Tuesday
1st Week of Advent
1st Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10
The New Descendant of David
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[1] There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch
shall grow out of his roots. [2] And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the
spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. [3] And his delight shall be in the
fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what
his ears hear; [4] but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide
with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod
of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. [5]
Righteousness shall be the girdle of his waist, and faithfulness the girdle of his
loins. [6] The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with
the kid, and the calf and the lion and the failing together, and a little child shall
lead them. [7] The cow and the bear shall feed; their young shall lie down
together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. [8] The sucking child shall
play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the
adders den. [9] They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
The Return of the Exiles
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[10] In that day the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign to the peoples; him
shall the nations seek, and his dwellings shall be glorious.
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Commentary:
11:1-9. This passage, which is regarded as the third Immanuel oracle, has two
parts to it. The first (vv.1-5) announces that the shoot will spring from the stump
of Jesse (David's father) at some future date.The second (vv. 6-9) describes the
good things associated with his reign, using imagery to do with messianic peace:
creation will be restored to its state of original justice.
The first part is a formal announcement of the accession of a new king in the
line of David--humble, because he comes from a tree that has been pruned yet
has all the vitality of a tender shoot. It refers to a future king ("there shall come
...") and not the reigning monarch. The new king will be endowed with
exceptional qualities that equip him to rule, thanks to the Holy Spirit who will
descend upon him. The divine Spirit is an inner strength, a gift that God gives
to key figures in salvation history to enable them to accomplish a difficult and
dangerous mission--Moses (cf. Num 11:17), the judges (cf. 3:10; 6:34) and
David (1 Sam 16:13). The new descendent of David will rule over the people
not in a heavy-handed way like the kings of the time, but with a charismatic
dynamism that comes from God. Six gifts of the Spirit are mentioned, in pairs
-- wisdom and understanding, referring to the skill and prudence that ensure
that he will judge rightly; counsel and fortitude, the characteristics of an astute
strategist like David; knowledge and the fear of the Lord, which have to do with
the religious sphere, for the king must not forget that he is God's representative.
The second part describes very beautifully the messianic peace that will flower
with this new "shoot". It paints a panorama of the harmony that reigned at the
dawn of creation, only to be broken by sin. Even among wild beasts violence
will disappear. No longer will man in his pride desire to be "like God, knowing
good and evil" (Gen 3:5); instead he will be filled with the divine gift of the
"knowledge of the Lord" (v. 9). The "child", mentioned twice (vv. 6, 8) is not
directly connected with the child-king of the oracle found in 9:6 or with the
Immanuel (7:14); however, in the mind of the prophet they must have had
many points of contact, given the reference to the child having a leadership
role (v. 6).
The image of the "shoot" from the royal line who will bring peace has been
interpreted in Christian tradition as finding fulfillment in Jesus Christ. St
Thomas Aquinas read this passage as referring to Christ, who brought about
the restoration of mankind; he points out: "First, the birth of Christ the 'restorer',
is spoken of (v. 1); then, his holiness (vv. 2-9) and his dignity (v. 10) are
described" ("Expositio Super lsaiam", 11). And John Paul II comments:
"Alluding to the coming of a mysterious personage, which the New Testament
revelation will identify with Jesus, Isaiah connects his person and mission with
a particular action of the Spirit of God--the Spirit of the Lord.
These are the words of the prophet: 'There shall come forth a shoot from the
stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And "the Spirit of the
Lord shall rest upon him", the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of
counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his
delight shall be the fear of the Lord' (Is 11:1-3). This text is important for the
whole pneumatology of the Old Testament, because it constitutes a kind of
bridge between the ancient biblical concept of 'spirit', understood primarily as
a 'charismatic breath of wind', and the 'Spirit' as a person and as a gift, a gift
for the person. The Messiah of the lineage of David ('from the stump of Jesse')
is precisely that person upon whom the Spirit of the Lord 'shall rest.' It is
obvious that in this case one cannot yet speak of a revelation of the Paraclete.
However, with this veiled reference to the figure of the future Messiah there
begins, so to speak, the path towards the full revelation of the Holy Spirit in
the unity of the Trinitarian mystery, a mystery which will finally be manifested
in the New Covenant" ("Dominum Et Vivificantem", 15).
A Christian reading of these words finds in them a reference to the action of
the Holy Spirit in souls; the "spirits" that repose in the Messiah; are stable
"gifts" through which the Holy Spirit acts. There are six of these gifts, according
to the Hebrew text (which the New Vulgate and the RSV follow). The Greek
translation of the Septuagint and the Vulgate divide the gift of fear into two--piety
and fear of the Lord. That is why catechesis and theology speak of there being
seven gifts: "The seven 'gifts' of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding,
counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of theLord. They belong in their
fullness to Christ, Son of David (cf. Is 11:1-2). They complete and perfect the
virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily
obeying divine inspirations" ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 1831).
Gospel Reading: Luke 10:21-24
Jesus Gives Thanks
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[21] In that same hour He (Jesus) rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank
Thee, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from
the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such
was Thy gracious will. [22] All things have been delivered to Me by My Father;
and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is
except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him."
[23] Then turning to the disciples He said privately, "Blessed are the eyes which
see what you see! [24] For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to
see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not
hear it."
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Commentary:
21. This passage of the Gospel is usually called our Lord's "hymn of joy" and is
also found in St. Matthew (11:25-27). It is one of those moments when Jesus
rejoices to see humble people understanding and accepting the word of God.
Our Lord also reveals one of the effects of humility--spiritual childhood. For
example, in another passage He says: "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and
become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 18:3).
But spiritual childhood does not involve weakness, softness or ignorance: "I have
often meditated on this life of spiritual childhood, which is not incompatible with
fortitude, because it demands a strong will, proven maturity, an open and firm
character [...]. To become children we must renounce our pride and self-
sufficiency, recognizing that we can do nothing by ourselves. We must realize
that we need grace, and the help of God our Father to find our way and keep it.
To be little, you have to abandon yourself as children do, believe as children,
beg as children beg" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 10 and 143).
22. "This statement is a wonderful help to our faith," St. Ambrose comments,
"because when you read 'all' you realize that Christ is all-powerful, that He is not
inferior to the Father, or less perfect than He; when you read 'have been delivered
to me', you confess that Christ is the Son, to whom everything belongs by right
of being one in substance [with the Father] and not by grace of gift" ("Expositio
Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.").
Here we see Christ as almighty Lord and God, consubstantial with the Father,
and the only one capable of revealing who the Father is. At the same time, we
can recognize the divine nature of Jesus only if the Father gives us the grace of
faith--as He did to St. Peter (cf. Matthew 16:17).
23-24. Obviously, seeing Jesus with one's own eyes was a wonderful thing for
people who believed in him. However, our Lord will say to Thomas, "Blessed are
those who have not seen and yet believe" (John 20:29). St. Peter, for his part,
tells us: "Without having seen Him you love Him; though you do not see Him you
believe in Him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome of
your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:8-9).
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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. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
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