This blog follows the daily bible readings of the Catholic Church

Reading 1, Isaiah 7:1-9

1 In the reign of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah king of Judah, Razon king of Aram advanced on Jerusalem with Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, to attack it; but he was unable to attack it. 2 The House of David was informed: ‘Aram has halted in Ephraimite territory.’ At this, his heart and his people’s hearts shook like forest trees shaking in the wind.

3 Yahweh then said to Isaiah, ‘Go out with your son Shear-Jashub, and meet Ahaz at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the road to the Fuller’s Field, 4 and say to him, “Pay attention and keep calm. Do not be frightened or demoralised by these two smouldering sticks of firewood, by the fierce anger of Razon, Aram and the son of Remaliah, 5 or because Aram, Ephraim and the son of Remaliah have been plotting against you and saying: 6 Let us mount an attack on Judah, destroy it, force it onto our side and install the son of Tabeel there as king.

7 “Lord Yahweh says this: This will not happen, it will never occur, 8 for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Razon; (another sixty-five years, and Ephraim will cease to be a people). 9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not take your stand on me you will not stand firm.” ‘

"firm faith-firm standing."

This is a text which scholars have suspected of poor copying by scribes. The first part is clear enough, the Kings of Israel and Aram have conspired to invade the southern kingdom of Judah but have not pressed their attack. King Ahaz is naturally disturbed but the prophet Isaiah counsels him to trust in God: the attack will come to nothing. The problem is to work out the meaning of his prophecy. It may be that some of sentences have been misplaced but he heart of it is a contrast between Aram and Israel/Ephraim who have their earthly monarchies, and Judah which recognises God as its real King. Indeed Ahaz is encouraged to show his trust in God as king by not panicking.

The last sentence here is a pun in Hebrew: Lo ta’ameenu, lo tay’amaynu, which uses different parts of the same verb A-M-N (Hebrew roots have only consonants) which means to last, to be firm, to be faithful. It is the verb we use when we say Amen. Isaiah’s pun means, “No firm faith, no firm standing.” I think the Scottish translator James Moffat flirted with the translation, “No faith, no staith.” It is a powerful pun, unlocking a consonance between trust and trustworthiness. If trust is truly fundamental, that is, if it is in God, it is not misplaced. How shall we know it is in God? It must transcend immediate objects of trust. Ahaz could look to, say Egypt, for an alliance against his enemies. Isaiah demands a fundamental act of trust, which will seem crazy because it has no visible support. This lack of visible support characterises all acts of fundamental trust. Ezra Pound, a very flawed human being, but sometimes great poet, calls this trust, “loving well.” “What Thou lovest well remains / the rest is dross.” Jesus speaks of losing life so that we may gain it.

Gospel, Matthew 11:20-24

20 Then he began to reproach the towns in which most of his miracles had been worked, because they refused to repent. 21 ‘Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgement Day than for you.

23 And as for you, Capernaum, did you want to be raised as high as heaven? You shall be flung down to hell. For if the miracles done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have been standing yet. 24 Still, I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on Judgement Day than for you.’

Jesus uses proverbial examples of wicked cities to castigate the villages which had rejected his message. There’s humour here, in that small is being compared with great, as regards the size of communities. But as regards the importance of the message, Jesus believes his message is greater than any past call to repentance. The villagers are being asked to trust the compassionate healings of Jesus as a sign that God has drawn near to them, and they do not, because, in their eyes, there is not sufficient evidence. Those who have faith in Jesus are those who trust in spite of remoteness of the locale and the ordinary kindness of his deeds. (There were many healers.) They show fundamental trust.

It’s good for believers to acknowledge that trust in Jesus was not easy in his lifetime, and is not easy now. But those who are not willing to change their lives in the face of Jesus’ kindness, are asked to remember Judgement Day.