December 1, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, ‘We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!‘” (Isaiah 4.1)

“And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,” (Luke 3.23)

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7.14)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD on the First Sunday of Advent 2024:

We have to take great care as we proceed through Advent in our pursuit of celebrating the birth of the Savior of the World. He is the Christ of God born as Jesus of Nazareth to Mary, the betrothed of Joseph who was himself a descendant from the house of David. I urge caution because there is much at stake within the gospel concerning Jesus which relies on the prophecies found in the Old Testament. Christ Himself is evident from the very beginning of the testament of God’s calling a people to be His own and to serve Him in the world created out of His great love. In my studies, the result of formal and informal education, I have found two threads of revelation which intertwine throughout the Old Testament. The distinct evidences of their existence and mutual importance are seen from the stories of Creation (Genesis 1 and 2) and in the stories of the Flood, the battle of David versus Goliath and in the prophetic works of the exile preachers and teachers as we have seen in Zechariah and now Isaiah. Those two threads are: law and spirit. Not surprisingly, those two threads come into the foreground of the introduction of Jesus as the son of Mary, and as we know, the stepson of Joseph. (I think highly of Joseph for this reason being a stepfather myself and that such a position in the life of another is no small nor simple thing. Thus, it is not demeaning to me at all to recognize Joseph in this valued and trusted position to which God called him.) How it is evidenced in the beginning of the gospel concerning Jesus as the Christ comes in the genealogies presented in both Matthew and Luke. The purposes of each genealogy help to promote the story and the import of who Jesus was in the culture and climate of Israel in that day. They are reflective of how people were seen in relationship to one another and to God. They are the consequences of hundreds and thousands of years of bias, blame, justification and adjudication. They are emblematic of the images by which God Himself calls all people into accountability; mainly as the marital relationship of husband and wife and they to God.

Therefore it is of no surprise to us that Joseph is manifested in the “legal” context of the presence of Jesus who is to be called Immanuel. He is the head of the household and thus responsible for the care, nurture and upbringing of those under his roof: both wife and children and extended family. So when Joseph learns that Mary (the manner of their betrothal is of no consequence at this point) with whom he has had no sexual relations is with child, he feels the obligation of compassion and the burden of the Law. In the eyes of the Law, as the men of his community and of the Temple would see it, Mary must have been an adulteress. It would have been the only acceptable understanding for her condition apart from Joseph being a liar and using her condition as the reason for seeking a divorce under grounds that would have been more grievous or heinous. Her being with child, therefore, was what we would say today “the lesser of two or more evils.” This is the burden of the Law which every human being, at those with a conscience, feels. The call to righteousness is evidenced by the works and the results of the works themselves. We here the battle of wills throughout the prophets but it is in evidence in the Garden but most powerfully evident in the conflict between Cain and Abel. The acceptability of the “sacrifice” was determined by God. For some, the sacrifice was the evidence of obedience to the Law and thus by others to be a capricious demand by an unfair and unjust God. Why shouldn’t a grain offering be just as good as a sacrificial lamb? This was the question, after all, and one debated after the fact in the following centuries by rabbis. The answer was simple enough: It is what the Lord required. God didn’t believe the grain offering was unacceptable in its time and place. However, in a specific time and place, the sacrificial lamb was the only acceptable offering. It really didn’t have anything to do with the fact that one was a farmer and one was a rancher. It wasn’t a “Hatfield and McCoy” feud scenario. The tragedy, however, was clear in that the lack of obedience and trust in what would be seen as “the requirement of the Law” uttered by God brought about a deadly consequence. The desire to not “shed blood” led to the shedding of blood as Cain killed Abel. (We would hear of a later conflict between brothers in the story of Jacob and Esau and the sons of Jacob as they related to Joseph.) There in Matthew’s recollection of the birth narrative, we are drawn to the evidences of legal kingship and the right of passage through the line of David the King of Israel. The drawing out of the image of David weighs heavily on another “illegitimate” son who was born out of wedlock but justified by the murder of Uriah. What a tragedy is told as that son dies in infancy bringing grief and accountability to David and Bathsheba according to “the blood of the lamb.” So, in Matthew we are drawn into the story of prophecy fulfilled not by Joseph but by magi who are steeped in the Word of God made known to them by the exiles of Israel themselves. Jesus is seen as the Son of David but hailed as King of the Jews. Case closed!

There is more to the story, as you well imagine, because the other golden thread exists in “spirit and in truth.” From the foundations of the world and before it, the presence of the Holy Spirit is evidenced. The questions of viability for the move of God over and upon His people are bound in the Word that is given which is to be written upon the hearts of the people. They are not to be simply of people who know God and fear His commands as the guidelines of being righteous. No, they are those who love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, strength and mind and their neighbors equally as they see God has loved them in mercy and grace. Being a people of God is a matter of the heart where the very presence of God exists molding and shaping the lives of those who love Him to be servants of light to those who live in darkness. Yes, we will hear that verse from Isaiah during this Advent season as we always do. However, maybe we will hear it a bit differently knowing that is more about the heart and soul of people than the legalistic and moralistic disputations of judging others. It is Mary who represents the “spirit” thread in the story of our faith history. She is found worthy by God to be the earthen vessel in which the spirit of God will reside and take form. She represents far more than just an earthen vessel. She is a good and faithful woman devoted to the ways of God. She abides by the Law of God and does so in spirit and in truth. She is a contradiction to the story of women in the Bible in many scenarios such as: Eve first submitting to temptation or Sarai submitting Hagar to Abraham to fulfill God’s command concerning a son born to Abraham or even Rebekah who devised the plan to deceive Isaac and ensure that Jacob would receive the birthright blessing instead of Esau. All of these examples were stories told in the voice of legalism. Even in the story of the flood it was the daughters of men who submitted themselves to the “sons of god” and brought the increase of evil into the world. We hear of the faithless “bride of God,” the nation of Israel, who consorted with the kings of other nations. It would seem that it had become the cultural precept to “blame women” for the problems of the world. We hear it today in the words given to Isaiah as recorded in chapter 3 and the first verse of chapter 4. In review, the women who are left behind in Israel as the men go off to war or are taken into exile are rapidly becoming self-sufficient. But according to the Law they have no rights of their own because they have no husband. They are willing to strike a deal to trade the favor of taking a man’s name but not making him responsible for their welfare. They meet the prescription of the Law, in part, but stretch it far enough to be independent of the Law and thus not constrained by it. Beside, what man apart from David and Solomon could manage so many wives? This is the epitome of deceit. It illustrates the depravity of the heart. God will not receive it as just nor will He bless it as righteousness. There will be another way, another truth and another life. Enter stage right, the voice of the prophecy concerning the son of man who is the Son of God. For us, as mighty ones of God, we know that prophecy is fulfilled by Mary who is contrite in spirit and in truth. She abides by the Law and accepts Joseph as her husband (ever how the betrothal came to be). She is also, and sadly thus, by the time Jesus is thirteen or so, a single mother with children and in her independence (because she has not committed adultery) chooses to honor God. In doing so she sets an example for the Church and the birth of the believers into a community of faith. She lives in two worlds: the kingdom of earth and the kingdom of God. She is faithful to both and a servant to both. She knows a sword will pierce her own heart because that prophecy is given on the day Jesus was blessed in the Temple according to the Law. It is a difficult task but one she will not surrender as that which God has given her. She is fully committed to God unlike her predecessors who in their faithlessness brought sorrow upon Israel. “Blessed is she among women and the one whom she will bear!” (Luke 1.42) It is by her example we ought to enter into this Advent season to prepare for the one who is to be born “King of the Jews” or as Isaiah declares “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.