"I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open." Isaiah spoke these words (22:22) some time around 700 BC, long before Jesus was to be born. Yet Isaiah saw a distant future, a different time. "O Key of David" brings us to the fourth of the O Antiphons. Jesus came to open prison doors and set the captives free. He came to open the gates of Heaven and to close the gates of Hell. The key to each is on his shoulders as the kingdom is on his shoulders, as the beam of the cross is on his shoulders, as life and death, judgment and justice are on his shoulders. He not only carries the key, he uses the key, he is the key. For Reflection: What things that have been locked away need to be opened? Who in my life do I need to set free? Let us pray. O Wisdom, O Lord, O Flower of Jesse, O Key of David, you are the key to healing, to freedom, to wholeness. Open my mind to your wisdom. Let it take root and flower in me that I might follow in your footsteps by opening doors and setting captives free.
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"O Flower of Jesse's Stem" is the next title in the O Antiphons. Surely it is one of the more obscure titles of the Messiah. Who was Jesse? Jesse was the father of King David. It was prophesied by Isaiah that the Messiah would come from the lineage of King David. "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit" (Isaiah 11:1) and "In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious" (11:10). It was also foretold by Micah that the Messiah would hail from Bethlehem. "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times" (Micah 5:2). Because of these prophecies concerning the Messiah, Matthew gives us the lineage of Jesus (Matthew 1) and Luke provides the story of how Jesus came to be born in Bethlehem, the City of David (Luke 2). Thus they help to demonstrate that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus, of the tribe of Jesse, of the town of Bethlehem, is the full flowering of the Messianic promises made through the ages. For Reflection: Christians were persecuted around the world this year. Some had their churches bombed. Some were not allowed to worship openly. Some were not allowed to visit Bethlehem for Christmas. Let us pray. O Wisdom, O Lord, O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid. O Lord is the second of the O Antiphons, a traditional prayer of many centuries duration. Of course, "Lord" or "Adonai" is used throughout the Old Testament and is not in any way unique to Isaiah. But the reference used in Isaiah in conjunction with this antiphon is 33:22. "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King; it is he who will save us." Like much of Isaiah the verse looks both backward and forward. God gave the law on Mount Sinai; he was King of Israel; he saved them from Pharaoh and slavery in the Exodus and continued to save them from their enemies. Looking forward from Isaiah, Jesus gave a fuller interpretation of the law (Matthew 5); he is King of Kings and will return to judge; he saved us from slavery to our sins. For reflection: Let us, again, use the verse from Isaiah as a starting point of praise to our God. Let us pray. O Lord, you are our just judge and righteous lawgiver, you are our King, you are the one who saves us. In the Catholic Church we have a tradition called the "O Antiphons". Although these are usually prayed during the time before Christmas, they provide an excellent way to reflect and pray during the Christmas season. The antiphons give seven titles for the Savior and relate to seven prophecies in Isaiah. They are O Wisdom, O Lord, O Flower of Jesse's Stem, O Key of David, O Radiant Dawn, O King of All the Nations, O Emmanuel. Wisdom, of course, is a common title for God in the Old Testament. In Isaiah we find it among the gifts of the Spirit in 11:2-3. "The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord - and he will delight in the fear of the Lord." For Reflection: Many people tell me they have trouble praising God. To praise someone is to compliment them on their good traits or good deeds. So let's use just these two verses from Isaiah to praise God. Let us pray. Jesus, you are wise and understanding, you are powerful and have all knowledge, you give sound counsel and you delight in the fear of God. How hard was it for Joseph to believe the angel who told him Mary was innocent? It is an incredible thing to believe - that Mary is having a child by the Holy Spirit. Even today it is one of the hardest things to credit that God became man through a woman. And yet it is a founding pillar of Christianity. It helps that it had been foretold that God would send a Messiah, a Savior. More specifically, Isaiah prophesied that "The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). Did Joseph remember that prophecy? Did he ever doubt? For reflection: When I have doubts, do I turn to God for answers and reassurance? Let us pray. "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. . . . Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior" (Psalm 25:1-2, 4-5). "Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you" (Isaiah 35:4). So often we read these words as part of a section describing the Kingdom and we don't necessarily concentrate on the meaning of "vindication" and "recompense." If we are vindicated for a crime, we are found not guilty. We are innocent. God sent his son Jesus to die for us that we might be declared not guilty, justified, innocent. As those who believe in Jesus and who appropriate for ourselves what he accomplished, we are vindicated, not guilty. The divine recompense was the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. The debt owed because of our sins has been paid. There is no mortgage on our lives. That's not to say that we don't need to be sorry for our sins against God and others. Repentance is still necessary. But what we owed God, the amount due, was paid in advance. Jesus "picked up the check." For reflection: Have I been thankful for this great gift of vindication? Is there someone in my life who needs to hear "not guilty" from me? Let us pray. I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth" (Psalm 108:3-5). "Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you" (Isaiah 35:3-4; cf. Hebrews 12:12). As we look back and forth between the Old Testament and the New Testament at these descriptions of the Kingdom of God we see that there is really no difference between them. Isaiah and the other visionary prophets got it right. Jesus and his disciples proclaim the same coming Kingdom. It's a kingdom where the righteous are rewarded, where all illnesses are healed, every tear wiped away. Hang in there. God is coming. There is hope. For reflection: Where am I flagging? What about me needs to be strengthened? Where am I lacking hope? Let us pray. Jesus, I know you hold me in your hands but the Kingdom seems a long time coming. Be with me today. Give me strength. Give me hope in exchange for my fear. Isaiah's vision of the Kingdom of God is one of beauty, of lushness, of perfection. It is the return of the Garden of Eden, the return of a time and place before sin. It is a return to original holiness. Not just people, but all creation will give praise to the King. "The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy" (Isaiah 35:1-2). As it says in Romans, "creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay" (Romans 8:21). All of creation will be set free from the effects of sin and death. For reflection: What causes me to praise God today? Let us pray. Lord God, you are King of the Universe, King of Heaven, King of Kings, King of Creation. All creation gives you praise. |
AliceI started this website and blog on May 1, 2012. I am a Catholic who has been in ministry for many years. I first developed what I would call a close relationship with Jesus in the early 1970s. Ever since then I have been praying with people for healing and other needs. It is because I have seen so many of these prayers answered that I am so bold as to offer to pray for you individually through this website and phone line. Archives
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