The scripture readings of Monday of the Second Week of Advent (Isaiah 35:1-10; Luke 5:17-26) reflect and describe what the incarnated Christ will bring about, as he reigns upon his arrival.
In the
First Reading (Isaiah 35:1-10), we see what Isaiah had foreseen for what the
Christ would bring about, more than 700 years before the historical arrival of
the incarnated Christ.
As Christ
the King establishes his Kingdom of justice, he chastises so that his reign of
justice renews the lives of his people for peace and prosperity (Isaiah 32). As
the judge, the King vindicates his people and imposes due punishments on the
enemies, as represented by Assyria and Edom (Isaiah 33-34). As Christ the King’s
reign of justice unfolds, lifeless land will be turned into land blossomed with
new life, reflecting the glory and splendor of God the Creator, who sends Christ
the Son (Isaiah 35:1-2). Then, those whose lives have been weakened and those
whose hearts have been made feeble are strengthened, as Christ the King
vindicates them and comes to them with his divine salvific recompense (Isaiah
35:3-4). Disabled lives will be healed and restored in fullness (Isaiah
25:5-6a). Furthermore, new water of life will spring and flow in perched
wilderness and a place of wild dogs will be turned into a marsh verdant with reed
and papyrus (Isaiah 35:6b-7).
With the
above-described vindication and renewal with new fresh life to emerge (Isaiah
53:1-7), Isaiah prophesizes:
A
highway will be there, called the holy way; No one unclean may pass over it, but
it will be for his people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray on it (Isaiah 35:8).
What is
the highway?
It is the
way that those who are redeemed by Christ the King from the hands of the enemies
are returning (i.e. Isaiah 11:16). And it is made flat by Christ the King (i.e.
Isaiah 49:11). It is also the way that Christ the King is coming to us, and it
is what we make straight as called by the voice crying out in the wilderness
(Isaiah 40:3). And this is the voice of John the Baptist, who gives meaning to
making the highway “straight” by way of repenting and conversion (Mark 1:3-4).
In response to John the Baptist being the fulfillment of the voice in the
wilderness, calling to make the highway of Christ’s coming straight by penance
and contrition, people humbly acknowledged their sins and came to John and
sought baptism from him to cleanse their sins (Mark 1:5). Because, the straightened
highway is pure and has nothing to defile (Isaiah 35:8). Because the highway
(Isaiah 35:8; 40:3) can have dual meaning: the highway that those who are made
clean upon repentance and cleansing baptism can go to meet Christ the King
(Isaiah 35:8) and the highway that Christ the King is coming to us, into our
hearts, as we make it straight and pure upon repentance and conversion (Isaiah
40:3).
As Christ
the King comes, those who are redeemed by him can return to and enter where he
reigns, Zion, through the highway, to be crowed with everlasting joy (Isaiah
35:9-10).
This redemptive
motif of the First Reading (Isaiah 35:1-10), projected to the coming of Christ the
King and his reign, has an apocalyptic bearing (Revelation 7:1-17; 14:1-5;
19:1-22:5). And this makes the highway (Isaiah 35:8) very profoundly meaningful.
Collectively,
the highway can be the paths of pilgrimage we take to meet Christ the King. It
is also written in the Book of Isaiah:
Come, let us go up to the mountain
of the Lord, to the Temple of God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways so
that we may walk in is paths; since the Law will go out from Zion and the
oracle of the Lord rom Jerusalem
(Isaiah 2:3).
The
Mountain of the Lord, in the context of the Old Testament, is the Mt. Zion,
Jerusalem. And the Temple of God of
Jacob is the Temple in Jerusalem. However, in the context of the New
Testament, the Temple is the body of
risen incarnated Christ (John 2:19). And he is the fulfillment of the Law and
the Oracle (Matthew 5:17) and the way (John 14:6).
We go up
to the holy mountain where the incarnated Christ arrives, and it is where we
find the way to the Father (John 14:6; Ephesians 2:18), because He is in him as
he in Him (John 14:11; cf. John 10:30, 38), and to the Holy of Holies through
his blood (Hebrews 10:20).
O House of Jacob, come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord (Isaiah 2:5).
The highway (Isaiah 35:8) is, indeed, the path of Christ the light
(John 8:12), as well as, the truth and the life, leading to the Father (John
14:6).
The Gospel
Reading (Luke 5:17-26) describes how the presence of Christ reflects what is reflected
in the First Reading (Isaiah 35:1-10).
Jesus, the
incarnated Christ, is teaching the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law (Luke
5:17). They are like the arid wilderness, and Jesus is the water in the
wilderness to turn it into the land of full life, as he is full of the Father’s
healing power (Luke 5:17). It is where some men brought their paralyzed friend
came to have this paralyzed man healed by Jesus. It reflects that they have come
through the highway to meet Christ the King, to enjoy the benefits of his healing
power for their friend so that his paralyzed life will be healed and restored
in fullness. But, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law are “obstacles” to reach
Christ the King, as they are like the lifeless wilderness in need of
life-giving wisdom from Christ the King. Nevertheless, these men’s
determination to have their paralyzed friend healed do not let the obstacles
stop. So they climb up to the roof of the house where Jesus is teaching. Then,
they cut open the roof tiles make a sure entry into the crowded house and to
make a direct access to Christ the King. And they succeed in this mission to
have their paralyzed friend healed, as they bring down the paralyzed friend
from the roof on a stretcher (Luke 5:19).
Then Jesus
says to these men, for accomplishing their mission for their friend:
As for
you, your sins are forgiven
(Luke 5:20).
In
response to this, Jesus’ audience, whose hearts are like the perched land,
complain:
Who is
this who speaks blasphemies? Who but God alone can forgive sins? (Luke 5:21).
Jesus, the
Christ, replies in a chastising way, knowing what is in their hearts, which are
also like a jackals’ abodes:
What
are you thinking in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, “Your sins are
forgiven,” or to say, “Rise and walk”? But that you may know that the Son of
Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Luke 5:23-24a).
Their
hearts are like the perched land and the prey animals’ abodes (i.e. Isaiah 35:1,
7), because not only of their inability to see Christ in Jesus but also of
their predatory stance toward Jesus for accusing him for “blasphemy”. To this, as
the water is poured into the perched dry land to give life, Jesus, who calls
himself, “the Son of Man”, tells them that he is given the Father’s authority
to forgive sins and heal disordered lives. Then, Jesus says to the paralyzed
man brought in front of him:
I say
to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home (Luke 5:24).
With these commanding words Jesus, the paralyzed man gets up immediately, picking what he was lying on, and walks home, praising God (Luke 5:25). Thus Jesus, Christ the King, demonstrates a part that seems harder than forgiving sin, to those who accuse him for blasphemy.
Forgiving
sins of the men who brought their paralyzed friend and healing the paralyzed
man by Jesus, who is, indeed, Christ the King, described in the First Reading
(Luke 5:17-26), is just one aspect of the fullness of life for those who are
redeemed as he comes to renew life and the earth, as reflected in the First
Reading (Isaiah 35:1-10). The Gospel Reading (Luke 5:17-26) also reminds us
that the highway (Isaiah 35:8) for us to find where Christ arrives and is may
not always straight, as it can be like climbing up to the roof and making an
entry through it. In the meantime, the highway of Christ’s coming must be
straight with the contrition and purity of our hearts.
Christ is
coming to us on the straight highway for our salvation and redemption. At the same
time, we are going on the highway, to meet Christ where he arrives and is to be
saved and redeemed, enjoying the fullness of life being restored. It is the
highway to the fullness of life, we travel, and Christ comes. This highway leads
us to the center of the holiness, as well.
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