CHRISTMAS
ISAIAH 52:7-11
A warrior’s song, the joy of victory, applied to the ultimate victory, the victory of the Kingdom of God, already present in Jesus.
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings good news,
who proclaims victory,
who says to Zion, “Your God is King!”
Listen, your watchmen lift up their voices,
they sing together for joy;
for they see eye to eye
the Lord restoring Zion.
Break forth together into singing,
you ruins of Jerusalem;
for the Lord has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
It is a wonderful fragment from the “Book of Consolation,” the third part of the prophecy attributed to Isaiah, although it was written two centuries later by disciples of his school.
The historical situation is precise. The Jews exiled in Babylon see their salvation approaching. Cyrus, the Persian king, comes to end the Babylonian empire, to free the exiled people. Salvation is seen on the horizon, and the imminent liberation is sung about.
The style is superb. This disciple of Isaiah is a splendid theologian and a magnificent poet. It is worth reading this “second book” of Isaiah slowly. The watchmen break into song together because they see Salvation coming, the power of God the Liberator. A messenger brings the Good News, peace, victory. Let the ruins of Jerusalem sing together!
The Church frequently uses these texts, transferring their meaning to Jesus, moving from the material liberation of the exiled people to the spiritual liberation of the people, from the political liberator to Jesus, Liberator from sin, from the restored kingdom and the rebuilt Jerusalem to the Kingdom of God and liberated humanity.
HEBREWS 1:1-6
Jesus read from the motifs of the Old Testament “seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high”… But we see him wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has obtained is more excellent than theirs. For to what angel did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? And again, when he brings the first-born into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
It is an ancient treatise – it can be dated undoubtedly as prior to the year 70 – written by an author close to Paul’s circle. It strives to present Jesus as the culmination and fullness of the Old Testament.
In this text, we are offered a powerful theological synthesis of the faith in Christ of those first Christian communities. Christ, the culmination of the Prophets, the axis and meaning of creation, the reflection of the Father’s glory, the savior from sins, who already triumphs at the right hand of the Father, superior to the angels themselves. It is an admirable synthetic treatise on Christology.
José Enrique Galarreta, S.J.