Ask for a sign for yourself

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Meditation on Saturday, 3rd week of Advent, year B1

Our wandering … so human, inscribed in our nature, in our freedom, easy to explain, because our ways are not His ways. Resulting from choices, weaknesses, inadequate discernment or even cold calculation. Folk wisdom says that whoever asks does not go astray … I think it has become a bit outdated and concerns more prosaic, not complicated situations, it works when, for example, we ask a native for directions. The more the issues become important and the more important questions, you have to have someone to ask, ask the question correctly, understand the answer correctly, make the right decisions and often you cannot stop at one source of answers …

The next Advent is now coming to an end and Ahaz is on our way (by the way – one of the lucky ones to whom God seems to have spoken directly).

The Lord spoke to Ahaz with these words: “Ask for a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, whether it is deep in Sheol or high above.” But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test.” .

At first glance, a very pious answer. However, when he came from the mouth of the king of Judah, introduced a pagan cult in the country, ignored the advice of the prophet Isaiah, became a subject of the Assyrian king, and deliberately placed the fate of himself and his people into uncertain human hands, the answer takes on a different meaning. And it should lead us to seek Ahaz within ourselves. You have to go deeper into getting to know yourself, not be content with a shallow examination of conscience. You have to look critically at our trust in human calculations, political systems. Are you sure we don’t want to put God to the test? Or do we rather not want to question our well-ordered, immediate solutions? How many more of them in our lives?

To leave us no illusions; who is the Lord and who will stand before Him, we have in today’s readings Psalm 24:

The earth belongs to the Lord and all that fills it

the world and its inhabitants

Who will ascend the mountain of the Lord

who will stand in His holy place?

A man of clean hands and a pure heart,

who did not bow his soul to vanities.

How many people feel comfortable after reading this? Justice triumphs, but who can only trust it? But both Ahaz and us were told something important – there is always time for a change, for a turn in the way we have been doing so far. You can always cry out to the Lord. Are you on the fringes of the community, or wandering astray, or maybe you are following the Lord and you feel like disciples on Mount Tabor:

Ask for a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, be it deep in Sheol or high above.

Ahaz’s mistakes did not end God’s plans. God did not give the people the expected sign, but then Isaiah, 734 years before Christ was born, announced the sign given to the people:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you the sign:

A Virgo will conceive and bear a son,

and will call him Emmanuel.

The Evangelist Luke in today’s Gospel reading announces that Mary will conceive and give birth to a Son. Isaiah’s prophecy is being fulfilled, and since this is probably one of the most famous and Advent texts, I will only pay attention to one sentence:

And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has conceived a son in her old age, and she is already in the sixth month who is considered to be barren.

It’s a sign too. I am reminded of another scene presented by this Evangelist Lk 7 (parallel Mt 11). John the Baptist, there are doubts in prison:

Are you the One to come, or are we to expect another one?

Jesus responds with the following signs:

The blind regain their sight, the lame walk, the lepers receive cleansing and the deaf hear; the dead are resurrected, the poor are preached to the Gospel. And blessed is the one who will not doubt me.

A strong lesson in verification of expectations … Instead of further reflection on the sign – an illustration with a dedication to Mr. Jolanta. Because the sign depends on the sensitivity…