First Sunday after Christmas - Year B

Sermon Notes from the Church’s Ministry Among Jewish People

RCL Readings – Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 148; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:22-40.

ACNA Readings – Isaiah 61:10-62:5; Psalm 147:12-20; Galatians 3:23-4:7; John 1:1-18.


Introduction.Christmas is not a day; it is a season. The Christmas season lasts 12 days beginning on 25th December and ends with the Epiphany Eve on January 5th.[1] [2] The Christmas season includes celebrating or remembering: the first coming of the Messiah and the life He chose to live among men; the evil of mankind in the death of the innocents of Bethlehem; and the circumcision of Jesus–for God is a keeper of covenants and will never abandon His promises.


Common Theme. Actual common theme: Transformation


Transformative power of God/Messiah: child to son, builder to bridegroom, shame to inheritance Isaiah/Galatians/John etc



The Biblical and theological message of Christmas is desperately needed in the world today. Christmas offers a fallen world the message that God has not forgotten His creation, that He is not aloof from the struggles we face. Instead the message is one of intimacy and intervention. The Lord has come to make things right. This message of love, hope, light and life too often gets drowned out by the news and media obsessed with Christmas sales and self indulgence. The good news is that God so loved the world! The readings this Sunday highlight the universal nature of God’s love and the universal response from all of creation back to God. 


Hebraic Context. Actual Context: Spiritual vs Physicality of the Jewish World


Universalism is the belief that everyone will be saved. This belief rests on the principle that God is all loving and thus He would not allow anyone to end up in hell. The Biblical view of salvation is that redemption is indeed universal in the sense that salvation is available to all peoples but not that everyone would be saved. God had promised Abraham that through him all nations would be blessed. Exactly how that blessing would apply to all peoples of the earth is not defined in Genesis 12. But Gentiles have always been participants in the redemptive story of the Jewish people.[3] [4]


When Israel was redeemed from Egypt at Passover, a mixed multitude accompanied them into the wilderness. According to Jewish tradition, when God spoke the Torah on Mt Sinai He did so in a voice that was heard by all the nations of the world.[5] Later, the prophets and the psalms expand on the coming redemption that would be offered to both Israel and the nations.[6] 


Isaiah 61:10-62:5. This passage in Isaiah cannot be separated from the opening verses of the chapter with the well known declaration of the ‘year of the Lord’s favour’. The context is the future redemptive activity of the Lord through the one who is going to be anointed by the Spirit of God.[7] The good news will not be limited to the Jewish people. The prophet Isaiah declares that not only will his own soul rejoice to see God bring about His promised redemption, but that all the nations of the world will see God fulfill His word. Salvation might come from within the Jewish people through the anointed one, but the salvation brought will be extended to the Gentile nations. Here salvation is paired with righteousness in classic hebraic parallelism.[8] Through this pairing ‘righteousness’ is understood as the redemptive saving activity of God. In connection to the common theme of universal salvation, verse 11 declares that, ‘righteousness and praise will spring up before all nations’. God is merciful and generous to bring His redemptive activity to all peoples. Because of this, Isaiah says, ‘he will not keep silent’. In the same vein and with the same passion we too must decide that, ‘for Zion’s sake’ we cannot keep the message of the Christmas season quiet. The whole world needs the message of redemption and hope. 


Psalm 148.[9] Psalm 148 is a call for all of creation to praise God and is one of several psalms that both begin and end with the word ‘Hallelujah’. The author of the psalm remains unknown, but what is known is the author’s desire that we worship the Lord. The word ‘Hallelujah’ is an imperative to praise God; essentially, it is a command. Initially, the heavens–comprising not only the angelic host but also heavenly bodies like the sun and moon–are called upon to praise God.[10] Then, from verse 7, the earth and all its inhabitants, both people and animals, join in the heavenly worship. Kings, princes, judges, young and old are all prompted to worship the Lord, highlighting the universal aspect of the psalm. The ocean depths are specifically mentioned as partaking in the call to praise. In the ancient world, the sea was considered an unknown realm of chaos–unpredictable and dangerous, with no one understanding what lay underneath the surface. Here the psalmist requires even the realm of chaos to contribute in the adoration of God. The Lord is not a local deity; He is the God of all creation–God is the first cause and author or all: whether in heaven or on earth; whether Jew or Gentile.


Galatians 3:23-4:7. The relationship between the Gentiles and the Torah is a complex one. On one hand, the Gentiles have always been a part of the redemptive story of Israel. On the other hand, God gave His instructions and guidance, the Torah, specifically to Israel at Mt Sinai.[11] Here, Paul reminds the Galatians that the law (Torah) was not some cruel taskmaster, nor something to be despised but was actually our guardian. The Greek word is paidagogos παιδαγωγός and can be translated as ‘schoolmaster’. The concept is not one of a harsh disciplinarian in which the law is viewed as mean and nasty, but rather one of protective custody and a shield of defense–it is described this way as a good thing.[12] Paul understood that the role the law had as a guardian was temporary.[13] The new and better guardian would be the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, which Gentiles and Jews would receive at baptism. Paul describes being baptised with Christ as being clothed with Christ. What we wear can express many things about ourselves to others. Our choices of clothing can have a lot of meaning. In antiquity, clothing often represented a national or religious identity. For example, many Jewish people dressed in a certain way and they could be distinguished from Gentiles by ‘tassels’ attached to outer garments. People would often react and behave differently based on the identity of people they would encounter.[14] Paul uses the image of changing clothing to ‘putting on Christ’ occurring at the baptism event. By putting on Christ we will both change our own behaviour and others will behave differently when they meet us. In the early church the baptismal service would include the wearing of white garments by everyone in attendance. The new convert would be given his or her white garment after being baptised. He or she, regardless of gender and social standing, would appear equal with everyone in the community. Verse 28 could be an early baptismal proclamation formula, as there were now ‘no males, no females, no slaves or free, rich or poor, Jews or Gentiles’. Presumably once the service was over and the community disbanded to go back to everyday life, slaves continued as slaves and free people continued as free people. But when the community would gather again together for worship, the prayers, breaking of bread and fellowship, those social boundaries would cease to divide people. Jewish people would remain in that identity as would the Gentiles. 


Luke 2:22-40. The circumcision[15] and purification rites that Jesus underwent at the appropriate ages, are a strong reminder of the Jewishness of Jesus.[16] The presentation of Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem also serves to remind us that Mary and Joseph are pious Jews themselves. Luke presents Jesus as coming from a devout, but poor family. Luke notes that the offering His parents could afford was of two doves. This was the sacrifice that a poor person could present to the Lord, as Leviticus 12 dictates that a lamb was to be the appropriate sacrifice. Poverty was never something that should keep people away from worship of the Lord. Indeed, the poor were always going to be some of the first to hear the good news.[17] According to the Hebrew Scriptures, there were two places where the Messiah would appear suddenly. One was the desert, as prophesied by Isaiah 40:3, and the other was in the Temple, as proclaimed by Malachi 3:1. Simeon is called a righteous man who was ‘waiting for the consolation of Israel’. The ‘consolation of Israel’ παράκλησις paráklēsis may refer to the opening words of comfort spoken by Isaiah 40 which uses the same root word in Septuagint Greek Παρακαλεῖτε, παρακαλεῖτε (paråkléte) comfort, comfort [my people]. The New Testament provides no background to Simeon, but we are told that he is one of the few Biblical characters to have the Holy Spirit.[18] He received a prophecy that his eyes would behold the redeemer and was prompted by the Spirit to take his place in the Temple courts. Simeon's words proclaim (from the Temple in Jerusalem) that the messianic salvation is not restricted to Israel but is to be extended to the whole world.[19] The Messiah that Simeon is holding is both the glory of Israel, the people of God, and a light for revelation to the Gentiles. Luke also introduces us to Anna, who is a prophetess from the tribe of Asher. Most Christian commentaries would suggest that prophecy had ceased after Malachi and that God had been silent for nearly 400 years until the New Testament. Luke challenges this assumption. Anna had been prophesying in the Temple since her husband of only seven years had died, worshiping day and night and fasting and praying. Thus, an active prophet existed in the Temple for at least one generation prior to Jesus.[20] She is also from the tribe of Asher whose tribal allotment is in the northwest, bordering Lebanon. This challenges the traditional myth of the 10 lost tribes of Israel said to have been exiled by the Assyrians after their conquest of the northern Kingdom of Israel and that tribal affiliations had been forgotten by the first century.[21] Anna seems to have retained her tribal lineage despite not residing in her tribal allotment. The Gospel account concludes with the return of the family to Nazareth where Jesus grows and develops like other children. Luke chooses to primarily note Jesus' spiritual growth. The gospels do not provide much on Jesus’ early physical development beyond details that specifically show His Jewishness and devotion–both His own devotion and that of His parents.


Hebraic Perspective. John’s gospel says that, ’The Word became flesh and dwelt among us’. The concept of the divine leaving heaven and coming to the earth is not sourced from Greek mythology as some might argue. Instead this is actually an ancient Hebraic concept. Amongst all the mighty nations through history only Israel has a God that declares He will live with them. Other nations had gods but their gods lived on top of mountains like Olympus, or even on whole different worlds (across the rainbow bridge in Asgard), or lived amongst sacred groves of trees guarded by crazy white bearded druids, or hidden deep under the earth guarded by three headed dogs. To get to their god, ancient peoples had to embark on a quest–a long journey with many perils. The reality was that they would most likely not succeed in meeting their deity. Israel’s God, by comparison, was very close–not far away and very accessible. The God of Israel said He wanted to dwell with His people. Since Genesis in the Garden of Eden the Scriptures note that God chooses to regularly leave heaven to be with His creation on earth–God walked in the cool of the evening with Adam. The Gospel of John leans heavily on the narrative of Exodus that God dwelt with His people in the desert. Interestingly, the text of Exodus 25:8 commands Israel to construct a Tabernacle so that God may live among them … not in the Tent itself. Here the Hebrew text literally reads that God will ‘dwell within them’. Exodus spends more chapters describing the construction of the Tabernacle than it does describing the actual exodus from Egypt. And God is in the details. The construction of the tent is obviously important, otherwise why spend so much time talking about it. The material used to make the inner sanctuary was called ‘tachash’, a mysterious type of skin. Some versions of the Bible translate this as badger skin or some other animal.[22] Regardless of which animal is being described, the point is that the material is skin. Exodus also tells us it took 9 months to complete the construction of the Tabernacle.[23] It is an ancient Hebrew tradition that says God chose to reside inside a structure made of skin that took nine months to fashion. 


ACNA Addendum


Psalm 147:12-20.[24] The word hallelujah, ‘praise the Lord’, is both an imperative declaration to praise as well as an encouragement for us to do so. The psalm reminds us that it is good to praise the Lord, particularly with singing. At this season, Christmas carols beautifully carry the treasured message of Messiah’s birth and hope to the nations. Even the secular world enjoys Christmas carols. Jerusalem is called upon first to praise God, then the invitation is extended to the nations. Several powerful acts of compassion are given as reasons for the worship and singing: they are peace and protection, divine blessing on the inhabitants of Israel, and provision of good things. These acts of compassion are given to Israel, but they also speak to the world. Verse 15 says God sends his ‘speech’ אמרה to the earth. God’s ‘speech’ is described in terms of raw elemental nature such as snow, hail and frost. This is Hebraic poetry in which the earth hears through the things that it sees.[25] Israel, as a sign and banner to the nations, is the visible voice of God. The blessings that have come upon Israel give honour to the God of Israel. The final lines of the psalm return us to the Word of God which He has revealed to the Jewish people. Sacred history shows us how God uniquely chose Israel to be the guardians of His word. This is a privilege and a responsibility for Israel to bear God’s instructions and directions, not as something to withhold from the Gentiles but to share with them. 



John 1:1-18. The Gospel of John does not start with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem but to the time before time. ‘In the beginning’ are the identical words of the Septuagint version of Genesis 1:1 and remind us that Christmas did not start with the birth of Jesus, but before time itself. The Messiah was always a part of God’s plan, there is no plan B. Here we are given a brief glimpse into the mystery that existed before creation. In contrast, Matthew and Luke provide genealogies and some childhood stories of Jesus, while Mark's gospel leaps into action with an adult Jesus at His baptism. John has the Word, the ‘Logos’ λόγος present and involved with Creation. The concept of ‘Logos’ has deep roots in both Jewish and Greek thinking and philosophy. As a hellenistic philosophical term it had the meanings of law and the guiding principles that ordered the world as well as a literal spoken discourse. In Stoic philosophy every action was related in some way to words or the logos. They used the term seminal logos ("logos spermatikos) to describe the logos as essential to the creation of the Universe. The Aramiac translations of the Hebrew Bible, called Targums, used the term memra (the Aramaic for: word) in many places instead of the word Lord. This developed a deep connection between the mystery of God and the Word in late 2nd Temple period Judaism. The prophet Isaiah spoke of this mystery in Isaiah 48:12-16. Isaiah introduces a being known as the ‘First and the Last’ in 48:12 and proceeds to declare that this Being fashioned the world in 48:13. Hence, the logical conclusion is that the First and the Last described by Isaiah is indeed God Himself. However the mystery deepens when the prophet says in 48:16 that God, called the Sovereign Lord, actually sends the one we call the First and the Last together with His Spirit. The Gospel of John is not introducing a new gnostic Greek theology; instead the mystery that we now declare in the Christmas season was portrayed in the Hebrew prophets long ago.


Jesus is described by John as the ‘true light that gives light to everyone’ (John 1:9). Light and Darkness are important symbols in the creation week and were important metaphors in exegesis for Jews of the late 2nd Temple Period. Light and darkness were separated by God during creation. Theologically, the Dead Sea community separated the world between the sons of light and the sons of darkness. They designated themselves as ‘sons of light’ and their theological opponents were termed the ‘sons of darkness’. The Greek text of John 1:9 is a present participle and reads as continuous; thus the true light is coming and is still coming into the world. While His physical body is not with us anymore, His light is still influencing the world and chasing away the darkness. Creation itself is an act of love. God did not have to make the world, He chose to. God is the one who initiates the relationship we have with Him. Maintaining the relationship is something we get to partake in. God did not have to send His Son into the world, this is also something He chose to do as another act of love. Christmas is, unfortunately, not seen by much of the world as an act of God’s sacrificial love. That message is buried beneath an overindulgence of presents and food. This season is an opportunity for us to be light bearers to the world. God has not abandoned the world, He continues to send His light, His love and His hope.

Endnotes

  1. This is how we get such fine literary works as, The Twelve Days of Christmas, Shakespeare's romantic comedy 12th Night was written to be performed on the popular 12th night celebrations of the Christmas season. 
  2. Advent isn’t part of the Christmas Season, it is looking forward to the coming of the Messiah.
  3. Both Rahab and Ruth are famous gentiles who are part of God’s redemptive story. From the widow in Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian (I Kings 17:8-24 and II Kings 5) to Ebed-Melech (Jeremiah 38:7-13) and Cornelius (Acts 10) there were many Gentiles who heard God and chose to worship Him.
  4. In the 1st century, many of the synagogues throughout the world included Gentiles (Acts 13:43, 17:1-4). One synagogue, excavated in Aphrodisias, Turkey, had an inscription including 69 Jewish donors but also 54 among those who were ‘God-fearers’, or Gentilic followers of God. Gentilic inclusion in the worship of the Jewish God was part of the difficulty of the early church as they sorted out how to apply God’s statutes and commandments given to the Jewish people and Israel (see Isaiah 56 and Acts 15).
  5. Shemot Rabbah 5.9, Rabbi Yohanan said, “The voice would emerge and divide into seventy voices for seventy languages, so that all the nation could understand. Each and every nation would hear a voice in the language of that nation,..”
  6. The blessings and restoration of those who live in Israel is also to be a light to the nations (Isaiah 42:6-7, 49:6; Psalm 67:1-4). Isaiah is clear throughout that the nations will come to worship God (Isaiah 2:2-4, 11:10, 42:6-7, 49:6, 56:3-7). The Psalms commonly reference the nations coming to worship God (Psalm 22:27-28, 67:1-4, 117:1-2). Zechariah 14:16 clearly states that the Gentiles would come to Jerusalem for Sukkot.
  7. See Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 in the Third Sunday in Advent sermon notes.
  8. The Bible contains both prose and poetry, however, Hebraic prose often includes poetic qualities even as Hebraic poetry often commemorates historic events. (Even Hebraic narrative often includes poetic qualities–the repetition of the word “eyes” at every key point in the story of Samson to highlight that every man did what was right in their own eyes.) But the most common form of poetry in the Hebrew Scriptures is parallelisms, the expression of one idea or concept in two or more different ways. For example, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path”. Psalm 119:105 In this particular parallelism the words lamp and light are paired with feet and path.
  9. Psalms 146-150 are also known as the Hallelujah psalms, as they all start and end with the command to “Praise the Lord”.
  10. Humans and Angels aren’t the only things that bless or praise God. (Nor are we the only things that receive blessing from God.) Psalm 19:1-4 states, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world,..” Surely we who have speech should also declare the same, “Let the words of my mouth and meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
  11. Deuteronomy 4:1, 7-8 reminds Israel that God taught them his statutes and rules–Moses states that God is near Israel and He was the one that set the law before Israel. There is also a reminder to keep the law, as doing so would prove that God is near to all people who see Israel’s obedience. In his defense of the faith on the areopagus in Athens (Acts 17:22-31) Paul declares that God intended the Gentiles to seek the wisdom that had been given to Israel. Thus, even as the Torah was given to Israel, it should still attract the Gentiles and not push them away from God and His people.
  12. In the Jewish prayers of the synagogue, the Torah is often called the Shield of David or the Shield of Abraham. The Torah, or the instructions and guidance of God, reveal what sin is and provide a standard of holiness that can assist in keeping sin at bay.
  13. Temporary as to function but not temporary as to existence. Jesus said that He had not come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets, Matthew 5:17. Paul is not arguing that the faith removes the Torah. This would negate the words of Jesus and the promise of God in Jeremiah 31:33 where, in the New Covenant, God will put the Torah on the hearts of people–which is exactly where Moses had declared the Torah should always be: “write these laws on your hearts”. (Deuteronomy 6:6)
  14. Uniforms perform the same function in our modern culture. We can identify a policeman by the uniform they wear and we behave differently when we encounter a policeman in uniform than when we meet a law enforcement officer in plain clothes or an off duty police officer.
  15. See sermon notes on the Epiphany of our Lord.
  16. The Lord had decreed that every male firstborn of the womb belonged to Him, both human and animal (Exodus 13:2, quoted in Luke 2:23). Furthermore Leviticus 12 describes the purification ritual to be performed by the mother following childbirth. Most ancient cultures had rituals for childbirth. In Israelite culture the presence of blood at childbirth meant that the woman and baby were now in an impure state. Impurity and uncleanness are not a state of sinfulness. To willfully remain in a state of impurity when the opportunity for purification was available, however, is sinful.
  17. See Isaiah 61:1. Luke’s gospel account does not have the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh provided by the Magi as occurs in Matthew's account. In Matthew's gospel Jesus is not presented in the Temple for purification, instead His parents flee to Egypt to escape the wrath of a mad king.
  18. His age and occupation are not given in Luke’s account. Orthodox hagiography says Simeon was one of the seventy translators of the Septuagint Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures. The tradition says that, as he translated the Hebrew word ‘Alma’ into young virgin, the Holy Spirit communicated to him that he would indeed meet this young virgin and the messiah that she bore. As the Septuagint is thought to have been translated in the 2nd Century BCE, this tradition seems highly unlikely.
  19. Traditionally, only priests would pronounce a blessing from God over the people. That Simeon could take baby Jesus into his arms and say a blessing may be an indication that he was of the priestly class. However, this largely applied to specific blessings (such as the Aaronic blessing). All Israelites (and Gentiles) could, and were supposed to, bless God.
  20. Anna may have been a prophetess for close to 60 years at this point.
  21. Josephus Flavius, the Jewish historian, wrote in his Antiquities of the Jews 11:133 that, "there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers". The Epistle of James opens by addressing the 12 tribes of Israel who are in the diaspora, suggesting that they were not actually ‘lost’, rather many of the tribes were indeed residing outside the land of Israel. Meanwhile, some had migrated south and remained in Israel as well as in the Kingdom of Judah.
  22. One rabbinic commentary even suggested the skin of a unicorn.
  23. The beginning of the command to construct a Tabernacle was given at Sinai on the first day of the third month of the first year of the exodus from Egypt, Ex 19:1. The Tabernacle is finally erected on the first day of the first month of the second year Ex 40:1 which gives the nine month construction time.
  24. Psalms 146-150 are also known as the Hallelujah psalms, as they all start and end with the command to “Praise the Lord”.
  25. See also Psalm 147 above and Psalm 19:1-4