Micah 5:1 – 4a

This Sunday, we will hear from the Book of the Prophet Micah.   Like Baruch and Zephaniah of the last two weeks, we don’t hear from Micah very often – in fact, we only hear from him once in the three year Sunday liturgical cycle and five times in the weekday cycle – so let’s review what we know about and his book.  Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah, as you will see from your Bible Timeline.  Unlike Isaiah, however, he was not native to Jerusalem – according to his introduction at the very beginning of his book, he was from Moresheth, a small village in the Judean hills (cf. Mic 1:1).  Let’s look for a moment at Jeremiah 26:17-18 for the only other reference to Micah.  Here, we read that Micah came to Jerusalem during the reign of Hezekiah.  His prophecy can be divided into major sections, each of which has two parts.  In both sections, Micah moves from condemnation (cf. 2:1-4; 6:1-5, 13-16) to salvation (cf. 4:1-2; 7:18-20).   

Part of the first section presents a promise that is very appropriate for us as we prepare for the birth of Christ; we will hear it on Sunday.

 

  • But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah,

 

Bethlehem-Ephrathah: Salvation will come through a “messiah,” an anointed ruler. The Book of Micah shares with Isaiah the expectation that God will deliver Israel through a king in the line of David. Bethlehem-Ephrathah is the home of the Davidic line. Let’s turn to Ruth 1:1-2.  Ephtratah is the Moabite name for the town of Bethlehem.  And, here we learn why Ruth is listed in Matthew’s genealogy (cf.  1:5).

least among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; whose origin is from of old, from ancient times.

least: the tribe of Judah was considered the least of the 12 tribes of Israel.  Here, as we have seen in other places in the Bible, God takes the least important to do his will (cf. Abel, the second son of Adam and Eve, Jacob, the second son of Jacob, David, the last son of Jesse).

for me: God made us for himself and all that he does is for our good – so that we may be able to fulfill his original plan for all of us.

 

2 Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has borne, then the rest of his kindred shall return to the children of Israel.

 

3 He shall take his place as shepherd by the strength of the LORD, by the majestic name of the LORD, his God; and they shall dwell securely, for now his greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth:

 

4 he shall be peace.

 

he shall be peace: Just as we believe that God is love, God is peace.  He doesn’t simply share his love and peace, he is love and peace and we are privileged to share them.

 

 

Luke 1:39 – 45

 

This week, we hear again from Luke’s Gospel.  As we prepare for Christmas, we realize that this is the time of year for family stories, the well-worn, deeply loved stories that remind us of who we are.  The story we hear on Sunday is one of those stories: it gives us insight into the family into which God inserted himself.  It is of two mothers-to-be and their encounter. 

 

39 During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,

 

in haste: we love to share good news; just look at all of the texts and emails you send and receive!  So, we understand that, after hearing the good news from the angel Gabriel, Mary could not wait to share in the blessing that had been bestowed on her cousin, Elizabeth, who was pregnant in her advanced years.

 

40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

 

41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,

 

leaped: Luke’s vocabulary is very carefully chosen.  He is not describing the normal movement of a child in the womb.  The word he used here could also be translated “danced.”  Here, this family story makes its first theological point: John, even before he was born, was prophetic in drawing attention to the good news of the coming of Christ; he couldn’t wait to share it!

 

filled with the holy Spirit:  Elizabeth is inspired by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the blessing of Mary and her child.

 

42 cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

 

43 And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

 

44 For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

 

45 Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

 

Blessed are you who believed: as you will read in your footnote, Luke portrays Mary as a believer whose faith stands in contrast to the disbelief of Zechariah when he learned of Elizabeth’s role in the birth of John the Baptist (cf. Lk 1:20).  We see that the author of Luke-Acts continues this theme in Acts 1:14, where Mary is listed among those who believed after our Lord’s resurrection.

 

 

Let’s also examine Sunday’s second reading; here, we learn about the important task that Jesus would accomplish when he would come into the world.  This passage is better understood if we begin from the beginning of the chapter.

 

 

Hebrews 10:5 – 10

 

1 Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of them, it can never make perfect those who come to worship by the same sacrifices that they offer continually each year.

 

offer continually each year:  let’s read Lv. 16:15 – 19, 29 -30; this is the origin of the Jewish feast, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

 

2 Otherwise, would not the sacrifices have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, once cleansed, would no longer have had any consciousness of sins?

 

3 But in those sacrifices there is only a yearly remembrance of sins,

 

 

4 for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats take away sins.

 

5 For this reason, when he came into the world, he said:  “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,

 

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire:  Let’s turn to Psalm 40:7; the author of Hebrews is well familiar with the Hebrew texts and reminds his listeners of this earlier admonition from the psalms

but a body you prepared for me;

6 holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight in.

 

7 Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,

Behold, I come to do your will, O God.’”

Behold, I come to do your will, O God:  when Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane, he says, “yet, not as I will, but as you will (Mt. 26:39).

 

8 First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in.” These are offered according to the law.

 

9 Then he says, “Behold, I come to do your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second.

 

10 By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

 

 

These readings prepare us so well for Christmas.  Bethlehem, an insignificant little town, and Elizabeth and Mary, poor women – one too old to bear a child and the other so you and did not know man – all represent God working in impossible settings to accomplish great things.  And Jesus, the son of Mary, born in that insignificant town of Bethlehem to a poor family – his father was a carpenter in a world with little wood – came to replace the ancient practice of useless, ongoing sacrifice with the offering of his will to the Father.  If only we open ourselves up to God’s will, he will accomplish great things through us as well.  Let us make that our prayer as we await the celebration of our Lord’s birth.