Word to the Wise
Tuesday, December 24, 2024 - Dec. 24 (morning Mass)
[2 Sam 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16 and Luke 1:67-79]"The Lord also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you. And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his Kingdom firm. 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 firm forever." [2 Samuel] "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty Savior, born of the house of his servant David." [ Luke]
One of the most important "credentials" Jesus had in the eyes of the Jews who accepted him as Messiah was his descendancy from King David, to whom the promise, quoted above, was made. We will hear (most likely at Midnight Mass) the story of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, the "City of David," to which Joseph and Mary had gone to register for a census because Joseph was 'of the house and family of David." The collective nostalgia for the glory days of Israel under the rule of King David was a source of messianic hope, which we hear in the gospel passage today in the form of the "canticle of Zechariah," a prophecy uttered at the birth of John the Baptist by his father. Zechariah.
The meaning of any great event is, in large part, derived from its historical context. In addition to the connection to King David, the evangelist Luke attempted to pin down the moment in history when the birth of Jesus took place. But we who live now must derive our own understanding, just as those for whom Luke composed his gospel, especially Gentile converts. We do not live in the time of first century Palestine. The promises made to David have to become promises made to us. The bigger idea is that God has "come to his people and set them free." The Prologue to the Gospel According to John, which is read later on Christmas Day, states the bigger picture that transcends the historical moment: "And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." [John 1:14] How does this happen NOW? We have assurance of this in the Eucharist, but there is another way. How is Christ born in US? More tomorrow! AMEN!