Looking Forward--And Inward--For The Messianic Age

Twenty-Third Sunday in Course 2024

How can we characterize the prophet Isaiah and his disciples, who have given us the greatest collection of prophetic Biblical stories and sayings in the OT? Isaiah and his community were men living in terrible times of strife and suffering whose faith enabled them to look ahead to a day of joy and reunion. And so here in our first reading we see them looking ahead to a time and event that their faith gives them confidence in. Remember that the Holy Land is dry most of the year, and sometimes even the expected rains are disappointing. We Texans know all about that. So when we hear of waters breaking forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert, we know that Isaiah is looking forward to that future in which the Lord takes control of even the climate, leaving burning sands with pools and the jackals of the desert driven far away by emerging wetlands. Passages like these, read in the Temple and synagogues where Jews gathered, gave them a physical description of the age of the Messiah who would come and liberate Israel—not just from Persian or Greek or Roman oppression, but from even the hazards of nature.

The psalmist today sings verses written in the same Messianic vein: “The LORD sets the prisoners free; the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the sojourners, he upholds the widow and the fatherless; but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.” It sounds a lot like the last day envisioned by Jesus, when all those in the state of purification are released to heaven, there is no more disease in our glorified, resurrected bodies, and those who are poor and neglected become, by their faith in Christ, rulers in God’s eternal kingdom.

Each time Jesus heals, He is bringing hope to those on the verge of despair. Today he takes a man with speech and hearing difficulties aside from the crowd around Him. He uses signs to symbolize His prayer for the man’s tongue and ears, and uses the same word, “Eph'phatha” that we use today in Baptism to effect healing. And the man is healed. Once he hears Jesus warn him not to tell anyone of the miracle, he promptly and zealously proclaims the power of Jesus to bring about a Messianic miracle.

So that looks forward to how thing will be after Jesus is acknowledged by all creation to be Lord and Savior. But what about today, on this earth filled with trials and tragedies?

St. James tells us one way to bring the future reality of God’s kingdom, the Messianic age, into our own world of the nitty-gritty now. And he focuses on a Christian prayer meeting or Eucharist. We are an egalitarian people. All of us have equal dignity, even if our economic circumstances differ from each other. This I have seen at Mass, one of the characteristics of truly Christian churches. All are welcome. We even have a song that says that in the chorus. I do believe that people tend to dress down at Sunday assemblies in our new century. But look around and you’ll see we have indeed made progress, with folks praying together from all kinds of backgrounds. If we are looking down our noses at anyone, shame on us. That’s one thing James—and Jesus—won’t look kindly on.