Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 17, 2023 (Advent 3B)

Magnificat: La Visitation (1491), tempera painting on panel by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1448-1494). The Louvre, Paris. (Click image to enlarge.)

First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

On the Third Sunday of Advent it is customary to light the one pink candle on the Advent wreath, a hint of rejoicing in a season that we otherwise associate with preparation and expectation. Now our Lectionary readings for Advent shift from the fire and upheaval of an apocalyptic Judgement Day toward a different kind of expectation: A joyful hope that anticipates God’s restorative justice coming with the Messiah. In our first reading, the Prophet Isaiah – writing words that Jesus will later read and declare fulfilled in his presence when he speaks in the synagogue at Nazareth – tells the people that God will comfort all who mourn. God’s good news will come to the poor, the oppressed, captives and prisoners, turning them from mourning to gladness.

Psalm: Psalm 126

Just as Isaiah told the people in exile of God’s promise that justice and righteousness would be restored, here the Psalmist sings that God’s promise has been fulfilled. God has indeed restored the fortunes of the Temple on Mount Zion, the Psalmist exults. Throughout this short Psalm’s seven verses we hear shouts of laughter, joy, gladness, or praise. God has been good, the Psalmist sings. God has turned the people’s tears into songs of joy; their weeping into a bountiful harvest.

Alternate Psalm: Canticle 15

The Magnificat, the deeply meaningful Song of Mary (Luke 1:46-55), may be sung as an alternative to Psalm 126 on this day. Mary sings this powerful song as she greets her relative, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist, feels the infant move with joy inside her when Mary comes in. Elizabeth declares Mary the blessed mother of God, full of grace. In response, Mary sings these startlingly radical verses that echo the Isaiah passage and foreshadow Jesus’ own teaching. These are liberating verses of distributive justice. Mary praises a God who scatters the proud, casts down the mighty, and sends the rich away hungry, while filling the hungry with good things.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Paul concludes his short first letter to the Thessalonians with themes consistent with those that we heard in the first readings from 1 Corinthians and 2 Peter on the first two Sundays of Advent. He urges the people to rejoice always, pray unceasingly, and give thanks for all things, staying faithful and filled with the Spirit. Hold fast to the good and abstain from every kind of evil, he urges them, so they will be ready, “sound and blameless,” when Jesus returns.

Gospel: John 1:6-8,19-28

Following the story of Jesus with John the Baptist in Mark’s Gospel last Sunday, we now turn to the vision of John the Baptist as told in the Gospel according to John. This version makes no mention of the Baptist’s attire or his dietary preferences. Rather, it quickly moves into a tense scene in which the Temple authorities, worried about the noisy crowds surrounding John, want to know just exactly who John is. John replies that he is not a new prophet; nor is he Elijah. Repeating the Isaiah verses that we heard last week, John declares himself the voice crying out in the wilderness, calling on the people to make straight the way of the Lord. He baptizes with water, John says, to make way for the one who is coming after him, who is so much greater that John is unworthy to untie his sandals.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 13, 2020

First Reading: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

The third Sunday of Advent is sometimes called Rose Sunday, when it’s traditional to light the pink candle on the Advent wreath. The more festive color marks light in the darkness as our Advent readings turn from the hope and fear of end times and Judgement Day. Now our thoughts move toward the Incarnation, the Messiah, the coming birth of Jesus on Christmas Day.

Madonna of the Magnificat (1483), tempera painting on panel by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), The Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. (Click image to enlarge.)

In the first reading, we hear the Prophet Isaiah speaking to the people returning home from exile in Babylon to a devastated Jerusalem. In words that share some of the coventantal themes that we also hear this week in the alternate to the Psalm, the Song of Mary, the prophet declares that God’s good news comes to the poor, the oppressed, captives and prisoners. This is the same passage that Luke’s Gospel says Jesus read in his first visit in the synagogue at Nazareth.

Psalm: Psalm 126

Just as Isaiah told the people in exile of God’s promise that justice and righteousness would be restored, here the Psalmist sings that God’s promise has been fulfilled. God has indeed restored the fortunes of the Temple on Mount Zion, the Psalmist exults. Every verse of this short Psalm contains a shout of laughter, joy, gladness, or praise. God has been good. God has turned the people’s tears into songs of joy; their weeping into a bountiful harvest.

Alternate to the Psalm: Luke 1:46-55 (Canticle 15)

In place of the Psalm assigned for this day we may sing the Magnificat, the beautiful Song of Mary. In this passage from the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Mary has just been told by an angel that she will bear the Messiah, and goes to visit her relative, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, pregnant with the child who will be John the Baptist, feels the infant move with joy inside her when Mary comes in. Elizabeth declares Mary the blessed mother of God, full of grace. In response, Mary sings these starkly radical verses that foreshadow Jesus’ own teaching. They are liberating verses that praise a God who scatters the proud, casts down the mighty, and sends the rich away hungry, while filling the hungry with good things.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Closing his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul urges the people to be prepared in prayer and rejoicing for Christ’s return. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,” he urges the people, telling them to give thanks for all things, stay faithful and be filled with the Spirit. Hold fast to what is good and abstain from every kind of evil, he urges them, so they will be ready, “sound and blameless,” when Jesus Christ returns.

Gospel: John 1:6-8,19-28

This Sunday we hear the story of John the Baptist from the evangelist John. This version, in contrast with Mark’s account, makes no mention of the Baptist’s attire or his dietary preferences, but opens on a tense scene: The Temple authorities, worried about the noisy crowds surrounding him, want to know who John is. He is not the Messiah, nor a new prophet nor Elijah, John says. Rather, he says – quoting from the Isaiah verses that we heard last week – he is the voice of the one crying out in the wilderness, calling on the people to make straight the way of the Lord. He baptizes with water, John says, not for his own sake but to make way for the one who is coming after him, who is so much greater than John that John is unworthy to untie his sandals.

Thoughts on Sunday’s Lessons for Dec. 17, 2017

John the Baptist pointing toward the crucified Jesus. Detail from the Isenheim Altarpiece (1512-16), oil on wood panel by Matthias Grünewald (1480-1528). (Click image to enlarge.)

Watch as the Advent candle is lighted on Sunday: The one pink candle, a symbol of rejoicing, marks this day. Midway through Advent, our readings shift from a focus on the fire and upheaval of an apocalyptic Judgement Day toward a different kind of hope, a joyful hope that looks forward to God’s restorative justice that will come with the Messiah. The Prophet Isaiah – writing prophecy that Jesus will later declare fulfilled in his presence when he speaks in the synagogue at Nazareth – tells the people that God will comfort all who mourn. God’s good news will come to the poor, the oppressed, captives and prisoners, turning their state to gladness instead of mourning.

Psalm: Psalm 126

As Isaiah told the people in exile of God’s promise that justice and righteousness would be restored, the Psalmist sings that God’s promise was in fact fulfilled, that God has indeed done great things for Zion, the mountain in Jerusalem where the Temple stood, and thus, if frequent biblical metaphor, the Temple itself. Every verse of this short Psalm contains a shout of laughter, joy, gladness, and praise. God has been good. God has turned the people’s tears into songs of joy; their weeping into a bountiful harvest.

Alternative to the Psalm: Luke 1:46-55 (Canticle 15)

As an optional alternative to the Psalm, we may sing the Magnificat, the beautiful Song of Mary. In Luke’s Gospel Mary bursts into this powerful song when she greets her relative, Elizabeth. Elizabeth with John the Baptist, feels the infant move with joy inside her when the pregnant Mary comes in. Elizabeth declares Mary the blessed mother of God, full of grace. In response, Mary sings these startlingly radical verses that echo Isaiah and foreshadow Jesus’ own teaching; liberating verses that praise a God who scatters the proud, casts down the mighty, and sends the rich away hungry, while filling the hungry with good things.

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Paul concludes his short first letter to the Thessalonians with themes consistent with those that we heard in the first readings from 1 Corinthians and 2 Peter on the first two Sundays of Advent. He urges the people to rejoice always, pray unceasingly, and give thanks for all things, staying faithful and filled with the Spirit. Hold fast to the good and abstain from every kind of evil, he urges them, so they will be ready, “sound and blameless,” when Jesus Christ returns.

Gospel: John 1:6-8,19-28

Following the story of John the Baptist in Mark’s Gospel last Sunday, we now turn to the Gospel according to John. This version makes no mention of the Baptist’s attire or his dietary preferences, but opens into a tense scene in which the Temple authorities, worried about the noisy crowds surrounding John, want to know who he is. He is neither a new prophet nor Elijah, John says, but – quoting from the Isaiah verses that we heard last week – the voice crying out in the wilderness, calling on the people to make straight the way of the Lord. He baptizes with water, John says, to make way for the one who is coming after him, who is so much greater that John is unworthy to untie his sandals.

Thoughts on Today’s Lessons for Dec. 14, 2014

John the Baptist in the Wilderness

It’s Rose Sunday! Today we light the pink candle on the Advent wreath, and our Advent readings start to turn from the hope and fear of end times and Judgement Day to thoughts of the Incarnation, the Messiah, the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. The Prophet Isaiah speaks to the people returning from exile to a devastated Jerusalem, assuring them that God’s good news comes to the poor, the oppressed, captives and prisoners. Later, according to Luke’s Gospel, Jesus will read these same verses in the synagogue at Nazareth, declaring that this scripture was fulfilled on that day.

Psalm: Psalm 126

Today’s Psalm sings the people’s joy at God’s promise through Isaiah having been fulfilled for the people, as it joyfully exults that God did, indeed, restore Jerusalem’s fortunes. God has been good. God has turned the people’s tears into songs of joy; their weeping into a bountiful harvest.

Psalm: Canticle 15

In place of a Psalm today we sing the the Magnificat, the beautiful words from Luke’s Gospel that we often include in Morning and Evening Prayer. The Angel Gabriel has told Mary, a virgin, that she will give birth to the Messiah, the heir of King David. When she feels the infant move in her womb, she rejoices in a poetic celebration that echoes Isaiah and that, perhaps, her son Jesus would hear from his mother: “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.”

Second Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Closing his short first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul builds on his prior verses that had urged the people to be prepared in prayer and rejoicing for Christ’s return. He encourages them to be faithful and filled with the Spirit, seeking to do good and avoid evil so as to be ready – “sound and blameless” – when Jesus Christ returns.

Gospel: John 1:6-8,19-28

The Advent readings weave together in a pattern as this week’s Gospel shows us John the Baptist quoting the verses from Isaiah that we had heard in last week’s First Reading. Now, says John, he is in fact the voice crying out in the wilderness, calling on the people to make straight the way of the Lord. This is to be done not for his own sake, says John, but to make way for the one who is coming after him – Jesus – who is so much greater that John is unworthy to untie his sandals.