Isaiah 52:15
So he will sprinkle many nations,
and kings will shut their mouths because of him.
For what they were not told, they will see,
and what they have not heard, they will understand. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 52:13-15 and Matthew 24:1-35
“Immediately after the distress of those days:
“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory” (Matt 24:29-30).
Jesus is coming back again. He said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt 24:14). He will come back in great power and glory. All the earth will see him and they will mourn because they know it means the end for them.
The kings will shut their mouths. The psalmist wrote:
“The upright see and rejoice,
but all the wicked shut their mouths” (Psalm 107:42).
The kings who have always had the power and the right to speak will become powerless and speechless. Jesus will be coming back for their thrones to claim as his own. They haven’t been told of the Messiah’s return, but they will learn who he is in an instant. They haven’t heard about the Messiah, but they will understand who he is the moment he appears in the clouds.
Jesus was rejected, mocked, ridiculed, tortured and crucified. He claimed to be the King of Kings and God in the flesh, but they rejected him. He rose from the grave after three days to prove he was who he said he was but they dismissed him. When he comes back again, they will understand he is who he said he is. And they will immediately regret their choices and mourn for themselves because it will be too late to receive him as their Savior.
Paul quotes Isaiah 52:15 in the context of preaching the gospel to those who haven’t heard:
“It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written:
‘Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand’” (Rom 15:20-21).
People who don’t know Jesus and haven’t heard the Gospel are closer to us than ever before. In 1992, over 90% of Americans identified as Christians. Today, that number is around 60% and it is falling at a rapid clip. Americans that claim to be “religiously unaffiliated” has reached 30%. We don’t need to travel the globe to find people who haven’t been told about Jesus. They are all around us.
Those of us who believe in Jesus are not all called to be evangelists, but we are all called to be his witnesses. It’s the great commission:
“[Jesus] said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’” (Acts 1:7-8).
It’s not for us to be concerned about when Jesus is going to return. We’ve been given the Holy Spirit so that we can be witnesses for Christ. We are to live holy lives while we wait so that those around us won’t be shocked when Jesus returns. Peter said it this way:
“Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming” (2 Peter 3:11-12).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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