Word to the Wise
Thursday, December 18, 2025 - December 18
[Jer 23:5-8 and Matt 1:18-24]Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David...[Jeremiah] "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." [Matthew]
There are two "annunciations" about the birth of Jesus in the gospels. Today's gospel scripture features the one to Joseph. The other is the familiar scene in the Gospel According to Luke. Both of them mention King David. In a number of places in the gospels, Jesus is addressed as "Son of David," which the Christian community readily associated with prophetic tradition like that of Jeremiah in today's first scripture. The genealogy from the Gospel According to Matthew that was read yesterday traces Jesus' ancestry to David, as does the one in the Gospel According to Luke [3:23-38 at 31].
King David was not a perfect person by any means! His scheme to have the husband of Bathsheba killed in battle so he [David] could marry her is clearly told in the scriptural account of his reign. But he united the twelve contentious "tribes" in one nation, centered in Jerusalem both politically and religiously (the temple). That reign and the peace ensued, at least until his son, Solomon eventually caused problems, is idealized in scripture.
Christian "unity" in faith endured more or less until the Reformation in the 16h century. We share the joy of Christ's birth but our understanding of how we are to express it divides us as "churches." We come like individuals to the manger scene but we cannot seem to hold hands when we get there! The annunciation of Jesus' birth and our celebration of it can help us to reach across the space that divides us, knowing full well that, like King David, we will not be perfect in living it. This is the reason why Jesus was born - to save us from those imperfections. We can be grateful in this season that he hasn't given up on us after so many centuries of division. AMEN
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