Happy Christmas, dear readers. I am going, as usual, to Christmas lunch at the home of dear Christian friends of decades. I have also been to Midnight Mass with them in previous years and robustly sung the hymns and carols, all of which I knew by heart. In my childhood, I would go every year to a Christmas party held by my Mina Mami. We would gather around her piano and sing as she played carols and hymns. After that we would be treated to a splendid Christmassy dinner. When I lived in Bangkok for some years, I would go on Sundays to the Ruamrudee Church. The Hindu temple was too far away and for me the church, too, was a house of God, where I liked to go, listen to the sermon and sing. Perhaps I learnt this from my father who was visiting New York one year. My mother’s shraadh or death anniversary occurred during that visit. My father did not trouble anyone in a foreign land to find him a priest to conduct a puja as he did for her shraadh at home. He slipped quietly into a pew in St Patrick’s Church and murmured the beautiful twenty-third Psalm—“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”.
But that is one of the treasures of being Indian. Religion and culture, ideally, are like a gigantic box of chocolates in which we can all dip freely and share each other’s traditions. In the lead-up to this Christmas, I found myself thinking of the prophet Isaiah from the Old Testament in the Bible. His original Hebrew name is Yeshayahu, meaning ‘Yahweh is salvation’. He lived in the eighth century BCE in Jerusalem and declared the coming of a messiah whom he called ‘Immanuel’, meaning ‘God is With Us’. The events of the Book of Isaiah are said to have occurred between 740 and 680 BCE during the reigns of the Jewish kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah which was near the time of the founding of Rome and the first Olympic games in Greece. However, Jews and Christians interpret Isaiah differently.
Christians see the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus. The New Testament has four gospels or accounts of Jesus attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In Christian tradition, The Book of Isaiah is also referred to as the ‘fifth gospel’ because of these proclamations: “Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The young girl will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14), and, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5). Also, poignantly, “We, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)
Isaiah, say Biblical scholars, was well-acquainted with poverty and harsh circumstances. He observed with dismay that the Jewish people of the time led self-indulgent lives. He was also alarmed by the impending danger to Jerusalem by the Assyrian king in his westward expansion of the kingdom.
Isaiah is said to have addressed Yahweh, the god of the Jews, with his fears for his people. He is said to have had a glorious vision of his god and though he felt inadequate, offered himself as a messenger in service of Yahweh. Thus, he was made a prophet of his time to warn that Yahweh’s covenant or special understanding with the Jews, who were his ‘chosen people’, could turn against them if they did not lead morally directed lives. In despair, Isaiah famously cried “How long, O Lord?”
Isaiah thundered at his people, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” (Isaiah 59:2). His warning did not go down well with his people. They refused to listen to him and turned him away several times. Isaiah’s words are said to be addressed to the southern part of the Jewish homeland, called Judah. The northern kingdom was called Israel. Scholars say that the Book of Isaiah was partly written by Isaiah’s followers, and that it took its full form in the Bible in the fifth century BCE, long after Isaiah. The Book of Isaiah grew increasingly important in Christian interpretation.
It is seen as a book of hope, promising Yahweh’s mercy through verses like this: “They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.” (Isaiah 61:4), which must have greatly consoled the Jews in their exile. It promises the Jewish people that “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” (Isaiah 58:11).
Seen by Christians to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus is believed to have said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the good news.” (Mark 1:15). Mark’s is the first gospel. Luke, a doctor, puts it this way: “Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is! ‘ or ‘There it is! ‘ The kingdom of God is among you.” (Luke 17:20-21). John, the youngest apostle, identifies Jesus with the Word of God. Matthew, a tax collector, who referred to Isaiah, says that Jesus declared, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17). Paul preached the gospel to many thereafter. And thus, says Christian tradition, was the Christmas message relayed across time from ancient days.
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