Advent 3- Why should we rejoice regrading the coming of Christ?
Advent is actually meant to be a bit like Lent. The church wants us to get ready for the big feasts of Christmas and Easter through Advent and Lent. Advent doesn’t always sit well with us as a penitential season because we are usually well into celebrating Christmas before Advent is over. This 3rd week of Advent is a bit unusual in that while many of the advent readings in other weeks speak about the final judgement, or preparing for the second coming of Christ. The 3rd week of Advent is Gaudete Sunday. Gaudete means “rejoice”. So this Sunday stands out from what is traditionally a penitential season, and our readings reflect that. I’m going to jump around a bit as we look at how these readings reflect this theme.
First, we look at John the Baptist. John is the major character in Advent. He is the last of the prophets of the Old Testament. According to other Gospels, he is dressed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist (2 Kings 1:8 and Matt 3:4), which is exactly how Elijah is described. Elijah is the preeminent prophet in the Old Testament, and John is an inheritor of that legacy.
Priests and Levites are sent to examine John about who he is and why he is baptizing so they can report back. When they ask him who he is, he said that he isn’t the messiah. Neither is he Elijah, despite how he looks. They then ask him if he is the prophet. Not ‘a’ prophet- They ask if he is ‘the’ prophet. This is a reference to Deuteronomy 18, where Moses says,
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. … I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command” (Deut 18:15, 18).
After they have exhausted their options, they ask him to tell them who he is. And he responds by quoting Isaiah 40-
It is interesting what John doesn’t say in this Gospel. We don’t hear him calling anyone a brood of vipers, we don’t hear him even say the word “repent”. John is helping people prepare for the one who is coming after him. In this Gospel, John is focusing on the one who is coming, rather than on the people who have to prepare.
As a prophet, John points us to Isaiah. This will be a familiar passage to many because it is a passage that Jesus claims for himself in the Gospel of Luke. When Jesus is speaking in the synagogue, at the beginning of his ministry, he reads the passage from Isaiah that we just read today,
We can read this passage symbolically, or literally. When Christ come in his fullness all things will be set right, literally. Symbolically, many have seen this passage as referring to sin. We are oppressed by sin. Sin breaks our hearts, because it is a betrayal of who we know we are called to be. It imprisons us like a bad habit- we find the same behaviours manifesting in us over and over and over again. We know it isn’t good, but we don’t seem able to break out of that cycle on our own. The "year of the Lord's favour" is probably a reference to the year of Jubilee when all debts were supposed to be forgiven and all slaves were set free. And Sin often feels like slavery, or like a debt, and Jesus' work on the cross has often been viewed as paying a debt we couldn't pay, or as buying us out of slavery to Sin.
‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord”’.John is the voice.
It is interesting what John doesn’t say in this Gospel. We don’t hear him calling anyone a brood of vipers, we don’t hear him even say the word “repent”. John is helping people prepare for the one who is coming after him. In this Gospel, John is focusing on the one who is coming, rather than on the people who have to prepare.
As a prophet, John points us to Isaiah. This will be a familiar passage to many because it is a passage that Jesus claims for himself in the Gospel of Luke. When Jesus is speaking in the synagogue, at the beginning of his ministry, he reads the passage from Isaiah that we just read today,
“And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’” (Lk 4:20-21).Jesus claims that this passage (Isaiah 61) is describing him and the work he is about.
“The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,It is worth pointing out that the word “messiah” means “anointed one”.
because the Lord has anointed me;”
“he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,The one line there that catches us is the “day of vengeance of God”. Think of it like this, God will stand up to the bullies that are too strong for anyone else to stand up against. The bullies will be dealt with.
to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;”
We can read this passage symbolically, or literally. When Christ come in his fullness all things will be set right, literally. Symbolically, many have seen this passage as referring to sin. We are oppressed by sin. Sin breaks our hearts, because it is a betrayal of who we know we are called to be. It imprisons us like a bad habit- we find the same behaviours manifesting in us over and over and over again. We know it isn’t good, but we don’t seem able to break out of that cycle on our own. The "year of the Lord's favour" is probably a reference to the year of Jubilee when all debts were supposed to be forgiven and all slaves were set free. And Sin often feels like slavery, or like a debt, and Jesus' work on the cross has often been viewed as paying a debt we couldn't pay, or as buying us out of slavery to Sin.
Jesus, speaking through these words of Isaiah, is saying he has come to rescue us. This is good news to us, who are oppressed by sin. If we let him, he will bind up our broken hearts, release us from the habits that enslave us, and comfort us in our mourning.
There is much more in Isaiah that we could speak about, but I also wanted to look at Mary’s song, The Magnificat, which is also very in-line with the prophetic tradition. This is Gaudete Sunday and here we see a prophetic rejoicing over what God is going to do. “My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour”. It is amazing and beautiful that this song is on the lips of a young pregnant Mary, who is part of an oppressed people. She speaks about a great overturning, and in that way she foreshadows the preaching of her Son who will teach that the first will be last and the last will be first. She says,
There is much more in Isaiah that we could speak about, but I also wanted to look at Mary’s song, The Magnificat, which is also very in-line with the prophetic tradition. This is Gaudete Sunday and here we see a prophetic rejoicing over what God is going to do. “My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour”. It is amazing and beautiful that this song is on the lips of a young pregnant Mary, who is part of an oppressed people. She speaks about a great overturning, and in that way she foreshadows the preaching of her Son who will teach that the first will be last and the last will be first. She says,
“He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts, He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly” (Lk 1:51-52).
Jesus constantly thwarted the attempts of the experts of the Law to out-Scripture him. Despite their great learning, and his lowly birth, Jesus always bested them. The name of Jesus is known across the world, but the petty tyrants that made his people’s lives difficult are largely unknown. Or, if they are known, they are really only known because of their connection to Jesus- like Pontius Pilate, or King Herod.
“He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty”. This brings to mind Jesus’ teaching about the rich man and Lazarus, where Lazarus lives at the door of this rich man and the poor man yearns for the table scraps which are always denied him. But when they both die Lazarus is in the favourable place with Abraham and the rich man is the one in want. One wonders if that isn’t the inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge in the Christmas Carol.
The message from Mary’s song is that justice will come, and that God has a special eye on those who are oppressed and mistreated. God will fulfill the promises that have been spoken about in the prophets. It is a song that has actually been banned under some tyrannies.
And finally we look at Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. “Rejoice always”. Gaudete. “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances”, for we know that God is working through all things to bring about good.
“He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty”. This brings to mind Jesus’ teaching about the rich man and Lazarus, where Lazarus lives at the door of this rich man and the poor man yearns for the table scraps which are always denied him. But when they both die Lazarus is in the favourable place with Abraham and the rich man is the one in want. One wonders if that isn’t the inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge in the Christmas Carol.
The message from Mary’s song is that justice will come, and that God has a special eye on those who are oppressed and mistreated. God will fulfill the promises that have been spoken about in the prophets. It is a song that has actually been banned under some tyrannies.
And finally we look at Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. “Rejoice always”. Gaudete. “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances”, for we know that God is working through all things to bring about good.
Advent is a time of repentance and preparation, but we also await the coming of Christ in a joyful expectation because it is a time when God's promises will be fulfilled- to bring goodness and stop evil. So, yes, we rejoice. AMEN.
Comments
Post a Comment