FIRST READING: Isaiah 42: 1-4; 6-7. Thus says the Lord; Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not fail or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. "I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness." EXPLANATION. In second-Isaiah (40-55) there are a series of oracles which describe a "servant of Yahweh" who is to come. He will have the qualities of a king, priest and prophet but to a greater degree. He will suffer for his people and be put to death because he carries out the will of (Yahweh) God to the letter. But God will again raise him up and give him numerous spiritual offspring. The New Testament and Christian tradition have always seen these oracles as messianic prophecies. They were fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in him only. whom I uphold: God is his support and strength for it is God who has "chosen" him and in him God is "pleased." St. Matthew and St. Mark and St. Luke say these words were repeated from heaven when Christ was baptized by John in the Jordan: "Thou art my beloved (chosen) servant (son, in Greek, can be translated son or servant, like boy in English) in whom I am well pleased." (Lk. 3: 22; Mk. 1: 11; Mt. 3: 17).
I have put my Spirit: In the Old Testament the spirit of God was bestowed on kings, priests and prophets. It is given to the servant because
he will...justice to the nations: He shall proclaim the will, the law of God, not only to the Jews but to all nations---his jurisdiction will be universal.
not cry...or lift...voice: Unlike oriental despots, he will accomplish his missions quietly and kindly.
bruised reed...burning wick: Nothing is more useless than a broken reed, nothing more loathsome than a smoking wick as used in the lamps of those days. Yet this servant can and will make something of them---his mercy and power can reach to the very dregs of humanity. Our Lord speaking of "mercy" applies these verses of Isaiah to himself (Mt. 12: 15-21).
Justice in the earth: To establish the justice, that is, the will of God on earth, is his mission---he will persevere, come what may, until he has done this.
the coastlands: The nations will anxiously wait until he comes to bring them his teaching, i.e. the law of God. The Jews have some knowledge of it already.
I...Lord have called you: His mission is from God; his power is from God, "I have grasped you by the hand," and
I...the hand: refers to Christ's human nature. The words used are those used in describing Adam's creation.
covenant...light: The Jews had already a covenant, a pact with God, but the servant will make a new one and the nations will share in it; they too will have his light.
Blind...prisoners...darkness: His work is to open the spiritual eyes of people, to free them from the captivity and the darkness of sin and ignorance of God. APPLICATION: This prophecy of second-Isaiah was chosen for today, the feast which commemorates the baptism of Christ in the Jordan, because on that occasion the Father's voice from heaven proclaimed that Christ was "his beloved servant in which he was well pleased." Following the interpretation of the inspired Evangelists and of the ancient and constant tradition of the Church, we can have no hesitation in seeing in these words of second-Isaiah, written five centuries or so before Christ, a description of the Savior who came on earth to teach Jew and Gentile the new law of God, the law of love and mercy. He who was the Son of God took our human nature in order to represent us, and as one of us to give our heavenly Father the perfect obedience and service which no mere man had done ever since the creation, and which no mere man could ever do. This perfect obedience or service of God which Christ, the perfect servant, gave the Father, went as far as the acceptance of the shameful and excruciating death on a cross. But all this he accepted gladly for us---it was in our name he did it---and because he did it, we are all raised to a new relationship with God. He has made us all, Jew and Gentile, the whole human race, adopted sons of his heavenly Father. As members of his mystical body we can now, because he is our Head, give a service to God worthy of our new status, a service which God accepts from us because it is given to him and through "Christ our Lord." Today, as we offer the Mass, the sacrifice of Christ renewed before our eyes, let us try to realize the privilege that is ours. We are able, through Christ, to offer a sacrifice which gives infinite honor to God. We are able in spite of all our weaknesses and all our faults to give a service that is pleasing to God and to make some return for all he has done for us. We have become "good and faithful servants" because Christ the Son of God became the perfect servant of God for our sakes.
SECOND READING: Acts 10: 34-38. Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the word which he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), the word which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him." EXPLANATION: These verses of Acts are read for us today because they contain a reference to our Lord's baptism. This reference occurs in a very interesting event which took place soon after the Ascension and is described in Acts 10: 1; 11: 18. Cornelius, a pagan Roman officer stationed in Caesarea in Palestine, a devout man who admires the God of the Jews and the religion of the Jews, is told by an angel to send for Peter. Peter in the meantime has seen a vision from which he learns that the Gentile is as welcome into the fold as the Jew. He comes to Cornelius and baptizes him and his household---the first Gentile family to be accepted into the Christian Church and by none other than by the Prince of the Apostles, Peter himself. Having heard Cornelius's story, Peter has these words to say:
God shows no partiality: Because of the vision he saw and because of the words of Cornelius he has just heard, from which it is evident that Cornelius is dear to God, Peter understands that Christ's salvation is not only for Jews but for Gentiles too.
who fears him...to him: He who accepts and respects God does God's will.
the word to...Israel: Christ preached to the Jews only, but he gave the order to his Apostles to preach to all nations.
preach...by Jesus Christ: This is the essence of the gospel: peace with God and peace between all men brought about by Christ's sojourn on earth.
Galilee...John preached: Peter gives a brief summary of Christ's public life in Palestine.
God anointed Jesus: This refers to the descent of the spirit in visible form on Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan, and to the words of the Father proclaiming him his beloved servant-the Messiah. He was the Messiah from the moment of his conception but this was first made evident on the occasion of his baptism and proved apodictically at his resurrection. This was his anointing, i.e. the moment of his inauguration, as the kings and priests were anointed when they actually took on their office.
doing good...healing: A reference to the miracles of Jesus of which Cornelius must have heard.
oppressed...devil: Epilepsy, madness and most mental illnesses as well as many bodily defects, were attributed directly to the devil at that time. By healing the sufferers, Christ showed his power over the demons.
God was with him: He had the divine power which miracles demand, only God can alter the laws of nature, which he has made. Prophets and holy men in the Old Testament worked miracles by calling on God to give them this power; Christ was God; through his own power he worked his miracles. APPLICATION: That day, nearly two thousand years ago, when Christ by his baptism in the Jordan, began his public preaching of salvation for all men, is a day---a feastday---no true Christian can ever forget. The baptism of John was for sinners---a sign of change of heart and a turning to God. Christ had no sin, he had never turned away from God, he was God---but he was the representative of sinful humanity. He represented us sinners that day and opened the door of salvation for us. In that ceremony Christ was proclaimed by the heavenly Father to be his son and faithful servant, and the power of the Holy Spirit came upon him. But this was all for us; as God he already had all things in common with the Father and the Holy Spirit. But in his human nature---our weak human nature which he took on himself in order to be one of us, and our representative---he was on that day proclaimed God's true and faithful servant. At the same moment we human beings were accepted in him and through him (i.e. through his perfect obedience even unto the death on the cross) as God's adopted children. The mission of Christ was for us. The Incarnation took place because God's infinite love wanted man, the masterpiece of his whole creation, to have a share in the divine gifts of the Blessed Trinity. God united the divine with the human nature in Christ. We mortal men were raised above our human nature; we would become immortal, not that we would never die on this earth---Christ himself died in his human nature-but "he would raise us up on the last day" to share forever with the Father, the Holy Spirit and the Incarnate Son the eternal bliss of heaven. How could a Christian, one who knows all this, ever refuse to do the little part he is called on to do---"to fear God, that is, to reverence and respect him and to do what is right"? Reverence and respect for God should come easily from anyone who realizes what God has done for him. But true respect for God is not proved by a few distracted prayers and a grudging attendance at Sunday Mass. It is proved by striving to keep the laws Christ gave us, i.e. doing what is right, every day of our lives. This is difficult at times but if we keep our eternity---the unending life---before our eyes, the few short years of hardship and training on earth, will seem very short indeed. There is no comparison between what God has prepared for us, and promises us, and the trifling conditions he asks us to fulfill in order to earn his promised reward.
GOSPEL: Matthew 3:13-17. Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." EXPLANATION: John's mission was to prepare his fellow-Jews for the inauguration of the messianic kingdom, expected and eagerly awaited, for centuries. His baptism, a washing of the people in the Jordan waters, was an outward sign of their inner repentance, and a turning of their hearts to God. Jesus had no sins of which to repent, and his heart was always with God. He was God in human nature, but he wished to be associated with all pious Jews, and so, like them, to be baptized by John. This was his way of inaugurating the messianic era. God's revelation to the Baptist and to the bystanders, which immediately followed the baptism, showed that it was the inaugural act of Christ's messianic mission.
Jesus . . . Galilee: Nazareth was a town of Galilee, and there Christ had lived as a humble carpenter for nearly thirty years. He had given no indication of what he truly was, except for his devout life of obedience to God's law and to his parents. A rabbi, or teacher of religion, had to have reached full manhood according to the Jewish custom before he was allowed to teach. Jesus obeyed this custom, even though he could have begun to teach as early as the age of twelve, as we know from the incident in the temple related by St. Luke (2: 41-48). He faithfully obeyed all the legitimate customs of his fellow-Jews of the time.
he saw . . . dove: The Baptist (and the bystanders also, as the visible form of a dove would imply) saw the Spirit of God alighting on him, to signify the beginning of his mission as Messiah. In the Old Testament the Spirit of God is always given for a specific task (see Jg. 3: 10; 6: 34; Num. 11:7 etc.). Christ's task, already indicated by the Baptist, may be deduced clearly from the words of the voice from heaven:
This is . . . pleased: It is generally admitted that these words are a declaration that Jesus is in truth the "servant," foretold by Isaiah (cf. Is. 42: 1-9; 49: 1-6; 50: 4-1 1; 52: 13-53:-12), but the substitution of "Son" for servant (the Greek word pals has both meanings), was a result of the firm conviction which the Apostles and the first Christians had, that Christ was indeed the Son of God. But it is his messianic role which is emphasized here, a role so clearly foretold in the texts of Isaiah, on the "suffering servant," quoted above. APPLICATION: Christ, our beloved Savior, began his messianic mission, the mission of enabling the whole human race to be sons of God and heirs of heaven, with an act of self-humiliation. He insisted on going through John's baptismal rite, which was only for sinners, even though he had no sin to repent of. He did this, firstly, because he was the representative of all sinners, and had come "to take away the sin of the world," and secondly, in order to set sinners of all time an example of true humility and true repentance. During the Christmastide just ended, the Sunday lessons from holy Scripture have reminded us, again and again, of the humiliations Christ endured on earth for our sakes. The greatest of these, of course, was the Incarnation, God taking the nature of man, the Creator becoming a creature, the master making himself a slave. Add to this, the reception he got when he came among us, his birth in a stable, his cradle a manger, his forced flight into Egypt, his life of poverty in the despised town of Nazareth, where he earned his meager livelihood by the sweat of his brow like the most ordinary of men. All this was for me and for you! He suffered all of this, and much more, notwithstanding the fact that, as God, he foresaw the ingratitude he would receive in return, from the vast majority of those for whom he suffered. All of us here today, you and I, have shown him our share of this ingratitude. We have not only forgotten to thank him, but we have positively offended him by our sins. We have grumbled and complained, and perhaps openly rebelled, when he asked us to follow him on the path of humiliation and suffering, which he trod before us for our sakes. What human benefactor, what fellow man, who had put himself to great inconvenience, and caused himself humiliation and personal suffering in order to help us, would not wash his hands of us, forever, if our return was forgetfulness, thanklessness, ingratitude and even insult, in return for all he had done for us? And could we blame him? But God is not a human benefactor. His love, his mercy, his understanding and sympathy, are not finite and limited like those of men. His love is for sinners, as well as for saints. It is reaching out to us every day and every hour of the day recalling us to a sense of duty, a sense of gratitude, and indeed a sense of self-interest in our eternal welfare. Meditate for a few moments today on the lesson of this Gospel reading. Think of the magnitude of the humiliations and the sufferings that Christ, God's Son, endured in order that you could have eternal happiness. Your own earthly troubles, your worldly aches and pains, will then appear small in comparison. Instead of upbraiding God for letting them happen to you, you will welcome them as his means of making you more like his beloved Son, and so more worthy to be among the brothers of Christ who will share his heaven with him for all eternity.-a066 Click to return to our Home page
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