The prophet Isaiah situates his vision of the future in specific terms: On this mountain. St. Matthew situates the ministry of Jesus in a specific time: At that time. This illustrates what we might call the scandal of particularity. The God of the universe who exists for all eternity chose a specific place and time to break into human history. The song, “Jesus Christ Superstar,” captures the scandal. “Why’d you choose such a backward time in such a strange land? If you’d come today you could have reached a whole nation. Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication.” Christianity does not look for God in cosmic realities or in mystical ecstasies. The coming of Jesus demonstrates that we find God in the concrete experiences of human life. There is a “thisness” to our faith. The challenge for us today is to see God is with us as we live out the providence of everyday life.
