Second Week of Advent
December 4, 2005
This is the crux of our text here, on several levels. This passage marks the announcement of Elizabeth’s coming pregnancy with John the Baptist, the one prophesied by Isaiah, the one hoped for by the Psalmist in Psalm 85. Thus, not only do we rejoice with Elizabeth and Zechariah at their soon-coming newborn, we rejoice that, with his arrival, John will be proclaiming a soon-coming Messiah.
Zechariah listens to Gabriel announce the birth of his son, yet doesn’t believe him at first, causing Gabriel to strike Zechariah speechless until John’s birth. Read the rest of this entry »
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Second Week of Advent
December 4, 2005
This is a rather beautiful passage here, closely tied to Jesus’ own words in Mark 13, written down here by a man who most likely was personally present at the event when Jesus spoke them forth. Peter’s words are filled with hope, as they seek to elicit faith in those who read this letter of his, reminding his readers of what they need to do as they anticipate the second coming of Christ (especially since the first-century church expected Jesus to come back fairly soon after his departure). Twice here Peter declares that Jesus keeps the promises He makes, though we might not ever understand his timetable. Peter slyly contrasts his readers’ patience with that of Jesus by mentioning that Jesus is more patient with humanity’s sins than humanity is with Jesus’ promises, even to the point that Jesus doesn’t want “anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.†(verse 9ff, TNIV)
Following this, though, Peter references Jesus’ words by telling his readers that Jesus will come back like a thief, unbeknownst to anyone at all. Not only this, but the world will be totally destroyed by fire, laying creation bare before Jesus upon His Return. Thus, Peter declares that people “ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming,†(verses 11ff-12a, TNIV) making the subtle declaration that it’s MUCH more important to live according to Jesus’ commands than worry about when He’s coming back. “Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation…†(verse 13a, TNIV) Each day is a gift – our dual tasks are to obey His teachings and live in faithful anticipation of His promised Return.
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Second Week of Advent
December 4, 2005
This is a fairly straight-forward passage here as Mark chronicles the prophecies concerning John the Baptist (Malachi 3:1 & Isaiah 40:3), his arrival, and the basic substance of his message to Israel. John went into the Judean wilderness (of which there is much, even today), preaching that people should be baptized as testament of their repentance and God’s forgiveness of their sins. Mark says that everyone in the Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem came to hear him, many confessed their sins, and many were baptized as a result. John dressed poorly, ate meagerly, and was completely aware of what his task was upon the earth: proclaim the soon-coming arrival of the Messiah and the baptism of the Holy Spirit that He would be bringing. It would have been rather easy for John to claim all kinds of credit for compelling people to repent and be baptized, much as many of us become prideful in our spiritual work. However, the lesson here (besides the obvious fulfilling of Isaiah’s prophecy in the coming of John the Baptist) is that just as John was self-deprecating and self-effacing in his role, so should we be in proclaiming God’s message to the world. Yes, John spoke boldly, but he did not become puffed up in doing so; he realized that he spoke for another, that his words were not for his benefit, but to proclaim the Advent of the Messiah.
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Second Week of Advent
December 4, 2005
This is a somewhat similar and somewhat lighter version of the passage in Isaiah 40. I don’t mean to diminish these verses at all, since they serve as a direct complement to Isaiah 40, both in tone and theme. Verses 1 & 2 say much the same things as the first 2 verses of Isaiah, but with much fewer words. I would think this so mostly because the Psalms are songs, songs to be sung congregationally, needing fewer words or more succinct phraseology, where as Isaiah was either writing down the visions/messages that God was giving to him (to speak forth later or preaching/speaking forth the message directly as he received it from God.
And even moving onto verses 8-13, the psalmist here echoes the same themes & ideas that Isaiah does: God promises peace to his people, His salvation is near so that glory might fall, and the Lord will give what is good. The psalm here is much more buoyant its expectancy than its counterpart in Isaiah, concluding even with a reference to the preparation coming: “Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps. (verse 13, TNIV) Might that we learn to wait upon God with such breathless anticipation, such exultant joy.
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Second Week of Advent
December 4, 2005
Just a mere bit of preamble here before I begin – the content & themes of these passages here are outgrowths and progressions from those of last week, not only in tone, but also in style and substance. Read and meditate with me upon the material, ideas, and prophecies presented in these sections of Scripture, not only in their application to the Advent season, but in their relevance to how we approach God in our everyday lives.
From Isaiah 64, filled with doubt, hurt, pain, and a dark realization of the depth of Israel’s sin, we come to this passage filled with declarations of joyful repentance and intimations of oh-so-necessary submission & dependence. Verse 2 is probably the key verse in projecting the overall state of Israel’s soul – “[God] Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.†(TNIV) I myself become filled with expectancy as I anticipate what God will bless His people with after their confession. Isaiah realizes that God can’t turn a blind eye or deaf ear to His people when they have repented and turned back to Him (II Chronicles 7:14).
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