Victory

On this fourth Advent Sunday we celebrate with this:

Isaiah 40:9-11

Go on up to a high mountain,

    O Zion, herald of good news;

lift up your voice with strength,

    O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

    lift it up, fear not;

say to the cities of Judah,

    “Behold your God!”

Behold, the Lord God comes with might,

    and his arm rules for him;

behold, his reward is with him,

    and his recompense before him.

He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

    he will gather the lambs in his arms;

he will carry them in his bosom,

    and gently lead those that are with young.

This is not the start of a battle.  This is the end of the war.  

The victor returns with the reward (śāḵār) [the spoils of war] and the recompense (pᵊʿullâ) [what had been lost but now recovered].

John 6:38-40 

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Our Lord was sent out with a task and he will fulfill it.

Savior

This third Advent week we start worship with:

Luke 2:8–14

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

The glory of the Lord was last seen by the prophet Ezekiel as it was leaving the temple (Ezekiel 10:4; 10:18-19; 11:22-23) just before Judah was taken into the Babylonian captivity.   

Imagine being the first to see a glimpse of its return; would it be for judgement or for rescue?  

Imagine the relief to hear that it signaled the advent of our "Savior" (sōtēr)!

Decree

On  this second week of Advent we begin worship with:

Luke 2:1-7

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

This is the lifeless "stump of Jesse" that we heard about last week.  David's family line no longer reigned.  In fact, Joseph had to obey the distant decree of a foreign king and endure the disgrace of sleeping in the barn with the animals, when their place should have been among royalty.  

But a new shoot began to sprout about which Jesus himself said concerning the end times:

Matthew 24:32-34

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

While Caesar "decreed" (dogma) this inconvenient registration, the God the Father King Eternal is sovereign and we are under His Decree:

Matthew 24:35-36

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Righteousness

This first Advent week we begin worship with:

Isaiah 11:1-5 

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 

And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

In today’s passage, nothing is left of Jesse’s kingdom.  It is a mere stump.  For this to work, God must act, and He does!

A new shoot comes forth and on Him, the Spirit (rûaḥ) rests (nûaḥ) [Listen to the rhyme].  This is not the inaction of resting.  It is the abiding presence that provides all that is needed for Him to take His rightful place as king - wisdom, understanding, counsel and might, . . . but He does not.

Instead His delight remained in the fear (yir'â) of the LORD (Yᵊhōvâ) [Again, listen to the rhyme] and He resisted the temptation to rule so that He could become our righteousness:

Matthew 4:8-11

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God

and him only shall you serve.’”

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.