Thursday, March 18, 2004
Lenten Fast
Nikolai, Bishop of Zica in Serbia
6th Hour: Isaiah 28:14-22 1st Vespers: Genesis 10:32-11:9 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 13:19-14:6
Isaiah 28:14-22 RSV, especially vs. 16: "Behold, I am laying in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tested
stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'He who believes will not be in haste.'" In the present passage from
Isaiah is the fourth image in a series of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. Being written in prophetic words rather
than with an iconographer's palette and brush, the lesson reveals our God and Savior as a Cornerstone - the precious
foundation stone of the Church. As St. Nikolai of Zica declares: "This wonderful stone, my brothers, is the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. For if the Prophet had thought it an ordinary stone, he would not have spoken of belief in it...." Therefore,
in this verse is another instance of the Holy Spirit providing to the People of God, through His Holy Prophet, a glimpse
forward in time to that eternal legacy which has now been revealed to us fully in Christ Jesus (Col. 1:26).
In this instance, Isaiah places his prophecy vividly against a background of scathing reproof against His own People.
Observe: the Lord makes a dual declaration - 1) of a work of bitterness and wrath (Is. 28:21), and 2) of a work of laying a
precious foundation stone (vs. 16). The contrastive effect highlights the significance of Him Who is the precious
Cornerstone.
In reading this prophecy, we can appreciate the immediate historical conditions which prompted Isaiah to rebuke the men
and princes of his day (vs. 14): during Isaiah's time, the tiny kingdom of Judah lay between two powerful empires, Assyria
to the north, and Egypt to the south. In his youth, Isaiah and all of Judah had watched as their sister state, Israel, was
overrun, plundered, deported, and enslaved by the Assyrians. In an earlier passage (Is. 10:5-14), Isaiah reports how Judah
itself was pauperized by heavy payments of tribute to the Assyrians. Still, in a manifestly Divine intervention, the nation
was spared ultimate destruction (see 2 Kings 17).
Today's prophecy was written much later in Isaiah's life, following a period of national resurgence. During this later
period, Assyria was having problems at home and so left Judah to her own devices. But then the Assyrian threat loomed
again under new Imperial leadership. In response, the leaders of Judah were attracted by the proposal to join in a protective
alliance with Egypt, what Isaiah called "a covenant with death, and with Sheol" (Is. 28:15). God immediately revealed that
this plan was a false hope against the "overwhelming scourge" of Assyria (vs. 15).
The Lord of history consistently warns His People against reliance upon human power and empires. His Kingdom is not of
this world (Jn. 18:36). The Church is to trust in Him alone for hope and salvation. God is very direct about this - under
both the Old and the New Covenants. In the present prophecy of Isaiah, the Lord says, "it will be sheer terror to understand
the message" of dependency on human power (Is. 28:19). Along with His plea against alliances, He also clearly warned: "I
will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will
overwhelm the shelter. Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand"
(vss. 17,18).
What God offered, and continues to offer, in place of all human alliances, is a "tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a
sure foundation" (vs.16) that, clearly, may now be seen by the light of revelation, to be Christ Jesus our Savior. He is the
impregnable, true foundation of Zion - the Church, God's People. Christ our God, at His first coming, asked: "Have you
never read in the Scriptures: The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone?" (Mt. 21:42). The
Church, illumined by the Holy Spirit, continues to declare that Jesus Christ is still the true Corner-stone, "and he that
believeth on Him shall not be confounded" (1 Pet. 2:6).
Be Thou our sure foundation to keep us safe from the man-destroying enemy, O Lord!
