Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 30, 2018
First Reading: Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Christmas has come: Rejoice! Joy to the world: The Word of God that brought the world into being now comes to us in Jesus, the light through which we can see God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and now lives among us.
Announcement to the shepherds (c.1600), painting in the manner of Abraham Bloemaert (1564-1651). Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, the Netherlands. Click image to enlarge.)
In our first reading, the Prophet Isaiah sings out the joy and exultation that mark the end of the people’s exile in Babylon and their return to Jerusalem. Furthermore, Isaiah’s song expresses hope that God will restore the city and the temple as a light of the world, a new Zion that will spring up like a garden to show God’s righteousness and justice.
The last six of 150 Psalms bring the ancient temple’s hymn book to a close with a triumphant climax of praise and celebration. Psalm 147 echoes Isaiah’s song of triumphant celebration, thanking and praising God for restoring Jerusalem and bringing the exiles home. Using metaphors of grain and wool, warmth and healing, the Psalmist invokes God’s Word of creation and God’s Spirit wind that bring warmth and life and make Earth’s waters flow.
Second Reading: Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7
In this early letter to the Christian community in Galatia, Asia Minor, Paul reminds us that God sent Jesus, born of a woman and fully human, to make us all the children and heirs of God. In its original context, Paul was offering\ advice to a mixed community of Jewish and Gentile Christians who were struggling between accepting God’s free gift of grace through faith, contrasting with the works required by the discipline of the old law. Paul’s arguments here, and in his later letter to the Romans, fueled a great debate over justification by faith or works centuries later in the Reformation.
Gospel: John 1:1-18
“In the beginning … ” The first words of John’s Gospel exactly mirror the first words of Genesis: “In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth,” God’s Word, “Let there be light,” opened up creation. The Word of God that brought the world into being comes to us now as Jesus, the light through which we can see God. The Word was with God, and now lives among us.