NOTE: The three traditions, Episcopal, Presbyterian and Lutheran, come together today in using the same daily Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel readings. For the past week there has been some difference each day, and occasionally also for the past month or two. In the readings for January 4, each has a slightly different verse selection, but otherwise they are together for several weeks.

Zechariah 2:10-13

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the LORD. Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in your midst. And you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.

Be silent, all people, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling. (Zech. 2:10-13)

The following comments are repeated here with revision and supplement from December 25, 2004 (Christmas Day, Year One):

Between the visions of a surveyor measuring Jerusalem in preparation for restoration (Zech. 2:1-5) and the vision of “the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan” (haśśātān, ‘the Adversary,” cf. NRSV note g, Zech. 3:1), Zechariah presents “a summons to the exiles” (Gregory Mobley, NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Zech. 2:6-13). “Up, up!” says the prophet in the words of the LORD. “Flee from the land of the north, says the LORD; for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven, says the LORD” (Zech. 2:6). The repetition makes it clear that the call is to flee from Babylon. “Up! Escape to Zion, you that live with daughter Babylon” (v. 7). Compare Isaiah’s summons: “Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, / declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, / send it forth to the end of the earth; / say, ‘The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!’ ” (Isa. 48:20). The basis for the summons is the LORD’s regard for Israel. “For thus said the LORD of hosts (after his glory sent me) regarding the nations that plundered you: truly, one who touches you touches the apple of my eye” (Zech. 3:8). According to Mobley, “the apple of my eye” is “the pupil the most precious, the most fiercely defended part (Deut. 32:10; Ps. 17:8)” (on v. 8).

The LORD will “raise my hand against them, and they shall become plunder for their own slaves” (v. 9a). “Then you will know,” says the prophet, “that the LORD of hosts has sent me” (v. 9b). So the summons to return becomes a call to sing and rejoice. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the LORD” (v. 10). The rejoicing is for more than just the restoration of Israel–as marvelous as that will be. “Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day,” says the prophet, “and shall be my people, and I will dwell in your midst” (v. 11a). According to W. Sibley Towner, “The notion that on the ‘day of the LORD’ the gentile nations shall be God’s people has many precedents in prophetic literature (e.g., Isa. 19:24-25; 56:6-8; 60:3)” (The HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Zech. 2:11). Mobley says “Jerusalem will be the site of a universal pilgrimage in the ideal age ([Zech.] 8:20; Isa. 2:2-4; 56:6-7; Micah 4:1-2)” (on v. 11). This expectation of many nations coming to Jerusalem to worship the LORD makes this text most appropriate for the Christmas celebration in a Christian (and if they would agree, a Jewish) context.

Compare the following from Isaiah: “But be glad and rejoice forever / in what I am creating; / for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, / and its people as a delight. / I will rejoice in Jerusalem, / and delight in my people; / no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, / or the cry of distress” (Isa. 65:18-19).

Also compare:

Thus says the LORD of hosts: People shall yet come, the inhabitants of many cities; the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, "Come, let us go to entreat the favor of the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts; I myself am going." Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the favor of the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from nations of every language shall take hold of a Jew, grasping his garment and saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." (Zech. 8:20-23)

But there is special emphasis upon Judah in this restoration. “The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem” (v. 12). According to Mobley, “This is the only reference to Judah, or Israel, as the holy land in the Hebrew Bible (though see, in the Apocrypha, Wis.12:3; 2 Macc. 1:7)” (on v. 12). As the reading closes, all people are called to “be silent . . . before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling” (v. 13).

1 John 4:7-16

God Is Love (Cp Jn 3.16)

7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. (1 John 4:7-16, NRSV)

The following comments are combined with revision and adaptation here from December 25, 2004, two years ago (Christmas day, Year One), and from comments on 1 John 4:7-21 from April 12, 2005 (Tuesday of the week of the Third Sunday of Easter, Year One) which were used on December 25, 2005, one year ago, and again on February 21, 2006 (Tuesday of the week of the Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two)::

This passage might be considered as extensive commentary on the verse we call “the gospel in a nutshell” (Jn. 3:16). The key to the Epistle reading–and its Christmas connection–is 1 John 4:9-10: “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” This is the basis for the initial instruction: “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God” (v. 7a). Those who love are “born of God” and know God (v. 7b). Not loving is a sure sign of not knowing God (v. 8). But we do not initiate such love. “God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him” (v. 9). “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (v. 10). We ought to respond to God’s love by loving one another (v. 11). We are reminded that “if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us” (v. 12) . Signs of our relationship to God include our loving one another (vv 7, 12), the gift of his Spirit (v. 13), and the witness of the Apostles (v. 14). “God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us” (vv. 15-16).

John Wesley sees the explanation of “if we love one another, God lives in us” (v. 12) in verses 14 to 16, and the explanation of “his love is perfected [‘has its full effect’] in us” (v. 12) in verses 17 to 19. (http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/notes/1John.htm, accessed again December 24, 2006). Of verse 14 Wesley says, “And in consequence of this we have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son -- These are the foundation and the criteria of our abiding in God and God in us, the communion of the Spirit, and the confession of the Son.” Of verses17 and 18 he says:

Hereby - That is, by this communion with God. Is our love made perfect; that we may - That is, so that we shall have boldness in the day of judgment - When all the stout - hearted shall tremble. Because as he - Christ. Is - All love. So are we - Who are fathers in Christ, even in this world. (Wesley, on v. 17)

There is no fear in love - No slavish fear can be where love reigns. But perfect, adult love casteth out slavish fear: because such fear hath torment - And so is inconsistent with the happiness of love. A natural man has neither fear nor love; one that is awakened, fear without love; a babe in Christ, love and fear; a father in Christ, love without fear. (Wesley on v. 18).

Among other things, Wesley finds here a warning about bigotry. He comments on verse 21:

And this commandment have we from him - Both God and Christ. That he who loveth God love his brother - Every one, whatever his opinions or mode of worship be, purely because he is the child, and bears the image, of God. Bigotry is properly the want of this pure and universal love. A bigot only loves those who embrace his opinions, and receive his way of worship; and he loves them for that, and not for Christ's sake.

If he only knew how many kinds of bigotry our own times would engender! (But perhaps that’s for another time.)

John 3:31-36

The One Who Comes from Heaven

31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified this, that God is true. 34 He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath. (John 3:31-36, NRSV)

The following comments are combined with some revision and adaptation here from December 25, 2005, Christmas Day one year ago, and from December 25, 2004, Christmas Day two years ago.

After Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus (Jn. 3:1-21), John’s Gospel reports period of time when John was baptizing and Jesus’ disciples were also baptizing (3:22-24; cf. 4:1-3), which led to “a discussion about purification” (3:25) and John the Baptist’s further testimony about Jesus (cf. 1:19-34). John is asked about Jesus, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and all are going to him” (3:26). John further testifies that he is “not the Messiah” (v. 28). He is “the friend of the bridegroom” (v. 29). “He must increase, but I must decrease” (v. 30).

So it is tempting to take the following paragraph, with its reference to “the one who comes from above” and “the one who is of the earth” (v. 31) as a contrast between Jesus and John. But that would not be correct (or at least not adequate). Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., says that the words “no one” (v. 32) present “a generalization about Israel (see 1:11)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on Jn. 3:32-34). I would agree that it’s no longer about John, for “no one accepts his testimony” (v. 32), not the testimony of John, but the testimony of “the one who comes from heaven” who “is above all” (v. 31, the antecedent of “He” in v. 32). But it’s not just about the Jews, or the unbelieving Jews, either. The phrase “his own people” (hoi idioi) in John 1:11 (to which Hendricks refers) refers to the people of the world which Jesus, the Logos, has created. “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being” (Jn. 1:3). “He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him” (v. 10). “He came to what was his own,” that is, the world which he had created, “and his own people,” that is, the people of the world he had created, “did not accept him” (v. 11).

The Gospel reading emphasizes the importance of believing in "the one who comes from above," that is, "from heaven" (Jn. 3:31), who "testifies to what he has seen and heard" (v. 32), "whom God has sent to speak the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure" (v. 34), that is, the Son (vv. 35, 36). "The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath" (vv. 35-36).

Computer enthusiasts have recently begun to use what some call a "thumb drive," or a "pen drive," a very small device that, when connected to a computer will hold an immense amount of data. You too have probably noticed that all kinds of electronic devices now use miniature parts. Smaller is better, we might say. On Christmas day, as we contemplate a helpless baby in a manger, we are nevertheless reminded that this child is the focus of all the power of heaven, an incredible miracle that surpasses what human genius can do with miniaturized electronic parts. Or supersized machinery, vessels, and cities, for that matter. May the blessedness of Christmas, and all of its message, be yours today.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

rworden@houston.rr.com