Word to the Wise
Sunday, December 24, 2023 - 4th Sunday of Advent - B
[2 Sam 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Rom 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38]"The Lord also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you. And when your time comes and you reset with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you sprung from your loins, and I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand forever." [2 Samuel] The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David.....[Luke]
Some biblical figures do transcend their living moments in the scriptures to achieve greater significance. King David is one of those figures. I almost wonder why there is no figurine of him in the manger scenes we put up at Christmas time because he looms over the infancy narratives in the gospels according to Matthew and Luke. His significance to the Jews of Jesus' time was huge not only because he managed to consolidate the tribes and create a kingdom centered on Jerusalem that lasted until Solomon's heirs managed to squander it, but he became a symbol of the messianic hopes of the Jews for a restoration of that kingdom in some form or another.
In the infancy narratives both evangelists take care to point out that Joseph was of "the house of David." This connects Jesus with the prophecy of Nathan to David, quoted above from the first scripture for today. The birth of Jesus was to take place in Bethlehem, the "city of David" because Joseph had to be there for a census but the audience for the gospels would get the Davidic significance without a problem.
The "kingdom" that Jesus brought (and which we are also called to proclaim) was of an entirely different kind than many of the messianic hopes of the time proclaimed. It is not territorial or political (although Jesus' message threatens politicians and cherished political beliefs in our own culture and times). It is about, as St. Paul states in the second scripture today from his Letter to the Romans, "the obedience of faith, to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ." Jesus' birth became a threat to Herod! His preaching and "kingdom" were a threat to the Jewish leadership of his time and to the Roman empire. David's kingdom didn't last all that long, but his heritage places him in the story of salvation. In the manger is a "son of David" who far transcends his earthly ancestor! AMEN