Contemplative Bible Reading

Isaiah 56:3-5 (New Living Translation)

3 “Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord say,
‘The Lord will never let me be part of his people.’
And don’t let the eunuchs say,
‘I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’
4 For this is what the Lord says:
I will bless those eunuchs
who keep my Sabbath days holy
and who choose to do what pleases me
and commit their lives to me.
5 I will give them—within the walls of my house—
a memorial and a name
far greater than sons and daughters could give.
For the name I give them is an everlasting one.
It will never disappear!

In the ancient world, in the world of the Jews, few people were more despised than eunuchs. Eunuchs were barred from some place and some practices under the old law. Yet here, we have a different world described for eunuchs and other foreigners, a.k.a., Gentiles.

The LORD welcomes the eunuchs and promises them something that the world cannot give, that is physically impossible: a name that will last through the ages.

Eunuchs could not procreate. No one would carry their name to the next generations. Their line was dead. Yet here, the LORD gives them an everlasting line.

So what? So God provides for broken people what no one can provide. Broken people aren’t always welcomed by good, church-going Christians. I mean, they are broken, something is wrong with them, and everyone can see that something is wrong with them.

Can we come to see as the LORD sees? Can we come to see into the future? Can we come to see past the present?