“…they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more.” (Isaiah 2.4) This great call for the Peace of God to overcome the hatred and violence of the world is so important that it is repeated in the Book of Micah (4.5). Combined with Isaiah’s call to see that justice is done for the sake of the most vulnerable and the oppressed (Isaiah 1.17) - a theme repeated many times in the Old Testament - we are given a powerful image of God’s character. It is this image of God that we meet in Jesus - who blesses not the mighty and powerful, but the oppressed and the peacemaker (Matthew 5.1-12). This is the Jesus we long for and are called to imitate as we await the coming of his Kingdom.

Rev Richard