Speaking to a community threatened on all sides with exile, the prophet Isaiah offers his countrymen the promise of something to come: he speaks of what Jerusalem will one day be, not physically, but in spiritual terms. No longer will there be armed conflict, for they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; peace will be the order of the day. Nations will be drawn to Jerusalem not for its power but because it will be a city where all will walk in the light of the Lord; indeed, God’s justice and divine presence will cause all nations to stream to Jerusalem. Psalm 122 likewise reminds us that Jerusalem was built as a city with compact unity; there, all will go rejoicing to the house of the Lord. For a people living in a dangerously precarious political situation, Isaiah’s prophecy speaks of a radical shift in how they live and how they understand themselves. For all that danger threatens, Isaiah knows the future will one day be bright again.
In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus similarly calls his disciples to a radical shift in how they live and how they understand themselves. They must be prepared, Jesus tells them, for they do not know on which day the Lord will come. It is no longer appropriate to carry on as usual, as if nothing has happened, and Jesus’ death and resurrection will cause them to enter into a new age, with new hopes and new expectations. Paul likewise reminds the Romans that it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep, for Jesus’ death and resurrection have brought clarity, and they now see clearly what they are to hope for, namely, perfect union with Christ in heaven.
God has shown us, too, the path we are to walk, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Now that God has sent his Son, we can no longer dwell in the darkness of the past, but must put on the armor of light that is the Lord Jesus Christ. This light reveals who we are, the choices we have made, and the promise in which we live. The new age of which Paul speaks invites us to enter into relationship more fully than ever before, in expectation of the coming of the Son of Man. We are waiting for that second coming, the fulfillment of all the Incarnation has meant to us; we need to be living for it now, ready to embrace the radical shift it entails, so that we can one day also embrace that perfect union that God promises to all people of faith.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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