Lectionary Discussion Group

Week of Sunday, December 9, 2007, Second Sunday of Advent, Year A

Isaiah 11:1-10

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, And faithfulness the belt around his loins.

The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Romans 15:4-13

Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

"Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles,
and sing praises to your name";

and again he says,

"Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people";

and again,

"Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples praise him";

and again Isaiah says,

"The root of Jesse shall come,
the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles shall hope."

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:1-12

In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

"The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
`Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.'"

Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

"I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

Historical Tidbit:

Around the time of John the Baptist and Christ, there were quite a few would-be messiahs running around the Empire, not only in Palestine. One of the best-known in that time and in future centuries was Apollonius of Tyana (ca. 40-ca. 120 a.d.) He was a Pythagorean ascetic, who had likely traveled to India and influenced by Buddhism. He did many miracles, and objected to the eating of flesh, consistent with the thought of Pythagoras. Later Neoplatonists compared him favorably to Jesus, who, by comparison, did relatively few miracles and lived an “unclean” life. In fact, the Christian theologian Lactantius and the Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry of Tyre debated about him at some length before the Emperor Constantine, largely convincing Constantine of the truth of Christian doctrine as opposed to Neoplatonism. Subsequently, Neoplatonism would become a religion only for intellectuals, and eventually died out, while Christianity became a nearly universal religion in the western world.

Theological Tidbits:

- Remember what Advent is all about—it’s about awaiting the coming of the Lord! The word “advent” in English is from the Latin “advenire,” meaning to come toward, or toward the coming!

- This reading from Isaiah is a foretelling of Jesus’s birth. There are many foreshadowings of the coming of Christ in the Old Testament.

- This passage foresees a fundamental change in the nature of kingship that will come with the coming of Christ. Kingship will not be about taking over the world, but of bringing peace, love, and fear of the Lord to all peoples.

- This can also be seen as an eschatological text. Obviously, although in the current world many are saved and many see the peace, not all are; in the future world, lions and lambs really will lay down together.

- At the beginning of Matthew and Luke, the genealogy of Jesus is set out, where he is descended through Joseph from the line of David. This ties in here to the language of the “root of Jesse,” one of the progenitors of the Davidic line.

- Paul tells us here that we really are living in the time foreseen in Isaiah. He tells us to live as Isaiah foretells the good subjects of God will in the future. He begins this by noting that “whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction,” creating a connection between the Old Testament scriptures—remember that in Paul’s time the Gospels were not written yet—and the current times.

- However, Paul also emphasizes hope, which makes this passage more eschatological. The time foretold by Isaiah has not come in full yet. Yes, the Kingdom of God lives in the heart of every true believer, but not all are true believers yet. Moreover, as all of the Gospels note, we have a duty to share Christ with anyone we can, so that all will praise God, and, as Isaiah notes, “the earth will be full of knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” However, Paul and Isaiah tell us to hope, and to expect both the coming of the Lord that we will see on Christmas, and the coming of the Lord in history, as he came once, and will come again.

- An important fact to recall here is that in ancient times, it was thought that vipers were not born from eggs, but were gestated inside the mother and killed her when they were born by bursting out of her. Thus, John the Baptist arouses the ire of the Pharisees and Sadducees when he accuses them, metaphorically, of ruining Israel.

- John emphasizes that there are good and evil people everywhere, and that only the one who comes will be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.

- John, in contrast to many would-be messiahs wandering around Palestine at this time, emphasizes that he is NOT the messiah, by saying that the messiah is one who is coming. This makes John’s ministry unique and Christian in character, as opposed to those who would call themselves messiahs just to call attention to themselves.

Questions:

1. In this time where brothers refuse to break bread with brothers, where do we find our hope in the Church? Where does the rift end?

2. John the Baptist lays down here the principle that only the trees that bring forth good fruits will be kept, and all others will be put into the fire. How can we be sure to bear good fruits? Does your intention matter, or is it just all about getting the right thing done whatever your intent might be? Some of both?

3. How do we bear witness to Christ without drawing the attention to ourselves? How did John the Baptist do it? How would you?

4. Where is all of this pointing? How does it fit into the bigger scheme of the time from the first Sunday of Advent through Pentecost? There is some thought that the time of Christmas was chosen to coincide with pagan rituals on the solstice, and that Easter was set to coincide with pagan rituals on the equinox. Does this cheapen the experience for you? Or does this mean that the Christian religion has through the action of the Holy Spirit in history made the rhythms of natural life holy?