Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.    2 Samuel 7:8-11, 16

It is fitting that the Old Testament reading for the fourth Sunday of Advent in the lectionary B Years includes Nathan's delivery of this divine promise to King David. The oracle recounts the loving provision that God has shown for David, and as a corollary, for Israel. As Christians, we experience in this text a promise of the coming of Christ, whose lineage was one of direct descent from David (Matthew 1:1-16), and was therefore part of his house and kingdom which was to "be made sure forever."

After the downfall of David's dynasty, the expectation of the Messiah's coming was a frequent trope in biblical texts: for example, the prophet Isaiah found the figure of the Messiah in Cyrus of Persia (Isaiah 45:1), whose conquering of Babylon paved the way for the Jews' repatriation to Judea in 539 BC. This understanding of the Messiah as a warrior, a mighty king who would act decisively to free his people from the oppression of conquering nations was a popular one in Judea of the 1st c. AD. The people gathered at Jesus' crucifixion expected a tremendous victory against the Romans, saying to themselves, "He is the King of Israel; let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him" (Matthew 27:42). But this conception of the glorious Davidic Messiah was not realized in the person of Jesus.

Centuries before, Zechariah had foreseen a different type of Messiah: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass" (Zechariah 9:9). The imagery here is surprising for those supposedly in the know: why would God's Messiah be riding a lowly beast of burden such as the donkey, and not an animal of greater stature-a great stallion, or at least a mule? And how on earth could he be described as "lowly"? In Jesus' person, we have come to realize the reasons behind this surprise: the Messiah was sent not as one to cast off by force the enemy from without, but rather to cast out the enemy from within through love. God's decisive promise to David is made plain-but nonetheless still surprising-in the person of Christ. The evangelist John recognized this astonishing mode of deliverance from the enemy when he penned the passage that has achieved a near-credo status in the church:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him may not perish
but may have eternal life.
John 3:16

Contributed by Jeremy
Sunday December 21, 2008
Liturgical Year B Week 4
Sunday Gospel reading:
Fourth Sunday of Advent