Above:  Candle Flame

Image in the Public Domain

Light in the Darkness

DECEMBER 23, 2023

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Collect:

Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come.

With your abundant grace and might,

free us from the sin that would obstruct your mercy,

that willingly we may bear your redeeming love to all the world,

for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever. Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 19

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Assigned Readings:

Judges 13:2-24

Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26

John 7:40-52

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;

I have sworn an oath to David my servant:

I will establish your line for ever,

and preserve it for all generations.”

–Psalm 89:3-4, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The origin stories of Samson and Jesus had some similarity to each other.  In each case, for example, an angel announced the conception of the child to the mother.  Yet Samson and Jesus were quite different.

Samson, a man of action, was supposed to deliver his people from oppressors.  He was, alas, not the brightest oil lamp in Israel, and character defects led to his downfall.  His death was his victory, but in a violent manner.

Jesus lived amid a range of messianic expectations, including the hope that he would liberate his people from the Roman occupiers.  That was not his task, however.  Nevertheless, he proved sufficiently threatening to the Roman Empire for imperial officials to execute him.  To call Jesus the “Savior of the world” and the “Son of God” was to subvert imperial Roman language, to put him in the place of the Emperor.  And the New Testament is replete with criticisms of the Roman Empire.  (My Bible study program has revealed more of them than I had imagined to exist, in fact.)  Jesus also had a victory–his Resurrection–in part a triumph over violence.

The assigned reading from John 7 precedes 7:53-8:11, the story of the woman caught in adultery.  This was originally from the Synoptic tradition.  In fact, different ancient texts have that floating pericope in various places in the Gospels.  If we skip over the inserted story, we move directly to Jesus telling Pharisees that he is the light of the world and that they know neither him nor God.  That section of scripture reads consistently flowing from 7:40-52 as well as from 7:53-8:11.  In 7:45-52 some Pharisees were anxious to ignore proper procedure in order to arrest Jesus, so Nicodemus spoke up on behalf of procedure.  If one reads 8:12-20 in the context of 7:53-8:11, some scribes and Pharisees have just violated the law to entrap Jesus, so the light was not in them for that reason.  Either way, skullduggery was in the works.

Light in the darkness is a wonderful metaphor to employ during Advent, when many of we Christians see a wreath with candles in church.  May we be lights of Christ in the darkness, which cannot conquer that light of divine love.  May we leave pettiness, greed, hatred, and other destructive forces behind, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus, for whose birth we prepare liturgically.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 27, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ARTHUR CAMPBELL AINGER, ENGLISH EDUCATOR, SCHOLAR, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT AEDESIUS, PRIEST AND MISSIONARY; AND SAINT FRUDENTIUS, FIRST BISHOP OF AXUM AND ABUNA OF THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX TEWAHEDO CHURCH

THE FEAST OF THE VICTIMS OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/light-in-the-darkness-3/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Advertisement

Samson and John the Baptist

DECEMBER 19, 2023

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Judges 13:2-7, 24-25 (Revised English Bible):

There was a certain man from Zorah of the tribe of Dan whose name was Manoah and whose wife was barren; she had no child.  The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said,

Though you are barren and have no child, you will conceive and give birth to a son.  Now be careful to drink no wine or strong drink, and to eat no forbidden food.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor must touch his head, for the boy is to be a Nazirite, consecrated to God from birth.  He will strike the first blow for Israel’s freedom from the power of the Philistines.

The woman went and told her husband,

A man of God came to me,

she said to him;

his appearance was that of an angel of God, most terrible to see.  I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name, but he said to me, ‘You are going to conceive and give birth to a son.  From now on drink no wine or strong drink and eat no forbidden food, for the boy is to be a Nazirite, consecrated to God from his birth to the day of his death.’

The woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson.  The boy grew up in Mahaneh-dan between Zorah and Eshtaol, and the LORD blessed him, and the spirit of the LORD began to move him.

Psalm 71:1-8 (Revised English Bible):

In you, LORD, I have found refuge;

let me never be put to shame.

By your saving power rescue and deliver me;

hear me and save me!

Be to me a rock of refuge

to which at all times I may come;

you have decreed my deliverance,

for you are my rock and stronghold.

Keep me safe, my God, from the power of the wicked,

from the clutches of the pitiless and unjust.

You are my hope, Lord GOD,

my trust since my childhood.

On you I have leaned from birth;

you brought me from my mother’s womb;

to you I offer praise at all times.

I have become like a portent to many,

but you are my strong refuge.

My mouth will be full of your praises,

I shall tell of your splendour all day long.

Luke 1:5-25 (Revised English Bible):

In the reign of Herod king of Judaea there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of the priesthood called Abijah.  His wife, whose name was Elizabeth, was also of priestly descent.  Both of them were upright and devout, blamelessly observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.  But they had no children, for Elizabeth was barren, and both were well on in years.

Once, when it was the turn of his division and he was there to take part in the temple service, he was chosen by lot, by priestly custom, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and to offer the incense; and at the hour of the offering the people were all assembled at prayer outside.  There appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right of the altar of incense.  At this sight, Zechariah was startled and overcome by fear.  But the angel said to him,

Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard:  your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to name him John.  His birth will fill you with joy and delight, and will bring gladness to many; for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord.  He is never to touch wine or strong drink.  From this very birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit; and he will bring back many Israelites to the Lord their God.  He will go before him as a forerunner, possessed by the spirit and power of Elijah, to reconcile father and child, to convert the rebellious father and child, to convert the rebellious to the ways of the righteous, to prepare a people that shall be fit for the Lord.

Zechariah said to the angel,

How can I be sure of this?  I am an old man and my wife is well on in years.

They angel replied,

I am Gabriel; I stand in attendance on God, and I have been sent to speak to you and I have been sent to speak to you and bring you this good news.  But now, because you have not believed me, and you will lose all power of speech and remain silent until the day when these things take place; at their proper time my words will be proved true.

Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, surprised that he was staying so long inside the sanctuary.  When he did come out he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had had a vision.  He stood there making signs to them, and remained dumb.

When his period of duty was completed Zechariah returned home.  His wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she lived in seclusion, thinking,

This is the Lord’s doing; now at last he has shown me favour and taken away from me the disgrace of childlessness.

The Collect:

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This series of Advent devotions is nearing its end and climax.  December 24 will be the last day of Advent, so the assigned readings (especially the Gospel readings), which span Luke 1:5 to Luke 1:79, bring us to the verge of Christmas Day.

This day’s readings tell of two men whose backstories were similar yet whose lives were different.  The stories of the births of Samson and John the Baptist contain an angel, a miracle, and a mission for the yet-unborn child.  Samson’s mission took a detour; he gave into his weakness for women, and one woman, a spy, in particular.  Yet John the Baptist remained true to his mission from beginning to end.

John chose the better path.  May we do likewise.

KRT

Written on June 3, 2010

http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/samson-and-john-the-baptist/