INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

YEAR B - FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS

Such a message offers renewed hope for the turn of the year. Everyone wonders if it will be a year of fulfilled hopes or of disappointed expectations.

PSALM 148. The summons to praise God is given no less than thirteen times in this psalm. All heavenly and earthly creatures, and all humanity too, are called to sing to the Lord.

GALATIANS 4:4‑7. Paul gives a theological interpretation to the birth of Jesus. Stating that God's Son was "born of a woman, born under the law," he places Jesus in continuity with Jewish tradition. But he focuses essentially on the redemption of all humanity effected through Jesus, the fulfilment of Israel's hope. The phrase "the fullness of time" expresses a theology that God is sovereign over all history. So God's plan will be fulfilled according to God's timing when the Messiah, Jesus Christ, reigns as the divinely appointed sovereign of the world. Paul conceives the idea of believers being adopted as children of God and heirs with Christ as the fulfilment of both his Jewish heritage and his Christian faith. God's promise to Abraham, including freedom and election as God's chosen people, has been made good through Jesus.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS.

ISAIAH 61:10 ‑ 62:3. This is another selection of poetry from the same school as the unnamed prophet of Israel's exile in Babylon whose prophecies were included in Isaiah 40-66. The reading actually consists of the ending of one and the beginning of another poem. According to James Muilenburg, exegete of Isaiah 40-66 in The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 5, these two poems form two-thirds of a eschatological trilogy extending through chs. 60-62. The trilogy presents the theme of a new, messianic age where the redeemed people of Israel rejoice in the renewal of the ancient covenant with Yahweh which the return from exile offered to the Jews.

Taken as they are vss. 10-11 of this excerpt consist of thanksgiving praise spoken by the prophet on behalf of Zion for the beneficent new age and new mission extended to Israel in the preceding verses. The images of new garments like those of bridal couple at a wedding feast symbolizes the eternal covenant now renewed by the return from exile. In vs. 11, the image is changed into that of a garden springing forth with new life. This symbolizes the divine initiative of righteous living and worshipful praise that will be Israel’s witness to all nations.

The final poem of the trilogy begins with a strophe celebrating Israel’s new role as the messianic people. The images the prophet-poet uses, each one exceeding the other in reference to the divine action on Israel’s behalf, are all drawn from different forms of light.

Israel’s release from exile, her vindication “goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch” (vs. 1b). The nations will witness Israel’s newly acquired “glory” (vs.2a); and Israel shall receive a new name (vs. 2b) revealing her new character. Finally, Israel shall be seen as a “crown of beauty” and “a royal diadem” in the hand of Yahweh. These metaphors emphasize once again that what is happening in freeing Israel from exile is Yahweh’s doing. Sovereignty over these historic events belongs to Yahweh alone, but yet they also exalt the place that Israel has in the divine plan of salvation for the world.

It should not surprise us that the author of John’s Gospel found precedence for his use of light as the metaphor to describe the messianic work of Jesus. At the darkest time of the year, Christians celebrate the coming of Christ with a festival of light. The festival was established in the 4^th century to counter the Roman festival of Saturnalia, a week long festival during the winter solstice. Such a message offers renewed hope as we prepare for the beginning of a new year in a world where there darkness abounds.

PSALM 148. The summons to praise God is given no less than thirteen times in this psalm. All heavenly and earthly creatures, and all humanity too, are called to sing to the Lord. As one of the five concluding “hallelujah psalms” in the Psalter, it was composed for congregational worship late in the postexilic period. It still echoes across the centuries in such modern hymns as This is my Father’s world and Praise the Lord! Ye heavens adore him as well as in a metrical version from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.

The psalm falls into two parts (vss.1-6 and 7-14) each ending with refrain or a call to further praise probably sung by the temple choir. The content of the praises resemble the priestly hymn of creation in Genesis 1 and the attitude toward creation is similarly good . The cosmology is that of a three storied universe with the heavens above, the underworld below and the earth in the middle. This psalm may have been the model for apocryphal Song of the Three Young Men found in Roman Catholic versions of the Bible and in the Septuagint in Daniel 3:51-90. It may also find echoes in Rev. 5:13.

Whatever it origin or subsequent use, the psalm presents a theological vision of divine transcendence far removed from creation and humanity. This supreme emphasis on divine holiness is mostly absent from modern worship in favour of more self-centred, utilitarian forms designed to meet human spiritual needs. To quote John Paterson, of Drew Theological Seminary, in his The Praises of Israel, (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1950): “Here are thoughts of sheer exultation and worship untangled by any thought of self. Theology here is fused with doxology.” As such it is a fitting counterpoint to the angelic hymn, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to all whom God favours.”

GALATIANS 4:4‑7. Unfamiliar with the later tradition of the virgin birth, Paul gave a theological and scriptural interpretation to the birth of Jesus. Stating that God's Son was "born of a woman, born under the law," he placed Jesus in continuity with Jewish tradition. In some respects, this could be interpreted as a rebuttal of the doctrine of the virginal conception, although Paul probably did not intend it to be so. If Jesus had been born “under the law,” then his birth must have been regarded as the natural result of human sexual activity rather than the asexual descriptions of Matthew and Luke. For Mary to have given birth before marriage would have been a serious transgression of the law as defined by Deut. 22:13-28 and as alluded to in Matthew’s narrative. Paul, however, wrote to the Galatians circa 50 CE, possibly 25-30 years before the birth narratives were written. If there was an earlier tradition of the virginal conception , Paul did not share it.

Instead he focused on the redemption of all humanity effected through Jesus, the fulfilment of Israel's hope. The phrase "the fullness of time" expresses the prophetic view that God is sovereign over all history. So God's plan will be fulfilled according to God's timing when the Messiah, Jesus Christ, reigns as the divinely appointed sovereign of the world. The redemption of which Paul spoke (vs. 5) began with coming of Jesus, the Messiah. This “already but not yet” eschatological process will be completed only at the Parousia.

Paul’s concept of believers being adopted as children of God and heirs with Christ (vs. 5b-7) was the fulfilment of both his Jewish heritage and his Christian faith. This was also the new status of the Galatians. God's promise to Abraham, including freedom and election as God's chosen people, had been made good through Jesus. But the Christian communities in Galatia included Gentiles as well as Jews. The main theme of the letter declared that Gentiles and Jews alike were now freed from slavery to the law of Moses and to “the elemental spirits of the world” (vs. 3). These were dominant aspects of the Hellenistic religious culture Paul confronted among the Gentiles. The new relationship with God through Christ made everything different in their relationships with each other and with the particular cultural milieu in which they lived.

Paul would spell out just what that meant in the latter segment of the letter (especially 5:13-6:10). So as well as fulfilling their heritage, the relationships born of their new found faith in Jesus Christ, rather than any previously held convictions, would also give rise to a definite discontinuity with that same heritage. Their new spiritual inheritance as a result of receiving the gift of the Spirit made all this possible.

LUKE 2:22‑40. The three stories of Jesus' childhood in Luke differ dramatically from the one told by Matthew. But they share a common purpose: Jesus is God's Son and Israel's Messiah. Once again we find the familiar note of continuity. This comes to the fore in the repeated references to the law (vss. 22, 23, 27, 39). The quotation in vs. 23 may be an inexact reference to either Exod. 13:2 or 13:13. It would also appear that the pericope parallels Samuel’s presentation and dedication in 1 Sam. 1:24-28 which may well have been Luke’s model. In this instance, Simeon is cast in the role of the priest Eli of the temple at Shiloh although Luke does not make any mention of him having any official position.

The pre-Christian Jewish phrases, “the consolation of Israel” and “the Lord’s Christ”, further emphasize the element of continuity. Another significant aspect of this narrative is the identification of the Holy Spirit as the revealer of the Messiah. In the OT and the intertestamental literature, the Spirit is primarily the spirit of prophecy, but it manifested itself primarily in specific great figures and is no longer active in Israel.

Here, “a man in Jerusalem,” (vs. 25), presumably a lay person and not a prophet, priest, or Levite, received a revelation “that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah” (vs. 26). Simeon was inspired to enter the temple (vs. 27) and when Jesus’ parents brought him there, Simeon uttered a messianic prophecy about him. To a large extent this prophecy consisted of phrases from the Septuagint version of Isa. 40:5; 52:10; 42:6; 49:6; and 46:13. This combination of Spirit and scripture, in the words of Brevard Childs, “forms a unity in Luke’s thought. Scripture through the Spirit bears witness to the Christ who is Jesus.” (The New Testament As Canon. Fortress Press. 1984, 114)

At least since the 5^th century CE Simeon’s prophecy has been used in Christian liturgy under the name of Nunc Dimittis derived from the first Latin words of St. Jerome’s Vulgate. Raymond E. Brown convincingly argued that this and all the other canticles of the Nativity narratives, The Magnificat and The Benedictus, originated in the Jewish Christian community known as the Anawim or Poor Ones. They are represented among the first Christians in Jerusalem in Acts 2:46-47 and 4:34-37. Other religious traditions such as Buddhism also have similar songs anticipating what will become of a child believed to be destined for spiritual greatness. Like most hymnody, this is an ex post facto development, however, which faith created and read back into the infancy narrative.

Contrary to the statement in vs. 34 that both parents marvelled at what was said about the child Jesus, Simeon’s blessing and further prophecy (vss. 34-35) were spoken only to Mary about her future suffering. This has led some scholars to conclude that Joseph had died before Jesus reached maturity. Others see this as a convoluted reference Isa. 8:14-15, although there seems little reason for such an interpretation.

The third pericope in this infancy narrative introduces an elderly prophetess, Anna (vs. 36), who hailed the child Jesus as the Messiah in a more hopeful manner than had Simeon. Her witness “to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” functions as yet another means of indicating that with this child the messianic age had begun. That we are now living in the messianic age is surely a message for the turn of the year.

It has been speculated by some scholars that Mary herself was the source of the whole sequence of stories in Luke about the birth and childhood of Jesus. Against this, one must place the fact that the stories contain numerous OT references which the apostolic church identified as messianic, whether or not they were so regarded by their Jewish contemporaries. The early church made every effort to search the Jewish scriptures for such references, many of which they interpreted according to their own theological categories and deep convictions about Jesus of Nazareth. We do the same today.

The point is to make scripture meaningful, not to treat it in a literal manner. The issue these stories raise for us is, in the words of the familiar carol, “What Child is this?” This was the same question Luke answered for his audience in the Christian diaspora of the 1^st century.