Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12
When the Past Becomes Present: Testimonies of Jesus Christ as Reliving Christmas
Reading the message of Isaiah today and hearing about the role of John the Baptist in the lead up to the coming of Jesus as a human being, the many ways that you and I can relive the experiences of 2000 years ago began to flood my mind. First of all, I remember the story of a young girl who, in the preparation for Christmas, was asked to take part in a sketch or drama a nun/Sister at her parish church was preparing, where the nun/sister gathered a few kids and wanted them to present the nativity scene, with donkey, and Mary, and Joseph and angles. As sister was apportioning the different roles, she asked a young girl to be Mary, and the youngster refused. Sister wanted to know why, and the little said it was too tedious a job to be Mary because she had to be pregnant for nine months, and change dippers when the baby is born; she preferred to be an angel, who announces joy upon earth and disappears! Perhaps you and I can be bringers of good tidings this Christmas.
Interestingly, God still needs messengers of salvation even today; men and women who will make it possible for Jesus to be born again today as Saviour of the world. To say that the world needs a savoiur seems an understatement given the political, economic, ecological and moral disasters assaulting both the planet earth and its residents. If Jesus came to save human lives, there is far more to be saved today, and far more at stake. Pope Francis calls attention, in Laudato Si, to the ecological disaster of our times, as an addition to the list of the areas to be saved and salvaged, albeit abandoned and forgotten for ages.
To understand the need and necessity for saviours of human race and the planet earth is to appreciate the dreams and aspirations of the prophecy of Isaiah, especially the liturgical usage of this Sunday’s first reading. The usual fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah is in Jesus Christ, but if we are the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, the prophecies of Isaiah cannot leave us indifferent, in our turn. If we divide our first reading into three segments (Isaiah 11:1-5, 6-9, 10), what is clear from such a division is the fact that Isaiah is sending us back to the garden of Eden, to the realities and plans of God, at the very beginning of creation. By doing so, he incorporates us in God’s realization of his plans as coworkers with God.
The very first part of our first reading uses future verbs, as if to say that the realities it prophesies are yet to be realized and fulfilled, despite the fact that Jesus was born around 2,000 years ago. It says, among other things:
On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him:
a spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge and of fear of the Lord,
and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord. . . he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
This first segment outlines the problems to be solved in the future, with the present of the Saviour. The fact that the poor are trampled under foot, chastity and fidelity are lacking, the “fear of the Lord” absent, clearly indicate the non-realization of these prophecies even today. This means that we need men and women to make these prophecies come true. But a glance at the second segment (Isaiah 11:6-9) shows that the realities prophesied once upon a time are realizable realities. If not realizable in toto, they are projects given to human beings to realize. This is what Isaiah says:
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the Lord,
as water covers the sea.
It is only the book of Genesis that talks about God bringing to Adam all the animals for him to give them names, and the animals did not devour him; it is only Genesis that gives human beings the command to be custodians of creation; it is only Genesis that gives the impression that human beings and animals are herbivores. This is the scenario Isaiah recreates, in order to tell human beings how they still have a long way to go in the realization of God’s will for his creation and creatures. Isaiah prophesies a time of entente among human beings, God and animals. What a dream!
The last segment of our first reading is race and gender neutral, it invites every human being irrespective of race, gender and nationality to be committed to the realization of a cosmophilia – a global-love, where humans and animals are neighbours; above all else, human beings are to create an anthropotheopolis, a city where human beings and God take a walk at sun set, as Adam an Eve did before their disobedience. Imagine how much time, resources and capital we invest in the domestication of animals we call pets, while the domestication of the human person keeps eluding us! This is what we should be working at instead of postponing it.
Here is the last segment (Isaiah 11:10) of our first reading, with a global perspective ever imagined:
On that day, the root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the nations,
the Gentiles shall seek out,
for his dwelling shall be glorious.
“For his dwelling will be glorious,” how is this possible? In order for the dwelling of the Lord to be glorious, for the Gentiles (all non-Jews) to seek it, there must be a signal, a sign that clearly marks it out as the place of dream, an eldorado yet real. “The root of Jess,” in question, refers to those men and women who are willing to build a new city, a place of welcome and harmony for the whole of creation. This new city, by its very beauty and the presence of God within it, will attract all nations. Visa requirements will not be a barrier; poverty will not be a hindrance; status will be forgotten; it suffices to be human to qualify for entry, because God took flesh and dwelt among us; he was one like us in all thinks except sin; we share the same citizenship by nature.
Little wonder, St. Paul, in our second reading, makes philadelphia (brotherly and sisterly love) the harbinger and index for figuring out this new city, this new reality. “Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:7). If Christ brought and shared the glory of God with human beings, at Christmas or birth, by sharing the same nature as ours, it follows that the glory of God is already revealed where and when human beings can and do live in peace and harmony. That was the same peace preached by the Angels on Christmas Eve, a peace and harmony that is only possible among those upon whom his favour rests. It is true that this reality we seek still eludes us, but Advent, and life itself, is build on hope. In this regard, Paul stirs us to hope when he says: “Whatever was written previously was written for our instruction, that by endurance and by the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). The idea is that we can achieve this realities of philadelphia, cosmophilia and anthropotheopolis, should we work “by endurance and by the encouragement of Scriptures.” If Jesus our brother achieved it, we can do the same.
Our gospel reading provides us, in the life of John-the-Baptist, the very first step towards making the new world possible – the proclamation of the gospel. All John did was cry out the message of salvation, and repentance and baptism followed. We all have mouths, what do we say, what do we preach with our mouths? John was just the voice, Jesus himself was the Word. It was the power of the Word that brought about conversion, even of the hard-hearted Pharisees. This simply shows that God plays his part, when we play ours. What does it take to open one’s mouth to say “Jesus is Lord”? What audacity does it take to speak about Jesus in a land of freedom of speech?
If the gifts of the Holy Spirit (a spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge and of fear of the Lord), enumerated by Isaiah in the first reading, are going to be ours, then you and I need to open our mouths to preach! This Sunday is freedom of speech Sunday; this Sunday is audacity to speak about Jesus Christ Sunday. The question of Paul needs an urgent response: “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14). You and I are the messengers of free-speech, the speech about the good news of salvation. Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season of Christmas. Yes, Jesus needs you and me to preach peace and love in everybody’s hearing. Testimonies of Jesus’ birth and life will resound from coast to coast, if we become like John-the-Baptist, men and women bringing about repentance and preparing the way for the appearance of another Christmas through our speeches. Because of what you and I say with our mouths, because of what you and I do for others, Christmas will be a reality again on December 25.
Assignment for the week:
Can you use your freedom of speech to preach Jesus verbally this week?