Who was Isaiah and why was he so important to Christians, especially Byzantine Catholics? There are a number of reasons. First, Isaiah is the second most quoted OT book in the Gospels next to the Psalms, and I guess this should warrant some attention to the prophet. His book is quoted throughout the Gospel message from the Nativity stories, John the Bapist, various miracles, and parables. Twenty-five verses from Isaiah are quoted in Matthew, nine in Mark, seventeen in Luke, and eleven in John. In Acts and the Epistles, there are around fifty more quotes. Second, in Luke's Gospel, Jesus reads from Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth as he begins his ministry (remember: by then, readings from the prophets were a custom and Isaiah provided the largest contribution of prophet readings). Third, Isaiah has made his way into our liturgy, especially the Thrice-Holy Hymn (or Sanctus) and a few other places. Fourth, the temple & liturgical imagery conveyed by Isaiah provides a source for much of the heavenly/liturgical imagery in the Apocalypse of John and our own Byzantine Christian form of worship. It is no wonder why the ambassadors representing Vladimir couldn't decide if they were in heaven or on earth after attending their first Divine Liturgy, especially since or temple and worship seems to be Isaiah-based. Lastly, his 53rd chapter (Suffering Servant) makes up a lot of the Passion Narratives of our Lord. How can one read or listen to these passages without hearing Isaiah?

Isaiah 1:1-20 is the reading (or lection) for the first day of Lent and it is where Isaiah begins his oracles against Judah. There is one particular verse that stands out. Let me quote it:

“The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master's crib;
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.” (1:3)

This is significant for two reasons; the prophetic theme of "knowing' (or not knowing) and the presence of the ox and the donkey (or ass). As we begin Lent, what does it mean to "know' God?

Where else have you seen these two beasts of burden in our Christian tradition? How do you think they relate to the theme of knowing? Anyone willing to give it a try?


Joe

[ 02-10-2002: Message edited by: J Thur ]

Our Lord entered Jerusalem on a donkey, just preceding His Passion. (John 12:14).

In relation to the theme of knowing, perhaps the beasts of burden could represent those with simple, childlike faith. It could show how we believe without having the data, evidence, etc. to justify our belief. We believe through and with the gift of faith, rather than through intellectual arguments and calculated, exact processes and justifications. God transcends the "smarts," because He loves each one of us and desires us to love Him and our neighbors, regardless of our intellectual abilities.

Kelly,

You are right. Sometimes we can get lost in the details. Does a newborn baby have to define and articulate what a "Mother" is in an ontological sense or what a "Father" is in a metaphysical? Yet, a newborn 'knows' in a different way; very intimate. Reminds me of the relationship between man/woman and God in the Garden.

In Isaiah's comments on an ox and an ass, I see the Christmas tradition of depicting such beasts in our icons and scenes of the Nativity of our Lord. With all the hoot'n and a holler'n going on over dogmatic Olympics, a dumb donkey and brute ox 'knows' the master sometimes better than we can.

Does an ass care to know whether the Lord in swaddling clothes can grow a long enough beard? or is wearing the proper liturgical headgear? or has proper jurisdiction? Does an ox give a care to such things? They are important in a way, but as important or more important than 'knowing' God?

Regarding the quote about the ox and the ass and its use in Christian nativity scenes, it is interesting to 'know' that it is nowhere to be found in the Infancy Narratives of either Matthew or Luke. So, how did such a tradition stick for so long?

What does the presence say about tradition and scripture? If nothing is to be 'added' to Scripture, then why do some Christian organizations keep them in their nativity scenes?


Joe

[ 02-11-2002: Message edited by: J Thur ]

Joe, great topic, but I have already spent too much time on another thread and need to get back to work.

I will post on this tonight or tomorrow, as I love Isaiah and there is an even bigger, in my humble opinion, part of Isaiah that you did not even mention that is more vital tot he Christian faith.

How do you like my "cop-out' of the Biblical contradictions thread?

Great topic!!!

Donnchadh,

Several students of Isaiah have found Isa 1.1-20 to be similar to a trial scene. Whereas Isa 6 is a glimpse into the heavenly liturgy (reflected in our Byzantine liturgy and the Apocalypse of John), the first chapter of Isaiah reminds me of, please forgive me, the 'trial scene' in Pink Floyd's "The Wall." Sorry about the parallel, but a close reading of Isaiah 1 is a transcription of a trial scene.

Can you spot the call to witnesses? the accusation? the admonishment? the requirements made? the appeal?

Who are the witnesses, the judge, the accused? Is there a verdict in this court case?

How does this all relate to Lent and what we are supposed to be doing?

It seems the verses dealing with the ox and the ass are part of the accusations. Isaiah is saying that you just don't get it! I think it is an interesting tradition how Christians have used Isaiah in their Nativity scenes. In John's Gospel, he too re-iterates Isaiah in Jn 1:10.

What do you think?

BTW, no one has taken the challenge to explain where the tradition of having an ox and an ass in our Nativity scenes, especially since neither Matthew or Luke writes about them in their Gospels. This tidbit of trivia adds some spice to the excitement over the issue of canonicity of our scriptures. Then again, I am probably the only one that gets excited about such things.
:p

Joe

[ 02-12-2002: Message edited by: J Thur ]

Good Evening Mr. Thur,

I found a web site that discusses it a little.
It has to do with the Spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. It says that Mary left Nazareth on a donkey with Joseph and a maid who was leading an ox. It stated that this belief was part of his culture which would be spanish. Thats all I could find.

Nicky's Baba

Well, I was going to tackle the bit about the ox and the ass, but it appears the only source (from those I have) is indeed this first chapter of Isaias. It does not occur in any of the apocryphal books I have. Perhaps it is in oral tradition that this occurs, much like the common belief that Christ was 33 when he died.

"Knowing" God. The verb tends to imply a deep and intimate experience, e.g. the way we "know" our spouses in such an intimate way that no one else does (ideally). These beasts know their Master in a way we do not, as they are free from sin, and worship the Creator perfectly. They also had the priveledge of being stand-ins for the whole created Universe, witnesses of the incarnation. This is an interesting analogy: these "dumb" animals know their Creator, but the People of God do not. (Warning!) The animals, as just alluded to, are dumb, that is, mild, meek, obedient, humble beasts of burden that are silent in adversity and suffering. They carry their burden without complaining. How often do we complain about our burdens, our Crosses? These animals instinctually live the Beatitudes, and were worthy to be the only witnesses to the Birth of God.

The trial thing follows quite appropriately. We do not live as we ought, following the example of our Lord and living the Law in perfection, humility and obedience. We shall be judged accordingly, since we do not reject our sinful natures. Today's reading from Proverbs (1:20-2:3) is a strong reproach from Wisdom (read Jesus) for not rejecting our foolish and harmful ways, and for hating the Wisdom that comes from above. We must turn away from sin, have a genuine metanoia else we destroy ourselves in rejecting good counsel and instruction. If we accept the reproach of Wisdom, though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow (Is 1:18).

Akemner makes a good observation from the Proverbs reading. The initial themes of both are interesting. How about 'knowledge' in the Garden per Genesis, another OT book we begin to read this first week of Lent?

Yes, the ox and the ass is definitely from Isaiah 1:3, but it can also be found in The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew:

"On the third day after the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Mary went out from the cave and went into the stable where she put her child in a manger and an ox and ass worshipped him. Then was fulfilled that which was said by the prophet Isaiah : "The ox knows its owner and the ass his Master's crib". Then was fulfilled that which was said through the prophet Habakuk:: "Between two beasts are you "known'".

Now, in the East, we depict the Nativity in a cave, whereas in the West, a manger/stable. In the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, which is not a canonical text, both are included! Somehow this tradition got carried over into our iconography and nativity scenes even though Matthew and Luke did not include it. Notice the quote from Habakuk as another reference to the 'knowing' theme.

Interesting how God gets a bit upset with what the folks do know: sacrifices, blood and burnt offerings (v.11), offerings, incense and solemn assemblies (v.13), and festivals, their outstretched hands, prayers (vv.14,15).

Much ado has been made over the issue of quoting the Jews as saying "let his blood be on us and our children" as being anti-Semitic. But in Isaiah 1:15b, our LORD states clearly, "I will not listen; your hands are full of blood." Did the NT authors, who used so much of imagery and verses from Isaiah have this in mind instead of being anti-Semitic? Weren't the Evangelists and Jesus Himself Jews?

These folks are put on trial. They know all the liturgics, but not the LORD. How did that happen? A very harsh judgment? In 1:12, the LORD demands that they trample His "courts" no more, thus confirming in a way the first chapter as being a trial setting. We see this trial thing also in Isa 3:13-15 and somewhat in 5:1-7. Three trial images before we get to the Heavenly Liturgy!

Do we Byzantines know chapter six more than chapter one? Isaiah's first thirty-nine chapters are chapters that deal with judgment. Not until we begin reading chapter forty on the fifth tuesday of the Great Fast will Isaiah's text start anything on the topic of salvation. It all reminds me of A.A. The first step to recovery is admitting one has a problem (read: judgment).

Thank you for your comments and participation so far. I hope we can keep digging and reflecting on these wonderful passages from Scripture.


Good night,
Joe

[ 02-12-2002: Message edited by: J Thur ]

Sorry for cutting my monologue above short. i was going to address Genesis there also.

Back to "knowing" in the Biblical sense. We know this means an intimate and personal knowledge, such as a man and a woman have for each other in the marital bed. It is a knowledge that encompasses the psycholgical, emotional, intellectual, personal and physical aspects of the person; throrough comprehension of the whole person. Adam and Eve had this knowledge of God. but they lost it. Creation knows God in this manner, both before the Fall, and after the Redemption of Man. We are still a little behind the curve, or else we would not be reading the first 39 chapters of Isaias during Lent.

I do not have pseudo Matthew in my collection. my resources are lean at best, but fleshing out slowly on this poor college dad's meagre pitances.

People don't like to hear that they are in the wrong. We like to be complacent, with things in the status quo. The Jews accusing Christians of Anti-semitism is one of those things. They dont want to see the Blood on their hands. It is too hard to humble oneself and say "I am very wrong." (Not just them, but all of us who hold on to our petty grudges.) We must be careful to know our Lord and not be hung up on details of how something should or should not be done. ritual is teh menas, not ends to Salvation (I am NOT advocating the further dumbing down of our Liturgical cycle in any way). We know Chapter six the best because we LOVE Liturgy, especially Heavenly ones.

“The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master's crib;
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.” (1:3)

I understand your references to "knowing" God, but could this also include "service" to God? The ox and donkey are in the nativity scene to be of service to Our Lord by using their breaths to warm the Infant. The donkey was of service when it carried Our Lady on the journey and a donkey was at service to Our Lord on His entry into Jerusalem. Could knowing God be emptying ourselves to be at His service as His plans for humanity unfolds?

Please let me know if I'm too far out in left field.

Loretta

[ 02-13-2002: Message edited by: Loretta ]

Loretta,

Actually, you're in center field. One should note that the idea of service is the natural response to 'knowing' our LORD. Remember the old saying, "Know, Love and Serve?" These two beasts 'knew' the Lord first, they loved him by keeping him warm by their breath, and they served him. The donkey was the traditional animal of 'service.' The ox, when it sleeps, kneels.

Our LORD was mightily ticked off with those who thought they were serving him with all their sacrifices. They became a "burden" to Him in their poor service/liturgy (1:14) unlike the totally acceptable liturgy/service offered by beasts of "burden." As this is the first chapter of Isaiah (we have 65 more to go!) it is a poor commentary on us as we are so busy at times looking at ourselves in the mirror instead of giving attention to God.

Joe

[ 02-13-2002: Message edited by: J Thur ]