Biblical Words [744]
Advent looks for a leader
who, through great adversity, stands for hope and a just world to come.
The traditional scripture readings during Advent proclaim alternately judgment and hope.
The great judgment impending over all humans and their worldly enterprises is balanced by a special promise to the humble, poor, and exiled. A great turning of salvation is already secretly at work for them, and it will soon be revealed to all eyes.
The prophetic
reading is a brief promise to exiled
The symbolic term
“Branch” (Hebrew sémach) is one of several images which use growth,
sprouting, or new life from old roots to express the vitality of a new age
beginning for an oppressed people.
Isaiah promises that a “shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, /
and a branch [netzer] shall grow out
of his roots” (Isaiah 11:1,
The term used in
our passage (sémach) is also applied in the post-exilic period to the
would-be king Zerubabel and to the high priest Joshua (Zechariah 3:8 and
Our passage occurs
in a part of the book of Jeremiah dedicated to hope for the future (chapters
30-33). This particular oracle
represents a down-sizing of the hope
that Jeremiah originally held out to the people. Originally, Jeremiah had expected the reunion
of the northern tribes of
The days are surely
coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and
he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and
righteousness in the land. In his days
Thirty to forty
years later, after the
In those days… I
will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute
justice and righteousness in the land. In those days
In the later (exilic)
period it is a large hope just to see a promising future of any kind for the
little
The oracle of Hope has been redressed to a new time and a new scale.
Psalm 25:1-10.
The first ten verses of this originally acrostic psalm can well be understood as the speech of a “Branch.” The one who speaks is among the remnant of people who wait for signs of divine favor and help.
First he speaks for himself, if it’s the king, or for herself, if it’s the city:
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul,
O my God, in you I trust;
do not let me be put to shame;
do not let my enemies exult over me (verse 2,
Then he/she speaks of the people who are the followers, and of their foes:
Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous (verse 3).
These latter enemies
are probably envious neighbors who do not want the struggling Judean community
around
The speaker next prays for guidance as leader of the community:
Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long (verses 4-5).
Finally the leader prays for forgiveness of their sins, in harmony with God’s merciful character (verses 6-7).
The reading portrays a community in need of forgiveness and of restored hope. But the community has a leader who includes oneself in the prayer for forgiveness and who stands forward to present God’s ways to a humble and waiting world.
I Thessalonians 3:9-13.
Another glimpse of a devout – one could say passionate – leader and teacher is presented by the reading from the Epistle.
In these verses we hear an outpouring of care and love by Paul for his humble but faithful church in Thessalonica. He hopes desperately that God will make a way for him to visit them in person again, and – here the teacher comes out – restore anything lacking in their faith. In any case, he prays that God will keep them in the holy way so they will be ready when the Lord Jesus comes with all his saints.
In his missionary work, Paul created a community of faith, love, and hope (see 1:3). That community now waits, following the instructions of its leader, for the fulfillment of God’s promise.
With the beginning of Advent we enter a new year of Gospel readings, those for Year C, the Gospel According to Luke. We will get reacquainted with this amazing work of Christian witness as the year advances.
For now, we hear the traditional judgment on the world that stands as the first word of Advent.
Luke keeps most of
the content of Mark’s apocalyptic discourse (Mark 13), given now in
What Luke shares with Mark and Matthew: All three synoptic Gospels have this discourse on the end time. Three features of the end-time scenario are common to all of them:
First, it will be cosmic – or we might say galactic. There will be signs among the sun, moon, and the stars (verse 25).
Secondly, all three
Synoptic Gospels present the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds as the
climax of the apocalyptic drama (verse 27).
This comes straight from the book of Daniel (Daniel
Finally, all three Synoptic Gospels present the “parable” of the fig tree, whose leaves are a sure indicator of summer. This is accompanied by Jesus’ pronouncement that all these things will come about before the present generation passes away (verses 29-33).
What only Luke reports. While Luke presents this common view of the coming Judgment, he also has his own personal touches, especially of heightened emotional coloring.
·
When talking about the cosmic
signs that will come, only Luke adds, “and on the earth [there will be]
distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves” (verse
25,
· And also, “People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world…” (verse 26).
· And after the Son of Man appears, Luke leaps forward like a cheerleader: “Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near [!!]” (verse 28).
Finally, Luke has his own exhortation to conclude the scene, focusing also on the personal and individual elements of the awesome scenes that are forecast:
“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down …” – with reveling or over-anxiety about this world. Do not let “that day” catch you unexpectedly, “like a trap” (verse 34).
Pray that you will have the strength “to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man” (verse 36).
In summary, Luke heightens the personal experience of world chaos and hysterical fears, but keeps his focus on the center of the drama.
That center is each
person standing before the great figure of the judgment, the Son of Man.
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