First Reading Commentary
The Targum Jonathan is an ancient Hebrew text
in which rabbis interpreted passages from the Old Testament. In these rabbinical writings is the following
based on this First Reading: "And there shall go forth a king from the
sons of Jesse, and the Messiah shall be anointed from his children's children." Thus it is quite clear that the Targum
Jonathan identifies this Reading as a prophecy concerning the Messiah. Jesse was the father of King David and
therefore, the root of the Davidic line.
The Spirit of the Lord, that is to say, the Author of all gifts, shall
rest upon Him. This has a twofold
meaning: First, it describes the Messiah's eternalness; secondly, it also
points to our Lord's baptism in the Jordan in which the Spirit makes an
appearance in the form of a dove.
"From Apologetics to New Spirituality:
Trends in Jewish Environmental Theology" author Rabbi Lawrence Troster
writes: "The Jewish concept of a perfect world is one of harmony among all
creatures. This can be seen in the
famous vision of Isaiah (Isaiah 11:1-10)
in which no creature kills for sustenance and there is no war or injustice in
human society. This reconciliation between humanity and the rest of Creation
evokes a return to the Garden of Eden."
In other words, a return to Paradise; for it is obvious that this
Reading is not pointing to yet another prophet whose influence will terminate
with his life – but instead points to God Himself since only He can take us from
this valley of tears and welcome us in Paradise.
Reading on, the text says that there shall be
no harm or ruin on God's holy mountain.
In biblical terms God's "holy mountain" is often linked to
Moses and the place where he received the Ten Commandments. In the New Testament, however, Saint Peter
refers to the mountain of the Transfiguration as the "holy mountain" (cf. 2 Peter 1:18). For purposes of identifying the Messiah,
Saint Peter's proclamation really opens up for us the Hebrew Scriptures. The Hebrew Bible is called the Tanakh. It is divided into three sections: The Torah
(the first five books), the Nevi'im (the Prophets) and the Ketuviim (the
Hagiographa or the Writings). The rabbis
of the ancient world taught that when the Messiah comes all three sections of
the Hebrew Scriptures would bear witness to Him.
At the Transfiguration the Voice of the
Father speaks and says: "This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased
– listen to Him." In the Book of
Psalms or the Ketuviim section of the Hebrew Bible are the words: "You are
My Son" (Psalm 2:7). In Isaiah or the Nevi'im section are these
words: "Behold My Servant, I will uphold Him; My chosen One with Whom I am
pleased" (Isaiah 42:1). And in Deuteronomy or the Torah section is
this passage: "The Lord your God will raise up to you a Prophet of your
nation and of your brethren like unto Me; you shall listen to Him" (Deuteronomy 18:15). God our Father shows us that the Messiah
is His Son; and also by the words He uses at the Transfiguration concerning His
Son fulfills what the ancient rabbis believed and taught.
The slightest hint of what would later be
revealed as the Trinity also seems to be present in this First Reading. Jesus is the Word of God striking the
ruthless with the rod of His Mouth and slaying the wicked with the Breath of
His Lips. "Breath" in
spirituality is often synonymous with the Holy Spirit.
Some interesting
points in translation: The words "set up as a signal for the nations"
in the Latin Vulgate translates as, "stands as an ensign of people";
and that ensign may indicate the Cross which is the universal banner for
Christianity. Also, the words "for
His dwelling shall be glorious" translate from the Latin Vulgate to mean, "and
His sepulcher shall be glorious" which Saint Jerome comments on by adding:
"Christ's death was ignominious but His monument was full of glory."
Second Reading Commentary
There are some basics here in Christian
morality: Receiving one another with charity, peace and patience as Christ
received us, and supporting one another for the glory of God. Jesus was the Minister of the circumcised,
Who became Man for the salvation of both the Jews and the Gentiles. He would preach His Gospel first to the Jews
to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament that the Messiah would come for
their salvation and for the conversion of the Gentiles. Saint Paul refers to Christ as a Minister of
the circumcised, who are the Jews, because Jesus lived and preached among them. Jesus lived according to the Law of Moses to
work for the greater glory of God among the Jews by showing that God is
faithful to His Old Testament promises; and among the Gentiles He was to be the
Instrument of God's mercy by including them in the Almighty's plan of
salvation. All of this is designed to bring
an end to division and make us one, a people of God.
Saint Paul says something to us in the first
sentence of great importance, namely that hope comes from the Scriptures. Real hope does not come from CNN, the Wall
Street Journal or the local newspaper. Hopefully
we're all reading the Word of God on a daily basis. Keep in mind also that Saint Paul speaks of
previous writings. For him and those
early Christians, this is what we now call the Old Testament. If the story of Jesus is to truly come to
life and be a Real Presence and force in our lives, then we have to become
familiar with the Old Testament because it all points to Jesus.
Saint Paul also
mentions endurance. If you have a daily
craving for what is offered by the secular media, you might need endurance to
not let it form your belief system. Surely
Saint Paul is encouraging us – and even pleading with us to be counter-cultural. Being in harmony with one another, welcoming
one another while together glorifying God with one voice - these gems of
inspiration are not likely to be found on a daily basis in the secular media. God's Word gives us hope and certainly Advent
is a season of hope.
Gospel Commentary
Saint John the Baptist was the last of the
Old Testament prophets and the precursor of the New Testament. His desert lifestyle makes him the perfect
model for the eremitic way of life. As
he was to be the dividing line between the Old and New Testament, his form of
baptism was also the dividing line between the Jewish ceremonial bath known as
a "mikvah" and Christ's ordination
of the Sacrament of Baptism. It has the
characteristics of the Jewish ceremonial bath as well as a quasi rebirth. The acceptance of John's form of baptism was
an admission that the Kingdom of God was indeed at hand along with a
willingness to remedy past faults, thus earning God's grace.
John was certainly the poster boy for fire
and brimstone preaching as evidenced by his words to the Pharisees and
Sadducees. John's sanctity, life of
mortification and preaching must have had a tremendous impact among the people,
hence explaining their willingness to receive his baptism. In our modern day, the example of John the
Baptist screams at us daring us to be different, to be counter-cultural, and to
follow Christ in a radical way.
John warns the Pharisees and Sadducees that
they can't hide behind having Abraham as a father. Using that same argument, let us reflect on
our own lives. Can we indict ourselves
for not being fully Christian? The
Baptizer might say to us today: "Don't tell me you're a Christian because
you go to church once a week!"
Christianity is not about fulfilling obligations. Christianity is a way of life – and when
considering the conditions of our modern day world – Christianity is a radical
way of life.
John continues by saying that God is able to
raise up children to Abraham from the stones.
In the old law, stones were an instrument of death. Our Savior's instrument of death was the
Cross; and from His death God raised up children He would call His very
own.
John proclaims his baptism for repentance but
there will be One Who will come after him Who will baptize with the Holy Spirit
and fire. Here John intimates about the
Divinity of Jesus. Interesting also is
that this is exactly what happened at Pentecost reminding us that among other
things John the Baptist was indeed a prophet.
John the Baptist also
states that he is not worthy to carry the sandals of Jesus. This statement would have been very understandable
to the people of his day because it was customary for a slave to carry a change
of sandals for his master. Therefore,
John, in complete humility proclaims his unworthiness to even be a slave for
Jesus Christ. In a way, like John the
Baptist, we are called to be precursors ourselves. We are the children of God set apart to
proclaim the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ by the example of our
lives; helping each other by word and deed, heralding Jesus as the Way and only
Way to eternal salvation - a gift we are sent to proclaim while at the same
time being fully aware of our unworthiness to be recipients of it.
