To read the texts click on the texts: Isa 11:1-10; Rom 15:4-9; Mt 3:1-12
Zion
is here and again like in Chapter 2, the center of the peaceful cosmos
described in these verses by the prophet Isaiah. This peace is seen on two
levels. The first is on the level of the future king’s (“A shoot”) character
and rule. He will be filled with the spirit of the Lord and will have the gifts
required to judge fairly and not by mere appearances. The ruthless and wicked
will be judged with integrity and fairness. The poor and the meek will be
protected completely. The second level is seen in the peaceful cosmos where
humans, animals and the rest of nature will live in harmony without the need to
destroy each other.
In
these verses of the penultimate chapter of his letter to the Romans, Paul
begins by exhorting his readers to the hope Christians must attain through the
examples of endurance, perseverance and hope found in the scriptures. This
perseverance or refusal to give up must lead to tolerance and harmony found in
the example of Christ himself. Christ is the only model on which Christians must
base their words and deeds.
“The
voice in the wilderness” found in the Gospel text of today belongs to John the
Baptist who uses strong images to describe what the coming of the Messiah will
entail. Though particularly strong with the Pharisees and Sadducees, John calls
all people to repentance. No one is excluded. This repentance must be shown in
action and not merely words. Like in the case of the king mentioned by Isaiah,
“the one who follows” will here separate the wheat from the chaff. While the wheat
will be gathered into the barn, the chaff will be burned in a fire.
In
what is known as the third “Emanuel prophecy” Isaiah prophesies about whom many
thought would be King Hezekiah. He was prophesied as one who would be filled
with the gifts of the spirit which were wisdom, insight or understanding,
counsel, power or might, knowledge and fear of the Lord. However, he did not
come up to the expectations of the prophecy and of the people and so people
began to look for a new successor to King David who would fulfill this
expectation.
The
world had to wait for eight centuries for this expectation to be fulfilled in
its entirety. It was fulfilled in every single aspect in the person of Christ.
He was and is the one who continues to stand as an ensign or signal to all
peoples everywhere. He is the one who though he followed John the Baptist was
more powerful than John the Baptist could ever hope to be and who baptizes not
merely with water but with the Holy Spirit and fire.
In
his coming and in his person he invites each one of us to make a choice. We can
choose to be struck with the rod or to be judged with integrity. We can choose
to burn in an unquenchable fire or to be gathered up into God. The choice is
entirely up to each one of us. It must also be remembered that just because we
have the name Christian and have been baptized does not necessarily mean that
we have chosen life over death. The choice that we make has to be shown in our
lives.
When
we look around at the injustice, poverty, division and disharmony that continue
to exist in our world, it is not easy to believe that the Messiah King has
indeed come and set his seal over all humanity. But he has indeed come. Why
then do we seem to prefer to choose death over life? Isaiah seems to offer an answer
to this question when he speaks of the “knowledge of the Lord” which we seem to
have lost. The consequence of this knowledge is indeed harmony and
transformation but because we have lost it we are caught up in disharmony and
sameness. Paul takes this point further when he reminds us that we may not have
persevered and lost hope. We have removed our gaze from Christ and have stopped
relating to each other the way he relates to us. We have instead of being
selfless preferred to be selfish, instead of reaching out have preferred to be
locked up in our own small worlds and instead of enduring and persevering have
lost hope and given up.
The
challenge then is to go back to “our root” Jesus Christ and continue to keep
our gaze fixed on him. We continue to learn from him that only in dying to
ourselves can we hope to be born to new life and be gathered up like wheat into
his barn.
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