Lectionary 20: Jesus' Wonderful Kingship and our Response

Key:

What these passages tell us about God

What these passages tell us to do

What these passages tell us not to do

Commentary/observations

Reading 1 IS 60:1-6

Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the LORD shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you: your sons come from afar, and your daughters in the arms of their nurses.

Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow, for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations shall be brought to you. Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.

Responsorial Psalm PS 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13.

R.  (cf. 11) Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with your justice, the king's son; 

He shall govern your people with justice and your afflicted ones with judgment.

R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more. May he rule from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him.

R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.

Reading 11 EPH 3:2-3A, 5-6

Brothers and sisters: You have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for your benefit, namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation. It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Alleluia MT 2:2

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 2:1-12

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod,  behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage."

When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel."

Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage."

After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

1.    Jesus is king. He is the king, the king of kings, the ultimate king. He is indeed gentle and merciful, but we cannot forget that He is King of all that is, was, and ever will be.

2.   Jesus’ kingship extends to all of mankind, people of every ethnicity, nation, economic class. No one is beyond His sovereignty or His loving authority.

3.   We are wonderfully blessed to have such a king. Jesus’ kingship is perfectly benevolent and perfectly beneficial. That is wonderfully described in today’s psalm, both the portions used in the liturgy and its entirety. Other descriptions of His wonderful nature are found in  Wisdom 7:22-30, Isaiah 8:23-9:6, Isaiah 9:1-11, Isaiah 42:1-9, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, and Jeremiah 23:1-6.  Meditating on the truth described in those scriptures cannot help but give you joy and hope.

4.   Jesus’ has not yet fully exerted His authority; we have only experienced part of the goodness described in the scriptures just discussed.  We catch glimpses of it now and then through His faithful servants (Martin Luther King Jr., Desmond Tutu, Pope Francis, Mother Theresa to name a very small subset), but we have to admit that the goodness described in those scriptures is still not universal. That’s why we have had to suffer through thugs like Herod and modern equivalents. But the same scripture that has proven true in multiple aspects of our individual lives tells us that Jesus will fully exert His authority at some point, will deliver us from such thugs, and will deliver all that goodness at some point. We will experience it one way or another.

5.    So what do we do in the meantime? Today’s readings give several instructions/examples:

A.   “[P]roclaim[] the praises of the LORD.” We have a wonderful savior Who does and inspires great goodness. We have to let folks know about that aspect of His nature to give them (and us) hope.

B.   “Go and search diligently for [Jesus]… go and do him homage." Although the thug who spoke those words was not sincere, his words, in of themselves, ring true. We need to affirmatively and intentionally seek out Jesus wherever and in whatever form He may presently be found. That gives us purpose at all times and great joy during the times we find Him. Further, every time we find Him we are better equipped to do our parts in helping His kingdom come and His will be done.

C.   Follow the Magi’s’ example by opening our treasures to Jesus and offering Him our gifts. We each have some resources and skills that will benefit others. Put them to work delivering Jesus’ goodness. Others will benefit and you will experience great joy in the process.

What We Can Learn from Jesus’ Nativity: Mary and Joseph’s Journey to Bethlehem and Jesus’ Birth There (Luke 2:1-7)

Luke 2:1-7

Now it happened that at this time Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be made of the whole inhabited world. ²This census -- the first -- took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria, ³and everyone went to be registered, each to his own town.     

⁴So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee for Judaea, to David's town called Bethlehem, since he was of David's House and line,

⁵in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. ⁶Now it happened that, while they were there, the time came for her to have her child,⁷and she gave birth to a son, her first-born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the living-space.

1.    This is the antithesis of the prosperity gospel; it illustrates that being in God’s will, even powerfully so, does not exempt one from the troubles of life. Mary and Joseph were clearly yielded to and executing God’s will, but nonetheless experienced:

A.   A tough journey. They had to travel approximately 65 miles/104 kilometers, likely on foot or at best via donkey/mule/horse, when Mary was very pregnant.

B.   Adverse economic impact. They probably lost income because Joseph was apparently diverted from his work.  They incurred the expenses of the journey.  And they had few resources to fall back on; the sacrifice described in Luke 2:22-24 indicates that they had limited means.  See Leviticus 12:8.

C.    Social stress. Mary had to meet her in laws in very awkward circumstances (during a seemingly illegitimate pregnancy). Joseph’s family seemed less than receptive, relegating him and his very pregnant wife to the manger; that would be like putting your out of town relations up in your garage, barn, or storage shed.

D.   Great uncertainty. Mary had to birth her first child away from her mother and her other family/social supports. Further, these circumstances were far from what most would expect based on what the angel told Mary about their child as described in Luke 1:32; that must have raised doubts in their minds.

E.    Tension/conflict between each other. Anyone who has been married for a while has experienced the dynamic of stressful circumstances causing tension or conflict with his or her spouse. The description in Luke 2:41-50 of Mary and Joseph’s reaction to another stressful situation suggests that they reacted to stresses in ways similar to other couples. The high level of stress involved in their journey to and experiences in Bethlehem makes it likely that those stresses caused tension/conflict between Mary and Joseph.

2.    What the holy family went through, tough as it was, is consistent with scripture:

A.   Sirach 2 is quite explicit in stating that those who serve God experience hardship. That dynamic is illustrated by Moses’ troubles while he lead the Israelites through the desert, David’s as he was pursued by Saul, and Elijah’s conflict with Ahab and Jezebel and his depression after the confrontation with the prophets of Baal.

B.   The prophecies about Messiah make it clear that He would suffer. See Isaiah 49:4, Isaiah 49:7, Isaiah 50:6, Isaiah 52:14, Isaiah 53:2-4, Isaiah 53:7-8, Isaiah 53:10.

C.    The Messiah’s own teaching and the teachings of his disciples make it clear that His followers will suffer hardship. See e.g. John 15:18-21, John 16:20 and 33,  Romans 5:3-5, Romans 8:17-18, James 1:2-4,  1 Peter 4:12-19.

3.    Mary and Joseph’s hardships were not meaningless, but had purposes:

A.   They help people accept that Jesus is Messiah by fulfilling prophecies about His humble background and birth.  See Micah 5:1-2.

B.   They make it evident that Jesus can relate to, and is approachable by, the very least of us by showing that He was born homeless. See Hebrews 4:15-16.

4.    The matters described here provide insights into the often invoked dynamic described in Genesis 5:20  and Romans 8:28:

A.   It illustrates that the good that God brings out of hardship sometimes flows to persons other than those who experience the hardship. Billions have benefitted from the good that came out of Mary and Joseph’s hardships travelling to and at Bethlehem.

B.   It illustrates that the good that God creates out of hardship can be manifested in times and circumstances far removed from the time/circumstances of the hardship. The good that came—and still comes—from Mary and Joseph’s hardships in and on the way to Bethlehem is manifested across the world and (so far) across two millennia.

C.    It illustrates that those undergoing the hardships do not always understand the good that will come of the hardships as they are going through them. As discussed at point 1(D) above, Mary and Joseph were likely confused by the apparent disconnect between their circumstances and what they were told about the Child who came to them at Bethlehem. Further, one of the prophecies about that Child indicate that He too would not fully appreciate what would come of the sufferings He endured as He endured them. See Isaiah 49:4. This dynamic is also alluded to in  Sirach 2:1-5 and Isaiah 53:2.

5.    The immediate cause of this hardship (the census imposed by Rome) illustrates that God uses secular powers/events to further His divine plans:

A.    We see other examples of this in His using secularly motivated invasions to take Israel and Judah into exile and to deliver Judah from Exile. The general principle that God uses secular authorities to deliver good to mankind is reflected in Romans 13:3-4 and 1 Peter 2:13-14.   

B.    That does not mean that everything that secular authorities do delivers God’s goodness or is in God’s will. The decrees about the Hebrews described in Exodus 1:8-22 are examples of a secular authority’s actions that are not manifestations of God’s goodness/will. Similarly, the fact that scripture repeatedly warns against government treating the vulnerable unjustly is evidence that secular governments repeatedly stray from God’s will.  Scriptures to that effect are collected in Wisdom Principles: We must strive for fair justice, to maintain the rule of law for all, especially the weak.