 |
| "The mountains shall yield peace for the people" |
He is a real person with real ancestry just like us. We encounter not a nice ideal this morning but a person of history. But he is of course no ordinary person.
the son of David, the son of Abraham.
All of history leading up to him is prelude. History before him is promise and desire. History itself is literally shaped by God to this end as we might write a book. Jesus is the fulfillment. Through his anointed leaders and prophets God teaches the people to hope for a messiah. He promises that all nations of the earth will be blessed through the line of Abraham (cf. Gen. 22:28). He promises a king in the line of David whose throne will rule forever (cf. Luk. 1:32-33). He promises:
The scepter shall never depart from Judah,
or the mace from between his legs,
While tribute is brought to him,
and he receives the people’s homage.”
And look, the promise to Abraham and the promise of the Davidic king already combine in promise before they combine in fulfillment.
May his name be blessed forever;
as long as the sun his name shall remain.
In him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed;
all the nations shall proclaim his happiness.
In him the afflicted are finally defended and the children of the poor are saved. He brings just judgment and "profound peace, till the moon be no more." The very "mountains shall yield peace for the people".
This anointed one, this promised one, this desired of nations, is Jesus Christ.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
Jesus is the one anointed by God to fulfill every promise. However many the promises of God, Jesus is the yes to all of them (cf. 2 Cor. 1:20). We wait for his coming more fully in our lives. We long for him to reign more completely in our world. Do we doubt his power to make truly impactful difference in the world? Do we treat him as something subjective and unmeasurable, to make us feel nice, but lacking in power? Listen to the promises! Hope again!
Do we want justice in the world? He brings it.
Do we want fullness of peace? He brings it.
He brings good things and promises still more:
Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day--and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (cf. 2 Tim. 4:8).
No comments:
Post a Comment