Fourteenth Day of Advent

Above:  The Prophet Elijah and the Widow of Zarapheth

Jesus:  In Continuity with the Prophets

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2023

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Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 48:1-11 (Revised English Bible):

Then there arose Elijah, a prophet like fire,

whose word blazed like a torch.

He brought famine on the people,

and in his zeal reduced them in number.

By the word of the Lord he shut up the sky,

and three times he called down fire from heaven.

How glorious you were, Elijah, in your miracles!

Who else can boast such deeds?

By the word of the Most High

you raised a corpse from death and the grave.

You sent kings and famous men

from their sick-beds down to destruction.

You heard a rebuke at Sinai,

a sentence of doom at Horeb.

You anointed kings for retribution,

and a prophet to succeed you.

You were taken up to heaven in a fiery whirlwind,

in a chariot drawn by horses of fire.

Scripture records that you are to come at the appointed time

to allay the divine wrath before it erupts in fury,

to reconcile father and son,

and to restore the tribes of Jacob.

Happy are those who see you,

happy those who have fallen asleep in love!

(For we also shall certainly live.)

Psalm 80:1-3, 14-19 (Revised English Bible):

Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,

leading Joseph like a flock.

Shine forth, as you sit enthroned on the cherubim,

Leading Ephraim, Benjamin, Manasseh,

rouse your might and come to our rescue.

God, restore us,

and make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

God of hosts, turn to us, we pray;

look down from heaven and see.

Tend this vine,

this stock which your right hand has planted.

May those who set it on fire and cut it down

perish before your angry look.

Let your hand rest on the one at your right side,

the one whom you have made strong for your service.

Then we shall not turn back from you;

grant us new life, and we shall invoke you by name.

LORD God of Hosts, restore us,

and make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

Matthew 17:9-13 (Revised English Bible):

(This reading is set immediately after the Transfiguration.)

On their way down the mountain, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone of the vision until the Son of Man had been raised from the dead.  The disciples put a question to him:

Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?

He replied,

Elijah is to come and set everything right.  But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they failed to recognize him, and did to him as they wanted; in the same way the Son of Man must suffer at their hands.

Then the disciples understood that he meant John the Baptist.

The Collect:

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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I am a Christian.  By this simple statement I mean that I am a partisan of Christ, one who follows Jesus of Nazareth.  As such I affirm the humanity, divinity, life, death, resurrection, and teachings of the Lord and Savior.  Jesus is the incarnation of God, in line with the Prophets, the last of which was John the Baptist, and the ultimate expression of what a human life can be and can be worth.

I grew up in southern Georgia, the buckle of the Baptist Belt.  There the dominant church culture places great stress of verbal confessions of faith–too much, I think, often at the expense of a quieter, lived, non-verbal orthodoxy.  My faith runs deeply, but rarely in Baptist-style vocalizations.  So, for example, very little of my prayer life is oral, especially in public.  From time to time I have had negative encounters with earnest Baptists and other Protestants who have not understood my faith and approach to it.  And I felt no obligation to justify myself to them.  I still don’t.

Growing up in southern Georgia, I was a relative heretic.  (Not that anything is wrong with that, to borrow a phrase from a Seinfeld episode.)  Nevertheless, I am actually more orthodox than many people might suspect.  Seldom do I get into this with people, for God, not they, is my judge.

Anyway, I make these points at this time and in this place because they fit the readings.  I am writing these words on Memorial Day 2010, but the stated occasion is the Fourteenth Day of Advent, in December.  (I like to write ahead of time.) These readings indicate that Jesus stands in line with the Prophets of Yahweh while one of them foreshadows his death and resurrection.  In the midst of expectation we find a mention of the dark side of the narrative.

So, while the countdown to Christmas continues, let us remember the rest of the story.

KRT

Written on May 31, 2010

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/11/12/jesus-in-continuity-with-the-prophets/

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