CCC Cross Reference:
Is 45:5-7 304; Is 45:8 2795; Is 45:22-24 201
Ps 85:11 214; Ps 85:12 2795
Lk 7:18-23 547; Lk 7:19 453; Lk 7:22 544
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Reading 1:
Is 45:6b-8, 18, 21b-25
I am the LORD, there is no other;
I form the light, and create the darkness,
I make well-being and create woe;
I, the LORD, do all these things.
Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above,
like gentle rain let the skies drop it down.
Let the earth open and salvation bud forth;
let justice also spring up!
I, the LORD, have created this.
For thus says the LORD,
The creator of the heavens,
who is God,
The designer and maker of the earth
who established it,
Not creating it to be a waste,
but designing it be lived in:
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
Who announced this from the beginning
and foretold it from of old?
Was it not I, the LORD,
besides whom there is no other God?
There is no just and saving God but me.
Turn to me and be safe,
all you ends of the earth,
for I am God; there is no other!
By myself I swear,
uttering my just decree
and my unalterable word:
To me every knee shall bend;
by me every tongue shall swear,
Saying, “Only in the LORD
are just deeds and power.
Before him in shame shall come
all who vent their anger against him.
In the LORD shall be the vindication and the glory
of all the descendants of Israel.”
Responsorial Psalm:
85:9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14
R. (Isaiah 45:8) Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior.
I will hear what God proclaims;
the LORD –for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land.
R. Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior.
Kindness and truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven.
R. Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior.
The LORD himself will give his benefits;
our land shall yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and salvation, along the way of his steps.
R. Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior.
Gospel:
Lk 7:18b-23
At that time,
John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask,
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”
When the men came to the Lord, they said,
“John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask,
‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’”
At that time Jesus cured many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits;
he also granted sight to many who were blind.
And Jesus said to them in reply,
“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible
First reading Isaiah 45:6-8,18,21-25
Apart from me, all is nothing.
I am the Lord, unrivalled,
I form the light and create the dark.
I make good fortune and create calamity,
it is I, the Lord, who do all this.
Send victory like a dew, you heavens,
and let the clouds rain it down.
Let the earth open
for salvation to spring up.
Let deliverance, too, bud forth
which I, the Lord, shall create.
Yes, thus says the Lord,
creator of the heavens,
who is God,
who formed the earth and made it,
who set it firm,
created it no chaos,
but a place to be lived in:
‘I am the Lord, unrivalled:
there is no other god besides me.
A God of integrity and a saviour:
there is none apart from me.
Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth,
for I am God unrivalled.
‘By my own self I swear it;
what comes from my mouth is truth,
a word irrevocable:
before me every knee shall bend,
by me every tongue shall swear,
saying, “From the Lord alone
come victory and strength.”
To him shall come, ashamed,
all who raged against him.
Victorious and glorious through the Lord shall be
all the descendants of Israel.’
Psalm: Psalm 84:9-14
Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down.
I will hear what the Lord God has to say,
a voice that speaks of peace,
peace for his people.
His help is near for those who fear him
and his glory will dwell in our land.
Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down.
Mercy and faithfulness have met;
justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.
Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down.
The Lord will make us prosper
and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps.
Send victory like a dew, you heavens, and let the clouds rain it down.
Gospel Luke 7:19-23
John, summoning two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or must we wait for someone else?’ When the men reached Jesus they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you, to ask, “Are you the one who is to come or have we to wait for someone else?”’ It was just then that he cured many people of diseases and afflictions and of evil spirits, and gave the gift of sight to many who were blind. Then he gave the messengers their answer, ‘Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the Good News is proclaimed to the poor and happy is the man who does not lose faith in me.’
Readings and Commentary from the Navarre Bible
Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Advent
From: Isaiah 45:6b-8, 18, 21b-25
Cyrus' Mission (Continuation)
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[6c] [Thus says the LORD:]
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
[7] I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe,
I am the Lord, who do all these things.
[8] "Shower, O heavens, from above,
and let the skies rain down righteousness;
let the earth open, that salvation may sprout forth,
and let it cause righteousness to spring up also;
I the Lord have created it.
The Lord Rules Over All (Continuation)
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[18] For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
(he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
(he established it;
he did not create it a chaos,
he formed it to be inhabited!):
"I am the Lord, and there is no other.
[21b] "Who told this long ago?
Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
And there is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none besides me.
[22] "Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
[23] "By myself I have sworn,
from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
'To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear.'
[24] "Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
are righteousness and strength;
to him shall come and be ashamed,
all who were incensed against him.
[25] In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
shall triumph and glory.
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Commentary:
45:6-7. When these verses were written they may have been designed to counter dualism (very prevalent among the Persians and their neighbors), which held that two counterposed principles existed -- good and evil; hence the emphasis on the fact that the Lord is the only God, the creator of all things of light and of darkness. That would explain why God is described as the maker of "weal" and "woe", whereas because God is infinite goodness he cannot properly be called the author of evil. However, because Christian readers could find the statement (in v. 2) disconcerting, exegetes have commented on it. Origen, quite early on, gave this explanation: "Evil, in the absolute sense of the word, was not created by God [...]. If we speak of evil in a loose sense, meaning physical and natural evils, then we can say that God created it in order to convert men by their suffering. What is strange about this teaching? We refer to the punishments meted out by parents and teachers, and even the prescriptions and operations carried out by doctors and surgeons, as evils and sufferings, without blaming or condemning them. And that is how we should read the verse: 'I form light and create darkness, I make weal and woe' (Is 45:7)" ("Contra Celsum", 6, 55-56). And St Gregory the Great comments: "I make weal and woe: the peace of God is offered to us precisely in the moment when created things, which are good in themselves, though not always desired or sought with rectitude of heart, become the source of suffering and disgrace. Our union with God is broken by sin; it is fitting, therefore, that we return to him along the path of suffering. When any created thing, which is good in itself, causes us to suffer, it is an instrument for our conversion, so that we will return humbly to the source of peace" ("Moralia In Job", 3, 9, 15).
45:8. The terms translated as "righteousness" and "salvation" correspond to three Hebrew abstract nouns. The first and third ("righteousness") mean the same thing. The New Vulgate translates them as "iustitia" and "salvatio". But the Vulgate of St Jerome interpreted the first two as adjectives -- "righteous" and "saving", reading them as having more direct reference to the Messiah, the "Just (One)", the "Savior" and giving rise to a text that is used in the Advent liturgy: "Rorate coeli desuper, et nubes pluant iustum; aperiatur terra et germinet Salvatorem, et iustitia oriantur simul" ("Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior..."). A sermon attributed to St Augustine sees these words as finding fulfillment in the birth of Christ: "Today this prophecy is fulfilled: 'Shower, 0 heavens, from above, and let the skies rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation may sprout forth.' The Creator became a creature, so that the one who was lost would be found. This is what we read in the psalms: 'Before I was brought low, I sinned. Man sinned and became a criminal; God was made man so that the criminal could be set free. Man fell, but God descended [from heaven]; man fell into misery, but God came down in his mercy; man fell through his pride, God came with his grace" ("Sermones", 128). And St Proclus of Constantinople, reading these words as a figure of the virginal birth of Jesus, says: "The skies rain down righteousness: the sin of Eve has been undone and destroyed by the purity of the Virgin and by the One who was born of her, God and man. On this day, man is set free from the prison of sin and the burden of darkness that weighed him down is lifted from him" ("De Navitate Domini", 1).
45:14-25. Repeatedly the point is made that the Lord is the only God, there is no other (cf. vv. 14-15, 18, 21, 22). Only God can save. And so, all the nations are invited to acknowledge his sovereignty and worship him on Zion (vv. 22-24). Although at the start of the passage the language has resonances of war (implications of plunder and taking strong men prisoner: vv. 14-17), this is only a graphic way of speaking, In fact, the passage has to do with liberation from idolatry and with allowing oneself be captivated by the truth of that God who is hidden but who is the only God and true Savior
The words "Truly, though art a God who hidest thyself' (v. 15) is a prophetic re flection on the nature of God, a being who is unfathomable, a mystery to the mind of man, who ordinarily acts through persons and events in history, without letting himself be seen. This idea, which has profound and universal philosophical and theological implications, is very much in line with the historical circumstances --the election of Cyrus as the person God uses to advance his plans. This whole chapter is imbued with a universalist outlook, very different from the attitudes of the people before.
The Fathers saw in Cyrus a figure of Christ. God acted in a hidden way through Cyrus to bring about the the Godhead hidden in Jesus. The Septuagint translates "Truly, thou art a God who hidest thyself' as "Thou art God and we did not know it" which some Fathers read as a reference to the divinity of Christ: "The Son of God has always been present, though he hid who he was. When he was revealed in his glory after the resurrection, the people confessed: 'You are God, and we did not know it'. And when the one who is seen according to the Law as a mere Angel and the captain of the Lord's host is recognized finally as the Son of God, the people give thanks, saying: 'You are God, and we did not know it'. What is meant by this is that He is the one who appeared to the patriarchs, the one who was made man and was not recognized by men" (Ambrosiaster, "Ad Romanos", 2, 22).
Verse 23b is reminiscent of Philippians 2:10-11, which attributes to Jesus Christ qualities that the Old Testament applied only to God.
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From: Luke 7:18b-23
The Mission of John the Baptist
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[18b] The disciples of John (the Baptist) told him of all these things. [19] And John, calling to him two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord, saying, "Are You He who is to come, or shall we look for another?" [20] And when the men had come to Him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, 'Are You He who is to come, or shall we look for another?'" [21] In that hour He cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many that were blind He bestowed sight. [22] And He answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. [23] And blessed is he who takes no offense at Me."
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Commentary:
18-23. "It was not out of ignorance that John enquired about Christ's coming in the flesh, for he had already clearly professed his belief, saying, 'I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God' (John 1:34). That is why he does not ask, 'Are You He who has come?' but rather, 'Are You He who is to come?' thus asking about the future, not about the past. Nor should we think that the Baptist did not know about Christ's future passion, for it was John who said, 'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world' (John 1:29), thus foretelling His future immolation, which other prophets had already foretold, particularly Isaiah (chapter 53) [...]. It can also be replied, with St. John Chrysostom, that John made this enquiry not from doubt or ignorance, but because he wished his disciples to be satisfied on this point by Christ. Therefore, Christ gave His reply to instruct these disciples, by pointing to the evidence of His miracles (verse 22)" (St. Thomas Aquinas, "Summa Theologiae", II-II, q. 2, a. 7 ad 2).
22. In His reply to these disciples of John the Baptist, Jesus points to the miracles He has worked, which show that he has investigated the Kingdom of God; He is, therefore, the promised Messiah. Along with miracles, one of the signs of the coming of the Kingdom is the preaching of salvation to the poor. On the meaning of "the poor", see the notes on Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20 and 6:24.
Following the Lord's example, the Church has always taken special care of those in need. In our own time the Popes have stressed time and again the duties of Christians in regard to poverty caused by man's injustice to man: "Selfishness and domination are permanent temptations for men. Likewise an ever finer discernment is needed, in order to strike at the roots of newly arising situations of injustice and to establish progressively a justice which will be less and less imperfect [...]. The Church directs her attention to these new 'poor' -- the handicapped, the maladjusted, the old, various groups on the fringe of society -- in order to recognize them, help them, defend their place and dignity in a society hardened by competition and the attraction of success" (Paul VI, "Octogesima Adveniens", 15).
23. These words refer to the same thing Simeon prophesied about when he referred to Christ as a sign that is spoken against, a sign of contradiction (cf. Luke 2:34). People who reject our Lord, who are scandalized by Him, will not reach Heaven.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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