Sunday, September 8, 2024
The Book of Isaiah was written by the prophet and some of his disciples who came years after him. The verses chosen for our Old Testament reading today from Chapter 35 were likely written by his followers. Much of the Book of Isaiah is written like poems, and that is true of this entire chapter, which reads like a beautiful psalm of hope. Pick up your Bible today and read Isaiah 35. The name Isaiah is formed by the Hebrew words Yesha and Yahu. Both words are derivatives of the name YHWH, the Hebrew name for God, which is transliterated as Yahweh. Yesha means to save, so Isaiah means Yahweh saves, or Yahweh is salvation. Isaiah was a major Hebrew prophet in the 8th century BC, a critical time in Israel’s history. The Kingdom of Israel, also known as the Northern Kingdom, was already conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The kingdom of Judah, also known as the Southern Kingdom, was facing a similar fate as the Assyrian army approached its capital, Jerusalem. Isaiah speaks to the distressed people of the Southern Kingdom, offering a hopeful message of God’s healing, restoration, and salvation. God promises strength, assurance, and salvation. Isaiah uses imagery for this transformation: the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, and the lame leaping.
God’s mercy revealed by the prophet is not just for the 8th-century BC people of the Kingdom of Judah but also for us. In our weakness, God promised strength. God’s presence in our lives brings joy and renewal to our fears, doubts, despairs, and angst.
The Gospel of Mark is recognized as the earliest of the four canonical gospels. It is also the shortest of all the gospels. The Gospel’s concise narrative focuses primarily on Jesus’ public ministry, miracles, and the events leading to His Passion, Death, and Resurrection while leaving out details of His birth and early life that can be found in the other gospels. In today’s Gospel Reading, Mark’s account of the healing of the deaf man reveals Jesus’s humanity. Jesus took the man away from the crowd and touched his ear and tongue to make him hear and speak. The man may not have heard Jesus crying out for his ears to be opened as he looked up to heaven, but he had to feel Jesus’ touch. Jesus’ intimate healing of the deaf man fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy of our merciful God being our healer. The accounts of Jesus’ miracles in the Gospels continue the hope Isaiah proclaimed, showing that God actively cares for and restores His people.
It is noteworthy that the deaf man with a speech impediment did not seek Jesus to declare his faith and ask for healing. The people brought him to Jesus and begged Him to lay His hand on him to heal him. We are called to be instruments of God’s mercy and healing in the world. We need to actively listen and respond to the needs of those around us. We are challenged to reach out to others and share with them the good news of God’s mercy and the gift of grace and peace we received.
Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord.