MEDITATION: The Coming of a New Reality

During Advent we are reminded that Christ’s birth not only changed history, but also introduced a new reality into our world – one which is movingly described in Isaiah 11:1-9.

There we read of a leader upon whom the Spirit of God will rest (2), one who will judge the poor with righteousness and not hesitate to judge and condemn the wicked (4-5). We read of the wolf dwelling with the lamb (6), of the cow and the bear whose youngsters shall lie down together (7) and last but not least, of a suckling child who shall play over the hole of the asp with no danger or fear (8).The scene gives a prophetic vision of what the earth will look like when it is filled with the knowledge of God (9).

What a powerful vision, what a wonderful world! But are we really able to believe in it? What about all the injustices, the corruption, dishonesty, crime and poverty that surround us like a cruel and angry sea every day? Is this not more real than Isaiah’s dreamlike vision?  Listening to Isaiah’s words, Woody Allen remarked tongue in cheek: “The lion will lie down with the lamb, but the lamb won’t get much sleep.” Perhaps his words are voicingour own scepticism, our own sense of what is real.

Still, the Christian tradition across the ages insisted that Isaiah’s vision is no pipe dream. With the coming of Christ – and this is the consistent testimony of the New Testament – this vision became a reality. Jesus was indeed the One inspired and led by the Spirit of God, the wonderful Counsellor, our everlasting Father, the Prince of peace – the One whose words and deeds truly embodied God’s dream of peace and justice for all humankind.  In fact, for the writers of the New Testament, since Christ’s coming, this dream is an accomplished fact, a reality which is with and in us; one on which we may draw in our lives every day, and particularly during this time of year, at Christmas.

For the theologian William Cavanaugh there remains one big question, namely whether we are ready and willing to acknowledge and live from this reality. Engaging with Woody Allen’s apparently sober and realistic view of life, he writes:
“In the Christian reading of Isaiah, however, God has already acted to redeem history. The shoot from the stump of Jesse has already sprouted. The longing of Advent is fulfilled in Christmas. People sometimes misunderstand the “not yet” of the kingdom of God to mean that God is holding back on us. But God has held nothing back; God has given us the Son, the Way. The “not yet” is because we are holding back. We carry on as if nothing has happened, waiting for God to realize the vision of Isaiah. But the good news is that God has acted. God has given us the Christ, in whom Isaiah’s vision of a transformed reality is fulfilled”.
Is this not a timely reminder for us during this time of Advent?

Carel Anthonissen

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