Biblical Words [633]
Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans
13:11-14; Matthew
24:36-44.
The liturgical year begins
with visions that place the world under God’s judgment.
(For an
overview of Lectionary readings in Advent of Year A, see the Special Note below.)
The Christian
year begins with the imagery and symbols of Zion
and its king. In Jewish tradition
the covenant of Sinai dominates all later developments of tradition. In the emergence of Christian faith, the Zion
tradition, with its centrality of city and king (Messiah, Christ), is finally
most decisive for Christian self-definition.
Thus the first word of Advent is about Zion
(Isaiah) and the coming fate of the holy city (Matthew).
Isaiah 2:1-5.
The first
reading from the Prophets for the Christian year is one of the most dramatic
components of the ancient Zion
tradition.
The old Zion
tradition. The Zion tradition was
the visionary world of the temple city of Jerusalem, a city that was already
many centuries old when King David captured it and made it his capital. (Jerusalem
is mentioned in Egyptian texts of the 19th century BCE, a thousand years before the time of David.) David turned the city into his own by
proclaiming to the religious circles there that it was Yahweh, his God, who had
empowered him to capture their city and rule over the surrounding nations from
there. They in turn possessed traditional
religious language to express the vastness and the cosmic significance of the
God who had made David the ruler of the nations.
The religious
visions of Zion emphasized the divine quality of righteousness (zedeq,
in names like Melki-zedeq, Psalm 110:4; Adoni-zedeq, Joshua 10:1; and Zadoq, the
Jerusalem priest who served both David and Solomon, I Kings 1:34). Those visions carried on an ancient heritage
of the pre-Israelite world and later gave it world-class expression, glorifying
the little temple-city that became the famous “City of David.”
Our
passage announces a “word” that Isaiah “saw,” more literally “envisioned” (ḥāzāh). It is a vision of things in “days to come”
(verse 2, NRSV). The vision unfolds in stages:
First,
the mountain of the house of the Lord will be elevated, will become obvious as
the peak of the world mountain on which the most important holy events
occur.
Secondly,
when the mountain has become conspicuous, the peoples will see it and will
“stream” to it, like water flowing up hill.
Thirdly,
we hear why these people flow to the house of the God of Jacob. It is because “instruction” (torah) will be
available in Zion. There, God will “judge between the nations, /
and shall arbitrate for many peoples” (verse 4). The holy city on the hill will be the source
of infallible justice (“righteousness,” zedeq).
Finally, the result of having their
disputes settled by supremely wise adjudication is that people no longer need
or want to fight wars. The demand for
swords and spears will drop dramatically, and blacksmiths far and wide will be
turning the tools of war into the tools of agrarian life. Zion,
in its revelation of the last days, will be the source of peace and prosperity
for the nations.
This vision
stands at the beginning of the Christian year, as the first word of
Advent. It says in a hopeful way, that the
judgment of God is the way to peace.
The tone here
is irenic only; it does not bring up the negative side of the judgment
of God, how the persistently wicked and evil will also experience that
judgment. For them, the coming judgment
is NOT good news. They will not so
gladly stream to hear the instruction of the Lord. But for now, they are ignored and the vision
that lures and guides the peoples is one of blessing, because righteousness is
finally lifted above all the low places of the earth.
Psalm 122.
In the Psalm
reading the Israelite pilgrims at festival time praise and pray for the holy
city, Jerusalem, place where
judgment takes place.
Jerusalem
here is not a vision; it is concrete reality.
Our feet are
standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem
– built as a city that is bound firmly together (verses 2-3, NRSV).
The Jerusalem
of this psalm is the temple city
seeking world renown for the God who is celebrated and worshipped there. It is a city in which, first the temple was
rebuilt with its own walls protecting the sanctuary proper (finished in 515 BCE),
then, three generations later, walls around the entire city were completed to
make it a fortified city of refuge (completed by Persian governor Nehemiah
around 443). It is this beautiful and
confidence-inspiring temple city
that the psalm celebrates.
At the center
of the psalm is a statement of the city as the place of judgment among the
tribes, recalling a legendary past to intimate a similar glorious future.
There the
thrones for judgment were set up,
the thrones of the house of David (verse
5).
The chosen city
was the seat of the royal judge, the final appeal for justice and righteousness
among the tribes.
And Jerusalem
is not only a place of the temple of God
and of the royal administration. It is a
city where people live!
Peace be
within your walls,
and security within your towers.
For the sake
of my relatives and friends
I will say, ‘Peace be within you’ (verses
7-8).
Such a prayer is
still appropriate at Advent in the year of our Lord 2019.
Romans 13:11-14.
The visions
of prophet and psalmist inspire attitudes, which should guide the
expectations and conduct of the hearers.
The Epistle
reading urges the hearers to adopt an attitude that will guide them through the
time of judgment. “You know what time it
is” – because you have already seen the vision. It is still night, still the time before the
judgment of God has become conspicuous to the peoples. But it is at the end of the night, near
daybreak. Therefore, time to be awake,
to be acting as if the light is already present.
The apostle
seems to regard the activities of the night as pretty wild and scandalous. “Let us live honorably… not in revelry and
drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and
jealousy” (verse 13, NRSV). Is he suggesting that the present believers
used to live this kind of night-life? Is
he saying, “Don’t revert to your old ways”?
Or is he only suggesting horrible things that simple and humble people
hear about and should avoid with dread?
In any case,
the attitude he urges is clear. Live on
the verge of dawn, so we can conform our lives to the glorious light about to
break on all folks, revealing in gross shame or in humble faithfulness, how all
have been living!
Matthew 24:36-44.
The Gospel reading is about waiting – not
waiting simply to kill time, but waiting in a proper attitude, in very high
expectation.
Jesus lifts
up the story of Noah and the flood as a model. The business of the world was going on as
usual. The bars and lounges were open,
wedding parties and bachelor parties were going on. (Like the apostle, Jesus seems to regard the
people of darkness as doing a lot of partying and carousing.) Such party-goers do not perceive the signs of
the time – they do not know the secret word of God about judgment. Thus, the next thing they know there is more
rain than the world can handle, and it is too late to get into that floating
temple of salvation.
The emphasis
of the passage is on the time that is NOT known. While the whole chapter is about the signs of
the time, the bottom line is that you can’t calculate the time. You have to live as if today is the last day
of your life.
An ominous
note is sounded in the middle of the passage, where Jesus speaks of those
who are “taken.” “Then two will be
in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one
will be taken and one will be left” (verses 40-41, NRSV).
Considered by
itself, this sounds like the one who is taken has been judged – taken away to
punishment. Being “taken” is a bad thing,
and the one left behind has survived the judgment. The point is the unexpectedness, the
seemingly arbitrary choice of who gets in the ark and who doesn’t. Salvation did not come to those who had left
the world and gone to a distant hill. It
came right in the midst of the world’s work.
However, when
this passage is taken with ruthless literalness and combined with Paul’s view
in I Thessalonians 4:13-18 (as latter day Bible prophecy people do), we are led
to the complex theory of the “Rapture” of believers, that whisking away of
people preceding the worst of the disasters of the final judgment. On this other-worldly interpretation, being
“taken” is a blessed thing – even if it is still a little scary.
The last word
of the passage is also about night life.
Burglars work at night. If the
homeowner knew the burglar’s schedule, he would obviously protect his
property. In the real world, the burglar
strikes when least expected. The choice
for believers, therefore, is not to stay up all night watching for the burglar,
but to worry less about the property and live toward the coming judgment of
God.
Living for today, trusting God to
manage the process of the imminent judgment – that is the attitude that Jesus’
vision promoted among his followers.
Special Note: Advent in Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary
An overview
of the readings for the season of Advent in this year may highlight the flow of
moods and themes.
Prophetic Readings.
The prophetic readings
are all from Isaiah:
·
We hear the vision of the torah of
God going forth from Zion
·
We hear of the Spirit filling the
perfect ruler (Messiah) who establishes that peace with perfect righteousness
(11:1-10).
·
We hear of the transformation of
the barren world into glorious fertile earth, accompanied by the transformation
of human suffering into health and happiness (35:1-10).
·
And we hear the prophecy of a
young woman bearing a child which is given an auspicious name declaring the
presence of God with humankind (7:10 -16).
Psalms
The Psalm readings
responding to the prophetic readings are:
·
Psalm 122 presents the glory of
the holy city;
·
Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19 sings of the
glory and promise of the Anointed king;
·
Psalm 146:5-10 praises God’s gifts
of freedom from oppression and care for the unprotected;
·
and Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 is a
prayer from Israel
Epistle Readings
The Epistle
readings are mostly from Romans:
·
Romans 13:11-14 speaks of the
nearness of salvation;
·
Romans 15:4-13 quotes scripture
about the gospel’s inclusiveness;
·
James 5:7-10 speaks of patience
until the Lord comes;
·
and Romans 1:1-7 gives the gospel
in a nutshell.
Gospel Readings
The Gospel readings
are all from Matthew.
·
In 24:36-44 we hear of the Son of
Man coming suddenly;
·
in 3:1-12 John the Baptist
announces the imminent Judgment;
·
in 11:2-11 John hears from Jesus
the signs of the present Reign of God;
·
and finally, in 1:18 -25 a certain Joseph is guided through the
scandal of a virgin’s delivery of a savior.
No comments:
Post a Comment