Homily
for December 24 Midnight
CONNECTION TO
THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
The
story concerning the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, as recorded in Lk. 2:1-14
in today’s gospel narrative, is our tenth Messianic connection.
Although only Christ’s
intimates knew that he had been born in Bethlehem
(Jh. 7:42), but the fact
of his birth and its occurrence in Bethlehem
had already been foretold in several places in the Old Testament scriptures,
such as the following:
1. Micah
5:1-4 - “ But you (Bethlehem) Ephrathah,
the least of the clans of Judah, out of you will be born for me the one who is
to rule over Israel; his origin goes back to the distant past, to the days of
old. Yahweh therefore is going to abandon them till the time when she who is to
give birth gives birth. Then the remnant of his brothers will come back to the
sons of Israel.
He will stand and feed his flock with the power of Yahweh, with the Majesty of
the name of his God. They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his
power to the ends of the land. He himself will be peace. He will deliver us
from Assyria should it invade our country,
should it set foot inside our frontiers.”
The
footnote (d) for Mi. 5:1 in the Jerusalem Bible says: “Ephrathah (to which
Micah apparently attaches the etymological meaning of ‘fruitful’, connecting it
with the birth of the Messiah) originally indicated a clan related to Caleb, 1
Ch. 2:19, 24, 50, and settled in the district of Bethlehem, 1 S. 17:12, Rt.
1:2; the name later came to be used of the town itself, Gn. 35:19; 48:7, Jos.
15:59, Rt. 4:11; hence the gloss in the text. Micah is thinking of the ancient
origin of the dynasty o David, 1 S. 17:12,
Rt. 4:11, 17, 18-22. In ‘(Bethlehem) Ephrathah’ the
evangelists will recognize an indication of the Messiah’s birthplace.”
The
footnote (c) for Micah 5:2 in the same source says: “Reference to the mother of
the Messiah. Micah is perhaps thinking of the famous oracle of the alma, Is.
7:14+, delivered by Israel about 30 years earlier.”
2. Is. 7:14-16 - “The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a
sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son
whom she will call Immanuel. On curds and honey will he feed until he knows how
to refuse evil and choose good. For before this child knows how to refuse evil
and choose good, the land whose two kings terrify you will be deserted.”
The
footnote (h) for Is. 7:14 of the Jerusalem Bible says: “The prophecy of
Immanuel is one of the outstanding ‘royal Messiah’ texts of Isaiah. Many
interpreters identify the proffered ‘sign’ with the birth of the future king
Hezekiah, son of Ahaz. The hopes of Israel had rested, since Nathan’s prophecy,
2 S. 7:1+, on the permanence of the Davidic dynasty. But the solemnity of the
oracle and the symbolic name given to the child show that the prophets sees
more in this “royal” birth than dynastic continuity, namely a decisive
intervention by God, towards the final establishment of the messianic kingdom
spoken of in 9:1-6 and 11:1-9. Thus the prophecy of the Immanuel goes beyond
the person of Hezekiah; the evangelist, Mt. 1:23 quoting Is. 7:14, Mt. 4:15-16,
quoting Is. 8:23-9:1, cf. Jh. 1:5,
followed by the whole Christian tradition, see in it a hidden prophecy of the birth
of Christ. In its immediate application, however, the ‘sign’ is twofold: it
foretells the deliverance of the capital and dynastic continuity, but also the
disasters to be sustained both by Judah and by her enemies.”
The footnote (i) on Is. 7:14
of the same source says: “The Greek version reads ‘the virgin’, being
more explicit then the Hebr. which uses almah,
meaning either a young girl or a young recently married woman. This LXX reading
is, however, an important witness to an early Jewish interpretation, an
interpretation adopted by the evangelists; Mt. 1:23 accepts the text as a
prophecy of the virginal conception of Jesus.”
3. Is. 9:5-6 - “For there is a child born to us, a son given
to us, and dominion is laid on his shoulders; and this is the name they give
him: Wonder-Counselor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace. Wide is his
dominion in a peace that has no end, for the throne of David and for his royal
power, which he establishes and makes secure in justice and integrity. From the
time onwards and for ever, the jealous love of Yahweh Sabaoth will do this.”
The
footnote (c) for Is. 9:5 in the same source says: “A prophetic proper name, cf.
1:26+. The child possesses to a supreme degree the qualities of all the great
figures of his race: the wisdom of Solomon, the valor of David, the virtues of
Moses and the patriarchs, cf. 11:2. Christian tradition and the Christmas
liturgy apply these titles to Christ, presenting him as the true Immanuel.”
4. Is. 11::1-4 - “A shoot springs from the stock
of Jesse, a scion thrusts from his roots: on him the spirit of Yahweh rests, a
spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of
knowledge and the fear of Yahweh. (The fear of Yahweh is his breath.) He does
not judge by appearances, he gives no verdict on hearsay, but judges the
wretched with integrity, and with equity gives a verdict for the poor of the
land. His word is a rod that strikes the ruthless, his sentences bring death to
the wicked.”
Thus
far is the citations from the Old Testament scriptures concerning the prophecy
on the birth and the birthplace of Christ.
In
the New Testament scriptures, we have two proofs for this, which are: Mt. 2:5
and Jh. 7:14.
The
narrative of Luke concerning the birth
of Christ starts with the census taking, on the order of Caesar Augustus, and during
the governorship of Quirinius, for the whole world to register and enroll with
a view to taxation. Although the historical circumstances about this census are
little known, however this event gives a hint to the approximate birth date of
Jesus Christ to be between 8 - 6 B.C.
As
the narrative goes, Joseph and Mary, who was with child at that time, went from Nazareth in Galilee to the town of
Bethlehem of Judea, in order to be enrolled in the house of David because
Joseph of the tribe of Judah, and of David’s clan (1 K. 16:1-13, Rt. 1:2,
4:17).
Mary,
even if she belonged to a different tribe, which was that of the tribe of Levi
(as we saw in the sixth Messianic connection), had to register in her husband
Joseph’s tribe out of submission and deference to her husband (Lk. 2:5). Hence,
the Messiah is to descend from King David’s family (Jh. 7:42), out of Mary’s deference to be registered
in her husband’s tribe and not in her own tribe where she legally belonged.
This makes Jesus Christ a royal or kingly Messiah totally because he is a
member of the kingly tribe of Judah
(see our discussion on the first Messianic connection). Thus, when the
appropriate time came, he had to succeed and take over the priestly Messiaship
from John the Baptist to claim completely the qualities for the Messiah of God
as both priest and royal Messiah.
Tomorrow,
we discuss Jesus Christ’s connection to the Logos, our eleventh Messianic
connection.
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