Of Might and Mercy

A Reflection on the First Reading for January 9th, 2022:
The Feast of the Baptism of The Lord

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Isaiah
40.1-5, 9-11

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”

See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.

At 1500 pounds per square inch, the bite force of the jaguar is the strongest among all cats. Jaguars bring down their prey not by biting the throat, as other big cats do, but by piercing the skull with its teeth and crushing the bones. Jaguars also use their powerful jaws to pick up their newborn cubs by the scruff and carry them with remarkable gentleness over land and through water. Cubs relax completely in the safe grip of their mother’s jaws. In their realm, jaguars know how to exercise their power to a degree appropriate in the circumstances. 
 
We are not the only creatures on Earth to manifest wisdom. The natural world has incredible and humbling lessons to teach us. At times, the instinctual manner in which plants and animals respond to the needs and weaknesses of others in their community illuminates for us our own foolishness, our selfishness. We are reasoning creatures. We ought to know better than animals when to act with power or restraint — in essence, to act with love — but our failures suggest otherwise. When in the first reading the prophet Isaiah invokes “justice for the nations,” it is because even then, millennia ago, the wisdom humanity could have exercised was sorely lacking, just as it is so often today. 
 
Isaiah prophesies the coming of One who will achieve a perfect balance of power and restraint: “He will bring forth justice to the nations ... [A] bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He will not quench... ” To render justice over nations is an act of strength. Our Lord is infinite in power. There is nothing He cannot do. He created the world and He can destroy it should He choose. But, instead, He tempers His infinite power with infinite love and gentleness, so that even the damaged stem is not severed and the tiniest flame is not extinguished. 
 
That is why in everything we can trust God, the Lion of Judah who protects us from every real harm and the Lamb who, in His infinite mercy and love, nurtures us in our weakness. Jesus, our Saviour, came to fulfil this prophecy — to make manifest a perfect balance of might and mercy. 




Donna Davis
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