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Weekly Bible Notes, 29th December 2002

(First Sunday of Christmas)

Year B. Colour: White

First Reading:	Isaiah 61:10-62:3
2nd Reading:	Luke 2:22-40
Commentary:	Painful Choices
Meditation:	Facing the Unknown
Prayers:	for Sunday and the week ahead

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Opening Verse of Scripture—Matthew 1:21

”You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” 

Collect Prayer for the Day—Before we read we pray

Almighty God, who wonderfully created us in your own image and yet more wonderfully restored us through your Son Jesus Christ: grant that, as he came to share in our humanity, so may we share the life of his divinity; who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

First Bible Reading  Isaiah 61:10-62:3

I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the shoot come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. 

For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow. You will be a crown of splendour in the LORD's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. (This is the word of the Lord—Thanks be to God)

Second Bible Reading  Luke 2:22-40
(When the Gospel is announced Glory to Christ our Saviour) 

When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "a pair of doves or two young pigeons. 

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. 

When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." 

The child's father and mother marvelled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too." 

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. 

When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. (This is the Gospel of Christ—Praise to Christ our Lord)

Post Communion Prayer

Heavenly Father, whose blessed Son shared at Nazareth the life of an earthly home: help your Son to live as one family, united in love and obedience and bring us all at last to our home in heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Commentary: Painful Choices

We don’t hear very much in the Gospels about the family life of Joseph, Mary and Jesus. But we can piece together quite a lot about them from the hints given in the accounts and from the work that Bible scholars and historians have contributed. Over time, beliefs about Mary and Joseph were formed by the expectations and values of the different ages in which the Bible was read. 

In Victorian times, for example, much emphasis was placed on Mary as a meek and mild wife. Jesus was described as a dutiful and obedient child. This sort of moral and social belief about the Holy Family is fantasy, because we simply don’t know these details about their life. 

At some periods of history, things that we do know about the holy Family from the Gospels have been ignored or denied. For example, the fact that Jesus’ brothers are referred to on several occasions, was quietly ignored by those who wished to focus on Mary’s eternal sexual purity. The fact that she was a mother to anyone other than Jesus did not suit their ideas and the scriptural references were passed over. 

The facts of Jesus’ early life suggest that it was lived in fear and upheaval as Joseph moved his family from Judea to Egypt and then on to Galilee, because Judea was too dangerous for them. The Holy Family was what we would now call political refugees or asylum seekers. Does this change our perspective on modern day refugees? 

It is all too easy to concentrate on the bits of the Bible that we agree with and to ignore the uncomfortable teachings. Jesus says far more about greed and meanness being spiritually dangerous than he said about sexual morals. Yet Christians have over centuries been happy to use the Bible as a weapon to beat the “immoral” with while hoarding up wealth. 

The teachings of Jesus make uncomfortable reading for us, just as they did for the people who first heard them, and God understands our pain and anxiety. Yet painful choices have to be made in order to gain a greater, eternal kind of security.  

Meditation: Facing the Unknown

	Mary could not have known what she was saying “yes” to: we pray for her trust.
	Joseph could not have known where his trust was leading him, we pray for his patience.
	The wise men could not have known the end of their journey, we pray for their boldness and adventure.
	The shepherds could not have known the meaning of their vision: we pray for their open minds.
	The Christ-child could not have known what was happening to him, we join with him in his fragile humanity in bringing before the unknown of divinity our prayer, praise and wonder this Christmas. Peter Armstrong

A Meditation for Today 

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

Hymns (Mission Praise)

1. In the Bleak Midwinter, 337 
2. Go tell it on the mountain, 179 
3. See amid the winter’s snow, 588
4. Joy to the world, 393  

Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead.

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First Reading:	Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Second Reading:	Luke 2:22-40
Commentary:	Painful Choices
Meditation:	Facing the Unknown
Prayers:	for Sunday and the week ahead
	Intercessions
Sermon:	The Holy Family

 

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