These were bad times for Israel, marked by idolatry and unfaithfulness to the law. The prophet preached impending judgement, a day of doom. But he also told the people of a day when they would sing for joy and the Lord would sing joyfully over them.
The chosen people thought they had a clear picture of what the Messiah would be: A national leader, a military hero, a powerful person who would make Israel a world power. He'd use that power to set things right.
Then Jesus the Messiah came along, and he called on them to rethink their expectations.
That call to rethink should be the trademark of Christianity. It's not a religion that gives us a restricted list of things to believe and tells us to spend our lives clinging fast to them, as if faith was just a maintenance task. It's a religion that presents the great mystery of God. It's a religion that constantly calls upon us to rethink, to ponder, to question, to search.
You're not called to the dull task of maintenance. You're called to the grand adventure of feasting on the mystery of God.
It's something to think about.