Advent | A Family ReflectionSample

Bruised and Hungry

by Sarah Shin 

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out . . . he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. 

Isaiah 42:3–4 

Whenever Isaiah’s words were read out loud, Israel would have felt a deep hunger for these words to be true—not just in their future but in the ache of their present. By the time Jesus read a similar passage in front of his synagogue (Luke 4:14–21), Israel had faced approximately 600 years of war, exile, oppression, and cruelty at the hands of oppressive empires. Ethnic tension with Samaritans and abuse by Roman soldiers were everyday realities. The Israelites were a bruised, broken people longing for justice, freedom, and the Messiah who would deliver them from sin. 

We feel that hunger, whether we see bruised bodies and hearts in our neighborhoods and TV screens or we ourselves are those bruised people. Poverty, natural disasters, racism, injustice, and suffering abound. Advent is not just an invitation to be more aware of God’s presence and promise in our own individual lives—it is a time when we look at the richness of these promises in Isaiah and we ask the Lord to increase his presence, healing, and justice in the lives of others. 

Isaiah 42:4 says “In his teaching the islands will put their hope.” The “islands” represented strangers or, worse, those who had oppressed them. The islands for us may represent refugees from distant shores, neighbors we care little for, and perhaps even our ethnic enemies. Advent is a season where our awareness of the pain of others causes us to groan and await with greater anticipation the One who is coming again soon. We ask the Lord to expand the rooms of our hearts, and we put our hope in the One who will not falter until he establishes justice on earth. Lord, come make all things new.

Read Isaiah 11:1–5, 42:1–7. Why is God’s justice and compassion meaningful to you? Who are the “islands” around you who need his justice and compassion?

Sarah Shin is the author of Beyond Colorblind: Redeeming Our Ethnic Journey and works for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.