Understanding the Word

By Br. John R. Barker, OFM

After the seventh trumpet has blown, signaling God’s triumph  over diabolic powers, the temple opens and the ark of the covenant  is revealed. This scene of divine victory immediately shifts to  an image of Israel giving birth to the Messiah. The child is saved  from Satan, the huge red dragon attempting to destroy him. One  sees here a reference to the attempt of the powers of hell to destroy  Jesus through his death on the cross, only to be foiled when he is  raised from the dead and ascends to heaven. The woman, who now  represents the persecuted church, is protected by God just as Israel  was protected in the wilderness after the Exodus.

Some Christians in Corinth apparently denied the resurrection of  the dead, to which Paul responded that if there is no resurrection,  then obviously Christ was not raised from the dead, making their  faith in him pointless. They are still in their sins, have no hope  beyond this life, and those who have already “fallen asleep in  Christ have perished.” But Christ was raised from the dead, and  his resurrection was not just for him but for all who have received  life in and through him. At his second coming, those who are “in  Christ” will be resurrected, too. Christ alone will be sovereign, the  only authority, and all powers will be subject to him, including and  especially the power of death. 

Mary expresses prophetically in her Magnificat the meaning of  the coming of the Messiah. True to character, God has shown mercy  not just to her, but to all who have remained faithful and waited  in hope for the longed-for salvation, making good on the ancient  promises. The fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation, however,  will not be good news for everyone. Those who do not fear God, the  proud and the rich, those who are satisfied with a world just the way  it is, in which some have and others do not—for these, the coming  of the Messiah will be a time of judgment on them and on their way  of life.

Living the Word logo

Copyright © 2021, 2020, 2019, 2012, 2011, 2010 World Library Publications, a div. of GIA Publications, Inc. www.giamusic.com
All rights reserved. Used by permission.