Gospel Reflection: 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time — The universality of God’s salvation through God’s providence: Isaiah 45:1-6

By Fr. Cyrus Gichuhi Mwangi, PhD student, Biblical Theology Department

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (ccc 304) portrays divine providence as “God’s sovereignty over the course of events”. In other words, God takes ordinary events and arranges them for his own purpose or even takes ordinary and unexpected persons and use them for his own purpose. More often than not, this divine providence surprises us because in it, God works supernaturally but naturally, extraordinary but ordinary. Isaiah 45:1-6, the First Reading of the 29th Sunday of Ordinary time, brings to the fore the theme of “universality of God’s salvation through God’s providence”. In our first reading from the prophet Isaiah 45:1-6, universalism of God’s salvation is conveyed. The reading opens by explicitly mentioning that the Lord’s oracle given by ‘thus says the Lord’ is directed to Cyrus. Who was Cyrus? In Hebrew Cyrus is Koresh. He was a Persian king who conquered Babylonians and issued a decree of religious liberation to the Jews (Ezra 1:1-2; 2 Chronicles 36:22-23). Isaiah tells us that Cyrus ‘did not know the Lord God of Israel’ Is. 45:4-5. In Cyrus Cylinder, Cyrus says that he worshiped Marduk along with Bel and Nabu. He attributes his victory over Babylonians to Marduk. Thus, he was not only a non-Jew but also a polytheist. In Is 45:1, this polytheistic gentile king is referred to as Mashiach that is ‘Messiah’ or anointed one! This title was reserved for Priests (Ex. 28:41), Prophets (Is. 61:1) and Kings (1 Sam. 16:11-13) of Israel. A polytheist and a non-Jew given this title and being used as an instrument of God’s divine plan is stunning. However, this shows how God’s providence work in fulfilling God’s plan and his salvation. He can use anyone as his instrument! The second way in which this universalism is shown is through the motivation given by our reading about God’s choice of Cyrus. There are three motivations given for God’s choice to Cyrus. The first one is that Cyrus is chosen so that he may know that “it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel who call you by name” v3. The second motivation for the choice is “for the sake of my servant Jacob” v4 and finally it is so that “from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting all may know that I am the Lord and there is no other” v5. Here the divine knowledge is progressively portrayed. There is a movement from individual knowing the Lord (Cyrus) to one nation (Israel) to the whole world. The initiative is not from Cyrus but rather it is from the Lord. It is an act of divine providence. In only these six verses in which the first reading is gotten, the action of the Lord is heavily emphasized through the repetition of the first personal pronoun ‘I’. The Lord says to Cyrus “‘I have grasped your right hand’, ‘I will go before you’, ‘I will break doors in pieces’, I will give you treasures’, ‘I call you by your name’”. The initiative and the actions are from the Lord. To heighten the fact that initiative is Lord’s, Cyrus is told that the Lord has grasped or taken his right hand. In the Hebrew Bible, to take hold of the right hand is not only an expression of choosing rather it is also a gesture signaling to guide, to lead and to protect that person. Through his right hand, the Lord led the Israel out of Egypt Exodus 15. This image of a person holding another’s hand as an act of guidance, leading and protecting can relate to many of us since we were all held up to learn how to walk. As a university community, during this graduation week, as we read and reflect about the universal outlook of God’s salvation and his divine plan and providence in Isaiah 45, may our worldview/horizons be universal. May we not be hindered by age, tribe, religion, nationality or academic qualifications in the way we deal with others. Above all, may God who has initiated in us the love to be in academia through his providence hold our hands so that we can become his instruments. May the lecturers grasp the hands of the students and guide them to greater academic heights. And may our graduands grasp the hands of all those they will serve and take them to God! Amen.