Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 22, 2019

First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16

Christmas is drawing near, and we can all but feel the Incarnation – God becoming human in Jesus, the Messiah – in our readings for the fourth Sunday of Advent.

The Angel Visiting Joseph in a Dream (c.1628-1645). Oil painting by Georges du Mesnil de La Tour (1593-1652). Musee des Beaux-Arts, Nantes, France. (Click image to enlarge.)

In our first reading, we hear the prophet Isaiah describing the Messiah as a good king, a worthy successor to King David. The prophet warns David’s descendant, King Ahaz of Judah, that his land will soon be conquered; but a child named Immanuel – “God With Us” – will be born to a young woman, and the child will eventually bring good in place of evil.

Psalm: Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

This psalm of lament over Israel’s exile remembers the shame and disappointment of being conquered. It calls on God in a sorrowful voice, asking to be spared the divine anger that has left the people with “bowls of tears to drink” as their enemies laugh them to scorn. Send a man of God’s right hand, the strong son of man, the Psalmist begs, promising that the people will never again turn from God’s way if only God will save them.

Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7

Paul gets directly to the point as he opens his letter to the young church in Rome, a congregation that he has not yet met. He tells them that he is an apostle of Jesus, called to that ministry; that Jesus is the son of God, the descendant of David whom the prophets had foretold; and that through his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ is Lord, the Son of God. He comes to them in Jesus’ name, he assures his mostly Gentile audience: They, too, are God’s beloved. Only after offering these important assurances does he come back to a proper formal greeting: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Gospel: Matthew 1:18-25

In Sunday’s Gospel we come to the brink of Christmas, but there’s a bump in the road: Joseph has learned that his young fiancee is pregnant, but not with his child! We can easily imagine how a man in the culture of the ancient Near East might react to such news. But Joseph, a righteous man, decides to end the engagement quietly, without scandal or gossip. Before this can happen, though, an angel appears to Joseph and assures him that Mary is bearing God’s son. In words almost mirroring the Isaiah prophecy, the angel announces, “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.” (The Hebrew word translated as “young woman” in Isaiah now reappears in the New Testament as “virgin” in Greek.)