Isaiah Exegesis (Advent A4)
God's indictment against the house of David is an age old one. "Why do you try my patience?" Ahaz harkens back to the Stiff-necked in the wilderness demanding water from a rock. "I'm not going to test God like that…" But in not looking for the proof in God when he was invited to believe, his Stiff-necked lack of faith shows through. Or, by not testing God when he wants to be tested, Ahaz is testing God just like the Israelites tested God.
God's signs aren't what we look for. Israel wanted water from a rock to quench their thirst, God just shook his head at them. The sign that he gave Ahaz, the house of David, and us, makes us shake our heads in wonder.
"Look," he says, "by the time a baby can be born and eat soft food the two kings you are so worried about will be gone…. But look out, you're next." He has a way of bringing more questions in the wake of his answers. Good news and bad rolled into one.
God's ways were not what Ahaz expected. They are not what the House of David expected either. God promised them a dynasty that would last forever; soon they would be destroyed waiting for the King to come.
I realized while I was working on Isaiah exegesis today, that this was the last Sunday before Christmas, which means Christmas program. "Maybe I'm working to hard," I thought. "I've already committed to telling 'The Tale Of Three Trees'." It isn't my style to try to fit a sermon to an illustration, but lo-and-behold it works. The expectation of the trees is like that of Ahaz, Joseph, the line of David, and Israel. God works his plan out beautifully even though they can't see how or maybe even refuse to ask.
The big question is still, so what? What does this mean to us, what is the truth that will knock our socks off, whether we are children or fogies?
2 comments:
hmmm... well there is that little thing that Isaiah points toword, you know that virgin birth thing... oh, and yes, this is the creator of the univierse, THE Big Guy, Master and Ruler, Alpha and Omega... and oh, yes... that little chewing soft food, the Word that has become flesh and DWELT amoung US!
Thanks very much for your insight into the conception, birth, and early development of the infant as providing a metaphorical timeline as to what would be the fate of Ahaz's enemies, and the warning that he would be next. "Almah"--a young maiden--was certainly interpreted by Matthew and Christian tradition as referring to the virgin birth, and we can't deny that in God's overall plan. But it's pretty clear that Isaiah need not have intended that explicitly. All he was doing was to give a concrete frame of reference for the kind of (very predictable) fate that would surely befall Ahaz as the obvious consequence of his immoraltiy and incompetence.
I think the "good news that will knock our socks off" may be the insight that the real good news so often comes disguised as bad news. A hard lesson to preach on in the materialistically anaesthetized atmosphere that dulls the senses even of those in our Sunday assemblies, but, for that very reason, such an important one.
In my homily this Sunday, I've picked up on "Emmanuel" rather than "virgin." There's only so much you can say about virginity (even for Catholics!) before you reach a repetitious dead end. I mean, you can't deny the virgin birth, and some folks (myself included) are called to virginity/celibacy "for the sake of the Kingdom." But exploring the dimensions of Emmanuel is like sounding an ocean without a bottom.
I'm very new to blogging, but I will continue to be interested in your reflections. Thanks again.
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