18 December – First Reading

Commentary on Jeremiah 23:5-8

Today’s reading comes from one of three prose sermons which seem to originate either from the period of exile in Babylon or soon after the return to Jerusalem. After scolding Judah’s rulers for scattering Judah, in today’s passage God promises to establish an upright member, a “Branch”, of David’s line over a restored Israel.

‘Branch’ is used elsewhere as a messianic title. Zerubbabel, whose name means ‘branch/shoot of Babylon’, was one of the leaders in the return of the Jews from exile. And he was a descendant of David.

The Messiah, unlike any previous descendant of David, will be the ideal King. He will sum up in himself all the finest qualities of the best rulers, and infinitely more. He will rule responsibly before God as a real king and not as a puppet like King Zedekiah. He will be a true shepherd for his people, free of the corruption found in so many of Judah’s rulers. He will:

…deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

He will be called “The Lord is our righteousness”. This is in contrast with the present ruler, Zedekiah, whose name in Hebrew meant ‘the Lord [Yahweh] is my justice’. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon originally gave this name to Mattaniah when he was appointed king.

Zedekiah was the last king of Judah (597-587 BC). He was a tragic figure. He tried to enter into an alliance with surrounding peoples, including Egypt, to rebel against Babylon. But he suffered defeat and was led off to Babylon. Here his two sons were executed in his presence and then his own two eyes were gouged out. Although Zedekiah did not in any way live up to his name ‘the Lord is our righteousness’, the new Lord of Righteousness will bring many blessings to his people and give them all that they need to be truly God’s people.

A new era is on the way. People will no longer be thinking of God as the one who brought his people out of Egypt. Rather, they will think of him as the one who brought his people from their place of exile to live once more on their own soil. This will be the ‘New Exodus’, one of even greater significance than the earlier one. And it will not be complete until the Messiah comes and establishes the Kingdom of God, not only in Israel, but throughout the world—bringing true justice and peace to all.

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17 December – Gospel

Commentary on Matthew 1:1-17

Perhaps this passage is regarded as one of the dullest Gospel readings of the year! It consists of a long list of names, many of which mean very little to most Christians. But it has one resounding message: Jesus fully entered our human condition, with all its virtues and vices.

One of the main purposes of Matthew’s Gospel, which was written for Jewish Christians by Jewish Christians, is to show the continuity of Jesus in the history and tradition of Israel. Jesus was no upstart; still less was he a rebel or a traitor. On the contrary, he was the natural development of the long process of God’s relationship with his people. Not only was he the natural development, he was the long-awaited climax. He was no less than the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed King of Israel.

Today’s passage from Matthew is the opening of his Gospel. It is introduced with the words:

An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

These two names are the most significant in the family line. Jesus, as the Messiah—the Christ—will be a King in the line of David. And he is descended from Abraham to whom God had said:

…and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves… (Gen 22:18)

The genealogy is divided into three significant parts, each with fourteen generations. This is probably because the numerical value of the Hebrew letters in David’s name amounts to 14. The third and last list actually only contains 13 names. Perhaps Matthew meant Jesus’ name to be part of the list. After all, the genealogy of Jesus continues beyond him to his followers. Or perhaps a scribe somewhere along the line got his numbers mixed up; there is no way to know.

The first part is from Abraham down to David; the second, from David to the deportation to Babylon; and the third, from the deportation to Joseph and Mary. Of course, it is not a complete genealogy. The names mentioned all appear one way or another in the Hebrew Testament. There are four women mentioned—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Mary—each one of them an interesting character in her own right. There are also a number of scoundrels in the list. Even David, one of the most outstanding servants of God, was an adulterer and a murderer (apart from those he killed in war).

When the Son of God became a human being, he really did become one of us. The Gospel makes no effort to ‘sanitise’ his origins, or the members of his immediate family. There is no shortage of skeletons in Jesus’ cupboard. John said no less than the truth when he wrote:

…the Word became flesh and lived among us… (John 1:14)

As well, if Jesus was totally incarnated in the world so that he could communicate the message of God’s love to the world and for the world, then we too, must be totally incarnated. We are not true to our calling if we think that, in order to be true to Jesus, we have to separate ourselves from a material and sinful world. We cannot be the “salt of the earth” unless we are fully inserted into it. But this happens only when we also fully identify with the values and concerns of the Kingdom. Otherwise we are salt without taste.

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17 December – First Reading

Commentary on Genesis 49:2,8-10

In today’s First Reading, Jacob is on his death bed and making his last statement to his family. It is the longest poem in Genesis. The reading is part of what is known as the ‘Blessings of Jacob’, although they are more like prophecies than blessings. This is especially true of the passages in today’s reading. And it is directed, not so much to the sons of Jacob, but more to the tribes who bore their name.

Although this passage ostensibly refers to Jacob’s immediate descendants, in fact, the final writing dates from the time of David (much later), with possibly some earlier elements contained in it. Its contents really concern the time of the Judges and the Kings. It was at this later time that it would have been inserted into the Genesis narrative. Put together from preexisting songs and sayings, it looks at the tribes of Israel in their early days in Canaan. It is put here to signify the closing of a historical period—that covered by the Book of Genesis.

Two of the tribes stand out—those of Judah and Joseph. Judah is seen as coming to dominate all the others, but not permanently:

The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him,
and the obedience of the peoples is his.

Another reading of “until tribute comes to him” in the original Hebrew text translates as “until he comes to whom it belongs”. This is a reference to the Messiah. Judah will be the one through whom the promises made to Abraham and Jacob will be fulfilled. Judah was the fourth born to Jacob’s wife Leah, and also the fourth son born to Jacob, but his three older brothers, for various reasons, lost their right to family leadership.

Judah is shown as preeminent over his brothers:

…your brothers shall praise you…your father’s sons [i.e. his brothers] shall bow down before you.

From the time of the second journey of Jacob’s sons to Joseph in Egypt, Judah acted as their spokesman. Judah, under the name of Ephraim, did in fact become the most influential of the northern tribes and would form the nucleus of the future kingdom of Israel. And through his descendant David, he would be an ancestor of Jesus—hence the purpose of today’s reading.

Judah is called a “lion’s whelp” (or “lion’s cub”) as a symbol of power, strength and courage. In later times, he is often pictured as a lion and, in Revelation (5:5), Jesus himself is called the “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”.

The meaning of the closing prophecy is obscure, but it is often read in a Messianic sense—fulfilled first of all in David, and ultimately in Christ, the Messiah. It is to Jesus Christ that the “sceptre”, the ruling power, ultimately belongs.

Both the First Reading and today’s Gospel, which contains Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, emphasise Jesus’ roots going back to the very beginnings of Israel. Jesus was a Jew through and through, and linked with many of the most significant characters in Israel’s turbulent history.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Child Jesus in Bethlehem, we need to remember that the content of today’s readings is an important aspect of the Incarnation. Jesus did not just appear as an isolated human being. He came from God, but he is also intimately and crucially linked with the history of his own people. And because of that, so are we.

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