INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

Year A - First Sunday of Advent

A new liturgical year and a new cycle of the Revised Common Lectionary begins today. The three year cycle of scripture lessons is planned to cover the major themes of our faith as well as all the parts of the Old and New Testaments.

See below for a more complete analysis of these lessons.

ISAIAH 2:1-5.   The ideal of a world at peace based on a common faith is one of the most important gifts of Israel's prophets. Here Isaiah expressed that vision in one of its two very similar versions in the Old Testament. It also appears in Micah 4:1-5. Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah in the late 7^th century BC. Which prophet first conceived it remains unknown.

PSALM 122.     Many worship services used to begin with a call to worship from the first verse of this psalm. The whole psalm is a prayer that Jerusalem be a city of peace for all nations - a prayer still fervently offered, but not yet realized.

ROMANS 13:11-14.         Paul earnestly believed in the imminent return of Christ to complete history by bringing in the reign of God. The present moment, he urges Christians in Rome, is the time to prepare for that glorious event. He tells them to prepare by adopting not just hopeful anticipation, but a Christ-like moral character.

MATTHEW 24:36-44.     In Year A of the lectionary cycle, we shall be reading primarily from Matthew's Gospel. The  Season of Advent presents us with the challenge of preparing for the coming of Christ now and at the end of history.

     This passage is part of Matthew's rendition of the "Little Apocalypse" first presented in Mark 13. This vision follows closely the style of earlier Jewish apocalyptic writings. It depicts the time when Christ will come to establish God's reign. Note also that the emphasis is placed on the total unexpectedness of the moment when this will happen.

================

ISAIAH 2:1-5. Every good commentary describes the complex structure of the Book of Isaiah, a fact immediately evident in this passage.  Vss. 2-4 are almost identical to a passage in Micah 4:1-3. The alternate version, however, has an added line which rounds out the poem. Vs. 5 of this reading is not part of the same oracle and neither passage seems to fit a later period than the 8th century when both Micah and Isaiah lived. The best guess by scholars is that the final editors of both compilations found an anonymous poem from a later age and included it in the two works.

That the poem has little or no connection with what preceded it in chapter 1 and in the remainder of chapter two indicates that it is out of place and somewhat anachronistic. The exaltation of the temple as a centre of pilgrimage and instruction for all peoples (vss.2-3) is closer to the universalism of Third Isaiah (chs.56-66) whom most scholars believe lived as much as three centuries later. The late Professor R.B.Y Scott in his Interpreter’s Bible commentary (Abingdon, 1956, vol.5, 180) stated : “If this oracle is from Isaiah it is from his old age, when, following the deliverance from Sennacherib’s armies, he appears to have seen the future of Zion as the seat of a new kind of world empire; from all peoples would its citizens come eagerly to learn the ways of Zion’s God and find justice, peace and, freedom from fear.”

The promise of peace in vss. 2-4 introduces the theme God's concern for nations beyond Israel. Distinctions will be overcome as they make pilgrimages to the temple and learn the sacred texts. This is startlingly similar to the prophecy in 66:3-8.

Vs. 5, however, seems to stand alone, although our modern English versions attach it to the subsequent oracle (vv. 6-11). Professor Scott points out how corrupted the Hebrew text is at this point, but also notes that it is repeated in paraphrased form in Micah 4:5 and “appears to be simply a variant form of vs.3." The reader would be well advised to stop at the end of vs.4.

The message of the text needs little elaboration. It envisions Jerusalem and its temple as the city of peace and concord for all people. How meaningful for our own  time when the whole world looks to the Holy City for the first glimmers of hope that this prophetic vision will soon be fulfilled.

PSALM 122.  This pilgrimage psalm rings with the special joy of one who had recently experienced participating in thanksgiving rituals in the temple at Jerusalem. The Feast of Tabernacles, a  thanksgiving festival, comes to mind as the appropriate occasion. He thinks of the city not only as the nation’s capital and location of its central shrine, but as a place that offers identity to every Israelite and represents the glories of the past when the Davidic monarchy reigned in justice, prosperity and peace.

Whether such a golden age ever existed cannot be identified in the long centuries that passed after the supposed consolidation of power by David over all the tribes of Israel ca. 1000  BCE. Archeological research has not yet been able to locate any evidence that the cycle of stories about David’s reign  recounted in Samuel I & II ever occurred as historical events.

Such times are long in the past, however, so the psalmist can only idealize the memory and pray for the welfare of the city as he now saw it. Most likely happened after the reconstruction of the temple had been completed under Zarubbabel in the 5^th century BCE.. His joy in worshipping there was assumed to have, as in all blessings, the power to bring about its own fulfillment.

ROMANS 13:11-14.     Paul shared the early Christians’ expectation of Christ’s imminent return.  In this passage he urged the Romans to be unceasingly aware of this and of the new order Jesus came to bring. They were to mirror  his life in word and action. At the same time, as C.H. Dodd pointed out, the idea of the imminent “Day of the Lord” may have been fading in Paul’s mind because this is the only passage in his Roman letter where he wrote of it. Instead he had begun to think those who believe in and follow Christ  already livie in the new Age. “The ethics of crisis,” to adopt Dodd’s phrase, “gave point to his moral exhortations.”  (Hodder & Stoughton. “Moffatt New Testament Commentary, 1932, 209.)

The contrast of light and darkness in vss.12-13 reflected the dramatic change of behavior and character which their newly acquired faith brought to those early Christians. There is a hint in this contrast of the passage in Galatians 5:16-25 where Paul had compared the life of the Spirit and the life of the flesh.

In vs.14 the phrase “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” may refer to the new garments they put on when  baptized as a symbol of the new spiritual life God had given them through faith in Christ. Paul used this favorite image several times in his correspondence. It meant simply following the moral example and character of Jesus into whose Body they had been mystically incorporated by baptism.

No less a saint than Augustine of Hippo confessed that this passage brought about his historic conversion. Christians still witness to the life-changing experience of an encounter with Christ, though perhaps some do not experience it as dramatically as others.

MATTHEW 24:36-44.   The apocalyptic tradition in the early church lasted until  well into the second century CE and frequently underwent revivals in many centuries afterward. Rightly or wrongly interpreting such passages as this, many Christians today live in expectation of the imminent return of Christ in glory.

Matthew has drawn from at least two different sources in his portrayal of the Parousia or Second Coming. Vss. 37-39 closely parallel Luke 17:26-30. Similarly vss. 40-41 parallel Luke 17:34-35. One must conclude that both authors found these statements in that early collection of sayings scholars have designated as Q (for Quelle, German for Source). Vs. 42,  however,  parallels Mark 13:35. Then too, vss. 43-44 are very similar to Luke 12:39-40.

Expecting the early return of the Messiah/Christ, Matthew has Jesus speak words encouragement that the early Christians live faithfully in difficult times. Unaware of the time of the Messiah's coming and they are warned not to be caught unprepared. This type of warning was typical of Jewish apocalyptic literature. It warned believers and unbelievers alike of the coming of the Messiah and the end of history. The early church adapted this message for “end times” to their proclamation of the Gospel. They must also have seen validation of their belief in the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. Matthew’s Gospel probably dates from about a decade or so later.

There is a certain homeliness about the metaphors of the thief in vs. 43 and the women grinding grain. The metaphor of the thief also appears in 1 Thessalonians 5:4 and Revelation 3:3, so it must have been part of the common apostolic witness. Very likely it could have come from  Jesus himself. Undoubtedly he knew the apocalyptic tradition in Israel and wove it into his own message. He also knew the ancient OT stories of Noah and the flood.

There is a rural proverb from the time before motorized vehicles: “Beware of locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen.” Like this passage, it warns  of the unexpected. An ancient rabbinical proverb quoted by Sherman E. Johnson in *The Interpreter’s Bible,*said: “Three things come unexpectedly, Messiah, the discovery of a treasure, and a scorpion.” (Abingdon, vol. 7, 554. 1951) Again, an old Chinese proverb gives much the same warning: “May you live in interesting times.” Such metaphorical statements speak to the ordinary life of common people. No one knows whether any particular event will bring good or evil consequences.

In this day when terrorists stalk many nations around the globe seeking opportunities to wreck havoc on modern societies, we need to be aware that God is ever present and still reigns in love over all of human history. This truthenables us to live with the unexpected in what many regard once more as apocalyptic times.

-30-