Our Holy Father Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem (386)
Great Fast Day 32
Sixth Hour – Isaiah 42:5-16; Vespers – Genesis 18:20-33; Proverbs 16:17-17:17
According to liturgical prescriptions, the Divine Liturgy is not celebrated today.
Read Isaiah 42:5-16
The opening verses of this reading are part of the first ‘Servant Song’ in the book of Isaiah. In this Servant Song, the Prophet describes the place and mission of God’s servant on earth. The servant is a light to the nations (42:6), the servant opens the eyes of the blind, and the servant frees those imprisoned from darkness (42:7).
As a result of the servant’s work, the nations will come to know the true God. They will sing a new song to the Lord (42:10) and give Him glory (42:12).
The people hearing this prophecy for the first time likely would have assumed that the Prophet was speaking about the people of Israel. They are, in fact, God’s chosen people who bear His name and presence in the world. However, this nation of Israel, time and time again, disgraced itself by turning to other gods of foreign nations.
While there is plenty of truth in the idea of the people of Israel being God’s servant, the true Servant of God’s identity goes deeper. There is another servant who actually carries out the Lord’s will without wavering. This servant is an eternal light of the nations, this servant truly opens the eyes of the blind, this servant frees those imprisoned by darkness.
This servant is Jesus Christ. He frees us and he enlightens us to the truth of God’s plan of salvation. Through Christ, all the nations are made a part of God’s family and are made partakers in the eternal inheritance prepared from the beginning.
By being united to Christ, we participate in his mission of enlightening the nations and freeing those shackled in darkness.