Isaiah 40:1-5. 9-11; Ps 103(104); Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7; Luke 3: 15-16. 21-22
Writing in Babylon about 540 BC, second Isaiah majestically consoles Israel in its exile. God tenderly commands his attendants to comfort Israel and to prepare a sacred way for them to return to Jerusalem. He will lead his people to freedom across the desert in a new Exodus. The coming of God’s rule should be announced to the whole world, shouted from the mountain-tops.
The psalm magnificently praises and celebrates God’s creative wisdom and power.
Titus worked with Paul and later administered the church in Crete. In this pastoral letter Paul advises Titus on setting up church structures and choosing suitable presbyters for each local church. All Christians, and especially Church leaders, are urged to lead godly lives. We should reveal God’s love to others in our good behaviour, while not disrupting the lives of others, in confident expectation of our redemption.
Luke saw us as living in a time of waiting, one of three phases he saw in salvation history. Luke’s time of promise, the period of Israel, ended when John was put in prison by Herod, after John the Baptist’s prediction that Jesus would baptise with the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ baptism begins the period when this promise is fulfilled. Luke’s Book of Acts describes his third phase, the beginning of the church.
Psalm Response: Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are.