Advent 4B 2023

Text: “30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”” (Luke 1:30-33).

Today we come full circle, in a sense. The Virgin Mary is the focus of our Gospel reading for this fourth Sunday in Advent. She brings us full circle, in a sense. The seeds of prophecy that were sown in the Old Testament begin to flower and bloom in her.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve emphasized that John the Baptist is important at this time of year because He helps us keep clearly in our view who, exactly, this baby who was born on Christmas really is. Mary is important for that same reason, of course.

Our Old Testament reading points us to one example— one way that she points us to who Jesus really is: Jesus would be given the throne of His father David and would reign over His kingdom forever. Ever since Nathan gave David that remarkable promise in our Old Testament Reading, “…Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16), that phrase, ‘the Son of David’ had a meaning as serious and monumental as any title in mankind’s history. It would be hard to overstate the full weight that those four words carried.

“…He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” No royal line so far has ruled forever, let alone one particular king. Every royal line has ended, either by dying out or by losing power. Every other child from every other womb of every other woman in the history of mankind was born dying— rich or poor, royalty or commoner, all of their lives were destined to end somehow from the moment they were born.

David’s line seemed to have died out, as well. This is what Isaiah was talking about when He promised that “a shoot from the stump of Jesse” would come forth “and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit” (Isaiah 11:1). The family line of David and his father, Jesse, seemed to have been cut off, if you will. Their ‘family tree’ looked like a stump. But one, particular Son of David would bring that family tree back to life— and, of course, not just the family tree, but the kingly house. The house of David would be restored.

This, by the way, is part of the reason why the Pharisees would try to trap Jesus with that question about paying taxes to the Roman authorities. Was it lawful to acknowledge the authority of a foreign power or did their faith demand that they bow the knee to no one except a Son of David? Today we see the full irony of that question: the One they were trying to trap with that question was none other than the Son of David. Perhaps they should have paid more attention to that question rather than quibbling about the other.

Of course, there are plenty of rulers on this earth whose reigns we would love to see come to an end. Vladamir Putin in Russia, Kim Jong Un in North Korea, Xi Jinping in China, Bashar al-Assad in Syria, not to mention all of the petty warlords ruling in smaller areas around the world— their own people would be tremendously better off without them, let alone the world, as a whole. This world is full of men like that— and many more who aspire to that.

Those dictators claim to know what is best for their people, they claim that that is what drives them and their decisions, but it’s always really about them. Not so Mary’s Son. No so the Son of David. He’s the opposite. No, He’s not just the opposite, He’s the antithesis of those men. We— you and I— are the ones who, by nature, are determined to decide for yourself what is really best. You know, better than God does, what is truly right and wrong, what is really best for this world. God’s rules are too restrictive; they’re out of date; why should we care what bronze age shepherds thought was good or bad for people, let alone society? You and I know better. But it’s always really about you. God’s law is fine when it says, “Thou shalt not steal” because it protects your stuff. It’s still fine when it says, “Thou shalt not murder”— that protects you, of course— until an unplanned pregnancy gets in the way of your comfort and convenience. Then you and I insist that we know better. But that’s only one of the most egregious examples in our society right now. Usually you’re far more subtle than that, but it’s still always about you. You shall not commit adultery is fine, until you want something different. Honor your father and mother— and other earthly authorities— until you don’t like what they say. You do not belie, betray, slander, or defame your neighbor, but defend him, speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything— that until you don’t like what he did or the way he did it. Or until he sins against you. Then, instead of going and talking to him directly, you tell everyone what he did to you. God’s law is good until it does not suit you.

The point is that this world is exactly what you and I have made it. Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping, and all the rest are convenient figureheads to blame the world’s problems on, but we need to be clear that this world would be just as dark without them. They are playing out, on a bigger stage, for bigger stakes, the same desires that are in your heart and mind, too.

But, Gabriel’s message to Mary reminds us that, “6 to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Mary’s Son had every right to simply come and demand your tribute, demand that you honor Him as your God. His commandments are good and right and salutary. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we have a number of different terms for describing a place where His commandments are kept perfectly, all the time. We call that sort of a place paradise. We call it heaven. He is perfectly just in condemning all who decide that they know better. And, of course, He will come, one day, for that purpose. But that’s not why He was born of the Virgin Mary.

A shoot has come forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots has borne fruit. “2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins” (Isaiah 11:2-5).

Our choices have created this world for ourselves— a world of famine and sickness, a world of conflict and war, a world of death. And, rather than simply judge you and me for our choices, He was condemned in your place. The Son of David handed Himself over to His rebellious creatures.

On Mount Calvary, as He was nailed to a cross to pay for the sins of humanity, the Lord of hosts has made for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. He swallowed up the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He swallowed up death forever so that He could wipe away tears from all faces and take the reproach of His people from all the earth (Isaiah 25:6-8).

How many have Putin, Xi Jinping, and all the rest would give the lives of every single one of their people in order to secure power for themselves. The Son of David gave His life to redeem each and every one of His rebellious creatures, gathering them back into His Kingdom, where “6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. 9 They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:6-10).

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that day is come, predicted by prophets, proclaimed by angels, and now, flowering and blooming, in the Virgin Mary. May it be to you as the angel has said.