Thursday 24 April 2008

Background

We usually read this passage at Christmas to describe the greatjoy and hope at the coming of Jesus. It is among the best knownpassages in the Bible, describing that 'peaceable kingdom' that welook for.

In this passage, the prophecy of a new king for ancient Jerusalemis thought by many to be a prophecy about the Messiah. Toacknowledge that the author (the 8th century BC Jerusalem-basedprophet Isaiah) did not intend these lines to relate to Jesus isnot to diminish their power and place in Christian interpretation -the text pulls out all the rhetorical stops to describe the newlife that will accompany the reign of the new king. Christians knowthis new king and kingdom in the promise of Jesus to transformlives and communities.

This passage almost bursts with joy. It describes a world where allthe things that seem out of order are overturned, where all thesources of fear and conflict in human life and also in the naturalworld are removed.

Edward Hicks (1780-1849) was a Pennsylvania Quaker living duringthe early years of the United States. He painted the images ofthese verses many times. In one of his most famous renditions ofthe 'Peaceable Kingdom', Hicks put William Penn and the earlysettlers of Pennsylvania making peace with the Native Americans inthe background, behind the child and animals. He seemed to implythat this new kingdom was one people could and should achieve - andin his view, the founding of the Quaker haven Pennsylvania in 1677was not a bad start.

Hicks may have meant to criticise what he saw as increasingselfishness and consumerism of his own time - the faces of theanimals stare out with something like reproach. What he would makeof our lives and world, we can only speculate.

To Ponder

What injustices in present life seeminsurmountable? Are they?