On that day, it will be said: "Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us! This is the Lord for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us! “For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain. -IS 25:9-10A.
Friends, God is good, all the time.
Concerning the prophets' relationship to the Messiah, Isaiah is the most outstanding guide to our discovery of Christ. Hence, the effort to broaden our knowledge of and preparation for the coming of Christ should include massive doses of Isaiah's prophecies about him. Isaiah connects the Old Covenant to the New Covenant in a concrete way by showing the Messiah as the continuation and the fulfillment of the two covenants.
The first point in his prophecy was to establish that the Messiah was from the royal stock. Hence, in yesterday's first reading, he didn't only prophesy about the Messiah and linked him to the Davidic dynasty, but he set forth his universal mission. Isaiah hinted that the significant point relating to the character of the Messiah is the resting upon and gifting with the divine spirit: wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, knowledge and fear of the Lord.
Today, the prophet speaks of the ultimate act of the Messiah, which will be the offering of himself on mount Calvary for the salvation of all people. The provision of a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines symbolize the last supper and the Eucharist, which will perpetuate and remind the generations of the salvation enacted by Christ.
The prophet also talks about the Lord removing the veil that veils all people and destroying death forever. The prophet's message is predictive of Christ's death, in which, according to Paul, "He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us" ( Eph 2:14).
Finally, the prophet expresses the universal longing for redemption as all creation cries out, "Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us! This is the Lord for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!" And behold, Christ, saves all people: the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others, and feeds the masses; he addresses individual needs as Matthew tells us in the gospel.
And behold, we look to Christ to saves us every day from family and personal troubles and anxieties, the pandemic and other illnesses, economic collapse, attack on the family and religious values. Behold, Jesus will save us if we keep close to him.
Prayer blessings: Father, grant me the willing heart to prepare to meet the redeemer in every way he will appear to me today. Lead me to recognize that in circumstances of my family, work, studies, struggles, people around me, He stands looking at me and asking me to take His hand for relief. Amen.