For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning torch.
The nations shall see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate;
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your builder marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
Though I did not comment on last week's reading (my apologies), I did read the passage. After reading last week's and this week's readings, a consistent thought arises in my mind - contradiction. We have just moved out of the season of Advent, a season of preparation and expectation. The expectation cultivated is that God will appear; arrive in a way that meets our expectations, confirm that he is indeed the God we have been expecting. Unfortunately, Christmas came and went and God did not appear as we expected. God did not appear as a warrior, or king, or conqueror. God did not arrive competent in politics, or revolution, or change. In no way could God have saved Israel in his infant state as was expected. Instead, he arrived as a baby - indistinguishable from any other child. The One who spoke creation into existence in Genesis, who controls the elements as in Exodus and Jonah, the God of Justice as with Abraham cannot speak, lays at the mercy of the elements in a manger and grasps not the scepter of judgment, but his mother’s finger. This is not the God we expect, this is the contradiction and the Epiphany. Perhaps when he grows and realizes his position, he will become the God we expect then.
But the contradiction continues in this reading of the Epiphany. The passage from Isaiah this week reads like wedding vows. These wedding vows are supposedly spoken by God, directed to his bride, Israel. I cannot pretend to know how wedding ceremonies were conducted in Israel at the time, perhaps like modern American wedding ceremonies, there is a moment parties exchange promises to each other; this is that moment for God. Except, God is not really present, the Advent hasn’t happened yet. So he doesn’t have to look his bride in the eye and suffer the grief that comes with making promises you are not entirely sure can be maintained. Unfortunately, Israel must wait centuries for any hope of these promises to be fulfilled. God has his moment to reaffirm his promises to his people in the Gospel reading. The God-man is present at a wedding when the wine runs dry. His mother hints that now is the time for the reveal - by performing a miracle, Jesus would reveal himself as God to his people, initiating a cascade of fulfilled promises long left languishing. Jesus rebukes his mother - “what does this matter to you or to me?” The God-man is loathe to provide even a symbolic gesture of solidarity with his bride. He claims, “it is not my time.” To which I wonder - if not then, now! If not now, when?! But though he seems to refuse the opportunity, he performs the miracle anyway, only in secret; he does not want people to know who he is. The Epiphany is not now.
Perhaps the God-man was hesitant to so visibly confirm his identity because God never made the promises promoted by the prophets; perhaps these are simply hopeful words of desperate men who wish God were a certain way. We should have learned from the first contradiction - our expectation that God would appear in power and vengeance vs. his real appearance as a helpless child. Maybe the work of the Epiphany is to undo all of our expectations of God. I don’t know how to distinguish between good expectations and false. I find myself asking the question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect another?” I’ll be asking myself that question consistently this Epiphany; at least I know not to expect a straight answer.