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From: Isaiah 2:1-5

The Glory of Zion and Peace Among the Nations

[1] The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and
Jerusalem.
[2] It shall come to pass in the latter days
that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised above the hills;
and all the nations shall flow to it,
[3] and many peoples shall come, and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth the law,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
[4] He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
[5] O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord.

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Commentary:

2:1-4:6. This section opens with a new “dispute” (”rib”) in which we find echoes
of the teaching about the “day of the Lord” (2:12; cf. Amos 5:18-20). Previously,
the people were accused of forsaking God (cf. 1:2-3); now we are told why God
has forsaken them (cf. 2:6): it was on account of their arrogance and their idola-
try (cf. 2:6-4:1). However, it is not really the case that God has forsaken his peo-
ple; his “forsaking” them is a way of describing the punishment he inflicts on
them on account of their sins. When the Lord’s sentence is revealed, human
arrogance will be brought low, and the Lord will be exalted (cf. 2:9, 11, 17).

Oracles about the splendor that will be Zion’s on that day introduce (cf. 2:1-5)
and round off (4:2-6) this “dispute”.

2:1-5. Despite the sins of the people and the disastrous situation in Judah that
is described in this first part of the book, from the very start a glimmer of hope
is provided in this vision of messianic and eschatological restoration which
shows that the salvation of the world centers on Zion, “the mountain of the Lord”,
that is, Jerusalem.

All the nations will converge on the holy city, but not to despoil it of its wealth:
they will come in peace to hearken to the word of the Lord and receive instruc-
tion in his law. This note of hope, struck, strategically, at the very start of the
book, and at its end (66:18-24), constitutes one of its most important messa-
ges.

The poem in vv. 2-5 (found also, with slight variations, in Micah 4:1-3) links the
Law with the temple, the spiritual center of Jerusalem after the national recon-
struction that took place when the exiles returned from Babylon.

In contrast with the strife and desolation that sin brings in its wake (cf. 1:2-9),
peace is the outcome of reverence for God and readiness to obey his precepts,
of the practice of virtue and of love of neighbor. The weapons of war become
tools for development and agriculture: “Insofar as men are sinful, the threat of
war hangs over them, and hang over them it will until the return of Christ. But
insofar as men vanquish sin by a union of love, they will vanquish violence as
well and make these words come true: ‘They shall turn their swords into plough-
shares, and their spears into sickles. Nation shall not lift up sword against na-
tion, neither shall they learn war any more’ (Is 2:4)” (”Gaudium Et Spes”, 78).

These words of Isaiah announcing God’s salvific intervention in the fullness of
time will come true with the birth of Christ, who will open up an era of perfect
peace and reconciliation. The Church uses this text in the liturgy of the first Sun-
day in Advent, encouraging us to look forward to the second coming of Christ as
we prepare to recall his first coming at Christmas.

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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: Matthew 8:5-11

The Centurion’s Faith

[5] As He (Jesus) entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to Him, besee-
ching Him [6] and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, in terri-
ble distress.” [7] And He said to him, “I will come and heal him.” [8] But the cen-
turion answered Him, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof;
but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. [9] For I am a man under
authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to
another, ‘Come,’ and he comes and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” [10]
When Jesus heard him, He marvelled, and said to those who followed Him, “Tru-
ly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. [11] I tell you, many
will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
in the Kingdom of Heaven.”

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Commentary:

5-11. “Centurion”: an officer of the Roman army in control of one hundred men.
This man’s faith is still an example to us. At the solemn moment when a Chris-
tian is about to receive Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, the Church’s liturgy
places on his lips and in his heart these words of the centurion, to enliven his
faith: Lord, I am not worthy...”.

The Jews of this time regarded any Jew who entered a Gentile’s house as con-
tracting legal impurity (cf. John 19:28; Acts 11:2-3). This centurion has the defe-
rence not to place Jesus in an embarrassing position in the eyes of His fellow
Israelites. He shows that he is convinced that Jesus has the power over disease
and illness; he suggests that if Jesus just says the word, He will do what is nee-
ded without having actually to visit the house; he is reasoning, in a simple, logi-
cal way, on the basis of his own professional experience. Jesus avails of this
meeting with a Gentile believer to make a solemn prophecy to the effect that
His Gospel is addressed to the world at large; all men, of every nation and race,
of every age and condition, are called to follow Christ.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.