THE REDEEMED PEOPLE In the previous chapter, the Lord Christ appeared as a Savior who obeyed the Father even to death, so that, by His obedience, He redeems and saves us from the spirit of rebellion, granting us the spirit of obedience by Him and in Him. Now, in the present chapter, we find Him calling His people to enjoy redemption as a joyful evangelic life, a life resurrected in Him. Through this life, we enjoy a continuous exodus under His leadership, with the spirit of conquest over the powers of darkness. This is the mystery of comfort. 1. An invitation to enjoy the work of redemption 1-16. 2. The mystery of the fall of Jerusalem 17-20. 3. Rise after fall 21-23. 1. AN INVITATION TO ENJOY THE WORK OF REDEMPTION In this invitation, the word “Listen” or “Hear,” is repeated three times (Is. 51: 1, 4, 7). If the Word of God has listened and obeyed - He, the Creator, the Judge, and Lawgiver - it is fitting for His people to follow His example. It is not possible for us to enter into evangelic life, and to enjoy the free salvation unless we listen and hearken, to let God work in us. What does this invitation imply? a. The repetition of the word “Listen” means that this call, in its deep sense, is an invitation for obedience that of faith filled with trust and love of God. [Obedience makes friends of God.] He says, “If you love Me keep My commandments.” (John 14: 15) He did not say, “Do miracles,” but said: “Keep My commandments.” Later, He said: “You are My friends” (John 15: 14), not if you cast out demons, but “If you do whatever I command you.” So let us strife to become friends of God, and not to remain His enemies1. St. John Chrysostom b. “Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the Lord.” (Is. 51: 1) By obedience, listening is transformed into practical behavior, namely pursuing righteousness, or walking along the way of God’s righteousness. The goal of that, is seeking the Lord, encountering Him, and unifying with Him. This is the essence of our faith, and our Christianity: listening, obedience, life, and union with the Lord! c. Following the example of Abraham’s faith: “Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who bore you. When I called him alone, and I blessed him and increased him.” (Is. 51: 1, 2) As though He is saying to them: If you find this call difficult to follow; saying, How can we listen to God’s voice, pursue His righteousness, and seek Him in our life? Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. Abraham came from a 1 In Hebr. Hom 24:8. 7 heathen family. The whole world at that time actually deviated from the knowledge of God’s way. Abraham came, as though from solid rock and from mud in a den. He never heard from his parents a word of comfort, received a divine law, nor found support from a priest or a prophet. Yet when God called him he responded. Because he was unique in his faith, “I blessed and increased him... and My people came from him!” If we assume that Adam has been created out of dust; and that we were hewn out of rock, with no spiritual sense, we should not despair, as our father Abraham has also been a descendant of Adam, yet he received the call, obeyed, and gained the divine covenants in his descendants. Abraham has been an old man, and Sarah was barren, with a womb as hard as a rock, incapable of giving birth; yet God set from these rocks descendants for Abraham. God can set children out of rocks... A child conceived in a rock-like womb, is as though born out of rocks. Now, in this prophecy (Is. 51: 1, 2) you can see Him revealing to them how from the beginning, He set for them a father through a kind of miracle, as though out of a rock; and what occurred in the past, can also be realized now (Matthew 3: 5)1. St. John Chrysostom God can make out of rocks children for Abraham; referring here to the Gentiles, who were like stones, because of the hardness of their hearts. Let us read: “I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36: 26) He wanted to reveal how God is capable of creating from solid rocks a believing people2. St. Jerome d. A comforting invitation, as God turns Zion’s ruins and deserts into a paradise. This is God’s work in His Church, granting His people the fruits of His Holy Spirit to transform all to a kingdom, fruitful in Spirit. “The Lord will comfort Zion. He will comfort all her waste places. He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.” (Is. 51: 3) The book of Isaiah often speaks of the redeeming work of God, as setting of a fruitful kingdom of God, and as transforming wasteland into a spiritual garden (Is. 32: 5), where the Truth dwells (Is. 32: 6); and which rejoices in God who dwells in it (Is. 35: 1), and transforms it into a paradise and heaven. St. John Chrysostom looked at the Church, especially when practicing the Liturgy of the Eucharist, as though it is heaven, saying, [It is higher than heaven, and wider than the whole world3.] Then speaks on the tongue of the Lord Christ, saying, [I planted you in paradise, but the devil chased you out! Look, Here I am planting you in Me! I am supporting you, so that the devil will not be able to come near you! I am not lifting you up to heaven, but to here, where the Lord of heaven is! I am carrying you in Me, I, the Lord of heaven4!] St. Clement of Alexandria1 says that the Church on earth is an icon of that in 1 In Matt. Hom 11:3. 2 In Matt. 3:9. الكنیسة تحبك، ص 3 .42 4 De poen PG. 49-336. 8 heaven. And also says, [When you register yourself as a member of God’s people, heaven will become your city, and God your Lawgiver2.] e. An invitation for joy and gladness: “Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and voice of melody.” (Is. 51: 3) This line is obvious in the book as a whole, being the book of salvation, proclaiming the setting of inner kingdom of joy, singing, and continuous praise. When St. John Cassian visited Egypt, and saw how its deserts and villages, from Alexandria to Aswan, have been filled with monks, from whom nothing is heard but the voice of incessant praise, he considered himself in heaven, and wondered if these were earthly angels, or heavenly humans? That is the genuine feature of the Church: an inner incessant joy, that reflects on its whole life! Mrs. Butcher noticed, how there was not a single icon in the poor churches of Old Cairo that shows the image of a martyr suffering of pain, nor one showing torture in Hades. But all icons radiate the spirit of joy and hope; even the martyrs, are seen in them, looking toward heaven, to the crown of their glory. That joy reflected on worship. Almost every day, the Church celebrates a feast of the Lord, of a prophet, an apostle, an angel, or a martyr, etc. The Church is creating an atmosphere of spiritual joy, amid the troubles of this world, to give her children the chance to experience the comforts of the Holy Spirit and its heavenly joy; to let the believer share with the heavenly hosts their liturgies and continuous peaceful and joyful praises. One of the prominent features of joy in the Coptic Church is that the Holy Bible, during Liturgies, is always read in a melodic way that fills the soul with comfort. This was noticed and acknowledged by Mr. Leeder the prominent English author, who visited Egypt at the beginning of the nineteenth century. f. An invitation for preaching: As whoever enjoys the joy of salvation, would never abstain from testifying to evangelic life. It would bear God’s Law and Gospel a “light of the peoples” (Is. 51: 4), confirming to everyone that life in Christ is not far fetched nor impossible; righteousness of Christ is near to every heart (Is. 51: 5), and His arms are extended with love on the Cross to all nations, being the hope for all (Is. 51: 5). Preaching or testifying to the redeeming work of Christ is a fundamental part of every Christian’s life, not confined to priests alone. That is why St. John Chrysostom says, [There is nothing valueless like a Christian who does not care for the salvation of others. If you say, ‘I am poor’ the two mites of the widow would put you to shame. Peter also said, “I have neither gold nor silver;” and Paul has been so poor to suffer sometimes from hunger! Do not make excuses of tough life circumstances; theirs has been also tough! Do not make excuses of ignorance; they were illiterate! You may be a running slave; but Onsimus was like you! If you claim you are sick; so was Timothy! 1 Strom. 4:8:66. 2 Prot, 10:108. 9 Each of us can help his brother, even with the good will, in case he is unable to do something more positive! Do not ever say that you cannot affect others. As long as you are a Christian, you cannot be but effective. This is the essence of being a Christian! If you say that you are a Christian, yet you are unable to do something for others, you are contradicting yourself, as though you are saying that the sun is unable to give light1.] g. An invitation for an everlasting salvation that goes beyond heavens and earth: “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, the earth will grow old like a garment, and those who dwell in it will die in like manner. But My salvation will be forever, and My righteousness will not be abolished.” (Is. 51: 6) Heavens and earth vanishing, while salvation lasts forever, refer to crucifying the old man, to enjoy the new man, who is according to the image of his Creator. The old heaven and the old earth have to vanish in us, so as to enjoy the new heaven and the new earth, whose inhabitants do not die like flies, but is dwelt by eternal righteousness of the Lord. If heaven refers to the soul, and earth refers to the flesh, vanishing of heaven and wearing out of the earth mean demolishing the works of the old man - soul and flesh - in order to have our souls and bodies sanctified, being the new and the daily renewable creation, through the work of the Holy Spirit of God. As to saying, “Those who dwell in it will die in a like manner,” (Is. 51: 6) this refers to feebleness of the works of the old man; they die like flies! But works of the new man are the righteousness of Christ, or the love that will never fail. h. A serious and brave invitation that would not falter before the resistance of men: “Do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their revilings. For the moth will eat them up like a garment; and the worm will devour them like wool. But My righteousness will last forever. My salvation from generation to generation” (Is. 61: 7, 8) Whoever lifts his eyes toward the eternal Savior, would not care for the reaction and resistance of men; all will vanish, but our salvation will last forever. The spiritual living human being sees his old man, that he took off in the water of Baptism, as a worn-out garment, and as flies that died of feebleness. He sees the reproaches and insults of people, as a garment eaten by moth, or wool devoured by worm! They are all temporary worldly affairs that would not last long. By bearing them we partake of our Savior, who readily faced reproaches and insults for our sake; and exchanged evil with love, enduring the weakness of the wicked. Do not quench a fire by another fire, but by water. There is nothing that prevents evildoers from continuing in their evil like treating them with tenderness, in return to the harm they cause. St. John Chrysostom2 1 An Acts, hom 20:4 ; PG. 60:162. 2 In Matt. Hom 18:1. 10 i. An invitation for enjoying the resurrected life that gained victory over death, and pierced the vicious monster by the arm of the Lord: “Awake, awake! Put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Are you not the arm that cut Rahab apart, and wounded the serpent?” (Is. 51: 9) The Church is “the arm of the Lord” clothed with the power of His resurrection, to wake up as though from the sleep of death. Let the whole Church awake, both of Jewish or Gentile origin; that is why He says the word “awake” twice. God, the Grantor of victory, gave her in the days gone by, strength to conquer Rahab (a poetic name of Egypt), when He rescued her from Pharaoh, who drowned in the waters of the Red Sea, as a helpless, pierced through monster. The same God is granting His Church in the New Testament, the strength of His resurrection, not to conquer Pharaoh, but the powers of darkness, not to find its way across the sea, but to cross to heaven itself. Now, as death is conquered (through the resurrection of Christ), and the kingdom of the devil is destroyed, all have rejoiced1. Pope Athanasius the Apostolic j. An invitation for enjoying God Himself as a Comforter: “I, even I, am who comforts you.” (Is. 51: 12) We should never seek human comforts, nor fear mortal men, who are nothing but grass (Is. 51: 12). Enjoying God’s comforts, we should not fear man, who is mortal, together with his afflictions; because if we do, “We shall fear continually every day.” (Is. 51:13) There is nothing that warrants that. Captives, overcome by despair, who expected to die in captivity, had their hope revived by God who confirmed to them: “The captive exile hastens that he may be loosed, that he should not die in the pit, and that his bread should not fail.” (Is. 51: 14) It is fitting for them to look forward to the realization of God’s promise, and never to despair. If the kingdom of Babylon had drowned them like the sea, the Savior, the Lord of hosts is capable of rescuing them. “For I am the Lord your God, who divided the sea whose waves roared. The Lord of hosts is His name.” (Is. 51: 15) 2. THE MYSTERY OF THE FALL OF JERUSALEM Having presented this joyful invitation to enjoy the new life in the Lord, He wanted to clarify the mystery of Jerusalem’s fall into captivity, in order to let her realize her weaknesses and rise up from her fall. So He began by saying, “Awake, awake! Stand up Jerusalem.” (Is. 51: 17) Exposing her weaknesses does not imply demeaning her, but to help her deal with them, to “awake and stand up.” Her weaknesses resulted from the fact that she has, “You who have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of His fury... You have drunk the dregs, of the cup of trembling and drained it out.” (Is. 51: 17) It was the custom to offer those condemned to death a cup of strong wine, to let them stagger before their execution. So Jerusalem drank from the hand of the Lord the cup of His fury, to let her realize that her punishment was not just falling into captivity by Babylon, but falling under the verdict of death, as her sins have actually captivated her, and made her lose consciousness. الحب الإلهي، ص 1 .644 11 She, by her freewill, drank from the cup of rebellion and staggered, not to find among her children, he who holds her hand. She became like a mother, shamelessly despised by her own children, to get console only from: “desolation and destruction, famine and sword.” (Is. 51: 19) 3. RISE AFTER FALL With every exposure of weakness or evil, God opens wide a door of hope for salvation. That is why, having revealed to her the cause of her fall, not merely into Babylonian captivity, but into that of sin, and her drinking from the cup of God’s fury to stagger, He got back to confirm that He forgives her, to hand the cup to her tormentors who said to her, “‘Lie down that we may walk over you.’ And you have laid your body like the ground, and as the street, for those who walk over.” (Is. 51: 23) It was the custom for the victorious to tread with their feet over the necks of the defeated. She was humiliated because she forsook God and rebelled against Him. But now, He is going to forgive her and to set her free!
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