Thank you for joining me for another week. How are your Christmas preparations going? I frankly love the idea of a month dedicated to preparing…it makes me feel like I’m not behind. I’m exactly where I need to be. Well, right now we need to be in the Bible readings, so onward we go.
This week we are in the Gospel of John, which will be a frequent occurrence because Mark is the shortest of all the Gospels. As a Gospel, John stands apart from the other three; it was written much later and apparently has different source material than Matthew, Mark and Luke. Many events recorded in John are unique to this Gospel, like the story of the wedding at Cana.
Go ahead and read all of John 1 today. The readings are specifically excerpted to concentrate on John the Baptist. No doubt he should be the focus, but it is so good to get the whole point of what the writer John is getting at. He starts by positioning the Word in time and space (“In the Beginning…” and that the Word was with God), and then describes the Word as containing the “life [that] was the light of men.” This is Jesus, as we will see, but it makes the very matter-of-fact tone of v. 6 stand out. Without reading the first few verses of this chapter, it is harder to make sense of verses 7 and 8.
It’s easy to feel like this reading is a bit of a rehash of last week’s reading in Mark about John the Baptist. This week’s account, though, is a confrontation rather than just telling us who John the Baptist is.
The Pharisees were constantly vigilant for people who might interfere with the order they imposed. John the Baptist was out in the desert, doing something different, and so the Pharisees sent some people to investigate. John answered their questions truthfully, that he wasn’t the Messiah, and he continued baptizing and preaching that another was coming, to get ready.
While Mark records John preaching about the coming Messiah and identifying himself with the messenger of Isaiah, the Gospel of John sets John up in opposition to the religious leaders and on the side of the light.
First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
This is another Isaiah reading, like last week. Also like last week, it’s a hopeful reading with distinct messianic overtones. First, thought, step into the shoes of the people hearing this for the first time.
The Jews have returned from the Babylonian exile and are confronted with a beautiful city that is in ruins. But they are free! And they can see the beginnings of God’s blessings on them. Verse 11 completely encapsulates that feeling of wonder at God’s goodness and optimism about the future: “For as the earth brings forth its sprouts…so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.”
Now move forward to Jesus’ time. The first two verses of the passage are the ones Jesus read in the synagogue as recorded in Luke 4. Jesus took the scroll, read “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” and said that on that very day this prophecy was fulfilled. Then He sat down. This is exactly the prophecy that Jesus claimed for Himself.
This is a beautiful (and short!) Psalm of recalling what God has done. God has done great things…He will continue to do them!
I just want to note that the alternate Psalm for today isn’t a Psalm but Luke 1:46b-55. That’s Mary’s hymn of praise after the angel Gabriel’s annunciation that she will bear the Savior. Her beautiful hymn, known as the Magnificat, is also the inspiration for U2’s terrific song “Magnificent.” Since I hate to pass up a good song, here it is:
Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia, a Roman province north of Greece. A port city on the Aegean, it was relatively prosperous and cosmopolitan. It was among the first congregations established by Paul, although he ran into opposition by Jewish leaders who tried to have him arrested. He left but maintained concern for the new congregation made of Jews and Gentiles. When Timothy went back for a visit a few months later, what he saw prompted Paul to write this letter.
One of the congregation’s issues is directly addressed by our passage today. A problem had arisen in some Christians believing that the richest among them should provide for them, and that they shouldn’t have to work. They believed that Jesus was coming back any day, and that those among them who weren’t working shouldn’t have to provide for themselves. Paul disagrees and lays out good, direct instruction for day-to-day living.
If you’ve read other writings from Paul, you know that some of his sentences can be pretty long. They are not fun to diagram! This passage, on the other hand, is very direct.
Of particular importance for Advent is the admonition in v. 20; test prophecy against the Scripture you already have. Keep what is worthy. Get rid of everything else.
The other passages in today’s reading are the “worthy” prophecies, and Jesus and John challenge us to measure their claim of fulfilling prophecy against their actions. We can see they measure up.
If you ever need to lead a prayer for others, like I did for my daughter’s senior class, take special note of vv. 23-24. They are a beautiful benediction; of course Paul says it better than I ever could!
That’s it for this week! Sorry it was a little late.
The church pictured above is the Iglesia de Nuestra de las Ascunsion in San Sebastian, La Gomera, Canary Islands. This is a chapel off of the main sanctuary.
