Episcopal Church of the Incarnation

West Point, Mississippi

4th Advent (C)

Micah 5.2-4                                    Psalm 80.1-7                       Hebrews 10.5-10                       Luke 1.39-56

 

Micah 5.2-4

 

1)      Micah, the last of the eighth century (B.C.) prophets, came from S.W. Judah, and is thought of, generally, as a prophet of doom (cf. Jer. 26.18-19).

a)      Micah’s preaching is concerned with sin and punishment, not with political and cultic matters.

i)        He is not a “political” prophet.

ii)       He is preoccupied with social justice, showing no fear of princes, prophets and priests.

(1)    Micah is very much an “independent” prophet.

b)      Micah’s chief concern is with the people’s rejection of the Lord.

 

2)      The Book of Micah follows the classic prophetic structure of oracles of doom followed by oracles of promise.

a)      All of chapter five is included in the section setting for oracles of promise.

 

3)      The oracle of the birth of the Messiah follows immediately upon an oracle of destruction and exile (ch. 4, vv. 9-14).

a)      The reference to Bethlehem is intended as a reference to David.  The Messiah will be a new David, a great king over Israel.

i)        This verse is quoted, directly, at Matt. 2.5-6.

b)      Much of the present verses consists of cross-references to other prophets:

i)        Note the messianic texts at Isaiah 7, 9 & 11; 2 Sam. 7; Ps. 89.

(1)    The language used by Micah is designed, clearly, to evoke these oracles.

c)      The verb “come forth” in verse 2 is in Hebrew a reference to Micah’s usage at ch. 4, v. 2 (that the law shall “come forth” from Zion).

i)        The Messiah is equated with the fulfillment of the law.

(1)    Cf. Matt. 5.17, where Jesus says, in the Sermon on the Mount:  “I have come ... to fulfill [the law].”

 

Psalm 80.1-7

 

1)      A communal lament, referring, like psalm 74, to the sack of Jerusalem (during the reign of Babylon, in the sixth century B.C.)

a)      Throughout the psalm, requests that God hear the psalmist alternate with requests that God punish the pagan conquerors.

 

2)      The opening verb (“hear”) is here addressed to the “Shepherd of Israel,” but is an exact (and intentional) parallel to the opening of the primary command to Israel from her Shepherd, the shema Yisrael:

a)      This commandment (from Deut. 6.4) is quoted directly by Jesus (at Mark 12.29) as the greatest commandment:  “Hear, O Israel:  The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

i)        The psalmist, in constructing the parallel between the greatest commandment to Israel and a plea from Israel to her Shepherd, is making a direct appeal to the covenant between God and His people.

 

Hebrews 10.5-10

 

1)      This lesson is taken from the section of Hebrews in which the argument focuses on the fact that Jesus made His sacrifice once, for all.

 

2)      The quotation in v. 5 is from Ps. 40.7-9a, here attributed to the Son at His incarnation.

a)      The quotation follows the form of the psalm found in the Septuagint [LXX](the Hebrew Bible written in Greek), consonant with the Letter to the Hebrews being written by a Greek-speaking Jew in Alexandria, Egypt.

i)        Thus, the Greek version, “but a body thou hast prepared for me” may be contrasted with the version found in translations of the psalms from the Hebrew (the so-called “Masoretic Text” [MT]).

(1)    Ps. 40.7 reads, in the versions we are familiar with (e.g., the Revised Standard Version)(from the MT):  “but thou hast given me an open ear”.

(a)    The LXX reflects different vowel pointings, which are much older than the MT pointings.

 

3)      God prefers obedience to sacrifice.  Ritual is not repudiated, but it is of lesser importance than a change of heart.

a)      Jesus’ obedience was expressed in His willing offering of His sacrifice of His body.

i)        The LXX reading of the psalm is, thus, clearly more apt.

 

Luke 1.39-56

 

1)      This section sets forth Elizabeth’s and Mary’s pronouncements about the meaning of Jesus in God’s plan of salvation.

a)      Luke’s narrative intent is theological.

i)        The two mothers-to-be are brought together that they might praise God together.

ii)       Elizabeth’s child is presented as the “Forerunner” of Mary’s (cf. Luke 1.76).

 

2)      “[T]hose days” referred to in v. 39, are in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist (cf. Luke 1.24-26).

a)      That the “babe leaped in [Elizabeth’s] womb” at the presence of Jesus in Mary’s womb (at the age on one month or less) makes it clear that in this first trimester of Mary’s pregnancy, the child Jesus was fully a person.

b)      The leaping of the child in the womb parallels the leaping of Esau and Jacob in Rebekkah’s womb (Gen. 25.22 LXX–remember, Luke is written in Greek!), as a foreshadowing of future relationship.

c)      Through the gift of the Holy Spirit (v. 41), Elizabeth is empowered to interpret the meaning of her child’s leap.

 

3)      Vv. 47 to 55 comprise the Magnificat, 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, 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).

 

4)      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.

 

5)      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 Israel.

 

6)      V. 55 (“as he spoke to our fathers”) reflects, yet again, the God keeps His promises!