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April 7, 2019“See, I am doing something new!” So assures us the God of Israel through the lips of Isaiah. Today, the same God who opened a way in the sea for his people and snuffed out Pharaoh’s powerful army like a wick reminds the prophet that the wonders his ancestors saw are but a shadow of what is to come. Neither the seven plagues of Egypt, the splitting of the Sea, nor the vanquishing of Israel’s enemies can compare to the mighty deed that God will work through the utter humiliation of Israel’s deliverer on a tree: The Incarnation crescendos on the throne of the cross, where human violence and depravity become the wellspring of mercy. God’s definitive response to violence and evil is to refashion them into channels of healing grace, the birth pangs of a New Creation. The prophet’s dream of God’s Reign will finally arrive, where mercy and truth will finally meet, and justice and peace will greet with a kiss.
