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Commentary on Matthew 12:1-8

Today’s story follows immediately on yesterday’s words of Jesus inviting those carrying heavy burdens to come to him for comfort and relief.  Those burdens were understood to be the yoke of the Law which could weigh so heavily on the ordinary person. Today we see what kind of burdens it entailed.

Jesus and his disciples are walking through a cornfield.  The disciples were feeling a little hungry so they began plucking ears of corn to eat…nothing wrong with that.  Gleaning, especially where the poor were concerned, was not regarded as stealing:

If you go into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you shall not put a sickle to your neighbor’s standing grain. (Deut 23:25)

Yet the Pharisees criticised the disciples’ behaviour before Jesus.  They were not upset by the plucking of the corn, but because it was done on a sabbath day.  Most manual work was forbidden on the Sabbath, including for instance, reaping.  So we read in Exodus:

Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in plowing time and in harvest time you shall rest.
(Exod 34:21)

The question that would come immediately to the legalistic mind would be what exactly constituted harvesting.  In the minds of the Pharisees, who would put the strictest interpretation in order to be on the safe side, what the disciples were doing contravened the Sabbath requirements.

Jesus would have none of this nonsense.  He gave two examples which the Pharisees would find difficult to criticise. First, David’s soldiers, because they were hungry, went into the house of God and ate the ”bread of offering”, that is, bread which was laid out as an offering to God.  According to the Law, only the priests were allowed to eat this bread.

Second, he pointed to the priests on temple duty who not only worked on the Sabbath, but did more work than usual on that day (like priests today!).  Yet no one found fault with them.

Jesus has two further and more powerful arguments. First, He calls his accusers’ attention to a saying paraphrased from the prophet Hosea:

I desire mercy and not sacrifice… (Hos 6:6)

What this means is that the measure of our behaviour in God’s eyes is not our observance of law, but the degree of love and compassion we have for our brothers and sisters.  Laws are for people; people are not for laws.  That is why a truly loving act always transcends any law.  If the Pharisees had fully understood the meaning of Hosea’s words, they would not have “condemned these innocent men”.

Second, Jesus simply says,

…the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.

Jesus as Lord is not bound by even the God-given laws of Israel.  If, in the eyes of Jesus, his disciples are innocent, then they are innocent.

Every time we read texts like this we have to look at how we as Christians behave both individually and corporately.  Legalism and small-mindedness can very easily infect our Catholic life.  We can start measuring people—including ourselves, but especially others—by the observance or non-observance of things which really have little to do with the substance of our Christian faith.  Of course, we can also go to the other extreme of having no rules at all.

There is a very demanding law to which we are all called to subscribe and that is the law of love.  It allows of no exceptions.  But its practice can only benefit both the giver and the receiver.

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Commentary on Isaiah 38:1-6,21-22,7-8

(Note that the verse numbering for today’s reading is read as a continuous text where vv 21-22 follow vv 1-6 and are then both followed by vv 7-8.)

Today we have the story of a good man who faithfully followed God’s will. It is our last reading from this part of the Book of Isaiah. The other parts of the book will be read at other times in the liturgical cycle.

The story told today seems to have taken place some time before the Assyrian invasion by Sennacherib in 701 BC.  Isaiah plays a central role in the king’s dialogue with God. It begins by the prophet telling the king, who is terminally ill, that it is time for him to put his affairs in order for his approaching death.  The prophet Elisha similarly predicted the death of the Syrian king, Ben-Hadad (2 Kings 8:9-10).

The king turned his face to the wall (not of his bedroom but more probably of the Temple, God’s dwelling house), and prayed that God would remember the good things he had done in the service of Yahweh during his life.   Among a line of kings who were steeped in idolatry and immorality, Hezekiah stood out for his goodness.

It is possible, too, that he had as yet no son or successor to take over from him, and so he wept bitterly. To think that he was going to die without an heir was perhaps the greatest pain of what seemed a terminal illness.

But his prayer clearly pleased the Lord, for Isaiah was sent with the good news that Hezekiah would be cured and in three days’ time would be able to go up to the Temple.  More than that, he was promised that another 15 years would be added to his life, and that Jerusalem would be protected from the Assyrian king.  (We saw in yesterday’s reading how Sennacherib’s army, about to lay siege to Jerusalem, was decimated by a plague which killed more than 180,000 soldiers and thus forced Sennacherib to withdraw.)

Finally, Isaiah ordered that a poultice of figs be applied by the court physicians so that the king could recover from an illness that was originally (v1) believed to be terminal.  Figs were often used for medicinal purposes. Hezekiah, for his part, asked for some sign to confirm that he would be healed and that he would be able to go to the Temple and make a sacrifice of thanksgiving.  It is not clear what sign he was requesting, but it might simply have been the healing of what is described as a “boil”.

His request was granted and the sign promised was that the setting sun would go back by ten steps, as indicated by its shadow on the “dial of Ahaz”.  The meaning is not clear, though the phrase likely refers to a sundial. In any case, the promised sign took place.  It may have been a miracle or it may simply have been caused by the refraction of light.

Here we see how a good man approaches the news of his death.  His main concern is that God should be aware of the kind of life he had led.  At first he does not ask to be healed, rather that he experience final salvation with God.  God then gives him what he had not actually asked for, namely, that he be healed and many more years of life be given to him.  This is his reward for his fidelity to Yahweh during his reign.

When we are confronted with serious sickness, our own or that of people close to us, we too need that kind of attitude that accepts fully what God wills for us at this time.  Perhaps it is the end of our time on earth, and we have to bid farewell to it and go forth to meet our God face to face.  Or it may be that our time has not yet come and we will be called to live on, either totally or partially healed, for some time to come.  In that case, our healing is a call for us to greater service of God and our neighbour.  It is also an opportunity to re-orientate our lives where that is necessary.  Strange to say, a spell in hospital is not infrequently a grace-filled time to reflect on the meaning and direction of one’s life…perhaps even better than a retreat!

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Commentary on Matthew 11:28-30

The Gospel in many of its passages is very demanding and requires an unconditional commitment to the following of Christ.  We have seen that clearly in the contrast Jesus made between the demands of the Law and what he expected from his followers.  But again and again, that is balanced by the other side of God—his compassion and his understanding of our weakness and frailty.

Today Jesus invites:

Come to me all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

He seems to be referring to the burden of the Law and the many other legalistic observances which had accumulated over the generations.  In fact there was a common rabbinic metaphor which spoke of the ‘yoke of the Law’.  We will see some of this in the two remaining readings of this week.  Jesus did not have much time for this kind of religion.  He invites us to come to him instead, and experience comfort and consolation.

Jesus invites us to take on his yoke instead.  A yoke can be heavy, but it makes it easier for an ox to pull a cart or a plough.  Jesus’ yoke is the yoke of love.  On the one hand, it restricts us from acting in certain ways, but at the same time it points us in the right direction.  In the long run, it has a liberating effect.  It is not unlike the idea of the “narrow gate” which Jesus invites us to go through rather than follow the wide road to nowhere (Matt 7:13-14).

Jesus asks us to learn from him in his gentleness and humility.  This was in stark contrast to the severity and arrogance of other religious leaders.  Not only are we to experience the gentleness of Jesus, we are also to practise it in our own dealings with others.

Another lovely idea that has been expressed arises from the observation that it was quite common for farmers to use double yokes, with two animals pulling a cart together. The thought is that Jesus is offering to share his yoke with me, so that Jesus and I will pull together and thus split the work. In any case, Jesus assures us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

Jesus expects us to give all of ourselves to him but, when we do so, we discover that what he asks is absolutely right for us.  To follow Jesus is not to carry a great weight, but to experience a great sense of liberation. If we have not found that experience yet then we are not yet carrying the yoke of Jesus.

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Commentary on Isaiah 26:7-9,12,16-19

We have today a beautiful prayer for judgement to come soon. It is the prayer of one who wants to follow closely the Lord’s way:

The way of the righteous is level;
straight is the path of the righteous that you clear.

His one longing is to be close to his Lord:

…your name and your renown
are the soul’s desire.

This contrasts strongly with the cruel and materialistic world of yesterday’s reading.

The next phrase is also a lovely one and one which we could make our own prayer:

My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.

We speak today of ‘seeking God in all things’, in every person, in every experience, in every situation.  This is where our lives get their true meaning:

For when your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

It is the judgements of God which throw light on what is really good and true and just.

The upright person too totally accepts those judgements and decisions of God:

O Lord, may you ordain peace for us,
for indeed, all that we have done, you have done for us.

The good person has nothing to fear: good deeds will bring their own reward; evil deeds will bring their consequences too.  In either case, the good experience peace because, whatever happens, they are in touch with God’s love.

The pains that follow from sinful acts are accepted:

O Lord, in distress they sought you;
they poured out a prayer
when your chastening was on them.

Everything, absolutely everything – be it good or bad, pleasant or painful, as Paul reminds us, works together for the ultimate good of those who love God. Those without that love are left pained and puzzled.  Those with love find peace in every experience.

In this passage, the prophet also speaks with regret of how the people have not lived up to their commitments. He may be referring to the Assyrian oppression.

Israel was intended to be “a light for the nations” (see Isaiah 42:6 and 9:2, which are cited in the Gospel) but:

We have won no victories on earth,
and no one is born to inhabit the world.

Jesus will teach us in the Gospel that his followers are also called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  We are to let people see our goodness so that they may be drawn to love and glorify God.  But, by their behaviour, Isaiah says that God’s people failed in this regard.

And we Christians, too, would have to admit to frequent failure. In these days, we are as likely to turn people away from Christ as towards him. It is time for us, as it was for the people that Isaiah addressed, to bring the dead, the spiritually dead, back to life. And then:

…dead shall live; their corpses shall rise.

Let us pray that our land be transformed from one of “corpses” to one that has and gives life.

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Commentary on Matthew 11:25-27

Yesterday we saw Jesus severely chiding the people of three cities, where he had shown many signs of his divine origin, for their slowness to believe in and accept him. Today he speaks with warmth and praise of those who have become his followers.

He remarks, in a prayer he makes to his Father, that it is not the learned and clever, the Scribes and Pharisees, the religious experts, but “the infants”, his disciples, who have been graced with understanding the secrets of the Kingdom.  They are infants not only in their lack of learning and sophistication, but also in their openness to hear and learn, a virtue lacking in those who regarded themselves as intellectuals.

This was in fact a reflection on the actual development of the early Church.  It was a grassroots movement which spread most among the lower levels of society and among slaves.  It would not be until later that Christianity spread to the higher echelons and would become the faith also of the ruling elite and the intellectual classes.  As Jesus says today:

…yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

In growing and spreading in this way, Christianity showed, first, that it was really the work of God.  It worked against powerful forces which tried very hard to obliterate it, but in the end the power of truth and love were too strong for even the strongest opponents.

Second, it revealed the truly catholic nature of the Christian faith.  It was never an exclusive domain of either the political or educated elite.  It has appealed, and continues to appeal, to people at every level of society from intellectual giants like Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and John Henry Newman to the totally illiterate.  Both can sit side by side and together hear the Gospel and celebrate the Eucharist.

Finally, Jesus suggests that knowing him and, through him, knowing the Father is a gift that he gives.  We can all, of course, open ourselves to that gift.  Why some of us do and others do not is something we cannot understand in this life.  It is a gift which is offered, never imposed, and again no one can know who are those who have been offered it and turned it down.

Let us today thank God that we have been among those who have listened and accepted and been graced. But we know we have a lot more listening and accepting yet to do.  Jesus stands at our door and knocks today and every single day.  It is my decision to what extent I open that door and let him come in.

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Commentary on Isaiah 10:5-7,13-16

Today we have a powerful passage from Isaiah, full of eloquently poetic images, but with one very simple message: the Lord God is master of all that happens.  On the face of it, the conquests of Assyria (and later of Babylon) seemed to be the work of a powerful empire.  Yet, in truth, Assyria, for all its power, is in the prophet’s eyes merely the unwitting instrument of God.

So the prophet cries in God’s name:

Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger—
the club in their hands is my fury!

He says this because what Assyria does is wicked and evil.  Isaiah is probably referring to Sennacherib at the time of his invasion in 701 BC. It is “the rod of [God’s] anger” because it is an instrument unknowingly doing the work of the God in which it does not believe.  Later on, Babylon will play the same role.

Assyria is being sent “against a godless nation”, namely, God’s own people in Judah who have turned their backs on their Lord to indulge in idolatry and immorality.  It is with the Lord’s permission that the Assyrians under Sennacherib:

…take spoil and seize plunder,
and…tread them down like the mire of the streets.

Maybe Sennacherib believed this was all his own strategy – but no:

…this is not what he intends,
nor does he have this in mind…

The Assyrian’s aim was:

…to destroy
and to cut off nations not a few.

But in reality, he was bringing the punishment on Judah which its sinfulness had merited.

Not aware of the supporting role he was playing in a bigger drama, he makes his boasts (in a verse left out):

Are not my commanders all kings? (Is 10:8)

As he made one conquest after another, he put his commanders as rulers of vanquished territories:

Is not Calno like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad?
Is not Samaria like Damascus? (Is 10:9)

In this verse, he lists off the cities that have become part of Assyrian territory.

And what he has done to other idolatrous territories, will he not do the same to Jerusalem and its idolatrous images?  And so he continues with one boast after another:

I have removed the boundaries of peoples
and have plundered their treasures;
…I have brought down those who sat on thrones.

In language filled with contempt for his opponents he boasts:

…as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
so I have gathered all the earth,
and there was none that moved a wing
or opened its mouth or chirped.

Altogether in his statement, Sennacherib refers to himself nine times. He really believed all that happened was his own doing:

By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding…

However, as a godless people, Assyria’s lot would be no better than those it was trying to crush (it appears reminiscent of the arrogance of Hitler at the height of the Nazi regime).

Sennacherib’s power is all an illusion. The prophet says:

Shall the ax vaunt itself over the one who wields it
or the saw magnify itself against the one who handles it?

Sennacherib is in God’s hands. And so his ultimate impotence is revealed when some sort sickness, probably some kind of rapidly spreading plague, brought death to 185,000 of his troops in 701 BC as they prepared to lay siege to Jerusalem, forcing him to withdraw (2 Kings 19:35).

Again we have to read this passage with care.  In some ways, there are natural explanations for all that happened both to the Assyrians and God’s people.  We need to avoid the image of a vindictive God who hits back at his disobedient people by bringing terrible calamities on them. The principal message is rather that ultimately everything comes from God and we are – as  Paul would say – like putty in his hands.

The message for God’s people is that, by turning their back on him, they will gain nothing and lose everything.  This applied equally to the Assyrian conquerors and the defeated people of Judah.  Even the most powerful people in our society ultimately have “feet of clay” and can be brought down by the simplest of things (like an invisible virus). Yet, how many of us, sometimes in small and silly ways, think that we can wield power and seek to have power over others.

True life and true happiness consists in our being at all times malleable instruments in God’s hands, bringing life and happiness to others.

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Commentary on Isaiah 7:1-9

The reading seems to describe mainly a historical situation, but there is a lesson which is brought out at the end. The incident refers to what is known as the Syro-Ephraimite War which probably took place in the years 735-34 BC.  Rezin (or Razon, depending on the biblical translation) was king of Aram (Syria) and Pekah (752-732 BC) was king of Ephraim, another name for Israel or the Northern Kingdom.  Syria and Israel were trying to persuade King Ahaz of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, to join them in an alliance against the powerful king of Assyria who had eyes on land lying to the west of his empire.  Israel was afraid that Ahaz might go into a counter-alliance with Assyria, which was not an unlikely possibility.

When the news reached “the house of David”, that is, King Ahaz, in Jerusalem that Syria and Israel-Ephraim were on his doorstep:

…the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

Their fear was justified because Ahaz had earlier been soundly defeated by the Syrian-Israel alliance.

It is at this point that Isaiah is told by God to meet Ahaz at an aqueduct where the king was probably inspecting the city’s water supply (rather important if a siege was in the offing).  Its exact location is not now known.  The “fuller’s (or washerman’s) field” refers to a place where the citizens did their laundry.  Clothes were cleaned by trampling on them in cold water and using a kind of soap (soda) or bleach called ‘fuller’.

With him Isaiah brings one of his sons, Shear-jashub.  Each of Isaiah’s sons was given a symbolic and prophetic name and this one means ‘A remnant will return’.  It indicates a prophecy that one day a small number of Jews would return to Israel and escape the punishment which most of the population has deserved.

Isaiah has words of comfort for Ahaz.  The two countries threatening him, powerful though they seem to be, are merely “smouldering stumps of firebrands”.  Their fire has gone out; only the smoke of dying embers remains.  And, in fact, Damascus, the capital of Syria (Aram), was overcome by Tiglath-Pileser III in 732 BC and Israel, the Northern Kingdom, was badly defeated in the same year.  Isaiah was issuing no empty threats.

Although the Syrian-Israel alliance intends to put the “son of Tabeel” (probably a courtier from Syria) on Ahaz’s throne, it will not happen, says Isaiah.  Tabeel is an Aramaic name sometimes linked with the ‘land of Tob’, on the east side of the Jordan.

Isaiah then proceeds to make a prophecy indicating that the Syrian-Ephraim alliance will not succeed:

It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.

At this time, the capital or ‘head’ of Syria was Damascus and Rezin head of Damascus; Samaria was the capital or ‘head’ of Ephraim (Israel) and the “son of Remaliah” the head of Samaria (Ephraim/Israel).  The irony of the words is that mere men head these territories, while the real king of Judah-Jerusalem is not Ahaz, but Yahweh the Lord God. Says God through his prophet:

Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered, no longer a people.

And indeed in the year 722 BC the city of Samaria fell.  Later still, about 670 BC, the Assyrian king settled foreign colonies in Israel.  The intermarriage of these settlers with the Jewish remnant resulted in the “Samaritans”.  The northern kingdom was no longer a separate and distinct nation.

All of this is a warning to Ahaz that the same fate awaits Judah unless he stands firm:

If you do not stand firm in faith,
you shall not stand at all.

The message is clear: Ahaz is to put his firm trust and confidence in the protection of Yahweh, who alone has the power to save him and his people. Unfortunately, the message will not be heeded.

In the prophets, faith is not so much a theoretical belief in the existence and uniqueness of God as an attitude of confidence based on God’s choice of Israel: he has chosen Israel, he is Israel’s God, he alone has the power to save his people.  This unconditional trust, a guarantee of salvation, excludes all reliance not only on human agency, but still more on false gods.

We, too, cannot expect God to stand by us if we do not stand by him. This is not to be interpreted as saying that God is touchy and vindictive and that, if he feels insulted or ignored, he will abandon us or bring some terrible punishment on us.  It means that only when we are fully on his side, when his way is fully assimilated into our lives, will we find the life he promises.  If we insist on going our own way, he will not stop us, but he will not be able to help us either.  We will have shut ourselves off from his loving help.

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Commentary on Matthew 11:20-24

After the apostolic discourse of chapter 10, Matthew goes back to narrative. In the passages preceding today’s Gospel reading, Jesus reassures the disciples of John the Baptist, saying to them:

Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. (Matt 11:4)

In other words, he says that he is indeed “the one who is to come”, the Messiah and Saviour-King.

This is followed by a passage where Jesus complains of those who close their minds to God’s word. John the Baptist led the life of an ascetic in the wilderness, and they did not listen to him. Jesus socialised freely with all kinds of people, and they accused him of being a glutton and a drunkard.

So today Jesus warns three towns where he spent much of his time: Chorazin, Bethsaida and especially Capernaum. If Jesus had done in the pagan towns of Tyre and Sidon what he had done in these predominantly Israelite towns, they would have converted long ago. Even Sodom, the biblical image of the very worst in immorality, would have done better.

It is important for us to realise that in this Gospel, Jesus is primarily speaking to us today. If many non-Christians had been given the opportunities that we have received through our membership in the Christian community, they could very well be living much more generously than we do.

To what extent are we listening to God’s word? How much of it do we try to understand? And how much of it is reflected in our lifestyle? Are we clearly and obviously followers of Christ and his Way?

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Commentary on Matthew 10:24-33

We continue Jesus’ apostolic discourse to his Apostles and all those who do the work of evangelisation. He reminds them very clearly that they can expect no better treatment than he himself received as:

A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master…

All in all, Christians are to show no surprise at violence and abuse against them. But at times, it can be hard to understand. However, if they treated the Master and Lord in this way, his followers can expect no better treatment. If the Master is called the Prince of Devils, how much more those of his family! Remember what Jesus had said earlier:

Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness (Matt 5:10)

Much of Jesus’ teaching to his disciples was done quietly and away from the crowds. He frequently told both people he cured and demons not to speak about him. Even his disciples were not to reveal his identity as Messiah. People at that stage were not ready and could have misinterpreted the true meaning of his teaching.

Also, his message could not be fully understood until he had completed his mission through his passion, death and resurrection. Only that would put his teaching into its proper context. But in the course of time, it will be all made public.

Later on it will be the duty of his disciples to deliver the message in its entirety and without fear. The Christian community, although consisting of initiates with a way of life that is not always understood by outsiders, has no secrets. The ‘mysteries’ that Paul and others speak of are truths, previously unknown, which have been revealed. They are not like those of the so-called ‘mystery religions’ of the time or of secretive societies in our own. The message of Christ is to be made known to all in its entirety, even in hostile environments.

Some of those who proclaim the Gospel are going to be threatened even with losing their lives—a fact that is testified to by a long list of martyrs (martyr, Greek for ‘witness’) over the centuries. Jesus is saying that physical death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person. It is a reality we are all going to have to face sooner or later anyway. Far worse than physical death is the loss of one’s soul—the death of one’s integrity. There are some values which transcend our physical survival. To betray such a value in order to live a bit longer is to lose one’s soul. Many, many martyrs have clearly understood this.

Jesus is telling us that, even though we may, as he himself did, lose our lives, he will be with us. To be unfaithful to our deepest beliefs and convictions is a fate worse than death. 

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Commentary on Isaiah 6:1-8

On the last day of this week we begin readings from the prophet Isaiah and they will continue until Friday of next week inclusive. Isaiah was one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament who appeared at a critical period in the history of Israel. The Northern Kingdom (also called Israel, Ephraim or Samaria) had collapsed under attacks from the Assyrians, and then Sennacherib laid siege to Jerusalem in the Southern Kingdom (Judah). Previous to this, in the year 742 BC, when Uzziah, king of Judah died, Isaiah was called to be a prophet in the Temple of Jerusalem. His mission covered three periods during the reigns of Kings Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.

The Book of Isaiah, as we have it in our Bibles today, is divided into three parts:

1. Chapters 1-39 are attributed to Isaiah and some of his disciples.
2. Chapters 40-55, also known as Deutero-Isaiah (Second Isaiah), are thought to have been written by an anonymous poet who wrote much later, towards the end of the exile in Babylon. The passages from Isaiah we read in Holy Week, e.g. about the Suffering Servant, come from this part.
3. Chapters 55-66 consist of oracles from a later period, and composed by disciples who wrote in the spirit of Isaiah.

We will just be taking selected passages from the first part. Other parts of Isaiah are read at different times of the year, especially during Advent and Lent.

But before we start at the beginning, in chapter 1 of the book (on Monday of Week 15 of Ordinary Time), today we read Isaiah’s solemn call by God to be a prophet. This is not recorded until chapter 6 where it fittingly introduces the “Book of Emmanuel” (chap 7), which consists of a series of oracles relating to the war between Syria and Ephraim (the Northern Israelite Kingdom).

Isaiah’s commission as a prophet probably preceded his preaching ministry, but the account was postponed to serve as a climax to the opening series of oracles, and to provide a warrant for the shocking announcements of judgement they contain. The people had mocked the “Holy One of Israel” (Is 5:19), and now Yahweh has commissioned Isaiah to call them to account. This passage is generally accepted as being a truly majestic piece of high literary quality.

The experience took place in the year King Uzziah died. This happened in the year 740 BC, at the end of an 11-year reign. Uzziah, also known as Azariah, had been a good and powerful king. But when he insisted on burning incense in the Temple, he was struck with leprosy (or some other chronic skin ailment) which lasted till his death.

Isaiah begins by saying that he saw the Lord on a “high throne”. This is understood to be an internal vision which probably took place in the Temple, though it could refer to the heavenly temple. The train of the Lord’s robe, a long, flowing garment, almost filled the holy place. This was the sanctuary, the Hekal, the chamber leading into the Debir or ‘Holy of Holies’.

Looking down on God’s throne are six-winged seraphim. Isaiah is the first to introduce these beings to the Hebrew Testament. The Hebrew root underlying the word seraphim means ‘burn’, perhaps indicating their purity as God’s ministers. They may also correspond to the cherubs on the Ark of the Covenant. With one pair of wings they cover their faces in reverence so that they will not look directly at God; with another pair, they modestly veil their feet and this is understood to refer euphemistically to their sexual organs; with the third pair they remain hovering in flight, indicating their eagerness to be in God’s service.

They all sing in chorus:

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.

These words have been transposed into our Eucharistic liturgy. The triple “Holy” emphasises the unique holiness of God, whose outer manifestation is his glory. It is a favourite epithet of Isaiah who frequently refers to God as “the Holy One of Israel”. This divine sanctity requires man himself to be sanctified, i.e. separated from everything profane, purified from sin, sharing in the ‘justice’ of God. The phrase “full of his glory”, also elsewhere in the Hebrew Testament, expresses the worldwide glory of God linked with his miraculous signs:

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may his glory fill the whole earth.
Amen and Amen. (Ps 72:18-19)

As the seraphim sing, the doorframe shakes and the building is filled with smoke, a sure sign of God’s presence, reminiscent of Mount Sinai in the past and of Pentecost later on. And as the power of God’s voice terrified the Israelites at Mt Sinai when the mountain was covered with smoke, so Isaiah is understandably overcome with fear and trepidation:

Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!

Fully aware of his sinfulness, Isaiah has come face to face with Yahweh. It was universally believed by the Israelites that anyone who saw God face to face would immediately die:

…you cannot see my face, for no one shall see me and live. (Exod 33:20)

Jacob was a privileged exception when he struggled with the angel at Peniel:

For I have seen God face to face, yet my life is preserved.
(Gen 32:30)

And so was Moses:

Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. (Exod 33:11)

As well, the Transfiguration, in which Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus, was a similar theophany (see Matt 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36).

At that moment, one of the seraphim took a burning ember from the altar and touched Isaiah’s mouth with it, signifying his mandate to speak on Yahweh’s behalf. The live coal is holy because Yahweh has sanctified the altar from which it is taken. Coals of fire were taken inside the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement, when sacrifice was made to atone for sin. Fire, too, is normally associated with Yahweh in the theophanies of Sinai. But that was a destroying fire:

Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the Israelites. (Exod 24:17)

In today’s reading it is purifying fire, as it was in the case of Jesus, of whom John the Baptist says:

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matt 3:11)

Fire too will accompany the Israelites at night as they wander through the desert and tongues of fire will symbolise the presence of the Spirit on Jesus’ disciples.

Now the fiery coal fire removes Isaiah’s sin and makes him fit to be the Lord’s spokesman. Says the seraph:

Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.

Then follows the question which is also an invitation and a call:

Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?

To which Isaiah responds at once:

Here am I; send me!

The readiness of Isaiah recalls the faith of Abraham (Gen 12:1-4), and is in contrast to the hesitation of Moses (Ex 4:10-12), and especially that of Jeremiah (Jer 4:1-10). We think too of the invitation which was given to Mary to be the Mother of the Messiah and the Son of God. Her response was as ready as that of Isaiah:

Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word. (Luke 1:38)

This was a ‘Yes’ that was never revoked, even in the most trying times.

Each one of us, too, has been called by God through our baptism and perhaps by some later experiences, although probably not as dramatic as that of Isaiah. The important thing is my response. Have we said ‘Yes’ yet? Let us say it today with all our heart:

Lord, here I am; send me.