Homily for December 17
CONNECTION TO
PATRIARCH ABRAHAM AND KING DAVID
After putting the proper connection between the
Messiah and John the Baptist in yesterday’s gospel, we are now ready to put the
connection of Jesus Christ to his human ancestors, according to the flesh (1
Tim. 3:16) or to the human nature he took (Rom. 1:3).
As we said yesterday, the connection to John the
Baptist was necessary in order to understand the later development that
occurred in the minds of the people regarding the assumption to the sole
messiaship of Jesus Christ. The gospel accounts saw it necessary to first
connect Jesus Christ to John the Baptist, so that Jesus Christ could assume the
priesthood legitimately as successor/follower of John the Baptist, the priest
Messiah. John the Baptist’s baptism of Jesus Christ was some sort of an
ordination, vesting him with the priestly power, like the ordination of the
Temple priests of the Jewish religion. Upon the arrest and death of John the
Baptist, Jesus Christ assumed the full Messiaship by taking over the priesthood
of John the Baptist as well. He continued John the Baptist’s priestly ministry
as prophet-teacher and his baptizing work (Jh. 3:22-27), thus becoming a
priest-King Messiah all at the same time, just as Melchesedek of old (Heb.
7:1+). This was a necessary move so that he could both become spiritual
shepherd and political leader all at the same time, just like his ancestor,
King David (1 Ch. 11:2).
Now in today’s gospel, we are ready to see another
connection, the connection of Jesus Christ with his human ancestors,
particularly, Abraham, the founder of the faith, and King David, the founder of
the dynasty.
God’s promises in human history are two:
1. Promise of land to Abraham and his descendants; and
2. Promise of a throne to David and his descendants.
God’s promise to Abraham should be taken into the
context of His three original promises:
1. a son (Gn. 15:4, 21:1-7, 17:15-21);
2. a land (Gn. 15:18-21, 12:7+, Ga. 3:16); and
3. a blessing (Gn. 12:2).
This promise of land is important in establishing the
connection of Jesus Christ as a descendant of Abraham, because Apostle Paul
said that this land promised to Abraham’s posterity was given to no other
descendant but to Jesus Christ (see Ga. 3:16).
In other words, all the other promises of God to
Abraham find fulfillment only in Jesus Christ according to the Apostle Paul.
The second promise of God in history is about his
promise of a perpetual throne, a dynasty, to King David and to his descendants
(2 S. 7:1+).
First, this promise began with the blessing that Jacob
(alias Israel) gave to his son Judah, which mentioned about a scepter and mace
(Gn. 49: 10; Ps. 60:7, Heb. 7:14), a star of Jacob (Nb. 24:17). This is today’s
first reading.
King David is of the tribe of Judah, being the son of
Jesse the Bethlehemite (1 S. 16:1).
When David was king, he planned to build a house for
God. But God would not permit him, but promised to give his throne to his
descendants in perpetuity, through a dynasty (2 Sam. 7:1+). His son, Solomon, eventually
built the first Temple for God (1 K 6:1f). Solomon, though was the greatest
king that Israel ever had after David, was not the heir whom God saw to occupy
the throne in perpetuity. The oracle stretches beyond Solomon to the one
privileged descendant who is to enjoy God’s special favor, the Davidic Messiah
(Is. 7:14+, Mi. 4:14f, Hg. 2:23+) The evangelist Luke applies this to Jesus
Christ (Ac. 2:30).
The succeeding kings were no good. And so, the kingdom
collapsed after the capture of the city of Jerusalem and the destruction of the
Temple in July 587 B.C. From then on, the promise about the perpetual dynasty
for the throne of David was given out by the prophets to the people in order to
enliven their spirits during the time of the exile. Even after their return to
the Holy Land and the rebuilding of the second Temple in 538 B.C., the prospect
of restoration of the Davidic throne became dim as one foreign power after the
other succeeded in conquering the Holy Land and placed their own rulers. Ancient
Israel was never restored. In its stead,
Judaism sprang up after the return of the people from exile.
But in the hearts of the people, the longing for the
promised Messiah was ever burning. So much so that, any one strong man who
rises up in Israel is acclaimed a savior and hailed by the people as the
Messiah. It is in this context that Jesus Christ appeared in history to the
Jews.
The
connection of Jesus Christ to the foregoing is that the people knew him to be:
a. the Son of David (Mt. 9:27, 1:20, 12:23, 15:23, 21:9)
b. the Root of David (Rev. 5:5, 22:16);
c. the Scion that sprang from the David (Is. 11:1f, Jer.
23:5)
d. a descendant of David (Rm. 1:3)
In fact, he was born in the House of David (Lk. 1:27),
in the town of David, in Bethlehem of Judah
(Lk. 2:4, 11, Mi. 5:1-3, Mt. 2:6, Rt. 1:2, Jh. 7:42)
With all these credentials, Jesus
Christ is truly a son of David. Therefore, according to the thinking of the
people then, he has the right of succession to the throne of King David, as the
King Messiah.
He will restore his kingdom forever,
according to the ancient prophecies in Israel.
But Jesus Christ’s kingdom is not
merely an earthly one, but a heavenly kingdom as well, because it has the
approval of heaven. It is both an earthly reality and a spiritual dimension
also.
As the Son of God, Jesus Christ
inaugurated God’s kingdom on earth by proclaiming to the people its presence in
their midst (Seph. 3:15, Lk. 17:21), through the proclamation of the Good News
of salvation (MK. 1:15).
In putting the proper connection
between the Messiah and his ancestors Abraham, the father of faith, and King
David, the father of the Davidic dynasty, it is important to understand that
the power and authority of Jesus Christ, both as priest and king, is closely
related to the ancient promises of land and an everlasting kingdom made by God
to his ancestors, which will be given to their posterity, who is Jesus Christ
and to all who will believe his words and accept his person as the one sent by
the Father.
Hence, all these believers in the words and person of
Jesus Christ were called to become the new assembly, or “church”, where the
eternal Kingship of God is fully accepted and realized in perpetuity until the
end of the ages. Membership and loyalty to this church is a necessary means for
the salvation of all mankind because this church is God’s kingdom here and now,
the land and throne which he had promised to Abraham and David long time ago,
and finally realized with the coming of Jesus Christ in human history (Ac.
2:30).
Tomorrow, we shall talk about the
connection between the Messiah
and
the Patriarch Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary.
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