Isaiah 29:17-24
Matthew 9: 27-31
In today’s text from Isaiah we have several images of reversal.
‘In a short time, a very short time,
shall not Lebanon become a fertile land
and fertile land turn into a forest?’
A radical new society is promised where creation is transformed and societal structures reformed. Together these reversals will make communal life possible. In common with the other social justice prophets, Amos and Hosea, Isaiah’s message is that faith in God shows itself in right relationship with everyone and everything around you. It’s the poor and the lowly who stand to gain in Isaiah’s vision. Judah is promised a new start.
‘But the lowly will rejoice in the Lord even more and the poorest exult in the Holy One of Israel…’
We could see Isaiah’s vision as one of ‘levelling up’, although this might have a rather hollow ring in our culture today. In Isaiah’s theology it is an essential part of God’s vision for the world. This vision is echoed in today’s Gospel reading where Jesus restores the sight of two blind men (Matthew 9:27-31). Matthew is showing us that where the kingdom of God breaks through, those who are marginalized are given priority.
We are all co-workers in his vision of the kingdom. It comes to us in small ways, when our path is made smoother by the unexpected kindnesses of others. We carry the life of the kingdom within us. Each day the choice is ours as to whether we take the opportunities to ‘be the change we want to see in the world’.
Can you be open to the Kingdom today?