A man in silence a woman in seclusion- and all this is good news! Monday,  4th Week in Advent – Luke 1:5-25

In the book of Malachi God declared “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will PREPARE THE WAY before me.” (Malachi 3:1). That wonderful prophecy is what we hear of in today’s Gospel.

So far as Judaism was concerned, Zecharias and Elizabeth were obscure and insignificant people. They were likely seen as having no favour with God because they were without children. There was a tremendous stigma attached to being without children, one which the woman probably felt most keenly.  Barrenness was considered a humiliation and even God’s punishment.

The situation of Zechariah and Elizabeth as old and childless is presented in an historical context. Zechariah served as a priest in the Jerusalem Temple. One of the duties of the priests was to keep the brazier burning that stood on the altar of incense in front of the Holy of Holies. They would fill the brazier with fresh incense before the morning sacrifice, and again at the evening sacrifice

It is true that Zechariah was a priest  but not of the high priestly family but rather simply of the tribe of priests. At this time in Israel’s history this didn’t represent anything very prominent. There were an estimated 7,000 to 20,000 who were of the priestly tribe. Yet this was a red-letter day for Zechariah: he had been chosen by lot from the hundreds of available priests, to offer incense for the Jewish nation. His childlessness, the great grief of his life, would have been on his mind as he prayed.

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A model of faithful discipleship – Saturday, 3rd week in advent – Matthew 1:18-24

Matthew’s Gospel has no Christmas story just the run up to it and the declaration of the birth of Jesus in verse 25. There are no shepherds, no manger, no long winter travel to Bethlehem but there is the narrative of the wise men. The Matthean text tells the story more from the angle of Joseph’s perspective, while the Lukan birth narrative tells the tale from the perspective of Mary. With its focus on Joseph as the chief character, Matthew’s unique story of Jesus’ birth will probably not be the model for any children’s Christmas pageant, in many of which Joseph seems to walk in the shadows as a necessary. 

Joseph is engaged to Mary, but they have not yet “come to live together.” When Mary is found to be with child, a dilemma arises for Joseph. He does not yet know that the child is “from the Holy Spirit” and believes that she has been unfaithful, bringing dishonor to both their families. According to the law, Joseph had grounds not only to dismiss Mary, but even to have her stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22:13-30).

It would do well if we have some background information about early Jewish marriages in order to understand the exposition of this text. Betrothal (Hebrew kiddushin) was a marriage contract, typically arranged by the parents that took place at birth but when one reached an age of reason one got engaged. The second step (nissu’in) or an engagement was considerably later, often including a marriage feast, after which the groom took his wife to his home. Engagements in this culture was a formal contractual matter. It is for this reason that  Matthew says that Joseph had resolved to “divorce” Mary whom he was only engaged to; engagements were legally binding contracts, unlike engagements today.

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The march of the unqualified – Saturday, 3rd Week in Advent –  Matthew 1:1-17

We enter now the last lap of the Advent season and the spotlight shifts from the Parousia to the birth of Jesus. For the next nine days we will hear parts of the infancy narrative from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke; the only two Gospel that record the narrative surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ.

Today’s readings look unsparingly at Jesus’ ancestry; it’s called the genealogy. Matthew, writing in a Jewish environment, begins his Gospel of Jesus by tracing the ancestry of Jesus back to the patriarchs. What Matthew is trying to do is to place Jesus’ birth within the context of Jewish history from the time of Abraham up to the birth of Jesus. Genealogies in Scripture  always point in some way to the Lord, and the Lord’s choice. Look at this list as a star cast and credits of those involved in this great production. Yet there are surprises in this list of Jesus’ ancestors.

This genealogy spans the whole history of salvation, from Abraham through David, in six groups of 7 names or three groups of fourteen name ( multiples of seven), 7 being the perfect number for Hebrews. The first fourteen names mentioned are those of the patriarchs, people such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The second fourteen are Israel’s kings, especially Kings David and Solomon. The last fourteen are unknowns from Israel’s past who played a vital role in the coming of the Messiah.

This gospel weaves a thread of the long history that eventually brings us to Jesus. Yet when you look closely  at this list, especially of David’s descendants, all but three were total disappointments, many of them worshiping false gods. The three that were considered adequate were Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah

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Writing straight on crooked lines  – Wednesday, 3rd week in Advent – Isaiah 45: 6b-8,18,21b-25

Placing a text in its context helps us understand what the sacred writer wants to communicate. This passage stands in the centre of the first half of Second Isaiah (Isaiah 40-55), which was composed in the middle of the sixth century B.C.E. In its background lies Judah’s half-century of exile after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple. It was written to encourage Judeans scattered by the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.E. to return and rebuild their city and temple.

There is a new world order as Nabonidus, the final Babylonian king has been defeated by Cyrus the King of Persia. Prominent in the first verse of this chapter is the name of the Persian conqueror credited with taking over Babylon in the 540’s. Isaiah wants the people to know that through Cyrus, God will fulfil his divine purpose, allowing the exiles to return home to rebuild Jerusalem (44:28).

The heirs of the Davidic dynasty, who had ruled for nearly four centuries, were snuffed out (2 Kings 25:7) or kept under close watch in the Babylonian court (2 Kings 25:27-30). To many people, the restoration of Judah meant a return to the ways things had been. Post exilic prophets such as Haggai and Zechariah promoted the restoration of Davidic rule. Imagine their shock when they hear is verse one, “ thus says the Lord to his ANOINTED, to Cyrus whose right hand I have grasped.” While the term messiah (māšîaḥ) is not abundant in the Old Testament, occurring about thirty five times, the remnant of Judah would have associated “messiah” almost exclusively with their own king from the house of David. 

The Hebrew word for “anointed” is mashiach, “messiah” or “ Christos ( Christ) in Greek. While the title of ‘Christ’ or ‘Messiah’ is a bit hard for us to swallow when attached to a Persian King and that too announced by the prophet Isaiah, the reality was that various figures were ‘anointed’ in ancient Judah; not only kings but also high priests, and occasionally prophets. However, all of them had crucial religious roles. Anointing implicitly reflected a close relationship with God and special divine blessing. So for Isaiah to proclaim the ‘messiahship’ of Cyrus, a foreign conqueror, would have been a shock. How could that office be assumed by a foreign conqueror? So what are we to do with Cyrus, the only non-Israelite leader to be called a messiah? And is the proclamation and title good news or bad news?

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The reason for the season –  John 1:6-8,19-28

A young politician who thought he was of some political standing was one trying to badger his way into getting a free upgrade at the check in counter at the airport. When at first, he did not succeed he raised his voice over the din and said to the lady over the counter, “do you know who I am?” Ignoring him she continued to go through the motions of the check in procedure. This seemed to have got the goat of the wannabe politician who thumped his hand on the desk asking again, “do you know who I am?” The young lady calmy left her place behind the counter and walked to a public address system. Then in a crisp cool voice she said, “ladies and gentleman, there is a man at my counter who has been asking me if I know who he is, evidently, he has lost his memory, if any one can recognize him could you please assist us and this gentleman at counter 23.”

There is a growing clamour for public acknowledgment of who we are in the eyes of others. Titles and position seem to matter. Social recognition among peers seems to define who we are rather than the qualities of our heart. The Gospel of today focuses on John the Baptist who seems quite oblivious of the rat race for titles among the Jewish establishment. While their phylacteries grew longer and defined who they were in Jewish society, John the Baptist seemed rather content with a camel hair wrap around and a diet of locust and honey. His mission was operated from a non-descript place in Bethany across the Jordan and he needed just his conscience and water to bring hope and healing to the masses.

In the Synoptic Gospels, John the Baptist is a prophet who has an important ministry in his own right. He calls people to repentance and eventually dies as a martyr for daring to confront petty earthly tyrants with the word of the Lord. But in the Gospel of John, for the most part, john the Baptist just points people to Jesus. Even more while Jesus will proclaim seven times in this Gospel the words, “I am”, John the Baptist seems to proclaim, “I am not.”. He is not the Messiah; he is not Elijah and he is not even a prophet.”

So, what is John? He is a voice and witness for the faith; that’s it! These qualities or attributes are in tension with the spirit of our age. Most people today regard religion as a private matter and do not want to hear about someone else’s particular beliefs. As a witness he is willing to testify to the truth. You may have been a witness to an incident but that does not make you a witness unless you are willing to testify to what you truly saw.

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