Baruch 4:36-5:9

36 Look toward the east, O Jerusalem,

and see the joy that is coming to you from God.

37 Look, your children are coming, whom you sent away;

they are coming, gathered from east and west,

at the word of the Holy One,

rejoicing in the glory of God.

5:1 Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem,

and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God.

2 Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God;

put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting;

3 for God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven.

4 For God will give you evermore the name,

"Righteous Peace, Godly Glory."

5 Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height;

look toward the east,

and see your children gathered from west and east

at the word of the Holy One,

rejoicing that God has remembered them.

6 For they went out from you on foot,

led away by their enemies;

but God will bring them back to you,

carried in glory, as on a royal throne.

7 For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low

and the valleys filled up, to make level ground,

so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.

8 The woods and every fragrant tree

have shaded Israel at God's command.

9 For God will lead Israel with joy,

in the light of his glory,

with the mercy and righteousness that come from him. (Baruch 4:36-5:9, NRSV)

Baruch addresses Jerusalem: “Look toward the east,” he says, “and see the joy that is coming to you from God” (Bar. 4:36; cf. 5:5). The joy is in seeing “your children . . . coming, whom you sent away” (v. 37). It’s a time to remove the garments of mourning and put on the garments of rejoicing (5:1), “the robe of the righteousness that comes from God . . . the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting” (v. 2). God will show Jerusalem’s “splendor everywhere under heaven” (v. 3), and give Jerusalem a new name, “Righteous Peace, Godly Glory” (v. 4). The departure of Jerusalem’s children was not really because Jerusalem sent them away (4:37), but rather, they were “led away by their enemies” (5:6a); “but God will bring them back . . . carried in glory, as on a royal throne” (v. 6b). “Most of Baruch is made up of pastiches of biblical passages copied or paraphrased (e.g. Dan 9; Job 28; Isa. 40-66)” (Mark E. Biddle, NOAB, 3^rd ed., Introduction to Baruch). An example appears in Baruch 5:7 where language of Isaiah 40:4-5 is used to describe the way the Lord has prepared for Israel’s return, “so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of the God.” The passage closes with emphasis on joy, glory, mercy and righteousness, all from God (v. 9).

Isaiah 60:1-6

Restoration of Jerusalem

60:1 Arise, shine; for your light has come,

and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

2 For darkness shall cover the earth,

and thick darkness the peoples;

but the LORD will arise upon you,

and his glory will appear over you.

3 Nations shall come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

4 Lift up your eyes and look around;

they all gather together, they come to you;

your sons shall come from far away,

and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms.

5 Then you shall see and be radiant;

your heart shall thrill and rejoice,

because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,

the wealth of the nations shall come to you.

6 A multitude of camels shall cover you,

the young camels of Midian and Ephah;

all those from Sheba shall come.

They shall bring gold and frankincense,

and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD. (Isaiah 60:1-6, NRSV)

The Presbyterian tradition has chosen to use a passage from Isaiah similar to the passage from Baruch, the reading from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. The common theme is the restoration of Jerusalem . The “glory of the LORD has risen” upon Jerusalem (Isa. 60:1), and “will appear over you [Jerusalem]” (v. 2). Jerusalem will be the light to which nations and kings come (v. 3). Her children shall return from the places to which they have been dispersed (v. 4). There will be rejoicing (v. 5a) and economic abundance (v. 5b, cf. v. 6).

“Arise, shine, for thy light has come” (Isa. 60:1) has been set to music in different forms, not the least, by George F. Handel in The Messiah.

Galatians 3:23-4:7

23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise. (Gal. 3:23-29, NRSV)

The following is repeated here from January 29, 2005 (Saturday of the third week of Epiphany):

The Rabbinical tradition about the “men of the great assembly” who received Torah from Moses and Joshua through the elders and prophets begins with three instructions, including “Make a fence for the Torah” (M. Abot 1:1, ed. J. Neusner). Rabbi Aqiba, a famed scholar, mystic and martyr (put to death by the Romans in 135 C.E.), is cited later in Mishnah Abot (3:13):

            (1) “Laughter and lightheadedness turn lewdness into a habit.

            (2) “Tradition is a fence for the Torah.

            (3) “Tithes are a fence for wealth.

            (4) Vows are a fence for abstinence.

            (5) A fence for wisdom is silence.

The notion of the fence around the law was seen as a positive thing:

Now our Lawgiver [i.e. Moses] being a wise man . . . fenced us round with impregnable ramparts and walls of iron, that we might not mingle at all with any of the other nations, but remain pure in body and soul, free from all vain imaginations, worshiping the one Almighty God above the whole creation” (Epistle of Aristeas, 139, cited by H. D. Betz, Galatians, 165).

Paul’s view of the law, on the other hand, though he calls it “holy, just and good” (Rom. 7:12), and “spiritual” (Rom. 7:14), presents a rather negative view here in Galatians, where he characterizes it as a prison, “we were imprisoned and guarded under the law” (Gal. 3:23), and a “disciplinarian” (paidagogos, the custodian, “lit. ‘boy-leader’ whose duty it was to superintend the conduct of the boys in the family to which he was attached,” Gingrich, Lexicon). “But now that faith has come” (v. 25), we are “children of god through faith” (v. 26), all one (v. 28), “Abraham’s offspring [and] heirs according to the promise” (v. 29). “For Paul himself, the Jewish Torah plays a limited ‘positive’ role in God’s redemptive work. Neither the Torah itself nor the angels which gave it are evil. But the Torah of Moses is inferior to the promise of Abraham” (Betz, 169). Nevertheless, one should not conclude that Paul is in favor of sin, the “works of the flesh,” which he warns against in 5:19-21.

4:1 My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property; 2 but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father. 3 So with us; while we were minors, we were enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. 6 And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" 7 So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. (Galatians 4:1-7, NRSV)

The following is repeated from January 31, 2005 (Monday of the fourth week of Epiphany):

For Paul, now being under the law is being under “guardians [epitropoi] and trustees [oikonomoi]” (Gal. 4:2) (cf. “disciplinarian” paidagogos, 3:24). Gal. 4:1-7 is “elaboration of . . . the preceding verses (3:23-29)” (Ronald Y. K. Fung, Galatians, NICNT, 179). In the paragraph the image of being under the law gradually changes from minor children (Gal. 4:3) to slavery (v. 7), but the result of being redeemed is “adoption as children” (v. 5) We are “no longer a slave but a child, and . . . an heir” (v. 7). It might appear that we are back where we started, because at the beginning of the paragraph we are legal minors who do not inherit “until the date set by the father” (v. 2). Fung explains:

We have consistently understood the references to the status of sons in [4:5-7] in the sense of full-grown sonship, because this appears to be the sense required by Paul’s argument in 3:26, and it is reasonable to suppose that this is also the sense intended in the present passage . . . While the main idea in the human analogy is that of an heir who is underage, in his application of it Paul has combined two metaphors (v. 3, “During our minority we were slaves . . .”) so that, instead of saying simply “When the fulness of time arrived, God sent forth his Son . . . in order that we might come of age,” he says “. . . in order that we might receive adoption as sons–and full-grown sons at that”–thus weaving together the idea of “becoming an adopted son from a slave” and that of “the heir coming of age.” (p. 186)

Matthew 1:18-25

            The Birth of Jesus the Messiah (Lk 2.1-7)

18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

23 "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall name him Emmanuel,"

which means, "God is with us." 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-25, NRSV)

The following is repeated here from December 26, 2004 (the first Sunday after Christmas):

The Gospel reading is Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth (Mt. 1:18-25). He reports the engagement of Joseph and Mary, “but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (v. 18). When Joseph, considering the circumstances, “planned to dismiss her quietly” (v. 19),

an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Mt. 1:21-22 NRSV).

Matthew says that this is in fulfillment of prophecy. In my comments on Isaiah 7:14 (Dec. 10 and 11 [2004]), I pointed out that there is an Old Testament context and meaning, but that there is a “fuller sense” in which the text points to Matthew’s use of it in application to the birth of Christ. This is the first of several “formula quotations in which Matthew uses the introductory formula (sometimes shortened), “All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet” (Isa. 1:22; cf. 2:17; 4:14 and others). Note the prepositions: by the Lord, through the prophet. Even when the formula is shortened, as in 2:17 and 4:14, by omitting “by the Lord,” this understood. Thus, “This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah” (Mt. 12:17), continues the formula as first set in 1:22. The word of the Lord comes through the prophet Isaiah, but it is the word spoken by the Lord. The prophet is not a mere channel, God’s typewriter, so to speak. His personality and capabilities are involved. As we understand Jesus to be fully divine and fully human, so do we understand inspired scripture. There is a human side to Isaiah’s life and work, including his prophecy. And as a man of the eighth century B.C., he probably focused mainly on the immediate threat to Jerusalem. But God spoke through him of the birth of Jesus centuries later. When Joseph awoke he followed the angel’s command (Mt. 1:24) and when Jesus was born, “he named him Jesus” (v. 25).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

rworden@houston.rr.com