18 December 2022 - Fourth Sunday of Advent

 


Theme

On our final Sunday of Advent, we reflect on how the birth of Jesus at Christmas is the fulfilment of Jewish prophecies and what that means for humanity and the world. Isaiah prophesies that the Son of God will be born of a virgin. Matthew declares that this prophecy has been fulfilled in the virgin Mary’s pregnancy. In Romans, Paul explains that God has called him to preach the Good News of Christ to all people, especially gentiles who were previously excluded.

Scripture Readings

  • Isaiah 7:10-16 - Isaiah declares that a sign of the coming messiah will be a virgin giving birth to a child who will be called “Immanuel,” meaning God is with us.
  • Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 The people cry out for God to turn back towards them so that they may be saved.
  • Romans 1:1-7 - The apostle Paul greets the church in Rome and declares that he has been called to preach the Good News, which is Jesus Christ. God has given the apostles a privelege of sharing this Good News with the gentiles so that they make come to salvation in Christ.
  • Matthew 1:18-25 - Mary, while still a virgin, discovers that she is pregnant. Joseph does not want to shame Mary and so decides to divorce her quietly. An angel appears and tells Joseph that he has nothing to worry about, the baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit. They are to call the child “Jesus” because he will save people from their sins. Matthew stresses that all of this happened to fulfil Isaiah’s prophecy.

The Context

Once again, we can see Matthew’s focus on explaining how Jesus is the ultimate fulfilment of the Jewish prophecies about the coming Messiah.

Personal Application

In this week’s readings, we encounter a few names that were given to Jesus that reveal an aspect of who Jesus is to the world. Isaiah declares that the child will be called Immanuel meaning that God is with us. The name immanuel is a favourite to sing during the Christmas season and reminds us that Jesus is God incarnate in human form. In Matthew’s Gospel, the angel instructs Joseph to call the child Jesus which means salvation. This name reminds us that Jesus is the saviour that God’s people had been crying out for, as seen in the Psalm for this week. There is a third name for Jesus mentioned in the readings this week, and that is Christ. Popular to contrary belief, Christ was not Jesus’ last name, but rather a title that he was given. It reminds us that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah from Jewish prophecies.

What do these three names teach us about the person of Jesus? Perhaps we can be reminded that next week we are going to be celebrating that God is with us, that God saves and that Jesus is Christ, the promised Messiah and Lord of all.

Communal Application

In his greetings to the church in Rome, the apostle Paul declares that he is called to preach the Good News to all, primarily to the gentiles who previously felt excluded.

I find it fascinating how this call (which is made to all believers) has shifted over time. In our modern context, many Christians seem to believe that their call is to “convert” other people to Christianity (or to their particular version of Christianity). Paul believed that Jesus was the Saviour of the world, but did not believe his job was to force others to follow him. Rather, he told the story of the Good News as found in Jesus, providing a way for others to follow as well if they so desired.

Furthermore, Paul never approached others by judging them like many Christians seem to do today. In his letter to the Romans, Paul greets them by telling them what God has done for them in the person of Jesus, regardless of how they were seen and treated beforehand.

How do we approach non-believers today? Do we start with judgment and by telling them what we think they should believe? Or do we begin by simply sharing the Good News and allowing God to work through the powerful, enticing story of Jesus?

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