12/01/2021 BEAUTIFUL FEET
Romans 10:15 As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” [New International translation]
BIBLICAL COMMENTS
The Book of Romans is often considered one of Paul’s greatest letters. At that time some considered Rome to be the most important city in the known world, so perhaps Paul wanted to make his letter to the Roman church especially clear as to the nature of the Gospel and how Christians should live and act.
In Romans 10:15 Paul emphasizes the importance of preaching the Gospel of peace, the glad tidings of the good news. The word “Gospel,” in Greek means the good news of the coming of the Messiah.
When Paul states “as it is written,” he is referencing the writings of the Prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah 52:7, Isaiah states:
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who bring the happy news of peace and salvation, the news that the GOD of Israel reigns. The watchmen shout and sing with joy, for right before their eyes they see the LORD GOD bring HIS people home again.
The image that Paul and Isaiah want to evoke is the image of “the heralder,” the runner who leaves the battlefield to bring back great news to those waiting anxiously at home that GOD had “saved HIS people from defeat. Just seeing the runner approaching with shouting and singing and great joy was a sign that there would be peace, that there would be life (i.e., soldiers would be returning home to their families) and there would be salvation (i.e., GOD’s people would not be enslaved by the enemy).
There was nothing more welcoming and nothing more beautiful than the feet of the bearer of such good news.
Paul wants to convey the importance of how Christians should feel about the task of spreading or preaching the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST. Like the “heralder,” preachers and those telling others about CHRIST, should approach their task joyfully, for they are bringing news of victory over death and news of life everlasting. The Gospel message should be spread with “happy feet,” “joyful feet” and “singing feet.” Both the giver and the receiver are blessed by the message.
PROBLEM FEET
In some of the old 1930’s and 1940’s movies, when a character encountered a frightening situation, and his body would seize up rendering him immobile, one of the comedic expressions the character would utter was “Feet don’t fail me now!”
Unfortunately, many people have foot problems and often feel their feet are failing them.