The Episcopal Church of the
Incarnation
The Third Sunday of Advent (B)
Isaiah
61.1-4, 8-11 Canticle 3 1
Thessalonians 5.16-24 John 1.6-8, 19-28
This Sunday is often referred to as “Stir up Sunday,” from the Collect.
Isaiah
61.1-4, 8-11
1)
This lesson is taken from the section in Third Isaiah
which speaks of the glorious new
a) Third Isaiah (Isaiah 56-66) is focused on the struggle for a new temple and new leadership.
2) The words used in vv. 1-3 are the same words used by Jesus to announce that the Messianic age had come with Him (Luke 4.16-21).
a) The reference here to the Spirit of the Lord signals the special action of God (as found at Judg. 3.10; 11.19; 1 Sam. 10.5-13).
b) “[T]he year of the Lord’s favor” (v. 2) is an extraordinary jubilee, in which all land reverts back to the Creator. who distributes it equally and bountifully (cf. Lev. 25.10).
3)
In speaking of the glory of the new
a) This is met with the reply of the new Jerusalem (vv. 10-11), which speaks of great rejoicing.
Canticle 3 Magnificat
1) The Magnificat is also known as the “Song of Mary.” The title comes from the first word of the Latin translation, “Magnificat”.
a) One the most famous prayers in all of Christian belief, this prayer is recited daily in the Daily Office.
i) There are significant and intentional parallels to the “Song of Hannah” ( 1 Sam. 2.1-10), in which the aged, childless, Hannah, praises the Lord that he has given her a son (the prophet Samuel).
ii) The prayer parallels in structure a traditional canticle of praise.
b) What God has done for Mary (she of “low estate”) He does for all “those who fear Him” (v. 50).
2) Vv. 51-55 are a grammatical minefield in Greek. The problem in English translations is that past tense verbs are used, raising the question: How has God done all these things in the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb?
a) Greek uses a verb form known as “aorist” [AY-Ō-WRIST], which connotes continuing action (past into present):
i) The verbs (e.g., “he has shown”) may be interpreted as “gnomic aorist” or “inceptive aorist”:
(1) Gnomic aorist = what is done characteristically (what it is God’s nature to do).
(2) Inceptive aorist = what God is beginning to do.
3) God does not here favor the proud or the rich.
a)
This may reflect Luke’s theology that the poor are
favored because they are poor (the so-called “Ebionite” theology) or that the
rich and proud are here symbols of the Gentile oppressors of
4) V. 55 (“as he spoke to our fathers”) reflects, yet again, the God keeps His promises!
1
Thessalonians 5.16-24
1) In the concluding section of this oldest writing in the New Testament (see the Bible Study summaries for Pentecost 26A and Pentecost 27A), Paul engages in a series of short instructions.
a) Rejoice always: See Phil. 4.4. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5.22; Rom. 14.17).
b)
Pray without ceasing:
See Luke 18.1. Prayer
proceeds from the Spirit (
c) Give thanks: Thanksgiving and prayer are closely associated (3.9-10); see Phil. 4.6; Col. 2.7; 3.15-17.
2) He continues with exhortations on charisms and on discernment, and concludes with the invocation of blessing.
a) In invoking God’s blessing, Paul reminds his readers that God is faithful.
John
1.6-8, 19-28
1)
This lesson has been set, famously, to music by Orlando
Gibbons (d. 1625). In
2) John emphasizes that John the Baptist is not a messianic figure but a messenger, a witness.
a) The insertion of a reference to John (vv. 6-8) into the middle of the “Hymn to the Logos” (1.1-18) shifts the focus of what follows from the activity of the Word in salvation history to the incarnation of the Word.
3) “The Jews” have sent “priests and Levites”. John sets the tone for his account of the opposition to Jesus. When he uses the term “the Jews” he is referring to the authorities. He makes it clear that opposition is across parties, from priest and Levites to include the Pharisees (v. 24).
4) John the Baptist makes it clear that he is not the Messiah. He also addresses the expectation of Elijah’s return (in Malachi 3.1, 23, Elijah is identified as the messenger to be sent to herald the Day of the Lord).
a) He instead identifies himself with the “voice crying in the wilderness” of Isa. 40.3.
i) John the Evangelist changes the language used here so that it is not a direct quotation (as in the Synoptic Gospels). The Greek usage adopted emphasizes John the Baptist’s role as a witness.
5) John is questioned by the Pharisees, who specifically challenge his authority to baptize.
a) The Pharisees believe that only a messianic figure can baptize, to confirm repentance and provide ritual purification (cf. Ezek. 36.25-26; Zech. 13.1-3).
i) John replies by identifying one who is unknown in the midst of the people (who will baptize with the Spirit).
(1) In other words, he affirms his role as a witness.