Word to the Wise
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 - Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Advent
[Malachi 3:1-4; 23-24 and Luke 1:57-66]Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you seek, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire..... Lo, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the day of the Lord comes.....
The Lectionary compresses things a bit by placing the account of the birth of John the Baptist so closely to the bilrth of the Lord. As we know from the calendar, John the Baptist's birthday is celebrated June 24, a carefully calculated six months earlier than Jesus' birth and three months after the celebration of the annunciation (March 25), since the Angel Gabriel told Mary that Elizabeth was in her sixth month! However, the calendar is not the primary consideration here. Over and over again these events are recounted as a way of reminding us that God has kept faith with the revelations of the prophets. Malachi is one of the more colorful of these and those familiar with Handel's great oratorio, THE MESSIAH, will see familiar verses in today's first scripture! (Listen to the part, "But who may abide the day of his coming....") John the Baptist was identified by Jesus as the Elijah who would come before the day of the Lord. Since the "infancy narrative" is a mini-gospel, the account of John's birth is included in the story of Jesus' birth. It's all a very rich tapestry of the entire gospel, which we live out each year at this time. But we won't get any benefit from the story in the tapestry if we see that trapesty as simply part of the decorations. We have to stop, look, and ponder! AMEN
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