Fourth Sunday in Advent – Year B
FROM WHICH MESSIAH WILL SALVATION COME?
Introduction
Messianism is ingrained in us more than we realize; it is powered by the loss and anguish we feel in the face of a world marked by contradictions, tragedies, and death. It iskept alive by eagerly awaiting someone’s intervention who can radically change it. Every age has had its messianism.
The people of the Renaissance were convinced that they had put an end to the medieval dream, to a millennium marked by ignorance and barbarism, and that they had ushered in a golden age with the recovery of classical values. Then came the messianism of science, creator of progress and development; it was considered capable of solving all problems, except death. In the 1700s, the enlightened believed they had kindled the light of reason after centuries of obscurantism in which people had allowed themselves to be uncritically guided by truths supposedly revealed by heaven and translated into dogmas. Later, the ideological messianisms of justice, liberty and democracy sprang up, all of which were the bearers of humanitarian instances without any reference to God, which, having become idols, turned against man. All ideologies fade away, and the world continues to wait for a savior. The need for change causes impatience in some, leading to fanaticism and the use of violence. In others, it generates resignation and withdrawal fromnarrow private interests.
The longing for a messiah resurfaces every time the wise men, the winners, the rulers of this world are forced to declare their failure. He will propose a kingdom of peace and justice that will never be realized according to the wisdom of this world. But a heavenly messenger guaranteed him. He is the Messiah of God, and the new world will be brought to completion because ‘nothing is impossible with God.’
“The Son of the Virgin Mary is the only Messiah who has never disappointed me.”
First Reading: 2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-12,16
The last years of David’s life were neither easy nor quiet. The kingdom, built at the cost of so much blood, was still united. However, the first signs of division were already beginning to show. Conflicts were breaking out again between the tribes of the south and those of the north. The power and prestige of the great king, now in decline, could no longer contain the tensions.
The neighboring peoples, the Ammonites, the Moabites, subjugated by violence,subjected to excessive taxes, and forced labor (2 S 12:31), were just waiting for the right moment to resume hostilities and get rid of the unbearable yoke. The major heartache of David, however, was his family—the vicious rivalry between his sons. Amnon, the beloved eldest son, was murdered by his brother Absalom, who, turning against his father,was killed by Joab. Another son, Chiliab, had probably perished during the same family feud. The kingdom would be for the fourth son, Adonijah. Still, the intrigues of the ambitious Bathsheba, the favorite wife, and Nathan, the prophet of the court, led David toappoint Solomon as his successor. The struggle for the throne ended with yet another crime, the killing of Adonijah by order of Solomon.
It is in this volatile ambient that today’s reading is placed. It constitutes the heart of David’s story and is the reference point for all the rest of Israel’s story. To strengthen the unity of the kingdom, David decided to build a temple to the Lord, but to implement such an ambitious project, he needed the approval and support of Nathan, the only one with moral authority who could convince the people to collaborate with this work. Having assumed the attitude of the most pious of devotees, David told him his intentions: "Look, I live in a house of cedar but the Ark of God is housed in a tent" (v. 2).
A bit taken by surprise, Nathan was convinced and approved the idea. That same night, thinking better, he realized that the sacrifices imposed on the people were alreadytoo much. It was not the time to undertake such a construction. The next day he went to the king and told him the revelation he had received from God. In the version of the episodepassed down from the book of Chronicles, the reason given by the prophet is referred to: "You have shed much blood and fought great battles; it is not for you to build a temple for my name since you have shed so much blood on the earth in my presence. But now a son is born to you. He shall be a man of peace. He shall build a temple for my name" (1 Chr 22:8-10).
After denying permission to build the temple, Nathan thought it was time to answeranother agonizing nightmare of the sovereign: What will be the fate of the nascentdynasty? David knew that all the prospects were there because, after his death, a fight would be unleashed in his family, no holds barred, to seize the throne; his enemies would surely take advantage and wipe out the young dynasty.
Nathan gave the king an unprecedented promise: you shall not build a house for God, but God will build you a stable, solid and eternal home (vv. 11-16). In the Bible, the word ‘house’ does not only mean the material building, but also the family, the posterity. The prophet used it in this sense. In the name of God, he assured David his successor would behis son and that his dynasty would never be destroyed.
We know of dynasties that remained in power for hundreds and even thousands of years, but then they disappeared. Those who heard Nathan proclaim the oracle must havethought of a white lie dictated by respect and compassion for the old king. Instead, throughthe prophet’s mouth, God was committing himself in a solemn promise. The Davidic dynasty would last forever. This is how Israel understood it and, in difficult times, shealways refers to it, sure that the Lord would be true to his word.
A sad but dramatic event happened in July 587 B.C. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and put an end to the reign of David. It was not only a military defeat but a tough test of faith for the people who asked: ‘Has the Lord forgotten his promise?’ They were years of confusion until Israel was able to convince herself that the words of God are irrevocable. She must look to the future, wait for the coming of a descendant of David, the one who would receive from the Lord an everlasting kingdom. It was the beginning of the messianic hope.
The fulfillment of the prophecy exceeded all expectations. Both David and Nathandreamed of a kingdom of this world, but the Lord does not conform to the plans of man, which are always petty. He upsets them, and replaces them with his plans, and asks them to trust him. God raised up in the family of David a king, Jesus, the son of Mary. Israel expected a conqueror of empires, but the Lord answered by sending a weak, poor, helpless child. Such are the surprises of God. Blessed are those who, like Mary, can trust and accept them!
Second Reading: Romans 16:25-27
The term mystery for Paul refers to the plan of salvation that God had in mind from all eternity. It was gradually revealed to people (v. 25). God began to reveal it in creation, theuniverse and our world that he brought into being by his word: “And God said ...” Creationis thus, in a sense, ‘impregnated’ with this divine word, and can communicate the word to whoever contemplates it with clear eyes and a pure heart. From the beginning, in fact, God"is continually doing good, giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, providingyou with food and filling your hearts with gladness" (Acts 14:17).
Then he spoke more clearly through the prophets sent to enlighten his people (v. 26).Finally, in Christ, he has completed his revelation: "in our times he has spoken definitively to us through his Son… . He is the radiance of God’s glory and bears the stamp of God’s hidden being" (Heb 1:1,3). When, on the cross, Jesus cried: "It is accomplished" (Jn 19:30), he did not mean to say: ‘For me, it's over,’ but: ‘This is the most glorious momentof my life,’ one in which the Father showed how far his love for man goes. He no longerhas anything left to add; the ‘mystery’ is fully revealed.
In the few verses in today's passage, which is the conclusion of the Epistle to the Romans, Paul thanks God for this revelation. It is now clear to everyone that he cultivatesthoughts of peace and plans of salvation for every person and wants everyone to be in Christ, ‘one new man,’ destroying all enmity (Eph 2:14-18).
Gospel: Luke 1:26-38
Since the early centuries of the Church, the angel's greeting to Mary has inspiredChristian artists. It is a symbolic theme present in every church. Fra Angelico’s Annunciation is all grace and sweetness. That of Simone Martini is famous, with the angel Gabriel, an incorporeal creature that almost dissolves in the light of the golden background, while Mary, upset, withdraws without losing the serenity of her beautiful face.The sensations aroused by these masterpieces are lovely and the emotions felt while reading the gospel pages are intense.
However, after that initial approach to the sublime mystery of the Incarnation of God’s Son, it is necessary to search for the message that the Evangelist intended to communicate.One must separate Luke’s account from the apocryphal gospels wherein many legendary traits appeared and fifth-century artists reproduced them in their paintings. However, the literary genre of the passage is precisely defined, highlighting the fact that it has nothing in common with fairy tales.
We start with an observation: it is not the first time in the Bible that an extraordinary birth of a child is announced. Comparing these annunciations, one notes that the characters called to serve a remarkable mission are often born abnormally. Isaac was conceived whenhis mother, Sarah, barren, was ninety years old and his father, Abraham, a hundred (Gen17:17); the mother of Samson (Jdg 13:3) and Samuel (1 S 1:5) are sterile; the parents of John the Baptist are old, and Elizabeth was barren. It is not surprising that, in theapocryphal gospels, the birth of Mary is presented according to the same pattern: Anne and Joachim are old, and the mother is infertile. Even the birth of Jesus takes place in an extraordinary way: Mary is a virgin and had no relations with her husband.
The Bible emphasizes the prodigious component of these births to show that they are not the result of natural human fecundity but a gift from heaven. The salvation, liberation,and hope that these characters are destined to introduce in the world come from God.
Suppose to these announcements of extraordinary births, we also add the callings of Moses (Ex 3:2-12) and Gideon (Jdg 6:12-22). In that case, we verify another significant fact: all these stories are structured in the same way, following the same pattern and containing the same elements. They are, in fact, similar, like bricks from the same mold.First, the angel of the Lord is introduced into the scene; then the one who receives God's message is seized by fear; the angel announces the birth of a child, indicating the name andhis specific mission; a difficulty or an objection is raised to which the angel responds by giving a sign that is timely realized.
The Annunciation to Mary follows this scheme in every detail. Therefore, it is difficult to determine which are, in the story, the actual historical data and what are the elementsthat depend on literary artifice. The facts may exactly be reported as they were referred to. If so, the Evangelist could not narrate them differently; but even if the Annunciation of Mary had been an inner mystical experience, the story would have been the same. To be understood by his readers, Luke had to follow the established pattern imposed by the Bible.
What we can say, without a shadow of a doubt, is that Luke did not intend to draw upa cold report of what happened. Unlike the artists who seem to direct attention to Mary and the heavenly messenger, Luke wanted the gaze focused on the son of Mary. It interests believers to know who Jesus is, more than the inner emotions of the Virgin.
With these caveats, we come to the message. The solemn oracle uttered by Nathan hasprofoundly marked the history and spirituality of Israel. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah,Amos, and Zechariah referred to this in the darkest moments of Israel’s history. Even moresurprising—when the Davidic dynasty had disappeared, when Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple razed—a psalmist presented again to the people God's promise: “I have sworn to David my servant ... his dynasty will last forever, and his throne endures as the sun before me. It will shine forever like the moon, the unfailing watch of heavens” (Ps89:4,37-38).
In an irreparably compromised situation such as theirs in exile, how could one believethat the Lord would not have lied? Yet the psalmist was convinced that if God had shownhimself capable of making Sarah fruitful, he would undoubtedly be able to have the promised Messiah born of a virgin’s womb in Israel. But here's the surprise: while the eyesof those who awaited the saving intervention of God were looking to Jerusalem, God set his sights on a tiny village lost in the mountains of Galilee. It is so insignificant that it is not even mentioned in the Old Testament. It was inhabited by simple people with little education and even considered unclean because they lived in contact with pagans. To Philip, who enthusiastically declared his admiration for Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanaelmockingly replied: "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" (Jn 1:46).
The surprises are not over. To whom does God turn? Whom does he choose? Not a brave liberator like Gideon, not a hero like Samson or a powerful ruler as Solomon, but a woman, a virgin.
Virginity for us is a sign of dignity and a great honor. In Israel, it was appreciated before marriage, not after. For a girl, it was a disgrace to remain a virgin throughout herlife. She was judged unable to draw to herself the eyes of a man. The childless woman wasa dead tree that bore no fruit. A derogatory connotation is associated with the word virgin.In the most dramatic moments of its history, Jerusalem defeated, humiliated, destroyed andhopeless, is called virgin Zion (Jer 31:4; 14:13) because her life was interrupted; she was unable to generate.
Mary is a virgin from the biological point of view, as the Church has always believedand in the biblical sense. She is poor and is conscious of it. She finds herself in the condition of the woman who may just be ‘filled with grace’ from God. We do not celebrate her moral integrity in the Annunciation. No one doubts this, but we contemplate the ‘great things’ that God who is ‘powerful’ and ‘holy is his name’ has done in her. Those who consider the wonders performed by the Lord in ‘her servant’ can no longer fall for their unworthiness because they understand that all are destined to become, in the hands of God, the masterpieces of his grace.
Luke is the Evangelist of the poor in whom he wants to instill joy and hope. Therefore, from the very first page of his Gospel, he emphasizes God's preference for the last ones, for those who count for nothing, for all who are despised. By making fruitful the desert-like womb of the virgin Zion and Mary, he showed no condition of death or absence of life, wherein the Lord cannot give life. Even hearts dry as the desert sands he will transform into lush gardens, irrigated by the water of his Spirit, and the gardens will become forests(Is 32:15).
At this point, we can grasp the central message of the passage. “Rejoice, full of grace,the Lord is with you” (v. 28). These are the words the heavenly messenger addressed to Mary. He did not improvise it on his arrival at Nazareth, nor was it taught him in heaven before departure. This greeting was well known to Mary because the prophets had already addressed it to the Virgin Zion. Zephaniah was the first to formulate it in a time of Israel’smoral decadence. Outraged by the corruption, he had pronounced terrible oracles of condemnation against foreign nations and against the holy city, which had become "rebellious, polluted, and arrogant" (Zep 3:1). Then came the surprise. One day he changed his tone, and from threats of punishment, he uses sweet language, consoling words: "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout for joy, daughter of Jerusalem! ... do not be afraid " (Zep 3:14-18; Zec 9:9).
Why this sudden change? Had the city converted on hearing his threats? Not at all,only a small remnant, a humble and lowly people, had turned to the Lord and began toconfide in him. The majority had continued to reject God. If Zion considered only her sin,she would have had every reason to lose her heart and wait for the fall. But Zephaniahinvited her to look up and contemplate the love of her God. This is the reason for the exultation: “The Lord is with you, mighty savior” (Zep 3:17).
Putting in the angel’s mouth the invitation to rejoice, Luke identifies Mary with the Virgin Zion, who rejoices because the Lord is present in her. If we scroll through the Bible,we see that he usually calls them by name when God speaks to someone. In our story, the name of Mary is replaced by an epithet: loved by God. If God changes the name, it means that he destines her to a particular mission. Abram became Abraham because he hadbecome the father of many nations (Gen 17:5), and Sarai was called Sara, princess because she is destined to be the mother of kings (Gen 17:15).
So what is the mission entrusted to '’Loved by God’? It is that of proclaiming to the world what the Lord has done in the poor who rely on his love. After the greeting, the angel announced to Mary the birth of the child to whom the Lord God will give the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and his reign shall have no end (vv. 32-33). Luke did not invent these words. They can be found, almostidentical, in the mouth of Nathan (2 S 7:12-17). Placing them on the lips of the angel, the Evangelist declares that the prophecy made to David was accomplished in the son of Mary: Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah destined to rule forever.
In the words of the heavenly messenger, the theme of little ones made great by the benevolence of God is taken up again. David was a shepherd, the youngest of his brothers. God took him from the pasture, where he kept the flock and made him a glorious king. Now the Lord starts from a situation of poverty: the family of David is fallen, the kingdom is destroyed, but the ‘Powerful’ intervenes, takes a bud, a son of David, and consigned to him a kingdom that will not end.
It is an invitation not to be seduced by other messiahs, not to expect other saviorsbecause no one can ever replace Jesus. Many will come after him and will introduce themselves saying, “I am the Messiah!” (Mt 24:4) and "perform signs and wonders so great that they would deceive even God’s chosen people" (Mt 24:24). They will have momentary success, but—ensures the Evangelist—an eternal kingdom was promised onlyto Jesus.
To the objection/question of Mary, the angel answers: The power of the Most Highwill overshadow you (v. 35). In the Old Testament, the shadow and the cloud are signs of God’s presence. During the exodus, God preceded his people in a pillar of cloud (Ex 13:21); a cloud covered the tent where Moses went to meet God (Ex 40:34-35), and when the Lord came down on Mount Sinai to speak with Moses, the mountain was covered with a thick cloud (Ex 19:16). Stating that the shadow of the Almighty has rested on Mary,Luke says that God renders himself present in her. We are faced with this Evangelist’sprofession of faith in the divinity of Mary’s son.
The last words of the angel are: “With God, nothing is impossible” (v. 37). These are the exact words that the Lord spoke to Abraham when he announced the birth of Isaac(Gen 18:14). They are a statement often recalled and fondly repeated, especially to those who feel too poor, too unworthy, and think that for them, there is no more hope ofrecovery and salvation: ‘With God, nothing is impossible.’
“I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said” (v. 38). It isMary's response to God's call. Many paintings show evidence of surprise in the face of the Virgin and, at times, almost her dismay. However, the acceptance of God's will always follow.
“Let it be done,” however, does not mean a resigned acquiescence. The Greek wordgenoito is an optative and expresses a joyful desire of Mary, anxiety to see the Lord's plan realized in her. Where God comes, there also joy always comes. The story begins with the‘Rejoice’ and ends with the joyful cry of the Virgin.
No one had understood God's plan. David, Nathan, Solomon, the kings of Israel had not understood it. All had put their dreams in opposition to God and expected only the helpto achieve them. Mary does not behave like them; she does not put her plan in opposition to God. She only asks what the role God intends to entrust to her and joyously welcomes his initiative is.
