He comes to save you
Advent reminds us that our life is a waiting. It is not yet the fullness of life, but a school of life. As Christians, we are disciples at this school. Saint Benedict perfectly understood this truth and made this truth a fundamental basis in life. He recognized that our primary task is to seek God and learn to live. For him, a monk is an Advent man, completely focused on the coming Lord, and the Monastery - the school of the Lord's service - is a community of waiting, focused on preparing for the coming of the Lord. However, this thought applies not only to monks, but to every disciple of Christ who, wherever he is, should treat his life as a school and constantly learn to live.
As it turns out, the greatest enemy of our openness to the coming Lord is our expectations. For we overly associate expectation with the ideas we carry about what we expect. This was the case in Jesus' day. The pious Jews, who were anxiously waiting for the messiah, were unable to receive Him when He appeared. And it always is so, because when God comes, he surprises us completely, because he gives more than we can imagine, he gives according to his measure, not according to our imagination.
In today's Gospel scene, human expectations are confronted with God who came. The Jews asked: Who but God alone can forgive sins? (cf. Lk 5:21) Of course, no one. That is why the Lord Jesus gives them a sign: a word that settles into reality. “Then astonishment seized them all and they glorified God, and struck with awe, they said, we have seen incredible things today.” (Lk 5:26). From further reading of the Gospels, we know that this amazement did not lead the witnesses to the fullness of faith. The amazement was gone, and the messiah's inner image remained unshakable. That is why, later they rejected Jesus because they were waiting for another. Saint Paul later said of the Jews that they rejected the Lord Jesus because they were waiting for signs. Yet signs were given to them. Jesus restored their eyesight, hearing, healed the lame and paralyzed, and even resurrected them. Such signs were announced by the prophet Isaiah: “Here is your God, (…) he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, ears of the deaf be cleared; Then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing”. (cf. Is. 35: 4-6).
The Jews, however, were disturbed by their own idea of the messiah. They could not believe that Isaiah's words could literally be fulfilled. Unfortunately, we are also in the same danger. While waiting for the Lord, we must be open to the signs we receive, and in order not to ignore His presence among us, we must not associate ourselves with our imaginations, but with the consistent recognition of these signs, often hidden in the gray of our lives.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george