MIQUEAS 5, 1-4
The King-Savior will not be a king like David, although Micah does not yet know it. That is why Jesus will be Good News, a stupendous novelty.
Thus says the Lord:
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, small among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth.
And he shall be their peace.
Micah preaches in the southern kingdom, Judah, around 700 BC, and is a contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah. These are the times when the northern kingdom, Israel, is about to disappear at the hands of the Assyrians (721 BC), times in which preaching becomes very radical, warning Judah that their bad behavior could bring them the same fate.
In the midst of Micah’s preach, the text we read today appears. It announces the birth of a savior, and his provenance, the lineage of David. It is a manifestation of the messianic hope of the people: a savior will be born from the lineage of David. (What comes to mean, purifying the message, “a new David”, a leader of the people who will lead them on the paths of the Lord.)
Thus, “the lineage of David” means “a new king-savior”, and “Bethlehem Ephrathah” is a circumlocution to designate that lineage, since the family of David came from Bethlehem.
This text is interpreted in the New Testament as applied to Jesus (in Matthew 2:6 expressly and in John 7:42). These citations show the widespread belief in Israel in the time of Jesus about the origin of the Messiah, and also the literal interpretation of the “prophecy”.
HEBREWS 10, 5-10
God does not want sacrifices or oblations, not even the bloody death of Jesus. His oblation was his whole life, given to the Kingdom. And so must ours be.
When Christ entered the world, he said:
Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God.”
It says first, “Sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings you have not desired, nor have you taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law). Then it adds, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He negates the first to affirm the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The theology of this letter, which sometimes seems so distant to us, strives to present Jesus using images from the worship of the Old Law (the High Priest, the Sacrifice…). Here, a quote from Psalm 40 is used, slightly adapted, to refer to Jesus.
Jesus is presented as the overcoming of the sacrifices of the Old Testament, as the definitive offering before which all previous ones are abolished.
The “sacrifice” that is Jesus in this text does not refer to his death, but to his whole life, given to do the will of God. That is the offering pleasing to the Lord.
This theology of sacrifice, so often used, has a serious danger: to understand that God needs to be appeased with blood (with the blood of his Son!), that he will only grant his forgiveness “softened” by the sacrifice of his son. Unfortunately, this extreme interpretation has been used frequently, tragically distorting the image of God. Not to insist on the subject, which we already know, it is enough to remember that it is the Father who saves, who is Abbá. Because he is Abbá and saves “he did not spare even his own Son” (Romans 8). A theology healthily derived from the Gospel will always understand God as the father of the Prodigal Son, not as the Almighty outraged who is appeased by the smell of the blood of sacrifices.
Our reading of these texts must therefore insist that in Jesus, in his “body”, that is, in his humanity, in his dedication to the mission unto death, we see the saving will of God. In Jesus we know the Father, seeing Jesus we understand God as Savior.
NOCHEBUENA
ISAIAH 9:1-3 and 5-6
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They lived in a land of deep shadows, and a light shone upon them. In the night of Bethlehem, the light of God shines brightly.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light.
They lived in a land of deep shadows
and a light shone upon them.
You have multiplied the joy,
you have increased the gladness:
they rejoice in your presence as they rejoice at the harvest,
as they exult when dividing the spoil.
For the rod of the oppressor,
the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For the boots of the tramping warriors
and the garments rolled in blood
shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be
Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
This song of Isaiah is probably a liturgical hymn, appropriate for the enthronement of a king. A new king ascends the throne of David, and he is proclaimed as the Ideal King, the light of the people, the liberator, the Perfect Prince. He is the hope of the people, the presence of God’s Justice. The people know that their destiny depends on the King, the presence of God, capable of leading the people to fulfill the Covenant or of ruining everything and endangering the Promise.
The Church has always seen in this text a perfect announcement of Jesus Christ, the fullness of this hope, the presence of God’s liberation. No historical king of Judah or Israel was like this. Historically, this song was only a dream, a hope. In Jesus, it is a fulfillment, a dream come true. God with us is the Kingdom, the realization of all hopes.
TITUS 2:11-15
That child is the grace of God, the gift of God, to change our lives from top to bottom and fill them with hope.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, teaching us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Paul presents Jesus as the end, the culmination of the manifestation of God. Grace has appeared, abundance, the surpassing of mere justice. Someone has appeared in whom we can see God as He is, Savior given to men out of love. Paul also indicates our response: to renounce a life without religion, a life dedicated only to this life, waiting for the happiness we hope for. This is what will constitute the New People: their identity signs are to accept the Good News of Jesus and respond with a life dedicated to good works. Paul is a master of perfect synthesis. There are paragraphs in him where nothing is missing and nothing is superfluous. And this is undoubtedly one of them.
CHRISTMAS
ISAIAH 52:7-11
A warrior song, the joy of victory, applied to the definitive victory, the victory of the Kingdom of God, already present in Jesus.
How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
who brings the good news,
who proclaims victory,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices,
they sing together,
for they see face to face the Lord returning to Zion.
Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
It is a wonderful fragment from the “Book of Consolation”, the third part of the prophecy that we attribute to Isaiah, although it was written two centuries later by the disciples of his school.
The historical situation is precise. The Jews exiled in Babylon see their salvation drawing near. Cyrus, the king of the Persians, comes to end the Babylonian empire, to free the exiled people. Salvation is seen on the horizon, and the imminent liberation is sung about.
The style is superb. This disciple of Isaiah is a splendid theologian and a magnificent poet. It is worth reading slowly all of this “second book” of Isaiah. The watchmen burst into song together because they see Salvation coming, the power of God the Liberator. A messenger brings the Good News, peace, victory. Let the ruins of Jerusalem sing together!
The Church frequently uses these texts, transferring their meaning to Jesus, moving from the material liberation of the exiled people to the spiritual liberation of the people, from the political liberator to Jesus, Liberator from sin, from the restored kingdom and the rebuilt Jerusalem to the Kingdom of God and liberated humanity.
HEBREWS 1:1-6
Jesus read from the motifs of the Old Testament as “seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high”… But we see him wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has obtained is more excellent than theirs. For to what angel did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? And again, when he brings the first-born into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
It is an ancient treatise – it can be dated undoubtedly as prior to the year 70 – written by an author close to the circle of Paul. It strives to present Jesus as the culmination and fullness of the Old Testament.
In this text, we are offered a powerful theological synthesis of the faith in Christ of those first Christian communities. Christ, the culmination of the Prophets, the axis and meaning of creation, the reflection of the Father’s glory, savior from sins, who already triumphs at the right hand of the Father, superior even to the angels. It is an admirable synthetic treatise on Christology.
José Enrique Galarreta, S.J.