Scripture: for Lectionary # 259. Tue of Holy Week. Isaiah 49:1-6. Psalm
71:1-2,3-4, 5ab-61b, 15,17. John 13:21-33, 36-38:

Jerusalem, the holy city, is often called Zion or the city of David. II
Isaiah encourages all of the Israelites to return to Mount Zion; in fact,
in the universalism of the prophet Isaiah, all nations are to assemble
there.We learn of the Servant of the Lord who through these hymns of Isaiah
will be the "Suffering Servant" who foreshadows Jesus as we learn from the
way the first Christians reread the Hebrew Scriptures in the perspective of
Jesus' fulfilling them. Here he is the Suffering Servant. For Israel this
could also mean the nation of Israel or a future ideal leader who would
unify the Israelites and bring peace and happiness to them.

In our Passion Narratives we easily see how the evangelists equate the
Suffering Servant of Isaiah with Jesus in his Passion, Death, and
Resurrection. It is he who will lead all peoples to the new heavenly
Jerusalem (Rev. 11:19). Like other prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah we
learn that Jesus too was called from the very womb of his mother Mary to be
a prophet and more than that to be the Messiah or ideal leader promised by
God through the mouth of Isaiah. The Psalm also mentions the call from the
womb, "On you I depend from birth; from my mother's womb you are my
strength. I will sing of your salvation."

In the Gospel we continue to follow Jesus in his last week of life. Though
we are not like the disciples seated around him as he celebrates an
anticpated Passover Meal in a new way (the Last Supper) we actually
celebrate this event in the Eucharist that some are able to participate in
even each day of Lent and Holy Week. In the scene given to us by John we
see that Judas has been led by the devil to betray Jesus; Jesus is aware of
this and even hints of it to his disciples. All will happen so quickly
that it catches many of them off guard and they will also fail to support
Jesus in his prayer, in his capture, and in his crucifixion. Only a few
will be there with him as he dies on the cross. We, however, having
learned of the entire Passion Narrative of Jesus from four Gospels, can
experience the darkness of Gethsemane as Jesus prays and we join him; we
can leave the Garden of Olives with him and take up the "stations" of the
journey made with the cross. May we not waver or fall asleep during this
sacred time with Jesus. He needs our love and we all the moreso need his
overwhelming love and mercy. "Yes, Lord, we adore you on the cross and we
look toward the resurrection for you are our salvation, our life and our
hope." Amen.