Friday of the First Week of Advent 2024
G. K. Chesterton was fond of writing how history seems to turn the plans of humans upside down and backwards. He tells the story of Constantine summoning the bishops to judge the teachings of Arius, in the year 325. The priest Arius taught that Jesus is Son of God, but not coeternal with the Father. The Son was not consubstantial with the Father, but just the greatest of His creatures, not God Himself, but raised to divine status in the Resurrection. It was very attractive, especially to the elite. But the truth, that Father and Son are of the same divine substance, was affirmed by the Council of Nicaea. That seemed to put pay to the whole question, but Arius and his teachings did not fade away. In just a few years, most of the Roman world had turned Arian, with a few bishops like Athanasius holding firm to the Truth of Christ’s natural divinity. Constantine was even baptized by an Arian. The True Church was a tiny minority, seemed destined to die. And yet, by the days of St. Augustine, Arianism had faded away and all the world was again orthodox. The world turned upside down. Over and over again did this drama repeat. But it was a play that began long before the advent of Jesus and the Annunciation to Mary.
Isaiah came along when true worship of God was externally attacked by the Assyrians, probably the most ruthless empire in human history until the 20th century. He kept calling Israel back to right conduct and right worship. He predicted disaster to come from idol-worship, but also foresaw the recovery of the covenant between God and Israel, when the lofty elite, like the mountains of Lebanon, would be leveled into a field, and the lowly would be lifted up. He looked forward to the day when the deaf would hear and the blind would see. Moreover, in modern language, the bullies would be humbled and the meek joyful. He saw the day of the Messiah, when the dominant culture of human pride would be turned upside down, and those who were in error and ignorance would learn and accept true godly understanding.
Our psalm today seems to look forward to the vision of John in the Book of Revelations. There will be no need of lights in the kingdom of God, because the Lord Himself will be the lamp. There will be no fear, because the Lord will be our protector. And we will in reality live in the presence of God all the eternal days of our lives, transcendentally happy together.
The prophecies of Isaiah are called the “Fifth Gospel” for good reason. Look at what Jesus does for the two blind men. Despite their disability, they try to follow Jesus on His way. They cried together: “Son of David, have mercy on us.” These men, unable to read, had heard of Jesus’s teaching and healing. Without being scholars of Torah, they instinctively knew He must be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy that the deaf would hear, the blind see. So in faith, they came to Jesus in the house He was staying and the Lord asked them “Do you believe I am able to do this?” They said “yes, Lord” and He touched them and said, “according to your faith, let it be done to you.”
Isn’t this what Jesus is saying to us today from His Messianic kingdom? Do we really believe He can heal our blindness, our inability to concur with every word He has said? Here, gathered together, we can ask for His mercy, healing, forgiveness, and experience His sanctifying word and presence. Let us ask for the faith we need from His Holy Spirit.
