Commentary
Sunday, 12/1/2019, First Sunday of Advent
A Vision of Peace
First Reading Commentary: Isaiah 2:1-5
This prophecy comes from Isaiah very early in his ministry as a prophet and is about the future of Judah and Jerusalem. Isaiah sees the Lord’s house situated on the highest mountain, Zion, and it is from there that instruction will be given on how to follow the way of the LORD.
It is important to remember that this prophecy is made during the end of the Divided Kingdom era before Israel’s fall to Assyria in 722 BC. Isaiah is talking to the people of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, about what he sees—the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of Heaven on the last day.
Everything that Isaiah sees is in the book of Revelation which will come-to-pass on the last day. He sees Christ the King who will judge all of mankind. He sees the people who will enjoy eternal life with the LORD going up to the Kingdom. And, Isaiah sees the peace and joy of the Kingdom which allows him to visualize an end to all wars.
Isaiah talks about the things that are happening in his vision but he does not give a description of the LORD’s house. This reminds us that in Revelation, we are told that there is no temple building in the Kingdom. There is no need for one because the Father and the Son are the temple.
Isaiah knows that what he sees is the coming of the LORD but he does not see the birth of a newborn king who will sit on a throne here on earth. Instead, he sees the King in heaven who will judge the earth and bring eternal peace and happiness.
What Isaiah sees is the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the fact that Isaiah does not see someone seated at an earthly throne is a prophecy to the humble life that Christ would live. It is sad that this part of the prophecy was missed by so many who were looking for a worldly king.
The prophecy of eternal peace and happiness from Isaiah is something for all of us to look forward to. And so, we should follow the instruction that Isaiah gives in his prayer, “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!”
Put on the Lord
Second Reading Commentary: Romans 13:11-14
St. Paul tells us to get ready for the coming of the Lord. He tells us to wake up for salvation is nearer than we first believed and the day is at hand. Remember that during the very early days of the Church, people believed that the second coming of Christ was eminent and that it would occur during their lifetime. This is one of the reasons why Paul expresses urgency in his message to the Romans. But the more important message is that we should make ourselves ready because in, reality we know not the hour or the day.
Paul tells us to give up our bad habits and evil ways when he says, “…throw off the works of darkness…” He tells us to give up the sins of the world and our desires of the flesh that will lead us down the path of destruction.
We find it easy to say that we will make ourselves ready or at least, it is easy to say that we want to make ourselves ready by letting go of sin. But that part about giving up the desires of the flesh—well now that is another matter even though the desires of the flesh are very sinful when our intentions are misled.
That is something that none of us are one hundred percent ready to do and furthermore, we do not give up those desires. If we did, we would not sin. In fact, just the thought of giving up our desires of the flesh will sometimes cause us to experience agony. That’s an interesting thought. Remember Jesus having His Agony in the Garden and saying to Peter, “Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Mark 14:38
We are tested every day. When tested, we should try to follow Paul’s advice: “…put on the armor of light…put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul is telling us to be ready for the second coming of Christ by not allowing ourselves to die in sin. It is a warning that if we are in sin, we need to repent.
We cannot assume that because Christ went to the cross for us that we are saved. We cannot assume that because we go to church that we are saved. We are saved because we choose to be saved and that choice is expressed in the way that we live our lives. No matter how much we may say that we are saved, if we live our lives in a state of self-righteous pride, drunkenness, promiscuity, rivalry, and jealousy; we are choosing something very different from salvation.
There are two ways that I look at salvation. There is the salvation of all mankind which will be fulfilled on the last day when Jesus comes to lead us into His Kingdom. Then, there is personal salvation which is in the present. As I said, it is expressed in the way that we live our lives. If we obey the Greatest Commandments, we obey all, of the Commandments and when we do that, we have put on the Lord and we are ready for Him to come again no matter when that may be because we are truly saved.
Be Ready for Immediate Action
Gospel Commentary: Matthew 24:37-44
Jesus made a comparison to the days of Noah making the point that in those days, the people were consumed with sin so God performed an act of cleansing with His wrath. But Jesus was really talking about His second coming on the last day and the message was: to be ready.
Jesus was talking to His disciples but the message is the same for us. Jesus does not want any of us to be like the people of Noah’s time who were not ready for the unknown hour because He does not want us to suffer a fate of eternal damnation.
To make His point, Jesus gave the example of two men in the field and of two women grinding at the mill. In each case, one was ready and taken but the other was not ready and left behind. Jesus said, “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”
Jesus also gave an example of a master who stays awake to guard his house from the thief who will come at an unknown hour and said, “So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
If you catch a thief breaking into your house, you do not have time to think about what you should do. You must take immediate action. We are being told, by Jesus, to be ready for His second coming, prepared to follow Him without having to think about it. When Jesus comes again, His judgment will be swift and we will not have time to get ready—we won’t even have time to think about it. We will either, be ready and follow Him into the Kingdom or we will be left behind.
We know that when Jesus comes again, those who have their names written in the book of life will be raised. That is because of the covenant that Jesus made with us promising the Kingdom of Heaven in His Sermon on the Mount.
But hold that thought. A covenant is a binding contract between two parties and Jesus is reminding us that we are the other party in His covenant and we have, to honor our part or we will be doomed. We honor our part of the covenant by being ready for the second coming of Jesus and we make ourselves ready by taking the advice of Paul in today’s second reading.
If we falter, and we all will because we all sin, then we must confess and repent. The bottom line is that God has done everything that He can do for us to be with Him in the Kingdom except to make our minds up for us. We have, to do everything that we can do to get there which means that we have to make the decision to be in the Kingdom.
