From: Isaiah 49:8-15
The Lord’s Aid to the Returning Exiles (Continuation)
The Restoration of Zion
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Commentary:
49:7-13. The Lord, who has chosen his servant and commissioned him to reu-
nite the scattered tribes, shows special kindness to those who have come back
from exile or who are on the point of doing so. This important teaching comes
across very clearly in this somewhat heterogeneous passage.
It starts (v. 7) by contrasting the love of God and the humiliation of the chosen
people, who will eventually be exalted (cf. 52:13-15); some commentators see
the verse as part of the second Song of the Servant. The following stanza (vv.
8-9a) is addressed to those who have already returned home but who are de-
pressed by the terrible state of the country: the Lord cannot but be faithful and
he will grant salvation “in a time of favor” (v. 8). St Paul will apply this “time of
favor” to the coming of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 6:2). The final stanza (vv. 9b-13), ‘ad-
dressed to the repatriates, is a further attempt to raise the spirits of people who
have already returned home from all points of the compass (v. 12): “from afar”
probably means Mesopotamia and therefore the east; “the west”, literally, “the
Sea”, often used with that meaning (cf. 24:14); “Syene” or “Sinim”, that is, na-
tives of Syene, a city in the extreme south of Egypt, symbolizes the south in
general. Once again, the joy of the new exodus is mentioned, and the passage
ends with a brief but intense hymn of praise to God (v. 13). The point is made
repeatedly that God gives his beloved people special protection.
49:14-50:3. After the oracles concerning the servant, the prophet now focuses
on Zion, the city beloved of the Lord, to which people will come from all over, the
diaspora, to settle there. It will be a genuine miracle. The first verses speak very
movingly of God’s love for his people (49:14-20). The passage goes on, in a di-
dactic style, to stress that the Lord will bring about the liberation of Jerusalem
(49:21-26). It draws two comparisons—that of an eastern kingdom (49:22-23)
and that of mighty warrior (49:24-26); each ends with an assertion reminiscent
of Ezekiel’s message: “And you will know that I am the Lord” (cf. “Introduction
to Ezekiel”, p. 595, below). Finally (50:1-3), the sense of abandonment felt by
those in Jerusalem (cf. v. 14) is answered from another angle. Using the wed-
ding imagery first used by Hosea (cf. Hos 1-3), the prophet puts words in the
Lord’s mouth to the effect that the exile was not meant to be forever; it was not
irrevocable. There was no document written to terminate the marriage (cf. Deut
24:1-2, Jer 3:8); nor was the sale contract ever closed. Exile was a punishment
that had to happen; it was a temporary thing, provoked by the people’s sins.
But God keeps his promises; he will restore Zion; he is as mighty now as he
was at the time of the exodus, as he will demonstrate.
In the fullness of time, when Jesus brings salvation, this oracle will have even
greater significance: “In Jesus Christ God has established a new and everlasting
covenant with mankind. He has placed his almighty power at the service of our
salvation. When his creatures lose confidence and are afraid through lack of faith,
we hear once again the voice of Isaiah who speaks out in the name of the Lord:
‘Is my hand too short to redeem? Have I not strength to save?” (St Josemaria
Escrivá, “Friends of God”, 190).
49:15-16. The image of the mother who can never forget her children (v. 15) is
one of the most beautiful metaphors used in the Bible to describe the love that
God has for his people; it has been echoed by spiritual writers down the ages.
Bl. John Paul II applied it with reference to the merciful love that God shows
his own—the “rahamin” in Hebrew, a word that derives from maternal love (”re-
hem” means motherly embrace). Like a mother, God has borne mankind, and
especially the chosen people, in his womb; he has given birth to it in pain, has
nourished and consoled it (cf. 42:14; 46:3-4): “From the deep and original bond
— indeed the unity—that links a mother to her child there springs a particular re-
lationship to the child, a particular love. Of this love one can say that it is com-
pletely gratuitous, not merited, and that in this aspect it constitutes an interior
necessity: an exigency of the heart. It is, as it were, a ‘feminine’ variation of the
masculine fidelity: to self expressed by “hesed”. Against this psychological
background, “rahamin” generates a whole range of feelings, including goodness
and tenderness, patience and understanding, that is, readiness to forgive. [...]
This love, faithful and invincible thanks to the mysterious power of motherhood,
is expressed in the Old Testament texts in various ways: as salvation from dan-
gers, especially from enemies; also as forgiveness of sins—of individuals and
also of the whole of Israel; and finally in readiness to fulfill the (eschatological)
promise and hope in spite of human infidelity” (”Dives In Misericordia”, note 52;
cf. “Mulieris Dignitatem”, 8).
The first words of v. 16 are another graphic description of the love of God; and
so we find Bl. John Paul II using them in an exhortation on that subject “Dear
young people, receive the love that God first gives you (cf. 1 Jn 4:19). Hold fast
to this certainty, the only one that can give meaning, strength and joy to life: his
love will never leave you, his covenant of peace will never be removed from you
(cf. Is 54:10). He has stamped your name on the palms of his hands (cf. Is 49:
16)” (”World Youth Day”, 6 January 1997).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: John 5:17-30
The Cure of a Sick Man at the Pool at Bethzatha (Continuation)
Christ Defends His Action
[25] “Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will
hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. [26] For as the
Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself,
[27] and has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of
Man. [28] Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the
tombs will hear His voice [29] and come forth, those who have done good, to the
resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.
[30] “I can do nothing on My own authority; as I hear, I judge; and My judgment
is just, because I seek not My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.”
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Commentary:
17-18. “My Father is working still, and I am working”: we have already said that
God is continually acting. Since the Son acts together with the Father, who with
the Holy Spirit are the one and only God, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
can say that He is always working. These words of Jesus contain an implicit re-
ference to His divinity: the Jews realize this and they want to kill Him because
they consider it blasphemous. “We all call God our Father, who is in Heaven (Is-
aiah 63:16; 64:8). Therefore, they were angry, not at this, that He said God was
His Father, but that He said it in quite another way than men. Notice: the Jews
understand what Arians do not understand. Arians affirm the Son to be not equal
to the Father, and that was why this heresy was driven from the Church. Here,
even the blind, even the slayers of Christ, understand the works of Christ” (St.
Augustine, “In Ioann. Evang., 17, 16). We call God our Father because through
grace we are His adopted children; Jesus calls Him His Father because He is
His Son by nature. This is why He says after the Resurrection: “I am ascending
to My Father and your Father” (John 20:17), making a clear distinction between
the two ways of being a son of God.
19. Jesus speaks of the equality and also the distinction between Father and
Son. The two are equal: all the Son’s power is the Father’s, all the Son does
the Father does; but they are two distinct persons: which is why the Son does
what He has seen the Father do.
These words of our Lord should not be taken to mean that the Son sees what
the Father does and then does it Himself, like a disciple imitating his master;
He says what He says to show that the Father’s powers are communicated to
the Son through generation. The word “see” is used because men come to
know things through the senses, particularly through the sight; to say that the
Son sees what the Father does is a way of referring to all the powers which He
receives from Him for all eternity (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, “Comm. on St. John,
in loc.”).
20-21. When He says that the Father shows the Son “all that He Himself is do-
ing”, this means that Christ can do the same as the Father. Thus, when Jesus
does things which are proper to God, He is testifying to His divinity through them
(cf. John 5:36).
“Greater works”: this may be a reference to the miracles Jesus will work during
His lifetime and to His authority to execute judgment. But THE miracle of Jesus
was His own resurrection, the cause and pledge of our own (cf. 1 Corinthians
15:20ff), and our passport to supernatural life. Christ, like His Father, has unli-
mited power to communicate life. This teaching is developed in verses 22-29.
22-30. Authority to judge has also been given by the Father to the Incarnate
Word. Whoever does not believe in Christ and in His word will be condemned (cf.
3:18). We must accept Jesus Christ’s lordship; by doing so we honor the Father;
if we do not know the Son we do not know the Father who sent Him (verse 23).
Through accepting Christ, through accepting His word, we gain eternal life and
are freed from condemnation. He, who has taken on human nature which He will
retain forever, has been established as our judge, and His judgment is just, be-
cause He seeks to fulfill the Will of the Father who sent Him, and He does no-
thing on His own account: in other words, His human will is perfectly at one with
His divine will; which is why Jesus can say that He does not do His own will but
the Will of Him who sent Him.
22. God, being the Creator of the world, is the supreme Judge of all creation. He
alone can know with absolute certainty whether the people and things He has
created achieve the end He has envisaged for them. Jesus Christ, the Incarnate
Word, has received divine authority (cf. Matthew 11:27; 28:18; Daniel 7:14), inclu-
ding the authority to judge mankind. Now, it is God’s will that everyone should be
saved: Christ did not come to condemn the world but to save it (cf. John 12:47).
Only someone who refuses to accept the divine mission of the Son puts himself
outside the pale of salvation. As the Church’s Magisterium teaches: “He claimed
judicial power as received from His Father, when the Jews accused Him of brea-
king the Sabbath by the miraculous cure of a sick man. [...] In this power is in-
cluded the right of rewarding and punishing all men, even in this life” (Pius XI,
Quas Primas, Dz-Sch 3677”). Jesus Christ, therefore, is the Judge of the living
and the dead, and will reward everyone according to his works (cf. 1 Peter 1:17).
“We have, I admit, a rigorous account to give of our sins; but who will be our
judge? The Father [...] has given all judgment to the Son. Let us be comforted:
the eternal Father has placed our cause in the hands of our Redeemer Himself.
St. Paul encourages us, saying, Who is [the judge] who is to condemn us? It is
Jesus Christ, who died [...] who indeed intercedes for us (Romans 8:34). It is the
Savior Himself, who, in order that He should not condemn us to eternal death,
has condemned Himself to death for our sake, and who, not content with this,
still continues to intercede for us in Heaven with God His Father” (St. Alphonsus
Liguori, “The Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ Reduced To Practice”, Chapter 3).
24. There is also a close connection between hearing the word of Christ and be-
lieving in Him who sent Him, that is, in the Father. Whatever Jesus Christ says
is divine revelation; therefore, accepting Jesus’ words is equivalent to believing in
God the Father: “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me, but in Him who sent
Me.... For I have not spoken on My own authority; the Father who sent Me has
Himself given Me the commandment what to say and what to speak” (John 12:
44, 49).
A person with faith is on the way to eternal life, because even in this earthly life
he is sharing in divine life, which is eternal; but he has not yet attained eternal
life in a definitive way (for he can lose it), nor in a full way: “Beloved, we are God’s
children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He
appears we shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2). If a person stays firm in the faith and
lives up to its demands, God’s judgment will not condemn him but save him.
Therefore, it makes sense to strive, with the help of grace, to live a life consistent
with the faith: “If men go to so much trouble and effort to live here a little longer,
ought they not strive so much harder to live eternally?” (St. Augustine, “De Verb.
Dom. Serm.”, 64).
25-30. These verses bring the first part of our Lord’s discourse to a close (it runs
from 5:19 to 5:47); its core is a revelation about His relationship with His Father.
To understand the statement our Lord makes here we need to remember that,
because He is a single (divine) person, a single subject of operations, a single I,
He is expressing in human words not only His sentiments as a man but also the
deepest dimension of His being: He is the Son of God, both in His generation in
eternity by the Father, and in His generation in time through taking up human
nature. Hence Jesus Christ has a profound awareness (so profound that we can-
not even imagine it) of His Sonship, which leads Him to treat His Father with a
very special intimacy, with love and also with respect; He is aware also of His
equality with the Father; therefore when He speaks about the Father having gi-
ven Him life (verse 26) or authority (verse 27), it is not that He has received part
of the Father’s life or authority: He has received absolutely all of it, without the
Father losing any.
“Do you perceive how their equality is shown and that they differ in one respect
only, namely, that one is the Father, while the other is the Son? The expression
‘He has given’ implies this distinction only, and shows that all other attributes are
equal and without difference. From this it is clear that He does everything with
as much authority and power as the Father and is not endowed with power from
some outside source, for He has life as the Father has” (St. John Chrysostom,
“Hom. on St. John”, 39, 3).
One of the amazing things about these passages of the Gospel is how Jesus
manages to express the sentiments of God-Man despite the limitations of human
language: Christ, true God, true man, is a mystery which the Christian should
contemplate even though he cannot understand it: he feels bathed in a light so
strong that it is beyond understanding, yet fills his soul with faith and with a de-
sire to worship his Lord.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.