Open-ended,
Life-centred,
Gospel-Focused Explorations of the Hebrew Bible
Eucharistic Readings from the Australian Prayer Book.
ISAIAH 65: 17-25... EASTER DAY, Year C ....For the Gospel
(JN 20 or LK 24) scroll above.
NOTES: 1]Always read the Hebrew Bible in the light
of our understanding of God revealed in Jesus in the New Testament.2] The IS who wrote this
passage in the 5th C.BC, is known as 'Trito' IS (trito = 3rd). 'He' may
have been a
group of 2nd IS's ('Isaiah of the Exile's) followers.3]
What we have here is a poetic foretelling of God's New Creation,
celebrated by the Church as inaugurated by Jesus' Resurrection. 4] Notice the influence of this
passage on REV 21.
WARMING UP: Do we have a
favourite celebration, religious or secular?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
17-18a How strong is our belief in God as Creator
- in any meaningful way? Has that kind of belief been so overtaken by,
overturned by, e.g. Darwinism on one hand or extremist Christian
nonsense on the other, that neither God nor we have a leg to stand on?
Is it still vital to us to believe in God as Creator in the sense of
being behind / responsible for all the scientific understandings of
Creation we probably believe in anyhow? Has God's new Creation inaugurated
with the Resurr- ection of Jesus surpassed the original creation, or is
this more a matter of poetic imagery? Is Creation something we rejoice
in, take for granted, or simply exploit?
18b-19 Does the
focus on Jerusalem (the 'jewel in the crown' of Israel) make what IS
says so localised that it's not of much interest to Christians? Or,
does early Christian talk of a 'New Jerusalem' as in REV give what
IS says a 'spin' that keeps it relevant? Are we ourselves a 'joy', a
'delight' to God or anyone else? Given we don't like, don't always cope
with 'weeping' & 'distress' why hasn't Jesus' Resurrection already
had the effect IS foretells? Or is this another place where we need to
take on board the difference between human time (old creation time)
& God's (new creation) time?
20-24 What
might be the best way to make sense of what IS foretells about ages
& ageing? While we all look for some level of prosperity, have we
as a nation gone overboard about it? Has prosperity, rather than love
& compassion become the engine-house of our new creation as distinct from
God's? Is what IS says here built on the understanding that God always
provides 'enough for everybody to have enough, but enough isn't enough
for everybody'? Can God's New Creation ever truly prevail except in our
hearts & imagination while there are people who think & act on
that basis? Is corporate greed another engine-house here? Given the
soaring rate of child-abuse of every kind, would we be better going
back to basic attitudes IS sets out here rather than turning to laws
& other bureaucratic solutions we don't have any confidence in as
being able to 'put things right'? What stops us? Are we confident God
does hear when we call on him,
& will do something?
25
What can we do, what do we need to do to turn this into
actuality rather than leaving it as simply great poetry, a great ideal?
