Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Lenten Fast
The Martyr Sabinos of Egypt
6th Hour: Isaiah 25:1-9 1st Vespers: Genesis 9:8-17 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 12:8-22
Isaiah 25:1-9 RSV, especially vs. 8: "He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will
wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has
spoken." Of the five images of the Kingdom of God that are presented in this week's readings from Isaiah, the one for
today, portraying the ultimate destruction of death, most explicitly prepares us for the Gospel message of Resurrection. It is
not surprising that the Apostle Paul quoted the first portion of the verse given above (1 Cor. 15:54), nor that St. John the
Theologian quoted the second portion of the line in his Revelation (Rev. 21:4). Consider the grace given to Isaiah - to
glimpse at the annihilation of death, only finally revealed in the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus! That God
should give such foresight to Isaiah is a testimony to the great holiness of this prince among the Prophets of God.
There are two traditions concerning verse 8: first, the wording which St. Paul and the common English translations follow,
and, second, a significant variation found in the Septuagint (LXX): "Death has prevailed, and swallowed men up; but again
the Lord God has taken away every tear from every face. He has taken away the reproach of His people from all the earth:
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it" (Is. 25:8 LXX). Despite the variation in meaning caused by the first phrase, the
clear sense of both versions brings one to the same conclusion: death, the destroyer of all men, will ultimately be itself
destroyed by God. Glory to Jesus Christ!
Isaiah discloses three facets of the Divine triumph over death: 1) God uses death, destruction, and desolation to bring glory
to Himself (vss. 1-3); 2) even now, by "stilling the song of the ruthless" (vs. 5), the Lord shelters the poor and needy from
the bitterness of death's powers (vss. 4-5); and 3) while these actions of God impel us to praise and exalt the Name of God
in the present age (vs. 1), they cannot compare with the wonders of the coming age when God "will make for all peoples a
feast of fat things, a feast of wine" (vs. 6) - when He destroys "the covering that is cast over all peoples" (vs. 7).
Looking back at the twentieth century, at what its nihilism and its worship of death produced, we are haunted by powerful
images of death's dread capacity to negate our humanity. Recall the slave labor camps, the Nazi death factories, the
massive extermination of peoples, the decimation of whole populations by starvation, the bombing of cities and cultures
into dust, and the poisonous legacy of radiation and pollution. Still, through Isaiah, God invites us to praise and exalt Him
for the wonderful blessings He has brought our race despite the macabre events we unleash on His earth (vs. 1). Using
death itself, God "hast made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin," forcing "strong peoples" to glorify Him and "ruthless
nations" to fear Him (vss. 2-3).
Let us be in awe of the amazing truth Isaiah places before us. God is in control even of death, as monstrous and ubiquitous
as it appears in all its forms. For, even through the terrors of recent history, God has disclosed His abiding capacity to be "a
stronghold to the poor" - despite the exploitation of "the ruthless" (vs. 4-5). Isaiah's evangel prepares us for Christ's
Gospel.
Because of the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we understand that at the end of history, God "will make
for all peoples a feast" (vs. 6) celebrating the utter destruction of death. St. John the Theologian confirms this in speaking
of the "marriage supper of the Lamb" (Rev. 19:9), when "God will wipe away all tears from all faces, and the reproach of
His people He will take away from all the earth" (Is. 25:8). He Who embraced death for our sake, reveals Himself as the
Life-Giver to all who trust in Him. Prepare for His feast, and exclaim:
O Lord, Thou art my God; I will exalt Thee, for Thou has done wonderful things! (vs. 1)
