7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of a messenger
who proclaims peace,
who brings good news,
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God rules!”
Reflection
In ancient times, sentries stood watch on the walls of a city, scanning the horizon for runners carrying news from far away. When a figure appeared in the distance, the lookouts would call out, and people would gather near the city gate, holding their breath, eager to hear what was happening in the wider world.
A good report could send the streets into celebration.
A bad report could plunge a city into fear.
So it’s no accident that Isaiah writes,
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of a messenger who brings good news.”
We still know what it’s like to wait for good news. We wait for the results of a job interview. For test results. For a reply after sending a difficult email or a long-overdue apology. We know the feeling of watching, checking, hoping—wondering whether what comes next will let us breathe again.
In Isaiah’s world, some of the most eagerly awaited news was military: We won. The enemy has been defeated. We are safe.
But Isaiah proclaims something even bigger: “Your God rules.”
In other words: God’s won.
This is the truth in which we place our trust. This is the good news that is foundational to all other good news, the deeper reality that does not rise and fall with circumstances. Even when victory feels delayed, even when it seems temporarily denied, we trust that love, justice, and mercy will have the final word. God rules. God reigns.
The good news of Christmas is that God trusts this truth completely. SO completely, in fact, that Jesus enters the world not in power or spectacle, but as a tiny, vulnerable human baby. God puts everything on the line for love—because the outcome is already secure: God rules!
There are days when everything around us seems to tell a different story. But God trusted this reality enough to step fully into it. And that is still the good news we proclaim today.
by Joe Monahan
For Pondering and Prayer
Where in your life are you waiting for good news? How might trusting that God rules change the way you wait, even before the outcome is known?
Prayer: Faithful God, in our waiting, we confess how easily fear takes hold. We look for news that will tell us whether we can finally breathe. Ground us in the deeper truth that does not change: YOU rule. Your love is steady, your mercy endures, and your justice will have the final word. As we remember the gift of Christmas, help us trust the courage and the power of your love – the love that entered the world in vulnerability and hope. When the stories around us feel uncertain, anchor us in the good news: you rule. And you’ve won. Amen.
