A reading from the book of Isaiah (45:6-8, 18, 21-25)
There is none but me.
I am the Lord and there is no other;
I form the light and I create darkness,
I make well-being, and I create disaster,
I, the Lord, do all these things.
Drop down dew from above, you heavens,
and let the clouds pour down saving justice,
let the earth open and salvation blossom
and let righteousness spring up with it;
I, the Lord, have created it!
For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens;
he is God, who shaped the earth and set it firm.
He did not create it to be chaos, he formed it to be lived in,
‘I am the Lord, and there is no other.
Speak up, present your case, consult together!
Who foretold this in the past,
who declared it long ago?
Was it not I, the Lord?
There is no other god but me,
a righteous God, a saviour, none but me!
Turn to me and you will be saved,
all you ends of the earth,
for I am God and there is no other.
By my own self I swear it;
what comes from my mouth is saving justice,
it is an irrevocable word.
To me every knee shall bend.
By me every tongue shall swear.
Of me it will be said,
“In the Lord alone are saving justice and strength,
until all those who used to rage at him come to him in shame.”
In the Lord the whole race of Israel will find saving justice and glory.’
Written during the exile, the poems in second Isaiah present God in a new way. Most importantly ‘I am the Lord, and there is no other.’ This is asserted despite the strength of Babylon, and chapter 46 will compare the Lord with the gods of Babylon, who are described as ‘cowering’. The God of Israel is also ‘creator’ (bara’): God ‘forms’ light, ‘creates’ darkness, ‘makes’ well-being, ‘creates’ disaster. The interjection ‘drop down dew from above, you heavens, let the clouds pour down saving justice’ gives rise to the Advent chant Rorate caeli desuper, and is understood as a prayer for the coming of the Messiah. ‘Saving justice’ and ‘righteousness’ are also ‘created’ by the Lord. In the final verses God repeats, ‘There is no other god but me’, ‘a righteous God, a saviour’ even for the nations, which are described as ‘the ends of the earth’. The Lord, who frees his people, offers them ‘saving justice’, ‘strength’ and ‘glory’.
Psalm 85 (84) When the Lord comes, ‘justice’ (tsedeq) shall precede him.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke (7:19-23)
The disciples of John reported all this to him, and John, summoning two of his disciples, sent them to the Lord to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect 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 are we to expect someone else?” ’ At that time he cured many people of diseases and afflictions and of evil spirits, and gave the gift of sight to many who were blind. And he answered them, ‘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 blessed is anyone who does not find me a cause of stumbling.’
Both Matthew and Luke report on the question of John the Baptist which two disciples bring to Jesus. Luke’s account is somewhat longer, and emphasises the actual deeds of Jesus ‘at that time’. It seems that John, after his imprisonment by Herod the tetrarch, has reflected on the work of Jesus. Perhaps he is struggling with the emphasis on healings, and the welcome offered to sinners. As in Matthew, the words of Jesus end with the beatitude, ‘blessed is the one who does not find me a cause of stumbling (skandalizein).’
Are you scandalised by the mercy of God?
What God desires is mercy.