Word to the Wise
Tuesday, December 20, 2022 - December 20
[Isa 7:10-14 and Luke 1:26-38]"Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, but you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel." [Isaiah] "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most HIgh, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." [Luke]
The gospel writers reflect the desire of the early Christiam community to preach that Jesus Christ is "the one who is to come" and that they do not have to "look for another." [Luke 7:19-20]. They looked to the prophetic tradition for their authority. Two very important examples appear in the scriptures for today.
The prophecy from Isaiah took place during an assault by the Assyrians against Israel. God tries to offer hope to King Ahaz, who was looking to find a way to deal with the crisis and was tempted to come to terms with the Assyrians instead of relying on God's help. God's response turned out to be much broader than the political situation of Israel at that moment! The whole world would ultimately benefit 700 years later!
The message of the Angel Gabriel is almost a quotation from the prophet Nathan in promising hope to King David: Moreover, the Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you: when your days have been completed and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, sprung from your loins, and I will establish his kingdom. He it is who shall build a house for my name, and I will establish his royal throne forever."
In the season of Advent, the message of hope is also a message of patience. Ahaz and David would not live to see the promise fulfilled. As Psalm 90:4 says it: A thousand years in your eyes are merely a day gone by...". The New Testament in the second letter of Peter repeats the refrain: "But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day." [2 Peter 3:8] St. Paul sums it up in Galatians 4:4: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman..." We are the beneficiaries of God's promise and also the witnesses commissioned by our baptism to preach the fulfillment of that promise. There is always hope beyond each celebration of the nativity of the Lord. AMEN