ISAIAH 9:1-4
In the past, the Lord humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the future he will honor the Way of the Sea, the land beyond the Jordan, the Galilee of the nations.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
This text is brought to this Sunday because of the allusion to Galilee. It is therefore a “prophecy ex eventu.” No one knows if Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would be from Galilee, but since Jesus is from there, the text of Isaiah is attributed a prophetic character.
The text of Isaiah is unfortunately mutilated; what we read is like the introduction to a text whose climax is: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…,” in which Isaiah announces the birth of a prince (Hezekiah), in whom the hopes of the People are placed. The Church has interpreted this text prophetically, applying it to Jesus, the Galilean from Nazareth.
Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the Galilean, is a scandal from the very beginning precisely because he is Galilean. From Galilee, the Galilee of the Gentiles, a land held in low esteem, considered semi-pagan, in the eyes of Jerusalem, which is the center of orthodoxy par excellence, nothing good can come. Goodness, the Law, orthodoxy, and all the rest must come from Judea, from Jerusalem.
(The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and his subsequent residence in Nazareth clearly shows the discomfort that orthodox Jews experienced in accepting Jesus the Galilean).
1 CORINTHIANS 1:10-13 and 17
Brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Agree with each other and do not be divided. Be united in your thinking and your understanding. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
We already know that Corinth was the cosmopolitan city par excellence, a great commercial metropolis, rich, a crossroads of cultures. Evangelizing Corinth was undoubtedly for Paul announcing the Gospel to all peoples.
The Christian community of Corinth had very serious problems, especially of severe dissensions among its members. This is the first problem that Paul addresses in his letter.
José Enrique Galarreta, S.J.