THE EMMANUEL - A: 4th Sun of Adv

First Reading: Isa 7:10-14 (18 December 2022)

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel” (Isa 7:14).

This statement was given by Isaiah to King Ahaz of Judea. At this point, the king was in the middle of the catastrophic Syro-Ephraimite War (735-734 BCE), a large-scale rebellion staged by the combined Syrian (i.e., Aram-Damascus) and Israelite forces against the Neo-Assyrian regime. Ahaz was being compelled to join this revolution. However, he did not, which in effect brought to Judea the violent retaliation of the latter (led by King Rezin and King Pekah), accusing Ahaz for supporting this cruel empire that terrorized its subjects (cf. 2 Kings 16).

Amidst this imminent danger, Isaiah warned the king not to act so drastically by weighing first the consequences of any decision pertinent to the escalating conflict. But Ahaz would not bend his firm resolve, trusting instead on the power of the colonists to suppress this rebellion. While such was the case later on (King Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria helped him), Judea had already become an immediate target of the ire of the Syrians and the Israelites, causing death and devastation to thousands of innocent Judeans (cf. 2 Chronicles 28). The ill-advised decision of their king brought them much sorrow and misery. They were the ones who suffered heavily from the lack of diplomatic skills and discernment of their leader. Worse was that even though Ahaz did not join the uprising, he was also mandated to pay a large tribute to the Assyrians.

Ahaz’s bravado is directly contradicted by the content of the message given by Isaiah. The prophet foretold of the coming of a son of a virgin, who unlike proud kings, would be somebody who could listen to the pleas, cries, and supplications of the public. He is named Īmmānū'ēl for a reason (Isa 7:14; 8:8; Mt 1:23). This name is etymologically derived from three Hebrew words, viz., im (“with”), manu (“we/us”), and el (“Lord/God”), which altogether mean “God is with us”. Essentially, Isaiah’s prophecy on the coming of the Emmanuel was a staunch critique of Ahaz’s governmental policy.

While the king made decisions based on maintaining the status quo and ensuring the preservation of his throne, this promised messiah would preferentially side the cause of the oppressed, marginalized, and weak sectors of the society.

Despite the recent change of leadership in the Philippine society, there is no much significant change, yet, that occurs in terms of reversing the overarching influence of the oligarchs and aristocrats over the larger population. In particular, the current government has made decisions that while, on the one hand, attempt to salvage the Philippine economy and its international image, on the other hand, lead to the poor’s inaccessibility to basic commodities especially with the increasing prices of fuel and food supplies (rice, sugar, onion, etc.). The dollar-peso exchange rate is also at its record-low in the face of mass importation of foreign goods. The only consolation is that we are just at the first semester of the inaugural year of this new administration. We do hope and pray that the president will not be another Ahaz … should he continue to ignore the voices of the common people.

Any true leader should become another Emmanuel by being the poor’s listening companion in their journey to progress and happiness.

- Rex Fortes, CM