At The Feet of Jesus
Isaiah 52:7
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
I absolutely love Isaiah’s mountainous metaphor here and I’m gripped by the picture that emerges. See, mountains aren’t the subject of this picturesque scene: a messenger’s beautiful feet upon the mountains are, and that’s telling. Remember that Isaiah didn’t have four-wheel-drive vehicles in his day, so for him to imagine a solitary person travailing up and down treacherous mountainsides just to bring a message is a picture of heroic grit. If I could paint it myself, I’d paint a close-up of two worn out, bloodied feet in torn-up sandals, standing atop a steep ravine, with a long, spiraling, rocky drop-off behind them. After all, it’s in the danger of the trek where we discover the courage of the messenger, and it’s in the courage of the messenger where we discern the greatness of the message.
Oh how beautiful those feet that delivered salvation, that descended from Zion’s Mount to fallen earth, that bore the agony of our sin and sorrows, that rose triumphantly over death and hell, and that blazed a trail for us to follow!