This blog follows the Catholic daily bible readings

Isaiah 45: 21-25

 21 Speak up, present your case, says the Lord, let them put their heads together! Who foretold this in the past, who revealed it long ago? Was it not I, the Lord? There is no other god except me, no saving God, no Saviour except me!

22 Turn to me and you will be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other.

23 By my own self I swear it; what comes from my mouth is saving justice, it is an irrevocable word: All shall bend the knee to me, by me every tongue shall swear,

24 saying, ‘In the Lord alone are saving justice and strength,’ until all those who used to rage at him come to him in shame.

25 In the Lord the whole race of Israel finds justice and glory.

Gospel, Luke 7:18b-23

18 The disciples of John gave him all this news, and John, summoning two of his disciples,

19 sent them to the Lord to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?’

20 When the men reached Jesus they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, “Are you the one who is to come or are we to expect someone else?” ‘

21 At that very time he cured many people of diseases and afflictions and of evil spirits, and gave the gift of sight to many who were blind.

22 Then he gave the messengers their answer, ‘Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind see again, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, the good news is proclaimed to the poor;

23 and blessed is anyone who does not find me a cause of offence.’

I’ve changed the first reading because part of it was a selection of verses. This is a dishonest tactic because it allows the selector to pick and choose from what was written, and to omit what is not wanted. We should only ever use selections which are continuous verses.  

The prophet of Isaiah 45, sometimes called second Isaiah to distinguish him from the author of chapters 1-49, expresses his encounter with the God of history, in words which he hears as from God’s own mouth, directed to the exiled Jews in Babylon. History is not left to humanity or to fate. God is a mighty presence who has promised ultimate justice by his prophets in the past, and is now moving to liberate his people from Babylon. The prophet is convinced that this God can create saving justice through the actions of human beings. God does not override history; rather he inspires humans to do things that others call miracles.

 That’s just the point Jesus was making in the story reported in Matthew’s gospel. Perhaps John thought that Jesus

"Jesus is not Captain Marvel"

should be a “supernatural” figure, with divine power and knowledge. Instead he was evidently a human person with human limitations. Jesus points to the “saving justice” he is inspired to do. The promises of the prophets about the healing of ailments, even of those considered dead, are coming true in Jesus’ ministry. But He is not Captain Marvel.

 What sort of actions will God inspire? Why, the kind of things Jesus did: healing, caring, forgiving, preaching the good news, telling stories, prioritising children, standing up for the social outcasts, partying, arguing against bad theology. And what sort of actions will God not inspire? Why, the things Jesus refused to do: to sell miracles, to promise success as a reward for faith, to drop bombs, to spread religion by force, to denounce sinners. That’s what he’s like. Blessed is the one who does not find him a cause of offence.