Importance of Our Response and Engagement to Christ's Work in Coming Out of Exile of Ignorance - Friday of the Second Week of Advent

During the Babylonian exile, God said to the Israelites:

I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go. If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river, and your vindication like the waves of the sea; Your descendants would be like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, Their name never cut off or blotted out from my presence (Isaiah 48:17-19).

Indeed, the above statement is God’s post-exilic covenant with the Israelites, signaling that God would soon deliver them from the captivity in Babylon and redeem them to Jerusalem to rebuild this holy city, which was desecrated and ruined by the Babylonians.

So He further said to the Israelites in captivity:

Go forth from Babylon, flee from Chaldea! With shouts of joy declare this, announce it; Make it known to the ends of the earth, Say: “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob (Isaiah 48:20).

For us, Christians, such a message of post-exilic hope is not only about the Second Temple period after the Babylonian exile of Jewish history but really about messianic hope for the new covenant period brought by Christ and his reign in an allegorical way. In fact, the Israelites had longed for the coming of Christ (Messiah), the one anointed by God, sent to save them from foreign interferences and domination. And the prophecies for the coming of Christ were spoken by prophets of Israel, such as Isaiah, Daniel, Micah, and Malachi. And the prophecies of the coming of Christ were already fulfilled as Christ was incarnated in the womb of Mary the Blessed Virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:31,35) and was born of her (Luke 2:7). And Christ made his public appearance at his Baptism, as John the Baptist was prepared for his coming (e.g. Matthew 3:1-17) to begin his public ministry.

Though we were with God in Eden (Genesis 3:8) upon being created by Him out of the dust of the earth and receive life through His breath (Genesis 2:7), we lost Eden because of the Original Sin (Genesis 3:1-24). Ever since then, we have been in exile and longing to return to Eden. But we have no access back to Eden because its gate has been securely shut ever since our eviction (Genesis 3:24). In fact, we do not need to wish to return to Eden, because God has been preparing for the new heavens and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:5; cf. Isaiah 43:19), where we are to be redeemed. And for this He sent His only begotten Son (1 John 4:9), let him dwell among us (John 1:14; cf. Exodus 29:46), to shepherd us out of the exile and lead into His Kingdom (Luke 12:32; John 10:1-18; Colossians 1:13), the New Eden, where New Jerusalem is (Revelation 21;1-22:5).

Now we must learn a lesson from how Israelites responded to the presence and teaching of Christ (Messiah).

The Gospel Reading (Matthew11:16-19) gives a snapshot of Israelites’ take on Christ among them. So, Jesus said:

To what shall I compare this generation?

It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, “We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.”

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, “He is possessed by a demon.”

The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, “Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.”

But wisdom is vindicated by her works (Matthew 11:16-19).

With the above words, Christ described how two children of wisdom, he and his forerunner, John the Baptist, were regarded for their works of wisdom, by Israelites in general. While some Israelites responded positively to the works of wisdom, performed by John the Baptist and Christ but others pretty much them. In this regard, they were like some children who perform music but others do not dance, like children express their mourning by singing lamentation but others did not mourn. The performers and singers are metaphors of those who perform works of wisdom, namely, John the Baptist and Christ, as well as, those who recognize Christ and listen to his teaching. And others are like children who do not take any part in the performance.  And the latter regarded John the Baptist as “possessed” and Christ as “glutton, drunkard, and friend of sinners”.

The vindicatory works of wisdom justify the former but condemn the latter (Mathew 11:19), just as those who listen to God the redeemer enjoy peace and vindication (Isaiah 48:19), lacking nothing (Isaiah 48:21) but those who do not are not given peace (Isaiah 48:22).

When God called the Israelites out of the Babylonian exile, with his post-exilic promise (e.g. Isaiah 48:17-19) many of them left Babylon and returned to Jerusalem to rebuilt the city. But some chose to remain in Babylon. And the Gospel Reading (Matthew 11:16-19), also reflects that not all those who saw and heard John the Baptist, Christ's forerunner, and Christ, performed the works of wisdom, responded positively and engage in the works, though some did. 

Now, we take a lesson from this, as we continue to prepare ourselves for his coming into our hearts. So we make sure we acknowledge him as he arrives. For this reason, ever since the First Sunday of Advent, we have been awake. And we have been working on ourselves to make sure we listen to his teaching and follow his way, as we actively respond to Christ’s teaching and engage in performances of the wisdom works.

Advent is a period for us to come out of the darkness of ignorance, which makes us propend to sin, as we prepare to receive Christ the wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:24) and engage in his works of wisdom, to overcome the darkness. Then, we will be no longer in exile of the darkness but being shepherded by him to his Kingdom.