Friday

3rd Week of Advent

1st Reading: Isaiah 56:1-3a, 6-8

Worship Open to All
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[1] Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my deliverance be revealed.
[2] Blessed is the man who does this,
and the son of man who holds it fast,
who keeps the sabbath, not profaning it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

[3] Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely separate me from his people”.

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Commentary:

56:1-66:24. These chapters make up the third part of the book of Isaiah, some-
times called “Third Isaiah”. It consists of prophetic visions and oracles about the
new Zion and the nations of the earth. The variety of style and content here
makes it difficult to identify any clear structure: the sacred writer seems to have
drawn these oracles together, apparently content that they are all to do with the
End and all refer to the whole world and not just to Israel. But he has carefully
positioned chapter 61 in the middle, making it the high-point of these chapters.
Also, 56:1-8 and 66:18-24, which stress the universality of justice and worship,
are very appropriately positioned at start and finish. To make this part easier to
read, we have divided it into three sections in this edition. The first (56:1-59:21)
is a series of oracles that show salvation being extended to all mankind, even
though the sins of the people of God will cause delays. In the second (60:1-64:
11), the salvation that the Lord will provide is proclaimed to all the nations from
Jerusalem. And the third section (65:1-66:24) has as its theme the judgment of
God, handed down to each according to his or her merits, be it punishment for
sin, or salvation.

Historically, the oracles have to do with the years following the return from exile
after Cyrus issued his decree of repatriation (539 BC). It was for Judah a time for
“beginning again”. God sent messages of hope to raise the Jews’ spirits during
their years in exile and on their return, when they were confronted by a scene of
devastation. They cannot fail to see that, from now on, peace and salvation are
linked with a return to God, conversion, the practice of righteousness, and holi-
ness.

This means that the horizon of divine salvation extends to include the whole
world, extending beyond the narrow limits of Jewish nationalism. When the pro-
phetic texts speak of Zion, they see it as the center of a new view of mankind,
as a source of light for all nations. The new Jerusalem stands for a new order,
as it will in the Revelation to John. Although all the energies of repatriates are
focused on the rebuilding of the temple (60:7-13), the message here is that the
ultimate goal is not material reconstruction, for the throne of God is to be found
in heaven, and the earth is only his footstool (66:1-2). Hope in a glorious future
is not measured in terms of external institutions -- in the monarchy (which does
not exist), or in any other human authority, or in force of arms. Even divine wor-
ship, and the rules and regulations to do with fasting and sacrifices, will be
cleansed of the old formalism (58:1-14). God will act directly to save his people
(62:2-12). The new horizon opened up by “Third Isaiah” has its parallel in Haggai
and Zechariah, and, above all, it prepares the way for the still-distant eschatolo-
gical vision found in the Revelation to John.

56:1-59:21. The new section looks forward to a salvation that is open to everyone
who practises righteousness (56: 1-12). However, the first announcement of this
is put on hold, as it were, due to the sins of the people of God; these delay the
manifestation of God’s salvific power, for he refuses to hearken to the prayers of
the ungodly (57:1-21). Therefore, first and foremost, the prophet issues a call to
conversion (58: 1-14), while promising that the Lord, who is faithful to his Cove-
nant, will reward people according to their actions: he will punish those who are
faithless and redeem those who return to him (59:1-21).

56:1-8. In the restored Jerusalem, the temple will begin to open its doors to all
peoples. What we were told at the start of the book (cf. 2:2-5) would happen “in
the latter days” is beginning to happen: the temple of the Lord will be a house
of prayer for those who previously could not enter it; it will be open to all peoples.
The old rulings (Lev 22:25; Deut 23:2-9) did not permit eunuchs or foreigners to
take part in the assembly of Israel (a similar approach is found in Ezra 9:1-12
and Nehemiah 9:1-2); but this oracle displays a much more open and universa-
list attitude (cf. V/is 3:14):there is no objection to eunuchs and foreigners provi-
ded that they observe the sabbath and the Covenant (cf. vv. 2, 4,6) Blood ties
are no longer the criteria for membership of the community of the people of God
now it suffices that a person keep to the moral teaching laid down in the old Co-
venant, and worship the true God.

The mission of the temple, rebuilt by the exiles after their return with its open invi-
tation to all without exception to come and worship God as part of his people, will
reach its fullness in the redemption wrought by Christ Jesus.When he cleanses
the temple (Mt 21:12-13 and par.), appealing to the words of v. 6 (along with Jere-
miah 7:11; cf. note on same), this prophecy will be fulfilled.
　

Gospel Reading: John 5:33-36

Christ Defends His Action (Continuation)
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[Jesus said to the Jews,] [31] "If I bear witness to Myself, My testimony is not
true; [32] there is another who bears witness to Me, and I know that the testimo-
ny which he bears to Me is true. [33] You sent to John, and he has borne witness
to the truth. [34] Not that the testimony which I receive is from man; but I say this
that you may be saved.[35] He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were wil-
ling to rejoice for a while in his light. [36] But the testimony which I have is greater
than that of John; for the works which the Father has granted Me to accomplish,
these very works which I am doing, bear Me witness that the Father has sent Me.
[37] And the Father who sent He has Himself borne witness to Me. His voice you
have never heard, His form you have never seen; [38] and you do not have His word
abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He has sent. [39] You search the
Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that
bear witness to Me; [40] yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life. [41]
I do not receive glory from men. [42] But I know that you have not the love of God
within you. [43] I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if
another comes in his own name, him you will receive. [44] How can you believe,
who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the
only God? [45] Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses who
accuses you, on whom you set your hope. [4] If you believed Moses, you would
believe Me, for he wrote of Me. [47] But if you do not believe his writings, how will
you believe My words?"

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Commentary:

31-40. Because Jesus is Son of God, His own word is self-sufficient, it needs
no corroboration (cf. 8:18); but, as on other occasions, He accommodates Him-
self to human customs and to the mental outlook of His hearers: He anticipates
a possible objection from the Jews to the effect that it is not enough for a person
to testify in his own cause (cf. Deuteronomy 19:15) and He explains that what
He is saying is endorsed by four witnesses--John the Baptist, His own miracles,
the Father, and the Sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament.

John the Baptist bore witness that Jesus was the Son of God (1:34). Although
Jesus had no need to have recourse to any man's testimony, not even that of a
great prophet, John's testimony was given for the sake of the Jews, that they
might recognize the Messiah. Jesus can also point to another testimony, better
than that of the Baptist--the miracles He has worked, which are, for anyone who
examines them honestly, unmistakable signs of His divine power, which comes
from the Father; Jesus' miracles, then, are a form of witness the Father bears
concerning His Son, whom He has sent into the world. The Father manifests the
divinity of Jesus on other occasions--at His Baptism (cf. 1:31-34); at the Transfi-
guration (cf. Matthew 17:1-8), and later, in the presence of the whole crowd (cf.
John 12:28-30).

Jesus speaks to another divine testimony--that of the Sacred Scriptures. These
speak of Him, but the Jews fail to grasp the Scriptures' true meaning, because
they read them without letting themselves be enlightened by Him whom God has
sent and in whom all the prophecies are fulfilled: "The economy of the Old Testa-
ment was deliberately so orientated that it should prepare for and declare in pro-
phecy the coming of Christ, Redeemer of all men, and of the Messianic Kingdom
(cf. Luke 24:44; John 5:39, 1 Peter 1:10), and should indicate it by means of dif-
ferent types (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:11). [...] Christians should accept with venera-
tion these writings which give expression to a lively sense of God, which are a
storehouse of sublime teaching on God and of sound wisdom on human life, as
well as a wonderful treasury of prayers; in them, too, the mystery of our salvation
is present in a hidden way" (Vatican II, "Dei Verbum", 15).

41-47. Jesus identifies three obstacles preventing His hearers from recognizing
that He is the Messiah and Son of God--their lack of love of God, their striving
after human glory and their prejudiced interpretation of sacred texts. His defense
of His own actions and of His relationship with the Father might lead His adver-
saries to think that He was looking for human glory. But the testimonies He has
adduced (the Baptist, the miracles, the Father and the Scriptures) show clearly
that it is not He who is seeking His glory, and that the Jews oppose Him not out
of love of God or in defense of God's honor, but for unworthy reasons or because
of their merely human outlook.

The Old Testament, therefore, leads a person towards recognizing who Jesus
Christ is (cf. John 1:45; 2:17, 22; 5:39, 46; 12:16, 41); yet the Jews remain un-
believers because their attitude is wrong: they have reduced the Messianic pro-
mises in the sacred books to the level of mere nationalistic aspirations: this out-
look, which is in no way supernatural, closes their soul to Jesus' words and ac-
tions and prevents them from seeing that the ancient prophecies are come true
in Him (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:14-16).

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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.

[참고: 이 파일은 저서명 "가톨릭 교회의 말씀 전례에 따른 성경공부 해설서"(엮은이: 소순태, 출판사: 가톨릭출판사)의 각주의 연장으로 마련되었습니다].