Reflection on Is 52:2
Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
This verse that is to be reflected on for the next two weeks is preceded by the following one: “Awake, awake, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.” Then follows our word of life that we are going to repeat: “Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.”
The next verse reads: “For thus says the Lord: ‘You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money. … Therefore My people shall know My name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here am I.’”
The word of life encourages each of us: Shake yourself from the dust! We need to shake ourselves from the dust of vain thoughts, vain worries, transgressions that we have committed knowingly or unknowingly, and then we are to rise. We must not remain sitting or lying down. We need to arise!
We can look at Jerusalem from several perspectives. Either it is historical Jerusalem, or it can mean heavenly Jerusalem or spiritual Jerusalem. Our soul, too, cleansed by the blood of Christ through repentance should be the spiritual Jerusalem. In baptism, our soul became the spiritual dwelling of God Himself. Therefore, we need to arise from negative thoughts and break free from the influence of various philosophies or ideologies in order to open ourselves to the truth. I have to realise who I am. I am a child of God. I am a temple of God. The Apostle says: “God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”
Next, the word of life encourages us: “Loose the bonds from your neck.” Ask yourself what spiritual bonds you have. What keeps you from doing good and serving God? Where is the problem? Often it is hidden very deeply, so just recognizing and admitting this problem, these spiritual bonds, is already half the battle. A humble and truthful person has hope that he can loose these bonds of bad habits that have entered directly into his nature and become a part of it. Often you do not see them at all, but the other person, especially the one who lives a spiritual life, will recognize in you after a certain time what blocks you. But he cannot tell you because you are mostly unable to accept the truth. That is why you so much need interior prayer, where you lay open to God the depths of your soul to be penetrated with God’s light like with X-rays. In His light you will see the image of your spiritual helplessness and you will then be able to cry out in pain to your Lord and God who can heal you. He can heal your soul and become your spiritual Physician, if you obey Him and the prescriptions He has given us and take His spiritual medicine. All this is encoded in His Word, especially in His Gospel; it will heal your soul and you will experience true peace that the world cannot give. Your bonds will be loosed, and you will be truly free. For now, you and your soul is the captive daughter of Zion. Zion is the place in Jerusalem where Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist. Here He chose to give Himself to us as spiritual food. In Zion also the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. The same Spirit wants to descend on the spiritual Zion, which is part of the spiritual Jerusalem that is in you. So you too are a captive daughter of Zion, held by the bonds of vice, pride, anger, self-pity, hurt feelings, thirst for revenge, blasphemy, reproaches against God, helplessness etc. Jesus is your Redeemer. In Jerusalem, He not only instituted the mystical making present of His redemptive death through the consecrated bread and wine, but also shed His blood for the forgiveness of your sins a few metres from Zion. Here, by His redemptive death, He who is true God and your Saviour broke the spiritual bonds of sin and the power of the devil. Therefore shake yourself from the dust of sin and arise! Arise in faith and it will definitely begin a healing process in your soul.
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