Better than Sons and Daughters
Isaiah 56:1 – This is what the LORD says, “Promote justice! Do what is right! For I am ready to deliver you; I am ready to vindicate you openly. 2 – The people who do this will be blessed, the people who commit themselves to obedience, who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it, who refrain from doing anything that is wrong.
verse 3 – No foreigner who becomes a follower of the LORD should say, ‘The LORD will certainly exclude me from his people,’ The eunuch should not say, ‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.'” 4 – For this is what the LORD says: “For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths and choose what pleases me and are faithful to my covenant, 5 – I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument that will be better than sons and daughters. I will set up a permanent monument for them that will remain.
There are those among us who struggle in ways that ‘sons and daughters’ find hard to understand. We are quick to cast judgment upon the ‘eunuchs’ who find themselves unable to fit within typical gender classifications of ‘son and daughter’ and society has gone to war seeking justice for the oppressed on all sides.
What message do today’s verses contain? Eunuchs are not dried-up trees. They have a choice to make just like everyone else. By observing the Sabbath, choosing what pleases the Lord, and being faithful to God’s covenant – God acknowledges their choice with a permanent monument in His temple – better than sons and daughters.
Jesus understands what’s going on in our world – He is the Creator. Observing the Sabbath is our statement that we believe in God. Choosing what pleases Jesus over our own pleasure is the joyful sacrifice of all who desire to follow Jesus. We often get this backwards thinking Jesus accepts what pleases us. These verses are an acknowledgment that Jesus knows how difficult it is for some to give up their own pleasure to follow Him.
But what happens when our pleasure is in conflict with God’s covenant? God will give the victory to the eunuch so they can be faithful to the covenant, give up their own pleasure, and observe the Sabbath of their Creator. Such a victory is so significant in God’s eyes that it is monumented permanently in His temple – better than the monuments to sons or daughters!
Jesus knows! He understands! May we all learn to give our lives and our desires to Him and trust Him with all our heart!
Where two are gathered 