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Exegesis
Texts of the
Readings
Feast of the Holy Family Exegesis
December 23, 2007
Fourth Sunday of Advent (A)
Betty Jane Lillie, S.C.
Is 7:10-14
X Ps
24:1-6
X Rom 1:1-7
X Matthew 1:18-14
At
this point in our Advent journey we stand at the brink of the celebration of
Christmas. Our liturgies for the week have used special messianic titles
for the Messiah, and they culminate with the antiphon with which we are very
familiar, “O Emmanuel.” Each one begins with the exclamation “O,” and thus
the antiphons are called the “O” Antiphons.
In our first reading the name of the son that would be given to
Ahaz would be Emmanuel. The name is explicitly interpreted in the
text a little farther on –“God is with us.” (Is 8:10) The name was one of
the signs given to Ahaz whose son would be his heir apparent, showing that
God had not abandoned his nation.
Other titles for the Messiah are “O Wisdom,” “O sacred Lord,” “O
Flower of Jesse’s stem,” “O Key of David,” “O Radiant Dawn,” and “King of
all the nations.” Those titles point to significant characteristics of the
messianic leader who would save the nation of Judah. Placing them in the
context of prophetic proclamation makes it possible to see a movement of
promise and fulfillment in the liturgical application of them to the coming
of Christ.
Paul’s Letter to the Romans opens with an introduction that
speaks of prophetic promise and gives the world a gospel message about God’s
Son. He was established in power according to the Spirit of holiness
through his resurrection from the dead. Paul believed that his grace of
apostleship was destined for the Gentiles who were among the Jewish converts
in the Roman church. His argument is in favor of Gentile and Jewish unity
in the Christian community, both from the point of view of the common
experience of human sin and death, and from the common resolution of those
conundrums in the saving mission of Jesus Christ.
The saving mission of Jesus moves us into the Gospel reading
that makes it explicit by the message of an angel to Joseph. Mary was with
child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph was to name the child Jesus
because he would save his people from their sins. (Mt 1:21) How the name
and the mission come together is not apparent in English, and it would not
have been obvious in the Greek of Matthew’s Gospel. But in Biblical Hebrew,
and in the Aramaic used by the people of that time and place, Yeshua
Aramaic for Jesus, is related to Yoshua Hebrew for Joshua. Both
forms derive from the word meaning save or deliver.
Matthew then reflects back to the prophetic oracle of Isaiah
7:14 and connects Jesus with the Emmanuel-child whose name meant “God
with us.” We see there the relationship in the Hebrew text with the
Gospel text as an example of promise in Isaiah to fulfillment in Matthew’s
theology.
With the Psalmist we can lift our voices in welcoming praise of
Jesus as we celebrate his birth in time. “Who is the King of glory? The
Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory!” (Ps 24)
Betty Jane Lillie, S.C.
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