Bible Tuesday for Advent III, 2016

Isaiah 35:1-10

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus 2it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
the majesty of our God.

3 Strengthen the weak hands,
and make firm the feeble knees.
4 Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
‘Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
He will come and save you.’

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then the lame shall leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
7 the burning sand shall become a pool,
and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,*
the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

8 A highway shall be there,
and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,*
but it shall be for God’s people;*
no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
9 No lion shall be there,
nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there.
10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
they shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

In the previous chapters of Isaiah, the prophet described the lands of Israel and Judah as being wastelands, ravaged by Babylonia due to Israel and Judah’s sins against God. In the above chapter, the prophet describes the beginning of the Israelite exiles journey back from Babylonia to Mt. Zion in Jerusalem when their captivity is over.

The normal route from Babylonia to Jerusalem follows the Euphrates River north and then southwest, around the desert. But in this passage, the prophet states that God will cause the desert to bloom with crocuses, and plenty of water so that the exiles do not waste time traveling up and around but take the direct route through the desert back to God’s Holy Mountain, Zion.

Verse 8 of this chapter tells us that “the unclean shall not travel on it”. This is because God, himself, will travel with the returning exiles, reflecting God’s leading of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. Since God will be personally present, all must be ritually clean.

God’s presence among these sorrowing exiles will expel grief and exhaustion, blindness and lameness, deafness and loss of speech. It is the personal presence of God which causes colorless deserts of mourning to break forth into lush colors of life and healing.

Luke 1:46-55

And Mary* said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
48 for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.’

It is profound that an unwed pregnant teenager would wax so eloquently and gratefully as this, the Magnificat. Pregnancy outside of marriage in Biblical times did not just get a teen girl into great grief with her parents, her family, her friends, and church, but with the whole people of Israel, who would stone her to death. Yet here Mary is singing about how grateful she is that God was working this wonder in her life, and through her life for all Israel.

James 5:7-10

7 Be patient, therefore, beloved,* until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. 8You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.* 9Beloved,* do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is standing at the doors! 10As an example of suffering and patience, beloved,* take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

The writer of James first wrote these words within 50 years of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. He wrote them to people who expected to see Jesus return with all the angels any day now. I am sure both the writer and his audience would have their minds blown that 2000 years later we are reading their correspondence while still waiting for the return of Jesus.

James invokes Jesus’ “Judge not or else you will be judged.” In this case, the judge described as standing at the door is Jesus. Instead of judging, the writer follows in the tradition of the book of Hebrews and calls the reader/listener to follow the path of the faithful in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Matthew 11:2-11

When John heard in prison what the Messiah* was doing, he sent word by his* disciples 3and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ 4Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers* are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. 6And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’

7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 8What then did you go out to see? Someone* dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. 9What then did you go out to see? A prophet?* Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10This is the one about whom it is written,
“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.”
11Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

As I stated a couple weeks ago, the gospel of Matthew makes a strong point on numerous occasions to point out how Jesus fulfills the prophecies in the Old Testament. Verses 2-6 is one such occasion.

In verses 7-11, Jesus addresses the crowds about John the Baptist. John was an anomaly to which many gawkers flocked. When Jesus asks the crowds why they went to see John the Baptist, there are some idioms in his questions which are puzzling to the modern reader.

“A reed shaken by the wind?” – John the Baptist railed against the then King of the Jews, Herod the Great. First, Herod was actually Jewish but was an Edomite, a descendant of Esau, not Jacob. Second, Herod had his brother assassinated in order to stead his wife. Third, Herod the Great was in Rome’s pocket. A lot of grist for John’s mill! The currency Herod the Great had minted for use by the Jews and in the Temple in Jerusalem did not have his face on it, as that would be a violation of the second commandment “You shall not make for yourselves graven images…” Instead, that coinage bore Herod’s sign, two reeds, or two palm fronts, the long skinny kind. “A reed shaken by the wind” is Herod bristling at John’s accusations.

“Someone dressed in soft robes?” – Soft robes were worn by a person of power who didn’t have to labor all day for a meal. While John the Baptist lived a unique lifestyle, he was certainly not pampered.

“A prophet? Yes, and more than a prophet…Yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” – John the Baptist was the harbinger of the covenant come to life, the Messiah as God intended messiah to be. John spoke “truth to power” in the tradition of the great prophets: Jeremiah, Elijah, Hosea, Isaiah. But, John is also the last of his kind because he is announcing the dawning of a new era when prophets are not necessary because God in the flesh speaks for himself. Those who believe the words that Jesus speaks dwell in the Kingdom of God.