In series B the Gospel readings are taken from the Gospel of Mark, supplemented by the Gospel of John. This is
necessary because Mark’s Gospel, being the shortest, requires supplementing. Also, in the three-year
cycle, John is otherwise read only on certain occasions (especially Lent and Eastertide) in series A and
C.
Let us first remind ourselves of the structure of the Advent season. The theme of future eschatology—the
Christian hope for the final consummation of history—dominates the concluding Sundays of the year and reaches
its climax on the first Sunday of Advent.
Reading I: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
This passage gives classical expression to the Davidic-messianic hope in the Old Testament. It is not the
only type of the messianic hope, but it later became dominant in many circles, for example among the
Pharisees, as we see from Psalms Solomon 17;
among the covenanters of Qumran, who looked for both a Messiah of David and a Messiah of Levi; and among the
simple pious folk of Judea and Galilee, as we see from the Lucan infancy narrative.
In its original intention, however, 2 Sam
7 was an expression of royal ideology. The promise was that the Davidic dynasty would last forever. Note
how David’s original intention is reversed by the prophet’s later word. David indicates his
intention of building a house for Yhwh, that is, a temple.
At first, Nathan approves of the king’s proposal but later corrects this in the light of a further word
from the Lord received in the night. Instead of David’s building a house (temple) for Yhwh,
Yhwh covenants to maintain the “house” (dynasty) of David in perpetuity.
Strictly speaking, then, this is not a messianic prophecy in the later sense, for it does not speak of the
coming of the ideal Davidic king. But after the destruction of the Davidic monarchy, this promise could only
take the form of the coming of a Davidic Messiah, and in Christian perspective the promise has been fulfilled
in the coming of Jesus the Christ, whom the New Testament (as in the Lucan Annunciation story that forms the
gospel reading today) proclaims as the Son of David.
Responsorial Psalm: 89:2-3, 4-5, 27-29
This psalm makes a perfect response to the first reading, for, as the Jerome Biblical
Commentary points out, the two passages should be read in conjunction. Only the second and third
stanzas deal directly with the Davidic-messianic hope.
The first stanza comes from the opening of the psalm, which is a general hymn of praise to Yhwh. But the first
stanza is not unrelated to the messianic hope, for the faithfulness of Yhwh is exhibited precisely in his
faithfulness to his covenant with David. Note how the second stanza refers quite specifically to the covenant
of 2 Samuel.
In the manuscript tradition, this doxology appears at three different places: after Rm 14:23; after Rm 15:33; and in its canonical
position here. Some have thought that it is a Marcionite gloss, for it seems to assume that the God who is
revealed in Jesus Christ had been silent through the Old Testament period, as Marcion taught.
However, this is untenable for two reasons. First, Origen explicitly informs us that Marcion did not read
these verses in his text. Second, Marcion would never have allowed that the writings of the Old Testament
prophets were instruments through which the Christian revelation was proclaimed, even in the Christian
era.
The doxology actually has close affinities with the style and thought of Colossians and Ephesians (cf.
especially Col 1:26-27; Eph 3:9-10) and is therefore probably
the work of a Deutero-Pauline editor of Romans.
Judging from the various places where it appears in the manuscript tradition, it was probably added as a
conclusion to Romans in the three different versions that were current in early times—ending respectively with
chapters 14, 15, and 16.
The statement that the revelation was kept secret before Christ does not mean that the Old Testament God is a
different God from the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Marcion thought, but that it is only with
the coming of Christ that the Old Testament prophecies acquire their full meaning. The movement from silence
to revelation is a good Advent theme.
Annunciation stories are a regular literary form of Scripture. There are a number of such stories in the Old
Testament (for example, the births of Isaac, Samson, and Samuel), and of course Luke has already recorded the
annunciation of John the Baptist.
We should make full allowance for this literary form in assessing this narrative. The purpose of annunciation
stories is to acquaint the readers with the role that the person about to be born is to play in
salvation history. It is thus a device to effect this end, not a historical narration.
At the same time, there are elements in the story of Jesus’ annunciation that surpass the other
annunciation stories.
The usual situation is that of a miraculous birth granted to a barren couple—in the case of Isaac, to parents
who were even past the age of begetting and bearing children. In the case of Jesus, it is an annunciation to a
young woman without a husband. The emphasis rests on the creative act of the Holy Spirit rather than on the
virginal conception per se, which is its presupposition.
All that the historian can say with certainty is that the basic elements in this tradition are earlier than
Matthew or Luke, for the name of Mary, her virginity, and the function of the Holy Spirit are common both to
Matthew and Luke, who are otherwise entirely independent of one another at this point.
Many would also argue that these traditions can be traced back to the earliest Palestinian stratum of
Christianity. Beyond that point, however, the historian qua historian cannot go. The exegete must
deal rather with the meaning.
What is the kerygmatic thrust of the Annunciation? It is that the history of Jesus does not emerge out of the
stream of ongoing history. As Adolf Schlatter put it, it expresses the transcendental origin of the history of
Jesus. Or, as Sir Edwyn Hoskyns put it, the Incarnation is “a dagger thrust into the weft of human
history.”
Our response to the annunciation story should be not to accept it as an entertaining story or even to insist
merely on its historicity and leave it at that. As such, it would still be “flesh,” which
profiteth nothing. Our response should rather be the affirmation of faith in the transcendental origin of
Jesus’ history.
The role that the Child to be born is to play in salvation history is defined in terms of Davidic messiahship.
Thus, the Gospel Reading is linked with
the Old Testament Reading. Christian
faith sees the promise to, and covenant with, David fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ.
Preaching the Lectionary: The Word of God for the Church Today Reginald H. Fuller and Daniel Westberg. Liturgical Press. 1984 (Revised Edition), pp. 217-220. |
For more information about the 3rd edition (2006) of
Preaching the Lectionary click picture above.
|
from Religious Clip Art for the Liturgical Year (A, B, and C).
This art may be reproduced only by parishes who purchase the collection in book or CD-ROM form. For more information go http://www.ltp.org