Year A: 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

 First Reading: Isaiah 49: 3, 5-6

Isaiah speaks today of Israel as God’s servant in whom God shall be glorified - and then of God lifting her beyond the status of servant to “light of the nations”.

As with many of the Scriptures, though, there are many layers of meaning - and we can read this Reading in the light of our Gospel.

The image of the Servant is a special one in the Book of Isaiah. Last week, we heard of God’s delight in the Servant - and the justice and healing He will bring to the world. On Good Friday, we read the song of the Suffering Servant - which puts the Passion of Jesus into the great sweep of Biblical history and meaning.

In the Gospel we have the meeting between two servants of God - John the Baptist and Jesus. Their missions mark the passage of an age. John the Baptist stands on the very edge of the Old Testament. This great servant of God gives his life to the preparation of God’s people Israel - preparing them for the One who is to come.

He is the servant of God - and seeks no other status. But, such is his dedication and fervour - such is his faithfulness to the task laid before him - that we can have little doubt but that God highly favoured him - and declared that it was no longer enough for him to be a servant - he truly was a light to the nations.

Jesus too - the Servant of God - the Chosen One - the Lamb of God - was destined for greatness - but a greatness the world could not understand.

These two men - chosen by God from the very moments of their conceptions to be His lights to the nations - chosen so that the salvation of our loving God might reach to the ends of the earth.

What does it mean for me?

Though less dramatically, you were chosen from your earliest moments as a son or daughter of God. Which part of the great story of salvation are you responsible for helping to unfold?

Text © 2007 Wellspring

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