From: Isaiah 60:1-6
A Radiant New Jerusalem
[4] Lift up your eyes round about, and see;
they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from far,
and your daughters shall be carried in the arms.
[5] Then you shall see and be radiant,
your heart shall thrill and rejoice;
because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
[6] A multitude of camels shall cover you,
the young camels of Midian and Ephah;
all those from Sheba shall come.
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Commentary:
60:1-64:11. In the central section of Third Isaiah, the restored Jerusalem has a
wonderful radiance; it is the dwelling place of the glory of the Lord, and from it all
the nations will hear about God’s salvation. These are chapters that shine with
hope and joy. In the opening verses, Jerusalem, the Lord’s spouse, is invited to
leap with joy, for the glory of the Lord will light up the holy city, which will be-
come a beacon for the nations (60:1-22). From there, too, the Lord’s herald pro-
claims the good news of salvation to the poor, the oppressed and all who labor
under some burden (61:1-11). The holy city will radiate righteousness for all the
nations to see (62:1-12). Finally, the Lord, depicted as a conqueror, enthroned
in a glorious Jerusalem, is proclaimed as the sovereign lord who wilt judge and
reward and punish (63:1-64:11).
60:1-22. These verses are a magnificent hymn to Jerusalem, completely resto-
red, idealized; the prophet does not need to identify it by name. The most remar-
kable feature of the city is its radiance, mentioned at the start and end of the po-
em (vv. 1-3 and 19-22): it stems from the glory of the Lord, who has made the ci-
ty’s temple his dwelling-place. The city acts as a magnet for all the nations, not
only because it instructs them by means of the Law and by the word of God, as
we heard at the start of the book (2:2-4; cf. Mic 4:1-3) but also because they are
in awe of its splendor. The central verses of the poem rejoice in the pilgrimages
that make their way to the holy city: first, those of Israelites, who had been scat-
tered across the world: the pilgrims are most happy and they bear rich gifts for
the Lord (vv. 4-9). Foreigners will come, too, and they will bring precious materi-
als to reconstruct and embellish the city they previously destroyed. The obei-
sance they must do corresponds to the harm they did earlier (vv. 10-14). But the
most important event is the arrival of the Lord who will bring gifts in abundance,
the most precious being peace (vv. 15-10) and light (vv. 19-22). This picture of
the new Jerusalem (one would expect) must have raised the spirits of those en-
gaged in the final stages of the rebuilding of the temple.
This poem clearly has resonances with the eschatological description of the hea-
venly Jerusalem in the Revelation to John (cf. Rev 21:9-27). Some of the wording
is virtually the same: cf. v. 3 with Rev 21:24 (”By its light shall the nations work;
and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it”); v. 11 with Rev 21:25-26
(”its gates shall never be shut by day — and there will be no night there”); v. 14
with Rev 3:9 (”I will make them come and bow down before your feet”); v. 19 with
Rev 21:23 (”the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory
of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb”) and 22:5 (”night shall be no more;
they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they
shall reign for ever and ever”). The hopes harbored by the early Christians (and
the consolation to which the new people of God look forward) are in continuity
with the hope felt by the ancient people of Israel. The message of Isaiah and
that of the book of Revelation were each (in different historical contexts) calling
for firm faith in the Savior of all. The New Testament fills out the Old by openly
declaring that God saves us through his Son, Jesus Christ.
60:4-9. The pilgrimage described here comes from all corners of the earth, and
yet it is a familial one. It is made up of people who were scattered throughout the
known world, and not just those exiled in Babylon. Those from the west come by
sea (v. 5), bearing the sort of goods normally transported by sea, particularly by
Greek and Phoenician merchants. Those from the east, from the Arabian penin-
sula (Kedar and Nebaioth) and further afield will travel in caravans bringing pre-
cious commodities typical of the area — silver, gold etc. (v. 6). The visit of the
Magi, who came bearing presents to adore Jesus, is in line with the sort of com-
merce that was current at the time, and it is probably connected with this text
of Isaiah. Certainly, when this passage is read in the liturgy on the Solemnity of
the Epiphany, the implication is that those rich gifts brought to the temple in ho-
nor of the Lord prefigure those that the Magi offered to him who is truly the “Lord
your God”, “the Holy One of Israel” (v. 9). “Today, the wise man finds lying in a
manger the One he had searched for as a brilliant light shining among the stars.
Today, the wise man sees wrapped in swaddling clothes the One he long sought
to find, unveiled, in the heavens. Today, to his great surprise, the wise man dis-
cerns in what he studies: heaven on earth, earth in the heavens, man in God,
and God in man; what the whole universe could not contain inhabits the body of
a child. And seeing all this, he believes and doubts no more; and he announces
it to all, using his mystical powers: incense for God, gold for the King, and myrrh
for the One who will die. Today, the Gentile who was once last is first, because
the faith of the wise man sanctifies the belief of all the peoples” (St Peter Chryso-
logus, “Semones”, 160). And Eusebius of Caesarea comments: “The conversion
of the Gentiles glorifies the Church of God in a special way. The prophecy, “I will
glorify my glorious house” [60:7], is fulfilled. This promise was made to the old
Jerusalem, the mother of the new city, who, as has already been said, was the
community of all among the ancient people who lived righteous lives — the pro-
phets and patriarchs, all just men, those to whom the coming of Christ was first
proclaimed” (”Commentaria in Isaiam”, 60, 6-7).
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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: Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
St Paul’s Mission
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Commentary:
1-21. Christ’s saving work on behalf of the Gentiles, calling them to be, with the
Jews, living stones in the edifice of the Church, leads the Apostle once again to
overflow in prayer (vv. 14-21). But first he considers his own position and what
Christ has done in him by making him a minister or servant of the Mystery of
Christ (vv. 2-13). He witnesses to the revelation he himself has received, which
made this Mystery known to him (vv. 2-5); and he goes on to give a summary
of the Mystery, emphasizing the call of the Gentiles to the Church through the
preaching of the Gospel (v. 6); he then explains that his mission is precisely to
preach the Mystery of Christ to the Gentiles (vv. 7-13).
1-4. What led to St Paul’s imprisonment was Jewish charges that he had prea-
ched against the Law and had brought Gentiles into the temple (they thought
Trophimus, a citizen of Ephesus, was a Gentile: cf. Acts 21:28f). He did not
mind so much the chains or the imprisonment or the Romans being his judges
and jailers: what he wanted to make clear was that he was imprisoned for prea-
ching to the Gentiles the salvation won by Jesus Christ.
He is very conscious of being an instrument specially chosen by God: he has
been given the grace to reveal the “Mystery” (cf. Rom 1:15; 2 Cor 12:2f). He
is clearly referring to the vision he had on the road to Damascus (cf. Acts 9:2)
and possibly to later revelations as well. His encounter with the risen Christ,
who identifies himself with his Church (cf. Acts 9:5), is the origin and basis of
his grasp of God’s eternal plan, the “Mystery”, which is one of the central tea-
chings in this letter. The fact that Christ revealed himself to Paul and chose
him to be the preacher of the Gospel to the Gentiles is something which Paul
sees as part of the systematic implementation — the “oikonomia” — of God’s
plan.
5. In the Old Testament the promise made to Abraham revealed that in his off-
spring all the nations of the earth would be blessed (cf. Gen 12:3; Sir 44:21); but
how this would happen was not revealed. The Jews always thought that it would
come about through their exaltation over other nations. Through the revelation
Jesus made to him, St Paul has discovered that God has chosen another way —
that of bringing the Gentiles into the Church, the body of Christ, on equal terms
with the Jews. This is the “Mystery”, the plan of God as revealed by the mission
Christ gave his apostles or envoys (cf. Mt 28:19), of whom St Paul is one (cf. 3:
8). Once again, as in 2:20, prophets are mentioned together with apostles; this
may mean either the Old Testament prophets who announced the coming Mes-
siah, or the New Testament prophets, that is, the Apostles themselves and other
Christians who had insight, through revelation, into God’s saving plans for the
Gentiles and who proclaimed them under the inspiration of the Spirit.
The context and other passages in Ephesians and elsewhere in the New Testa-
ment (cf. Eph 4:11; 1 Cor 12:28f; Acts 11:27; etc.) would suggest that he is re-
ferring to New Testament prophets. The Holy Spirit has revealed the Mystery to
them “that they might preach the Gospel, stir up faith in Jesus the Messiah and
Lord, and bring together the Church” (Vatican II, “Dei Verbum”, 17). St Paul does
not see himself as the only person to whom it has been given to know the Mys-
tery revealed in Jesus Christ. All that he is saying is that, by the grace of God, it
has been made known to him and that its preaching has been entrusted to him in
a special way, just as it was given to St Peter to preach it to the Jews (cf. Gal
2:7).
St Paul attributes to the Holy Spirit the revelation of the Mystery, recalling, no
doubt, how he himself came to know it after his meeting with Jesus on the road
to Damascus (cf. Acts 9:17). It is the Spirit also who acts in the apostles and
prophets (cf. Acts 2:17), and it is he who on an on-going basis vivifies the Church,
enabling it to proclaim the Gospel. “The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church. It
is he who explains to the faithful the deep meaning of the teaching of Jesus and
of his mystery. It is the Holy Spirit who, today just as at the beginning of the
Church, acts in every evangelizer who allows himself to be possessed and led
by him. The Holy Spirit places on his lips the words which he could not find him-
self, and at the same time the Holy Spirit predisposes the soul of the hearer to
be open and receptive to the Good News and to the Kingdom being proclaimed”
(Paul VI, “Evangelii Nuntiandi”, 75).
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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.