Living Waters

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, April 6th, 2025:
Fifth Sunday of Lent

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Isaiah
​43.16-21

Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
“Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.

“I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.

“The wild animals will honour me,
the jackals and the ostriches;
for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

The First Reading for this Sunday opens with a reminder that God is more powerful than any of the forces on earth. The sea, the chariot, the army – all will bend to the will of God. We see this in Old Testament stories like the parting of the Red Sea. Then, in contrast, the Lord says to forget these “former things” as He is about to do a “new thing.” This “new thing” is described also using water as a metaphor, but the description has a different, gentler tone about it. Instead of water being a powerful force of destruction as it is described in the first six verses of this reading, God describes this water as a river in the desert, a place for His chosen people to drink. The water is life-giving. This is, of course, a prophetic description of Jesus as the living water. 

Jesus is this “new thing” being described. God tells us to forget the “former things,” as Jesus will be the new and lasting covenant that fulfills and overrides any prior covenants. Isaiah is prophesying that the relationship God has with humanity will change through Jesus. In the Old Testament, God wielded power against humans in the face of their sin, and their sin was met with death and destruction. But through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we no longer have to fear these consequences of sin and can instead access God’s mercy in a new way. This is what Isaiah describes as a “way in the wilderness,” which Jesus fulfills by being “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). 

Just as all of humanity is different after Jesus, so too are we as individuals when we welcome Jesus into our lives. Our spiritual desert is flushed with the living water. This is a vibrant change, one that other people can observe in us. Similarly, soon our Lenten desert will be transformed into Easter joy, and it will give us cause for praise.

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Ronnie Noonan-Birch

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