INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE
Year B - The Nativity of our Lord
(PLEASE NOTE: The Revised Common Lectionary follows the tradition of listing Propers 1-3 in the liturgy for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This Introduction combines the Lessons for this festive occasion into one format as the simplest way of analyzing them for preaching purposes.]
ISAIAH 9:2-7. (Proper 1) The early Christians saw this passage as a prediction of the coming of Christ. Matthew quoted the opening and preceding verses as a prophecy of Jesus’ ministry (Matthew 4:15-16). For Jews it was not so intended, but regarded it as a promise of a future Messiah who would reign on David’s throne amid great rejoicing. The coming of this new king with lofty titles would bring in an age of justice and peace.
The term Messiah actually meant “the anointed.” The custom of so designating a future ideal king arose from the liturgical act of anointing each Israelite king on his coronation (2 Sam. 2:4; 2 Kings 11:12). He was thus regarded as “the Lord’s Messiah” in a unique relationship with Israel’s God, Yahweh. It would appear that vss. 1-6 originally existed as a dynastic oracle uttered on the occasion of a new king’s anointing or on the anniversary of that event.
The passage contains motifs found extensively in Psalms with reference to the Davidic dynasty, viz: the dawn of great light (Pss. 110:3, 118:24, 27); exaltant rejoicing (Pss. 118:15, 24; 132:9,16); the overthrow of Israel’s enemies (Pss.2:2, 8, 9); burning fire (Pss. 21:9; 118:12); gift of a divine son (Pss.2:7; 89:26-27); proclamation of divine qualities (Pss.2:6,7; 21:5; 72:17; 89:27; 110:4); establishing a permanent throne of peace and justice (Pss. 2:8-9: 21:4; 61:6-7; 72:1-8; 89:3-4;, 28-29, 36-37; 132:11-12).
This lends credence to the possibility that the oracle had been associated with the crowning of an unnamed Judean king and may well have come from the time of Isaiah himself in the late 8th century BCE. A Jewish tradition linked it with the coronation of Hezekiah (715-686 BCE) who worked closely with the temple priesthood. It may also have been associated with his predecessor Ahaz (735-715 BCE). The prophet Isaiah is thought to have been closely associated with both the royal court and the temple.
ISAIAH 62:6-12. (Proper 2) This passage consists of the final strophes of the last of three poems from the disciples of the unknown prophet of Israel’s exile in Babylon, sometimes referred to as Third Isaiah. The whole chapter (62:1-12) defines Israel as a messianic people and recalls many of the themes found in the work of Deutero-Isaiah (Isa. 40-55). This poem promises that Jerusalem will express a new relationship with Yahweh in which the nation’s fortunes will be reversed will never again be left helpless before its enemies and will be restored by divine providence.
The image in vss. 6-7 is of the prophet as a watchman on the walls of the city whose function is to pray unceasingly for the fulfillment of divine promises. Vss. 8-9 recalls Yahweh’s promise that never again will invaders reap the crops sown by Israelites. Vs. 9 may contain a reference to the Feast of Tabernacles when the first fruits of the harvest were offered to Yahweh as the festival was celebrated in the temple with much feasting (Deut. 12:17ff; 14:23ff; 16:13ff).
The final strophe in vss. 10-12 identifies Israel as the messianic community, the eschatological theme of Isa. 40:1-1 and 52:1-12. These lines contain many of the same images of those earlier passages from Deutero-Isaiah. They speak of the joyful enthusiasm of pilgrims (or possibly the exiles from Babylon) thronging the gates of Jerusalem as the redeemed people of Yahweh return to their holy city.
Would be too much for Christians too, gathered in their multitudes for Christmas worship this year in particular, to see themselves in a new light and rejoice as the inheritors of their status as the redeemed people of God prospering as result of God’s forgiving grace? Would not the conversation at many festive tables be enriched by discussions of the true mission of the faithful community to share the redemptive tradition with the world, beginning within the gathered family circle?
ISAIAH 52:7-10. (Proper 3) In words that have inspired countless generations to hope for deliverance from disastrous experiences, these verses bring us too the simple message, “Your God reigns.” Would the survivors of the Holocaust have thought of these lines when they saw their deliverers drive into their prison camps with food and medicine to preserve what little life was left in their broken bodies? Sadly, the people of Iraq and Afghanistan cannot have seen the military forces that invaded their countries in such a redemptive light.
The prophet’s vision is of a messenger running through the hills that surround Jerusalem bearing the totally unexpected news. From the sentinels keeping watch on the walls the cry goes out that the exiles are indeed on their way home. From the streets of the city songs of rejoicing break forth. The ruins in which they have lived in such desperation for two generations echo their joy. At long last, the comforting words of Yahweh’s redemptive love for Israel have not only been confirmed, but Israel’s mission to the world renewed. “Before the eyes of all the nations, all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God.” (vs. 10)
Is Christmas in this war weary world not the time to reiterate again and again the message from God sung in Jerusalem and heard again over Bethlehem, “Glory to God in the highest and peace to all people of good will?”
In a moving article in The Living Pulpit, a quarterly magazine “dedicated to the art of the sermon,” Rabbi Michael Lerner pleads with his own people, the Jews of America and Israel, the Arab people of Palestine and the Middle East, and people of all nations, to find new ways to reconcile their differences. He offers a strategy, which if accepted by all parties, would begin the process of bringing security and peace by planting the seeds of Shalom not only with adults but with children. “In the final analysis,” he wrote, “no political settlement will work without a huge amount of compassion, open-heartedness, generosity of spirit, and ability to recognize the Other as equally precious in God’s eyes.”
PSALM 96. (Proper 1) This psalm, along with the two following it, Pss. 97 & 98, were meant to be sung as part of the enthronement liturgy at the beginning of each New Year. In many respects, the vocabulary of all these psalms is similar. This celebration acknowledged Yahweh's awesome power, justice and absolute supremacy over all creation. The Incarnation, God’s coming into the world in the infant Jesus, is the Christian celebration of the beginning of this sovereignty. On the other hand, it is the Resurrection that once and for all established that divine sovereignty is real.
Ps. 96 may actually have consisted as three separate hymns sung during a long processional into the temple (vss. 1-6; 7-9; and 10-13). While much of the psalm is borrowed from other psalms, the first part rejoices in Yahweh one God and Creator who exercises dominion over the natural world. The second part proclaims the power and glory of Yahweh and summons the worshipers to present their offerings before the altar. At the high point of the enthronement ceremony, the cry goes up, “The Lord reigns!” as Yahweh has assumed his kingship. The heavens, the earth, the fields, trees of the wood and the waters of the sea are called to echo the praise of the people.
The performance of this ritual at the beginning of each new year reminded Israel that Yahweh’s sovereignty was neither a relic of the past or some future hope, but a present reality renewed once again for the coming year and for all time.
PSALM 97. (Proper 2) Jewish theology did not depend on abstractions. Anthropomorphism ‑ defining the nature of God in terms of human characteristics ‑ featured much of the Jewish concept of divinity. Perhaps it could not have been otherwise. The human mind abstracts from what it observes in the immediate environment such symbols and metaphors it can use to describe what is essentially indescribable. Does God really reign from a throne enveloped in "clouds and thick darkness?" Of course not, but the metaphors derived from human monarchs on their thrones gave meaning to spiritual realities. These images enabled this poet to convey the ideas of divine sovereignty, righteousness and justice. In fact, vss. 2‑5 actually describes a violent thunderstorm raging over the mountains. In vs. 6, the storm has passed and glorious sunlight reflects the divine glory for all to see.
In vss. 7‑9, the poet's vision shifts from nature to religious objects of worship. Unlike the Greeks and Romans who espoused many religions and absorbed them in a syncretist fashion, Israel's prophets fought a continuing battle against idolatry and false religion. The psalmist shared this prophetic faith. He did not deny the existence of idols, but unequivocally declared their worthlessness (vs.7) and Yahweh's sovereignty over all (vs.9). Hence there could be both hope for deliverance and security for the faithful, righteous believer. (vss.10‑12)
PSALM 98. (Proper 3) This psalm uses different sounds in nature as well as the human voice and musical instruments as the means of praise. The reason for such an outburst of rejoicing lay in the mighty saving acts of Yahweh extending in mercy to Israel. Their purpose was to draw the attention of the whole world and thus inform all peoples of what Yahweh was doing through this specially favoured people.
Vs. 4 identifies the songs of praise as worshipers process into the temple. In vss. 5-6, musical instruments add to joyous cacophony. Finally, all nature and all creatures are summoned to support the noisy disharmony.
The idea of Yahweh as a monarch to be enthroned each new year conveyed the spiritual truth of a supreme being to whose will the people owed obedience. This concept went as far back as the times of Gideon (Judges 8:23) and presumably also reflected the double roles of an ancient Middle Eastern monarch as ruler and chief religious figurehead or priest. The Israelites had adopted this concept after their settlement in Canaan. Yahweh was their King-God similar to the monarchs of other cultures. In the post-exilic period when there were no reigning monarchs, the annual ritual of the enthronement of Yahweh took the place of royal coronations. Ps. 72 refers to a coronation when the monarch ascended Israel’s throne as the representative and “son” of Yahweh. From these customs and practices came the concept of the saving messiah so familiar to Christians in the gospel depictions of Jesus as the Messiah and King of the Jews.
TITUS 2:11-14. (Proper 1) This brief letter attributed to Paul, but probably from the hand of a disciple of a generation or two later, reiterates the apostolic message that God’s gracious salvation for all came through Jesus Christ. But what was salvation for? Grounded in the faith that God through Christ has redeemed us, the author calls us to live a holy life while we await Christ’s return in glory.
In vs. 13, the epithet, “our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ” refers to Jesus alone, not to God and Jesus. Scholars believe that this was a way of countering the emperor cult and mystery traditions of the Romans. There may have been a liturgical origin behind the unusual phrase.
Vs. 14 gives reiterates the purpose of redemption. Jesus gave himself for us in obedience to God’s will, so we also ought to be zealously obedient in going good. In other words, redemption means being freed from the binding powers of sin so that we may be purified and as new people no longer live under sin’s evil domination. This reflects the experience of the Israelites who were led through the wilderness to be recreated as God’s people zealous for obedience to the covenant law. This theme echoes through the whole of the New Testament because the early church saw themselves as God’s new people.
TITUS 3:4-7. (Proper 2) When read aloud this passage has an almost liturgical tone to it. In fact, as some scholars have noted, it could have been part of a baptismal liturgy used in maturing church of late 1st or early 2nd centuries. It also reiterates some well known Pauline concepts such as justification granted through grace alone entirely at God’s initiative, symbolized by baptism and effecting moral and spiritual rebirth.
The emphasis of the passage is on a new beginning. That was how the apostolic age regarded what had happened in the Jesus story. God had created something entirely new. Whereas Jewish and Greek thought regarded change as decay and history as degeneration from a golden age, such words as regeneration and rebirth came to Christian thought full of new meaning, hope and faith. In Jesus God had begun a whole new creation despite the appearance to the very opposite.
This theme is found throughout the New Testament, not least of all in the Pauline epistles, John 3:6 and 1 Peter 1:3-4. This experience of regeneration was not ephemeral, like an ecstatic and momentary enthusiasm. It involved a moral redemption available to and characteristic of all Christians, making them a holy people, a colony of heaven even while still living in the real world. It should not surprise us in our time that this liturgical expression of the true meaning of the Good News has been made the epistle reading for Christmas Day.
HEBREWS 1:1-4, (5-12). (Proper 3) This sonorous sentence in the Greek text runs through to the end of vs. 4. It states the theme of the whole book: in contrast to all previous incomplete and imperfect revelations, the coming of Jesus is the final and perfect revelation because he is God’s Son.
Several quotations from the Hebrew scriptures follows this single sentence to establish the supremacy of Jesus Christ. The quotations are taken mostly from a number of Psalms, although Deuteronomy 32:43 also appears to lie behind vs.6. All were taken out of context, but that made no difference to the author because they served his purpose.
Noteworthy is the significance placed upon angels. Both Jews and Christians regarded angels as mediators and agents of the divine will. Scholars have suggested that the worship of angels may have threatened the unknown Christian fellowship to which the letter had been sent. The Colossian community faced a similar threat (Col. 2:8, 18). Angels, however, have no function not initiated by the divine will; they simply serve in assigned roles. The task of human redemption, however, is the act of the person who shares divine power in and of him or her self. Therein lies the authority and power of the Son. Only because he is one with God could he undertake such a ministry.
With this precise argument, the author lets us peer behind the manger, the cross and the empty tomb to recognize who Jesus really is and why we still celebrate his birth. Life, death and resurrection.
LUKE 2:1-20 (Propers 1 & 2) Luke tells the story of the birth of Jesus as if it was history, but it is actually a folk idyll more akin to poetry than history. The details differ significantly from those in Matthew’s narrative and the two cannot be correlated in any way, as modern Christmas pageants tend to do. Here it is not wise men from afar, but angels in the heavenly host and humble shepherds from their pastures who come to marvel at this once in eternity event. Christian hymnody has made much of the story. We still sing those hymns and carols with sincere joy and faith. Exacting scholarship may question the factual truth of many romantic aspects of Luke narrative, but cannot detract from the reality of the Incarnation of God in human flesh.
Nonetheless, attempts have been made to find non-Christian sources for the birth stories in Matthew and Luke. Roman, Persian and Hellenistic Jewish mythologies have been suggested, but none have been proven. One recent speculative proposal by Bruce Chilton in his Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography, [Doubleday, 2000)supposedly based on archeological as well as biblical research, insisted that there was a second town of Bethlehem in Galilee. Such a town is named in Joshua 19:15 within the territory allotted to Zebulun and located just seven miles from Nazareth. Chilton argued that it was the hometown of Mary where Joseph met and married her at the tender age of thirteen. He also quoted the Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 67a) of the 5th century CE as referring to Mary having slept with a Roman soldier. Chilton clarified the issue cogently with this question: “What about Jesus’ birth generated the divergent understanding of it in Christian and Jewish literature?”
A more exacting study by Raymond E. Brown was non-committal as to the historicity of the birth narratives and the virginal conception. (The Birth of the Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Doubleday Image Books, 1979). He presented a compelling case that they were based on oral traditions developed in Christian communities during the half century between the resurrection and the time the Gospels were composed in 80s CE. But they were not part of the original kerygma of the early Church. That was based on the resurrection. The birth narratives drew heavily on OT scriptures in order “to supply a transition from the OT to the Gospel - the characteristic preaching of the church presented in the imagery of Israel.”
Traditional Christian art, liturgy and hymnody as well as modern commercial depictions of the first Christmas follow the scripture narrative ‘religiously.’ Perhaps this more than anything else is responsible for 65% of Americans believing in the Virgin Birth despite the vocal denial of most biblical scholars, The Jesus Seminar and Bishop John Spong. Not all presentations of Christmas are so literal.
In 2006 the United Church of Canada initiated a provocative advertising campaign intended to attract the attention of the generation of young adults 30-45 years old no longer significantly represented in its congregations. A full-page colour advertisement appeared in December issues of several popular consumer magazines. It pictured a bearded, traditionally robed Jesus sitting on Santa’s throne with a child on his knee and others standing by waiting their turn. They were set in a gaudy shopping mall surrounded by with all the customary consumer objects. The caption directed the reader to an Internet website (http://www.WonderCafe.ca). It is still available for anyone to see. The media made the most of the opportunity to draw critical attention to the page. Yet in the first week after it appeared, 32,000 viewers logged on to the website and many posted responses in a reasonably civilized discussion. As recently as mid-November 2008 responses were still being posted on the website.
To avoid controversy, especially at Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, the preacher would be advised to maintain a position that the Incarnation, the embodying of God in a human person, remains as much a mystery as the nature of God. Christmas is a devotional occasion for most congregations. This may be true even for the occasional worshipers or non-believers who may not attend at most other times. Woe to the preacher who denies any congregation the opportunity to experience the true mystery of faith.
JOHN 1:1-14 (Proper 3). The Fourth Gospel establishes the mystery of the Incarnation in a totally different manner. This prologue to the narrative refers to the ancient Hebrew metaphors of the creative word of God in Genesis 1, the glory of God seen as light eternally shining in darkness and the expectation of the Messiah to whom prophetic witness is made by John the Baptizer. The passage also introduces the new concept of the pre-existent Christ as spiritual co-creator with God who bursts into the world of flesh and blood in a new creation.
Gail O’Day and Susan Hylen liken the prologue to John’s Gospel to “the overture to an opera, ballet or musical. They present in miniature the key themes that will come later.” (John. Westminster Bible Companion, Westminster John Knox Press, 2006) The passage is not “straightforward introduction or recounting of events.” Rather, with these sonorous words John celebrates “the gifts and new life ¼ given to the Christian community because of the presence of God in Jesus.” John’s purpose was to elicit a sense of “joy and anticipation for what is to come.”
This approach captures the essence of Christmas: joyful expectation. One of the best photographs I have ever taken was with a small, inexpensive camera on a black and white film. It shows a small boy of about three dressed in pyjamas and a bathrobe on Christmas morning peering around the banister of a stairway to see what wonders await in the living room beyond. The expectation on his face is beyond description.
So it is with John’s Gospel. When the passage is well-read in any version, one is left almost breathless at the words, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”