiah 62:11; Revelation 22:12; 1 John 3:8)
1 Hebrew: alternatively, “against the powerful,” cf. Luke 11:21
11. He will shepherd His flock as * a Shepherd; He will gather the (tender, young) lambs together in His arms and carry them in His bosom, and lead the sheep mothers (He will faithfully tend the weak sheep1).
* John 10:11–12ff. (Psalm 23:2; Ezekiel 34:11–12, 23; Micah 5:3)
1 † Those who understand the “sheep mothers” as the faithful teachers come closer to the purpose and the metaphor.
Useful Applications
I. DOCTRINE: That we obtain forgiveness of sins, comfort, salvation, and blessedness from Jesus Christ through faith in His Holy Word. (v. 1, 2–10).
PATTERN OF SOUND WORDS 