The Fourth Sunday of Advent, Dec. 22, 2002
2 Sam. 7:4, 8-16; Psalm 132; Rom. 6:25-27; Luke 1:26-38
Advent’s double-edged theme of Christ’s first and second comings zooms in on his first coming this Sunday. The plea of Isaiah 64:1 (Advent 1) “Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down” is fulfilled in a most unusual and unexpected way: the virginal conception and birth of a son for a young woman, Mary, in an obscure village in Galilee, called Bethlehem. Repeatedly we are reminded that “my ways (are) higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9).
The psalmist reminds us of God’s promise to set one of David’s sons on the throne. However, there was no one qualified to do the job. Not even David himself. David’s name will be made great, but who from among humanity would be up to the task?
That, of course, brings the familiar angelic announcement to Mary that she would bear a son who would be up to the task of assuming the throne of David. Indeed, as Gabriel describes her son, we see that this is no ordinary man. He will be called “Son of the Most High.” “The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32).
While people puzzle over the virginal conception, they do not seem to be bothered by the stupendous claims made for this infant. These are staggering, and yet we gloss over them as insignificant details. These claims would have staggered Jewish readers of the gospel, to say nothing about Theophilus, the person to whom Luke addressed the gospel. The Son of Mary is a colossal figure. He will be the greatest that not only Israel has ever seen, but that the world has ever seen (1:33b).
Once we have grasped this point, then we can see how a divinely appointed conception and birth fit with the extraordinary nature of Mary’s son. Indeed, if the one coming into the world is so sublime a figure, what more appropriate manner of his coming than such as miracle as this.
God’s word of promise is fulfilled. David’s son is seated on the throne. However, his son is no ordinary ruler, nor were the events by which he came into the world ordinary either. This, then, is the One whom we are first to know by “his name Jesus” (1:31). In addition, Jesus means “the Lord is salvation.”
Look It Up
Look up Isaiah 7:14. What is the historical context of the passage? Why did God use such a sign in the first place?
Think About It
What is lost when we deny the miracle of Christ’s conception?
Next Sunday
First Sunday After Christmas, Dec. 29, 2002
Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 147 or 147:13-21; Gal. 3:23-25, 4:4-7; John 1:1-18
