Lectionary Scripture Notes

Isaiah 62:6-12

After many years during which the grain and the wine from the vineyards of Jerusalem had been given by the Lord God to the enemies of its people, the people of Israel are depicted here as streaming back to the city from the broad highway cleared of all stones and obstructions over which they were returning from their exile in Babylonia. The people who return to the city are called “holy,” because they are the people of the Lord; they are called “redeemed” because the Lord has purchased them from their captors. The people of the Lord will again eat their bread and drink their wine in the holy city.

Psalm 97

The land and its people will rejoice, because the Lord God is now the King. The throne of the Lord God is built upon the foundations of righteousness and of justice. All adversaries of the Lord God are consumed by his fire. The earth trembles under his feet. Those who are righteous will welcome the coming of the Lord and give thanks to their God.

Titus 3:4-7

While in the Isaiah 62:6-12 and Psalm 97 texts God is depicted as the Savior, active in the lives of the righteous, the people here in Titus 3:4-7 have been washed and reborn. What is new and different in this text from the Newer Testament is that God as the Holy Spirit is said to have been poured out upon the people through the activity of Jesus Christ our Savior. The Lord God is coming in new forms. As arranged in Proper II of our texts for Christmas, Titus 3:4-7 provides a transition from the idea that the Lord God comes in power and might to the belief that the Lord God comes in the birth of the baby Jesus in the Lukan Christmas story.

Luke 2:(1-7) 8-20

For this, see the notes under Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) above in CHRISTMAS (Nativity of Our Lord).

All four of the texts chosen for our use on Christmas Day refer to the coming of the Lord God. That coming is perceived in a way that is unique to each text. The most noticeable differences are that in the two texts from the Older Testament the coming of the Lord is expressed by use of a series of anthropomorphisms (depictions of God using various features and characteristics of humans), while in the two texts from the Newer Testament the Lord is depicted as coming incarnate (in the actual form of a human person). Let us look more closely at each of these texts. Perhaps the differences between these two depictions are not as large as they may at first appear to be.

Isaiah 52:7-10

This delightful portrayal of watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem singing joyously when they see the first indications of the return of the Lord God to Jerusalem is an entirely appropriate text from the Older Testament to serve as the First Lesson in Christian worship services on Christmas Day. The feet of the messenger who will be able to announce the return of the Lord God as they skip at a rapid pace over the hills approaching the city are described as beautiful, for their arrival means that the Lord God has come to the city to make it holy once more. The Lord God comes in the form of the feet of the messenger and of the voices of the watchmen. May our longing on this Christmas Day for the peace and salvation that only God can give to us be as great as that of the inspired poet of the Isaiah tradition during the period of the restoration of Jerusalem. May we, like the ancient Israelites, see the coming of the Lord in the feet of the messenger and in the voices of the watchmen among us.

Psalm 98

The primary anthropomorphism that is used in this psalm is that of a victorious military hero who becomes a king. The most notable human model for this achievement in ancient Israel was David and in our own history in the USA is George Washington. Most nations have military heroes who become political figures highly honored within the national-civil expressions of religion. Within the Older Testament use of anthropomorphisms, even when there are many references to physical characteristics such as the “right hand” and the “holy arm” of the Lord, it is not likely that a physical coming, an incarnation, a presence of God in human form is intended. Anthropomorphisms such as these are used with great frequency in the Older Testament and continue to be used widely among Jews and Christians, as well as among many Muslims, Hindus, and others, simply because such anthropomorphisms are the most vivid way in which people can attempt to describe God and depict actions of God. The use of anthropomorphisms in the language with which we and other people express faith in God does not imply incarnation. There is no doubt, however, that the heavy use of anthropomorphisms in Israelite-Jewish sacred scriptures and in Jewish theology contributed very significantly to the development of incarnation theology in the Christian Church and to our understanding of the meaning of Christmas.

In the final verse of Psalm 98 the entire world is called upon to sing praises to the Lord, who is depicted as the righteous, equitable judge of the entire world. For us as Christians during this Christmas season and throughout the year, it is easy to see Jesus as Lord with powers and responsibilities that are similar to those ascribed by the Israelites and Jews to Adonai as Lord.

Hebrews 1:1-4 (5-12)

The primary contrast in the initial portion of this treatise in which the writer argues that Jewish background followers of Jesus should not return to their Jewish lifestyle is between what is written here about Jesus as the Incarnate Son of God and the important but inferior prophets through whom God spoke and the angels who merely delivered messages from God. Jesus as the Son of God is said to be the heir of God, the one who will receive all that belongs to God. As in the Gospel According to John, the Prologue of which follows here as the Gospel selection for Christmas Day, Jesus is said to have been the one through whom God created the world. To Jesus is ascribed the reflection of the glory of God, the imprint of God’s nature. It is claimed in this document that after Jesus had himself gone into the “Holy of Holies” and offered not the blood of sheep and of goats but his own blood upon the altar in order to purify us from our sins, Jesus took his position at the right hand of God on high. Within these few verses we have a brief abstract or synopsis of the entire Christian understanding of salvation. It is a huge, adult-size gift package under our Christmas tree! It is far more than a series of anthropomorphisms; it is fully an incarnation theology. Its high Christology is matched only in the Fourth Gospel within our New Testament and surpassed only by the Gnostic Christians for whom Jesus was perceived to have been only divine and never incarnate.

John 1:1-14

How different this hymn of acclamation of Jesus the Christ as the Logos face-to-face with God and as God is from the Lukan writer’s literary drama scenes! Who would ever attempt to portray this hymn to Christ in a Sunday school or chancel Christmas drama? How many Christmas greeting cards have you seen that are based on John 1:1-14? The reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews, however, has prepared us for this.

The most perceptive among the members of the congregations in which we serve will be aware from their study of our biblical traditions and from their participation in Christian worship that there is not one theology but many “theologies” and not one Christology but many “Christologies” within our Newer Testament collection of documents. It would be appropriate within the message on Christmas Day to show that we are aware of the richness of our biblical tradition in these various Christologies, as a “preview of coming attractions” during the subsequent Sundays of this year. It would be helpful to share that for the Apostle Paul, divine powers were bestowed upon Jesus by God the Father through Jesus’ death and resurrection. For the Markan writer, God “adopted” Jesus and gave to Jesus powers as God’s Son at the time of the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. For the Matthean and Lukan redactors, God made Jesus the Son of God by means of Jesus being conceived within the reproductive system of a virgin woman by the power of the Spirit of God. Here in the Gospel According to John, as well as in the Epistle to the Hebrews, God had apparently made Jesus divine “before the foundations of the earth were laid,” and Jesus had participated fully or perhaps even with no involvement by God as God the Father in the creative process. We see, therefore, as we proclaim the Christmas message on Christmas Day using Hebrews 1:1-4 (5-12) and John 1:1-14 that we are at the extreme outer edge of the Christologies presented within our Newer Testament documents, Christologies in which there is no “baby Jesus” and, therefore, actually no “Christmas” as such at all!

THEME OF THE DAY
Christmas ain’t no bed of roses for Jesus (but it is for us). The texts help us see how God’s work in Christ (his suffering) makes life better for us (Justification and Sanctification), and how this is presupposed in Old Testament prophecies.

Psalm 148

Psalm 148 is a hymn calling on all created things (including animals, trees, and mountains) to praise God. Creation is said to transpire by his command or word (John 1). The reference to “horn” [geren] in verse 14 refers to God’s strength and power. In short, the Psalm claims that Yahweh has raised up strength for his people. Our strength politically, it seems, is his work.

Application: The song affords an opportunity for a sermon reminding us that nature does not stand on its own, but remains dependent on God (Providence). Insofar as the creation praises God, the text also affords occasion for sermons pertaining to ecology (Social Ethics).

Isaiah 63:7-9

Located in the context of a book that is an editorial compilation of two or three distinct historical strands of prophecy, we consider in this text what is likely the book’s final section: written in 539 BC after the Babylonian Exiles had returned to Judah and dealing with disappointment. This is part of a longer psalm of intercession. These verses are a historical prologue recalling Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. God’s abundant, steadfast love is stressed (v. 7). This last point is an expression of God’s continuing loyalty to his covenant, despite the Hebrews’ faithlessness. Yahweh is said to have become the Savior of his people (v. 8). Not a messenger or angel, but God’s presence saved the people; they are lifted up (v. 9). This last point opens the way to a Christocentric reading, as a testimony that only God (in Christ) can save. In its Hebraic context, this text represents an appeal to God for mercy based on his gracious activity in the past. The recitation of God’s almighty acts in the lesson serves both as praise and as the basis for the laments and petitions that follow the lesson.

Application: The text affords an opportunity to be reminded of God’s faithfulness to his promises, his commitment not to abandon us despite our sin, a word most evident at Christmas (Providence, Christology, and Justification by Grace). In accord with justification, we are reminded that only God (nothing else, including ourselves) can save us. The psalm’s testimony that we are saved by God alone also reminds us of the Christmas festival’s celebration of the incarnation. The theme of his lifting up the faithful also provides opportunities for sermons on growth in grace and Sanctification.

Hebrews 2:10-18

The book is an anonymous treatise which, given its argument of the superiority of Christ’s sacrifice to those of Levitical priests, was likely written prior to the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD. Remarks in 2:3-4 suggest it was written by a member of a generation of Christians after the apostles. Modern scholars are inclined to regard the book as a sermon, perhaps modified after it was delivered to include travel plans, greetings, and a closing (13:20-25). The Christians addressed are thought to have been in danger of falling away from their confession (3:1; 4:14; 10:23). They had endured persecution (10:32-36).

The text is a discussion of Christology with special attention to the destiny of humankind. God, the one from whom and through whom all things exist, is said to have brought many to glory. Apparently referring to Christ, the author notes it is fitting that God made the pioneer [the Greek word archegos can also be translated "author"] of their salvation perfect through suffering (v. 10). (The theme of perfection [teleioo], in the sense of making complete, is characteristic of the book [see 5:9; 7:19, 28; 9:9; 10:1, 14; 11:40; 12:23]. The one who sanctifies and those made holy are brothers, for they have one Father (v. 11). Psalm 22:2 and Isaiah 8:17-18 are quoted to show that Jesus proclaims God’s name to human beings and we are to put our trust in him (vv. 12-13). Subsequently the author asserts that the Son became human to defeat the devil, setting free humanity from those in slavery by the fear of death (vv. 14-15). He did not come to save the angels, but descendants of Abraham (v. 16). Jesus became like his brothers and sisters in order to be a merciful and faithful high priest in service of God to offer the sacrifice of atonement for sins. Because he suffered he is able to help those being tested (vv. 17-18). This image of the Atoning Work of Christ satisfying the wrath of God seems in some tension with his role in atoning for us by defeating evil.

Application: The lesson affords opportunities to preach on the dynamics of Christ’s Atoning Work (whether as high priest to offer a sacrifice to God or as conqueror to defeat evil or both). Instead focus could be placed on Christ’s suffering, how he and God suffer (if the preacher comes from a tradition in which Jesus’ suffering is shared by God) and how this makes God more lovable. The theme of redemptive suffering (salvation made complete or perfected through suffering) is clearly implied by the lesson and could be developed in the sermon. The impact of the atonement on the believer’s life (Justification and Sanctification) may also be validly explored, construing it as setting the faithful free, overcoming fear of death, or perfecting life holiness as Christ offered the complete and perfect sacrifice. Focusing on the Christmas theme of the incarnation and Christology (Christ as the one from whom and through whom all exist, and so our brother) is also a legitimate alternative.

Matthew 2:13-23

This Synoptic Gospel, rooted in the oral tradition and dependent on Mark, was likely written to Jewish Christians in Antioch who were no longer in full communion with Judaism. Its primary agenda was to portray Jesus as the messianic fulfillment of the Torah. This theme seems reflected in the lesson — the story of the escape of Jesus and his family to Egypt and their eventual return. In this account, the stories of Joseph, Moses, and Israel in the chosen people’s escape to and return from Egypt are echoed.

The text begins with a report how, after encountering the wise man, Joseph and Mary are instructed to flee to Egypt, since Herod the puppet king of Judea would be searching for the newborn Messiah (v. 13). Joseph complies, remaining in Egypt until Herod dies. This fulfills the prophecy of Hosea 11:1 suggesting that the son was called out of Egypt (vv. 14-15). When Herod saw he had been tricked by the wise men, who never returned to provide the location of the Messiah’s birth, he was angered and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem. This is reported to fulfill Jeremiah 31:15, a prophecy of the grief endured by Rachel [and her genetic daughters] (vv. 16-18). This massacre also echoes Pharaoh’s actions at the birth of Moses (Exodus 1:15-22).

When Herod died it is reported that an angel appeared to Joseph telling him to return to Israel, and he complies (vv. 19-21). Given Herod’s death date in 4 BC this could suggest the likelihood of a 6 BC date of birth for Jesus. When Joseph heard that Herod’s son Archelaus reigned in Judea (Judah), Joseph was afraid to go there and so he journeyed instead to Nazareth. This fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah 11:1 that the Messiah would be a “branch” of Jesse’s stump — for there is a similarity between the Hebrew word netser used in that Isaiah text and the Aramaic word for Nazorean (vv. 22-23).

Application: The text invites sermons on how Jesus’ young life embodies the experience of the Jewish people (exile and return), so that those enduring banishment can still hope to experience new life (Sanctification) for we are in him. The wisdom of Joseph in practicing common sense (fleeing when it can save your life and coming home when the time is right) and how God’s will accords with such common sense (since this common-sense wisdom is provided in the revelations Joseph received) is another possible homiletical direction. Not to be overlooked for multicultural preaching (Social Ethics) is that Jesus seems to have African roots according to this lesson.

THEME OF THE DAY
The party continues (with some good conversation). The themes of the texts stress celebration of the love of God in all aspects of life, entailing attention to Christ, Justification, and Sanctification as works of grace, as well as Creation, Church, and even some insights about the Trinity.

Psalm 147:12-20
This is one of the Psalms of Praise [zamar], a hymn praising God for his help. (The concept of praise in ancient Hebrew is associated with singing.) The song echoes themes of Job and Second Isaiah. After a call to praise Yahweh issued to the faithful in Jerusalem (v. 12), confidence is expressed that he will strengthen the bars (piercing objects) of the city’s gates (that is, strengthen the city’s defenses). As a result the people of Jerusalem will be blessed, granted peace, and feast on rich harvests (vv. 13-14). These themes of security and peace echo Isaiah 60:17-18. Reflecting themes of the Fourth Discourse of Elihu in Job 37:9-11, the psalmist sings of how Yahweh’s word runs swiftly, giving snow and hail (vv. 15-17). The word is said to be sent out and melts what it encounters, for the Lord will make the wind blow and the waters flow (v. 18). This text might be read prophetically as referring to God’s word in creation. This word is said to be declared to Jacob, regarding Yahweh’s statutes [choq, that is limits decreed by God] and judgments [mishpat, which in ancient Hebrew refers both to punishment and also a sense of comfort] reminding the people that other nations do not know these judgments of God (vv. 19-20). There seems to be clear allusions in the song here to the conclusion of Moses’ first address to Israel in Deuteronomy 4:6-8, 12-13.

Application: Especially if read in light of Christ and the Christian gospel the Psalm invites sermons on Christ’s role in creation and providence (governing the ways of the world), on the peace the word brings (keep in mind the Hebraic concept of peace [shalom] entails not just a state of no combat, but a climate of well-being that includes social justice), as well as on the special blessings the faithful have in knowing the ways and judgments of the Lord (a confidence in the ways of God) (Gerhard Von Rad, Old Testament Theology, Vol. 1, p. 358).

OR

Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-20
This apocryphal book deliberately reflects a prayer of Solomon for wisdom recorded in 1 Kings 3:6-9 and 2 Chronicles 1:8-10. It was probably not written by Solomon, but by a Hellenized Jew from Alexandria, perhaps just decades prior to Jesus’ lifetime. The book is written in Greek in the form of a didactic exhortation. But the message is a word of consolation — to help Jews who have been dispersed from the motherland to recognize that they possess true wisdom which surpasses that of the Gentiles.

Wisdom [Sophia in this Greek text, and chokmah in Hebrew] connoted for Old Testament writers the personification of the wisdom of the Hebraic elders. It might be regarded as Israel’s individualized application of the morality taught to the whole nation (T.W. Manson, ed., A Companion to the Bible, p. 306). With Hellenization (the impact of Greek culture and thought forms on the people of Israel) connections between this understanding and Greek or Roman philosophy developed, so that it began to connote an order of knowledge related both to language and to what is firstborn of God. These developments indicate how the use of the term logos [word] in the prologue of John’s gospel was an appropriate development in the reinterpretation of the Hebraic concept of wisdom. (Themes like this are evident in the writings of an eminent first-century Alexandrian Jewish rabbi Philo [On the Account of the Word's Creation Given by Moses XLV].)

This text is a hymn testifying to how wisdom delivered Israel from Egypt (v. 15). Personified as a female, this wisdom enters the soul of one of the Lord’s servants and is said to withstand kings with wonders and signs (v. 16; cf. Isaiah 63:11-14). This text might be read as a prophecy of Christ. Wisdom is said to give holy people the reward of their labors, guiding them along a marvelous way and becoming a shelter to them (v. 17). As she brought the people over the Red Sea, drowning their enemies, the righteous are led to praise (vv. 18-20).

Application: The song invites sermons on the female aspect of God (presumably the second person of the Trinity). Christology (how we might speak of Christ as divine in the sense of the Hellenized conception of wisdom described above) is also a valid sermon topic inspired by the text. In addition, Christ’s role as a shelter to the faithful, as our deliverer, and the praise that insight inspires (Atonement and Sanctification) are themes legitimately developed from the text.

Jeremiah 31:7-14
The text is located in a book of prophecies of the late seventh-early sixth centuries BC prophet of Judah. It was dictated to his aide Baruch. The prophet frequently offers criticism of David’s heirs and the temple leadership, giving more attention to the Sinai covenant (to ways of serving Yahweh which pre-dated the temple cult established by David). This may be related to the fact that Jeremiah was an ancestor of one of David’s high priests, Abiathar, who lost control of the temple and was finally banished (2 Samuel 20:25; 1 Kings 2:26-27).

The lesson is part of a section in Jeremiah called the Book of Consolation (30:1—31:40). These are oracles and poetry speaking of a future restoration of Israel and Judah. Consequently it is likely that this literature dates from a period after the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem in 587 BC. However, this text and others in this section refer to Ephraim (v. 9), one of the northern tribes of Israel after their secession from the Davidic king of Judah in 922 BC. Consequently Old Testament scholars conclude that parts of these oracles (including the one we now consider) were originally addressed to the Northern Kingdom and then expanded by the prophet or an editor to apply to Judah. Rather than being a troubling insight, this loosening of the promises in our text from their original historical context entail that God’s promises are not the result of a last-minute feeling of passion on God’s part but have been part of the divine plan from the outset, are unconditional (Brevard Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture, pp. 351-352). These themes are evident in the lesson’s rejoicing over the salvation of the remnant of Israel from all over the world (vv. 7-8, 10). He is identified as Israel’s Father (v. 9; Hosea 11:1). Yahweh is prophesied as ransoming Jacob, redeeming the people (v. 11), and leading them to become radiant over Yahweh’s goodness (v. 12). As a result his goodness will be praised, leading to joy and bounty in the restored homeland (vv. 13-14).

Application: The text affords an opportunity to continue to proclaim the Christmas joy, the word that God’s promise to deliver from hard times is part of who he is, that forever and ever he has planned to deliver us (Justification by Grace and Realized Eschatology). Christian life (Sanctification) as a life of celebration is also implied by the lesson.

Ephesians 1:3-14
The text is a thanksgiving for blessings showered on the whole created order, offered in a circular letter written by Paul from prison late in his career or by one of his followers who had a hand in assembling a collection of his epistles. The latter prospect is made likely by the fact that the letter includes vocabulary and stylistic characteristics different from the indisputably Pauline writings. It may have been written to and for a later generation of Christians, as the writer claims to have heard of the recipients’ faith and love toward all faithful (1:15). Thanks are offered to God the Father of Christ for blessings showered on us in heavenly places (realities behind and above the material universe) (v. 3). Reference is made to our election in Christ before the foundation of the world, an election to holiness (vv. 4-5, 11). In him redemption through his blood is given by grace (vv. 7-8a). With wisdom God is said to have made known to the faithful the mystery of his will set forth in Christ (vv. 8b-9). This will is that in the fullness of time (an eschatological image) all things in heaven and earth be gathered up in Christ. In him we obtain an inheritance (vv. 10-11). This could refer to the church as the Body of Christ or to all the world being redeemed in him, and it could also refer to a cosmic Christ whereby all created realities are understood to be absorbed in his deity. The Holy Spirit, to be given to seal or as a pledge of our redemption, is said to be given with faith in Christ (vv. 13-14).

Application: Occasion is provided to proclaim the awesome deity and majesty of Christ (Christology) that all creation is in him (see Gospel Lesson), all are destined for salvation (Single Predestination), and the whole church is gathered together in unity such that individualism and selfishness do not have a chance (Sanctification).

John 1:(1-9) 10-18
The prologue of the last of the four gospels to be written, probably not composed until the last two decades of the first century. It is very different in style and in comparison to the other three (so-called Synoptic) gospels. In fact it is probably based on these earlier gospels. The book has been identified with John the Son of Zebedee, the disciple whom Jesus loved, and this claim was made as long ago as late in the first century by the famed theologian of the early church Irenaeus (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1, p. 144). It is likely that it was written by a disciple of John. Hints of that possibility are offered by the first post-biblical church historian Eusebius of Caesarea who claimed that the book was written on the basis of the external facts made plain in the gospel and so John is a “spiritual gospel” (presumably one not based on eyewitness accounts of the author) (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 1, p. 261). Its main agenda was probably to encourage Jewish Christians in conflict with the synagogue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God (20:31).

The gospel’s emphasis on the incarnation (the deity of Jesus Christ) is made evident in that this is a theme of the prologue. The logos [word] is said to have been in the beginning and with God, identifying God with the word (vv. 1-2). (If the author’s use of logos is drawing on Stoic or Greek philosophical suppositions, what is connoted here is that the essence of the word is rationality and that the things of the world that came into being through the word reflect this linguistic rationality. Also see commentary on the Wisdom of Solomon text, above.) All things are said to have come into being through the word. He is the light [phos] of all people that the darkness [skotia], which may correspond to its Hebraic equivalent term choshek, which connotes “oppression,” cannot overcome (vv. 3-5). Apart from Christ both the physical and spiritual dimensions of reality would recede into nothingness.

Reference is made to John, who came as a witness to the light, but not himself the light (vv. 6-9). This point may have been to mitigate competition that existed between followers of John and the Christian community to whom the gospel was addressed. The text proceeds to report that the word came into the world, but the world did not know him, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received Christ it seems that he gave power to become children of God who are born of God and not of human will (vv. 10-13). Then it is proclaimed that the word became flesh and lived among us, full of truth and grace. In testifying to him, John said that the word was the one who he had said ranks ahead of him (vv. 14-15).

From the fullness of the word it is reported that grace upon grace (that is a limitless amount of grace) was received (v. 16). The law is said to have been given through Moses, but truth and grace come through Jesus Christ (v. 17). No one has seen God, the Johannine author notes. But his only Son who is close to the Father (in complete communion with him) has made him known (v. 18).

Application: The Johannine prologue affords opportunities for sermons on the Trinity (the relation between the Father and the Son and also a vision of God as creatively talkative), on creation (by the word), providence (that the universe is only upheld from chaos by God), and also that despite our rejection of him (Sin), God will never let us go (Justification by Grace).