Episcopal Church of the
Incarnation
The First Sunday of Christmas (A)
Isaiah
61.10-62.3 Psalm
147.13-21 Galatians 3.23-25; 4.4-7 John 1.1-18
Isaiah
61.10-62.3
1) This lesson is from the section known as “Third Isaiah” (or “Trito-Isaiah”), in which Israel is now back in her land from exile, and the tone has shifted from an address to all the nation to an address to a faithful remnant, together with an opening to the Gentiles.
2) The verses in this lesson are taken from a section (61.4-62.9) which describe the glory of Zion as the dwelling of the Lord.
a) Zion emerges in glory from her ashes.
b) The “speaker” in these verses is Jerusalem herself.
i) The love between the Lord and His chosen dwelling place is celebrated.
3) The speaker then shifts from Jerusalem to the Lord, who now breaks His silence of many years (the exile).
a) The imagery used is of a sudden breaking forth, of the breaking forth of light, which may be a reference to the Feast of Tabernacles, at which the entire city is lighted, and may be seen from afar.
Psalm 147.13-21
1) A communal hymn from the postexilic era. (Note the reference to the rebuilding of Jerusalem in v. 2.)
a) The themes contained in vv. 13-14, are also found is Pss. 127-28: the security of the city protected by the Lord; the provision of food; the blessing of children; and the prosperity and peace of Jerusalem.
i) What the Lord does for Zion He does for all His Church.
b) Just as the Lord establishes the laws of nature, He declares his Law to Zion.
Galatians 3.23-25; 4.4-7
1) The “Galatians” were an Indo-Aryan tribe from Asia, related to the Celts of the British Isles.
a) In his Gallic War, Julius Caesar refers to the Celts or Gauls as “Keltae in their own language, but in ours [Latin] Galli.” These “Celts” settled in the Asia Minor in the late third century, B.C., following protracted wars in the Danube basin and Greece.
i) The blue-eyed, sometimes blond “Anatolian Turks” of the area today are descendants of the Galatians.
b) In writing to “the churches of Galatia” Paul is not writing to a place but to a people; to a people considered outsiders by the Greeks. This is mission to the “Gentiles” writ large!
i) The letter was probably written from Ephesus, in the late 50’s.
c) The letter was written to address issues raised by “agitators” (1.7). These were “Judaizers” (from Judea) who argued that to become a Christian one must first become Jewish (i.e., be circumcised).
2) The lesson selected for today is from the sections of the letter focusing on Paul’s third and fourth “proofs” of God’s plan for humanity.
a) The third proof relates to the experience of Christians in baptism, and the fourth to the experience of Christians as children of God.
b) The coming of Jesus frees humans into the fullness of the experience God intends for us.
i) Prior to Jesus, the Law served as instruction, but could not free us.
3) In referring to God as “Abba! Father!” (an indirect quotation of Jesus), Paul is making a larger statement (as did Jesus) than is apparent in the text.
a) The Hebrew word for father, ab’, occurs 1180 times in the Old Testament. All but 15 of these uses are secular, and of the 15 that have some religious connotation, only 2 are used in any address to God.
i) In the Old testament, God is referred to as “king,” when a title other than Lord or name other than Lord is used.
ii) Addressing God as Father would have been considered very radical to Jesus’ listeners.
(1) Jesus accentuates this radical new relationship with God by using the diminutive familiar form of address, Abba, rather than ab’. This is analogous to saying “Dad” or “Daddy,” rather than “Father” or “Sir.”
(2) This is a point which would not have been appreciated by the Greek-speaking Galatians, and is thought to have been aimed at the “Judaizers” in their midst.
John 1.1-18
1) The Gospel of John was written sometime between A.D. 80 and 110, probably in Ephesus. The lesson for today forms the prologue to the Gospel.
a) John organizes his Gospel into:
i) Prologue
ii) Book of Signs (“signs” in John are miracles, proofs of Jesus’ divinity)
iii) Book of Glory: To those who accept Him, the Word reveals His glory.
iv) Epilogue: the Galilean resurrection appearances.
2) A trajectory of Christology may be followed in the New Testament.
a) Is the Christology of a “low” order (i.e., Jesus referred to as “teacher” or “master” only, or as kyrios [lord] in the sense of “sir”?)
b) Is the Christology of a “high” order (i.e., Jesus referred to as God.)
c) John has the highest Christology: “the Word was God.”
i) This demonstrates the utter nonsense of current claims that the early Christians did not think of Jesus as savior and God, but only as a human teacher.
3) The prologue may be analyzed to include:
a) The Word in God becomes the light of the world: vv. 1-5
b) The incarnation of the Word (the Word becomes human): vv. 6-14
c) The revealer: the only Son turned toward the Father: vv. 15-18.
4) John uses an imagery of light.
a) The “true light” (to phōs to alēthinon, literally “the one and only authentic light”) comes into the world.
i) The Incarnation is complete.
5) In v. 12 the verbs “to receive” and “to believe” are placed in parallel.
a) Those who receive the Word are those who believe in His name.
6) Verse 14 is regarded by many as the “high point” of the prologue: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us ...”
a) The verb “lived” is, in the original, “tabernacled”. This connotes an immediate and physical presence.
b) The pre-existent Word, so intimately a part of God, now becomes enfleshed, and becomes the communication and revelation of God in the human situation.
i) God the Son reveals the fullness of God.
ii) Those who have received Jesus received the fullness of God.