Wednesday, March 23

Now when Jesus learned of this, he went away from there. Great crowds followed him, and he healed them all. But he sternly warned them not to make him known. This fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I take great delight. I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed or extinguish a smoldering wick, until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

Matthew 12: 15-21

In which Christ may suggest that His mission is inspired by the words of Isaiah (see Is 42:1-4)
Author Aviya Kushner, describes living these words in her book The Grammar of God. Ms. Kushner grew up in an Orthodox home speaking Hebrew as her first language. Argument of scriptural interpretation was the sole topic of dinner table conversation. Here are excerpts of her comments:

“Comfort oh comfort my people says your god.”

Ms Kushner continues:

“Isaiah 40 moves along the hills like an old man who knows every stone, every weed in his path.”

Dabru al lev yerusbalayimm – ”Speak to the heart of Jerusalem”

V’kir Oo eleha – “Call to her”

That word, ‘to call’, is the same as ’to read’. “read to her,” a stranger to Hebrew might think. “the time has come, it is over. She has suffered doubly for her sins.”

Then suddenly the lines are talking to each other:

A voiced rings out: “Proclaim!”
Another asks, “What shall I proclaim?”
“All flesh is grass,
All its goodness is like flowers of the field.”

She continues: “The words belong to us and they belong to these hills, this air. I sit and listen to Isaiah, a prophet I have loved …. I listen to the darkness of the hills. ‘Comfort’ repeats; it is an imperative verb. {Not a noun. Catch that? (Ed.)} Everything in these sentences is doubled, from the punishment to the soothing, and then the voice itself splits into two – speaker and listener, who are also one and the same.”

“All flesh is grass, All its goodness is like flowers of the field”

What is going on here? Not only are we very temporary on this earth; but worse really, any ‘goodness” that we manage to share, any comfort that we can give is as perishable as the flowers of Summer. We cannot build up a bank balance of good works.

“Speaker and listener” (are) “one and the same” Do we read it that way? If it is, ‘one and the same’, are we the ‘one’? Do we read it or identify with it? Read it or live it?

So I have to ask myself: Since when did I listen to Isaiah as more than magnificent poetry, more than inspiration of later scripture, but an imperative? When did I consider the comfort of strangers as a priority; much less a doubling priority? Ms. Kushner’s example to us is not one of intellectual consideration of scripture and relationships, but one of living the words of Isaiah and finding, yes, comfort in sharing them with others.

Father God, Help me to recognize God's special servant so that when she speaks, I will be listening. Amen

Ross Stuntz