NOTES for Isa 51:1-23

Today's reading is devoted to the theme of the people's redemption and liberation. Apparently, the prophetic sermon given here was spoken shortly before Babylon was taken by the Persians, when liberation was indeed already near, but few believed in it, since to all the city's inhabitants Babylon seemed an impregnable fortress that no one, not even Cyrus the Great, could capture. Most likely, some persecution of the Jewish community did take place in these final years of Babylonia's existence, and Isaiah encourages those who, perhaps out of fear of persecution, had decided if not on outright apostasy, then perhaps on certain compromises in matters of faith (vv. 12-14). And the prophet says that soon the situation will completely change, and the recent persecutors will themselves be persecuted, experiencing the same thing they forced the people of God to endure (vv. 22-23).

At first glance, what we have before us is a purely mechanical understanding of justice, presupposing the well-known principle "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." Yet even the Torah allows such an approach only in condescension to the spiritual weakness and vengefulness of fallen humanity. And in this case, apparently, what we have before us is still not simply joy that today's persecutors will experience what the persecuted are experiencing today. Apparently, it is rather a question of a kind of "law of retribution" that operates in the fallen world with the inevitability of a swinging pendulum: evil unjustly inflicted on an individual person or an entire people always, in one way or another, returns to the one or ones who committed that evil.

Of course, in this case there can be no talk of justice, because those who suffer from the "return blow," especially in cases involving not individual people but peoples and tribes, are usually not at all the ones who were guilty of the evil committed. Here one must speak rather of a kind of "law of conservation of evil" in the fallen world, where evil, once committed, never disappears without a trace, but generates a chain of consequences governed by certain laws that are not very clear to us and have nothing in common either with God's commandments or with any moral norms. And before the coming of Christ it was completely impossible to break such a chain, generated by evil once committed. It was only possible to remove from the blow those who were needed for the fulfillment of God's plan, if, of course, those being removed gave God that possibility by agreeing to follow Him and do His will. Such was the world before the coming of Christ. A world that did not yet know the Kingdom.

These words were spoken to Israelites who, because of their own sins, found themselves in Babylonian captivity. The people of God are perishing, disappearing from the face of the earth under the oppression of conquerors. But the most terrible thing is that there is no one else to blame: the people themselves brought this disaster on themselves because they did not listen to the voice of God calling them to repentance and purification. But the Lord does not speak about this; His call is to trust and hope. He speaks of the strength of His arm, stretched out to save. He speaks of redemption, of the fact that He Himself will save the people and the righteousness of God's mercy will triumph. And finally, the prophet speaks a word on behalf of the Lord whose full meaning will be revealed only in the New Testament. The Lord says of Himself: "I Myself am your Comforter." The Lord Jesus Christ will say this word about Himself and about the Spirit of God when He promises His disciples to send them "another Comforter, the Spirit of truth." Now, when we are closer to Easter than to the beginning of Lent, it is also important for us to hear this word of hope, this promise of comfort. For no one but God can comfort us in our sorrow over our sins, and nothing but God's righteousness can deliver us from them.

Israel's restoration begins in the post-exilic period. God calls those faithful to Him to remember that from one man, Abraham, He created an entire people; all the more, then, can He restore Israel from those preparing to return to Jerusalem. There, in their homeland, they will face many difficulties and obstacles. Enemies and ill-wishers will threaten them, and more than once they will lose heart. But it is God Himself, “the arm of the Lord,” who will create new life. The Israelites must remember that the Creator's eternal will is being fulfilled in them and that no temporary problems or obstacles can stop Him. Our ministry, and indeed our whole life, can have meaning only if it corresponds to—or at least touches—the eternal will of the Father. Then our deeds become His work, and His work is never unsuccessful.

After the many trials that befell the people because of their wickedness, the Lord still does not reject them. Moreover, through all the stern words of rebuke, we hear once again that the flame into which sinners will go will be kindled by themselves, by their own sins. This is more than a statement about the condition of the prophet’s listeners and contemporaries; these words contain a warning for all ages.

Beyond this, the Lord reveals to us the irrevocability of the salvation that comes from Him and will remain forever. At first it may seem strange to speak of eternal salvation when it is immediately said that the earth will wear out and people will die off. But there is no contradiction here: what is stricken by corruption and has not used the opportunity to be saved will come to an end. Yet what is firmly united with the Lord, who abides above the created world, will endure.