Birth of Saint John the Baptist (June 24), 성 요한 세례자 탄생 대축일

1st Reading: Isaiah 49:1-6

Second Song of the Servant of the Lord
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[1] Listen to me, O coastlands,
and hearken, you peoples from afar.
The LORD called me from the womb,
from the body of my mother he
named my name.
[2] He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me away. 
[3] And he said to me, You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will be glorified."
[4] But I said, "I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and
vanity;
yet surely my right is with the LORD,
and my recompense with my God." 
[5] And now the LORD says,
who formed me from the womb
to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,
and my God has become my strength --
[6] he says:
"It is too light a thing that you
should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the preserved of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to
the end of the earth."

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Commentary:

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번역자 주: 가톨릭 보편 교회의 전례력에 있어 네 개의 "고통받는 종의 노래들"은 다음과 같이 
발췌되고 있다:
(i) 첫 번째 고통받는 종의 노래는 이사야서 42,1-4/9
    (매년 성 월요일 및 매년 주님 세례 축일 제1독서에 포함됨), 
(ii) 두 번째 고통받는 종의 노래는 이사야서 49,1-6
    (매년 성 화요일, 가해 연중 제2주일 및 매년 세례자 요한 탄생 대축일 제1독서), 
(iii) 세 번째 고통 받은 종의 노래는 이사야서 50,4-9/11
    (매년 성 수요일 제1독서, 나해 연중 제24주일 제1독서, 매년 주님 수난 성지 주일  
    제1독서를 포함함), 그리고 
(iv) 네 번째 고통받는 종의 노래는 이사야서 52,13-53,12 
    (매년 성 금요일 제1독서, 나해 제29주일 제1독서를 포함함)에 있다.
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49:1-55:13. Chapter 49 marks the start of the second section of the second
part of Isaiah. The first section (40:1-48:22) dealt with the release of the Jews
from exile in Babylon on the orders of the Lord, the ruler of the world and of all
nations. This second section sings of the restoration of Zion and the renewal of
the people.

Almost all the oracles here presuppose that Babylon has fallen and the exiles
have returned home (although neither event is explicitly referred to). Nor is there
mention of the universal scope of salvation: the focus is mainly on future hopes
and on Jerusalem.

Most of the oracles in this section were probably proclaimed, between the years
515 and 500 BC. If that was the case, then they were addressed to a disillu-
sioned people: the enthusiasm that came with the return from exile and the ef-
forts made to rebuild Jerusalem failed to produce the desired results: there are
still class differences, greed is plain to see, and huge sectors of society are ex-
periencing poverty. The kind of Jerusalem that the exiles dreamed of had not
come about: it bore no relationship to what they were experiencing; nor did it fit
the image of Jerusalem found in many texts of the Priestly tradition (cf. "Introduc-
tion to the Pentateuch”, in "The Navarre Bible: Pentateuch" (p. 20). These oracles
are designed to dispel, discouragement and to raise people’s hopes by telling
them about the liberator that God is going to send, the servant of the Lord, and
by proclaiming that the holy city (now given the sacred name of Zion) will very
soon be restored. In fact, the section can be divided into alternating poems on
the servant and on Zion: 49:1-13, the "servant" (second oracle); 49:14-50:3,
"Zion"; 50:4-11, the "servant", (third oracle and exhortation); 51:17-52:12, Zion;
52:13-53:12, the "servant" (fourth oracle); 54:1-17, "Zion" (Jerusalem). Verses
1-13 of chapter 55 are an exhortation to commit oneself to the new Covenant.

49:1-6. In the first Song of the Servant of the Lord (42:1-9) we meet the "servant”
for the first time and we are told of his mission to liberate the exiles. In this se-
cond song, the servant himself speaks. He addresses .the "coastlands”, "peo-
ples from afar”, and he is conscious of having been chosen by God from his
mother’s womb to carry out God’s plans of salvation even in those distant parts
(cf. vv. 1-3). Here we are told about two aspects of his mission, which we will
hear more about in the oracles that follow. First, he is to play a leading role in
the recovery of the tribes and the repatriation of the exiles (v. 5); second, he will
extend salvation to the ends of the earth (cf. v. 6).

This poem contains, things that the servant has to say about himself (vv. 1-4),
and things that God says about the servant (vv. 5-6). The servant is well aware
that he was called by God, even from his mother’s womb, (like Jeremiah; cf. Jer
1:5) and has been charged with preaching to the pagan peoples ("the coastlands”)
or at least to his compatriots in the diaspora (cf. v. 1; cf. Jer 1:1-10; 25:13-38);
he has been endowed with qualities that enable him to speak out, with words
that find their mark like arrows, even if that creates divisions (v. 2; cf. Jer 1:10);
and also, despite the divine protection given him, he feels depressed and disap-
pointed, as happened to Jeremiah (vv. 3-4; cf. Jer 1:7; :8:18-20). Everything that
the servant does is grounded on what the Lord has told him: "You are my servant,
Israel” (v. 3). Some commentators are of the view that "Israel” here is a later in-
terpretation, put in to support the collectivist interpretation of the servant that soon
became widespread; but there is little evidence to support that: the word "Israel”
is missing only in one manuscript, and not an important one at that. The mention
of Israel does not argue against the servant’s being an individual rather than a
collectivity, for in poetry a person can be addressed by his own name or by his
family name. In fact, both in biblical Israel and nowadays we often find people
using their place of birth as a surname.

In vv. 5-6 the Lord spells out the servant’s mission: it is to renew the people in
such a way that even non-Israelites can see the light and attain salvation. Al-
though the universal mission of the servant is not clearly defined here, for his
work is meant to be confined to the tribes of Jacob, still the achievement of this
objective (the re-assembling of Israel) will be a kind of light to help the pagan
nations see and acknowledge God. The expression "light to the nations”. (v. 6)
already occurred in the earlier poem (42:6); there it could be taken in a social
sense--to bring about the liberation of the exiles and captives; here, the religious
meaning is clear: salvation will spread to all the nations.

To sum up, the servant of the Lord (be he an individual or a collectivity, or more
likely both) has been chosen by God, who loves him most specially; he has all
the main qualities of a prophet; and he must influence his compatriots so as to
enlighten those from outside, and bring them salvation.

The messianic interpretation of the servant figure, based on this second song,
was widespread among the Jews of Alexandria who made the Septuagint Greek
translation; it was also held by members of the Qumran community and by
some authors of the period between the Old and New Testaments (the author of
the "Book of Enoch", for example). All these interpreted the servant as standing
for the entire people of Israel. Christians, from the beginning, applied the songs of
the servant to Jesus, and saw them as finding fulfillment in his life. Thus, although
the image of the "sharp sword” (v. 2) refers to the effectiveness of the word of God,
in Hebrews 4:12-13 we find it used with reference to Revelation as a whole which
is fully and perfectly manifested in Jesus Christ (cf. also Rev 1:16 and 2:12). We
find the expression, "light to the nations” or "light to the peoples” being applied
by Simeon to Jesus (Lk 2:32). Indeed, in the Acts of the Apostles it is applied to
those who, in line with Jesus’ teaching and as cooperators in his work of salva-
tion, are setting out to preach to the Gentiles, as the words Paul and Barnabas
speak in the synagogue of Psidian Antioch testify: "It was necessary that the
word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it from you, and
judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. For
so the Lord has commanded us, saying, 'I have set you to be a light for the Gen-
tiles, that you may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 13:
46-47).

Hence the Church sees her mission as spreading the truth about Jesus, the light
that enlightens everyone: "The light, of God’s face shines in all its beauty on the
countenance of Jesus Christ, 'the image of the invisible God’ (Col 1:15), the 're-
flection of God’s glory’ (Heb 1:3), 'full of grace and truth’ (Jn 1:14). Christ is 'the
way, and the truth, and the life’ (Jn 14:6). [...] Jesus Christ, the 'light of the na-
tions’, shines: upon the face of his Church, which he sends forth to the whole
world to proclaim the Gospel to every creature (cf. Mk 16:15). Hence the Church,
as the people of God among the nations, while attentive to the new challenges of
history and to mankind’s efforts to discover the meaning of life, offers to everyone
the answer which comes from the truth about Jesus Christ and his Gospel” (John
Paul II, "Veritatis Splendor", 2).

2nd Reading: Acts 13:22-26

Preaching in the Synagogue of Antioch of Pisidia
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[In those days, Paul said:] [22] And when He had removed him, He raised up
David to be their king; of whom He testified and said, "I have found in David the
son of Jesse a man after My heart, who will do all My will.' [23] Of this man's
posterity God has brought Israel a Savior, Jesus, as He promised. [24] Before
His coming John had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
[25] And as John was finishing his course, he said, 'What do you suppose that
I am? I am not He. No, but after me One is coming, the sandals of whose feet I
am not worthy to untie.'" [26] "Brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those
among you that fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.

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Commentary:

16-41. Paul's address here is an excellent example of the way he used to present
the Gospel to a mixed congregation of Jews and proselytes. He lists the benefits
conferred by God on the chosen people from Abraham down to John the Baptism
(verses 16-25); he then shows how all the messianic prophecies were fulfilled in
Jesus (verses 26-37), and, by way of conclusion, states that justification comes
about through faith in Jesus, who died and then rose from the dead (verse 38-41).

This address contains all the main themes of apostolic preaching, that is, God's
saving initiative in the history of Israel (verses 17-22); reference to the Precursor
(verses 24-25); the proclamation of the Gospel or "kerygma" in the proper sense
(verses 26b-31a); mention of Jerusalem (verse 31b); arguments from Sacred Scrip-
ture (verses 33-37), complementing apostolic teaching and tradition (verses 38-39);
and a final exhortation, eschatological in character, announcing the future (verses
40-41). In many respects this address is like those of St. Peter (cf. 2:14ff; 3:12ff),
especially where it proclaims Jesus as Messiah and in its many quotations from
Sacred Scripture, chosen to show that the decisive event of the Resurrection con-
firms Christ's divinity.

Paul gives a general outline of salvation history and then locates Jesus in it as
the expected Messiah, the point at which all the various strands in that history
meet and all God's promises are fulfilled. He shows that all the steps which lead
up to Jesus Christ, even the stage of John the Baptist, are just points on a route.
Earlier, provisional elements must now, in Christ, give way to a new, definitive
situation.

"You that fear God" (verse 26): see the notes on Acts 2:5-11 and 10:2).


Gospel Reading: Luke 1:57-66, 80

The Birth and Circumcision of John the Baptist
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[57] Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a
son. [58] And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great
mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. [59] And on the eighth day they came
to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zechariah after his
father, [60] but his mother said, "Not so; he shall be called John." [61] And
they said to her, "None of your kindred is called by this name." [62] And they
made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. [63] And he
asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, "His name is John." And they all marvelled.
[64] And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he
spoke, blessing God. [65] And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these
things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; [66] and all who
heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying "What then will this child be?"
For the hand of the Lord was with him.

[80] And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilder-
ness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.

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Commentary:

59. Circumcision was a rite established by God under the Old Covenant to mark
out those who belonged to His chosen people: He commanded Abraham to insti-
tute circumcision as a sign of the Covenant He had made with him and all his
descendants (cf. Genesis 17:10-14), prescribing that it should be done on the
eighth day after birth. The rite was performed either at home or in the synagogue,
and, in addition to the actual circumcision, the ceremony included prayers and
the naming of the child.

With the institution of Christian Baptism the commandment to circumcise
ceased to apply. At the Council of Jerusalem (cf. Acts 15:1ff), the Apostles
definitely declared that those entering the Church had no need to be circum-
cised.

St. Paul's explicit teaching on the irrelevance of circumcision in the context of
the New Alliance established by Christ is to be found in Galatians 5:2ff; 6:12ff;
and Colossians 2:11ff.

60-63. By naming the child John, Zechariah complies with the instructions God
sent him through the angel (Luke 1:13).

64. This miraculous event fulfills the prophecy the angel Gabriel made to Zecha-
riah when he announced the conception and birth of the Baptist (Luke 1:19-20).
St. Ambrose observes: 'With good reason was his tongue loosed, because faith
untied what had been tied by disbelief" ("Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam. in loc.").

Zechariah's is a case similar to that of St. Thomas, who was reluctant to believe
in the resurrection of our Lord, and who believed only when Jesus gave him clear
proof (cf. John 20:24-29). For these two men God worked a miracle and won
their belief; but normally He requires us to have faith and to obey Him without His
working any new miracles. This was why He upbraided Zechariah and punished
him, and why He reproached Thomas: "Have you believed because you have
seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" (John 20:29).

80. "Wilderness": this must surely refer to the "Judean wilderness" which stret-
ches from the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea to the hill country of Judea.
It is not a sand desert but rather a barren steppe with bushes and basic vegeta-
tion which suit bees and grasshoppers or wild locusts. It contains many caves
which can provide shelter.


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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].