Isaiah 62:6-7, 10-12

6 Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,

I have posted sentinels;

all day and all night

they shall never be silent.

You who remind the LORD,

take no rest,

7 and give him no rest

until he establishes Jerusalem

and makes it renowned throughout the earth. (Isaiah 62:6-7, NRSV)

10 Go through, go through the gates,

prepare the way for the people;

build up, build up the highway,

clear it of stones,

lift up an ensign over the peoples.

11 The LORD has proclaimed

to the end of the earth:

Say to daughter Zion,

“See, your salvation comes;

his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.”

12 They shall be called, “The Holy People,

The Redeemed of the LORD”;

and you shall be called, “Sought Out,

A City Not Forsaken. (Isaiah 62:10-12, NRSV)

On December 31, 2006 (the First Sunday after Christmas, Year One), comments were repeated with revision and adaptation from December 26, 2004 (the first Sunday after Christmas, Year One); they are repeated again here with some editing:

Isaiah, chapters 60-62, are considered a unit, which Joseph Blenkinsopp calls “the glory and destiny of Zion” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Isa. 60-62). Similarly, John N. Oswalt, explains:

The theme introduced in 61:4-11 (and paralleling that of 60:1-22) continues here. It is introduced in 62:1 with a declaration of God’s intent for Zion. The paralleling of ‘righteousness’ and ‘salvation’ is significant in two ways. (1) It reminds the reader that Israel’s righteousness is only possible because of the saving activity of God; it is not something Israel can produce on her own. (2) At the same time, the combination makes it plain that the only goal of God’s saving activity is unmistakably righteous living. (Isaiah, The NIV Application Commentary, 2003, p. 655, on Isa. 62:1-12).

The importance of “unmistakably righteous living” is beyond question, of course. But there is some interesting difference in translation here. Where the NIV (also AV/KJV and others), followed by Oswalt, has “righteousness” for Qd@c@ (zedeq, Isa. 62:1c, 2a, cf. hq!d!c4, z^edāqāh) and “salvation” for hf!Uwy4 (y^ešû‘āh, v. 1d), common translations of these words, to be sure, the NRSV has “vindication” (for Qd@c@, zedeq) and “salvation” (for hf!Uwy4, yešû‘āh). The NJPS translation (1985, 1999) differs more: “For the sake of Zion I will not be silent, / For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still, / Till her victory (Qd@c@, zedeq) emerge resplendent / And her triumph (hf!Uwy4, yešû‘āh) like a flaming torch./ Nations shall see your victory (Qd@c@, zedeq), / and every king your majesty; / And you shall be called by a new name / Which the LORD Himself shall bestow” (Isa. 62:1-2 NJPS). The earlier JPS (Jewish Publication Society) translation (1917) has “triumph” where the later (1999) has “victory,” and “salvation” where the later has “triumph.” The NEB (New English Bible) translates as follows: “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silence, / for Jerusalem’s sake I will speak out, / until her right (Qd@c@, zedeq) shines forth like the sunrise, / her deliverance (hf!Uwy4, yešû‘āh) like a blazing torch, / until the nations see the triumph of your right ( (all for Qd@c@, zedeq) / and all kings see your glory” (Isa. 62:1, 2a, b, NEB). Given that the first meaning listed for the verb qd1c! (zādaq) is “be in the right, be right, have a just cause,” and that in its only occurrence (Deut. 8:14) the passive (niph‘al) form means “be brought (back) to its rights, be vindicated” (William L. Holladay, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1971, 10^th corrected impression 1988, s.v. qd1c!, zādaq), the variety of translations here is not surprising. While God certainly demands righteous living, the emphasis here is on the restoration of the city which follows the moral restoration.

Zion will “be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, / and a royal diadem in the hand of your God” (v. 3). She will be given “a new name” (v. 2c, d); no more will she be termed “Forsaken” or “Desolate” (v. 4a, b), but “My Delight Is in Her” (v. 4c), and her land will be called “Married” (v. 4d). God will be the “young man” who marries “a young woman” (v. 5a, b), and “the bridegroom” who “rejoices over the bride,” that is, Zion (v. 5c, d). The speaker here (vv. 1-5) has been identified as “The seer whose voice is heard in 61:1-4" by Blenkinsopp, and he “will continue the mission until Jerusalem is vindicated and restored” (op. cit., on Isa. 62:1-4).

This brings us to the reading listed for today. “Upon your walls, O Jerusalem,” says the prophet, “I have posted sentinels; / all day and all night” (v. 6a, b). God designates Ezekiel as a “sentinel”: “whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me” (Ezek. 33:7). Here, too, the sentinels are probably prophets (Victor R. Gold and William L. Holladay (NOAB, 2^nd ed., on Isa. 62:6-9), but the message is good news, “to remind Jerusalem of her imminent salvation, the certainty of which the LORD’s oath (vv. 8-9) underscores” (Gold and Holladay). Blenkinsopp notes that the term “sentinels” often refers to prophets, citing “[Isa.] 21:6-9, 11-12; 62:6; Ezek. 3:17; 33:2, 6-7; cf. Hab. 2:1-3" (on Isa. 56:10). J. J. M. Roberts, who says of verses 1-5 that “The prophet will not cease reminding God of the Lord’s promise to redeem Zion (vv. 6-7) until God has vindicated the city before the whole world” (The HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Isa. 62:1-5), says of these “sentinels” that “the prophets must remind God of his sworn promise to glorify Jerusalem” (ibid., on vv. 6-9). They are to “and give him no rest / until he establishes Jerusalem / and makes it renowned throughout the earth” (v. 7). The LORD’s oath is repeated in verses 8 and 9. “I will not again give your grain / to be food for your enemies, / and foreigners shall not drink the wine / for which you have labored” (v. 8c, d, e, f). Rather, “those who garner it shall eat it / and praise the LORD, / and those who gather it shall drink it / in my holy courts” (v. 9). The prophet calls for preparation of “the highway,” “the way for the people” (Isa. 62:10, with echoes of 35:8, “highway” and 49:22, “ensign”) and promises that the LORD’s “reward is with him,/and his recompense before him” (Isa. 62:11; cf. 40:10).

The closing verses (vv. 11-12) provide what Blenkinsopp calls “a summary of the aspirations expressed in chs. 60-62, modeled on 40:1-3 interpreted in the light of a new situation” (op. cit., on vv. 11-12). “The LORD has proclaimed / to the end of the earth,” says the prophet: “Say to the daughter Zion, / ‘See, your salvation (fw1y2, yēša‘ , ‘liberation, salvation’, Holladay, Lexicon, s.v fw1y2, yēša‘ ) comes; / his reward is with him, / and his recompense before him’” (v. 11). Zion will be called “Sought Out, / A City Not Forsaken” (v. 12c, d), and her people, “The Holy People, / The Redeemed of the LORD” (v. 12a, b). These “names” for Jerusalem hold promise for better times, for redemption. They remind us of Hosea’s use of names, “Not Pitied” (Lo-ruhamah, Hos. 1:6) and “Not My People” (Lo-ammi, v. 8) which are changed to “My People” (Ammi, Hos. 2:23) and, implied, “Pitied” (“And I will have pity on Lo-ruhamah, Hos. 2:23). Compare the use of the names “My People” (Ammi) and “Pitied” (Ruhamah) in Hos. 2:1, and Paul’s use of these texts in Romans 9:25-26 regarding “a remnant” (v. 27) “from them,” that is “from the Jews” (v. 24).. God has made “known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy . . . including us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles” (Rom. 9:23-24).

Hebrews 2:10-18

10 It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying,

“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

13 And again,

“I will put my trust in him.”

And again,

“Here am I and the children whom God has given me.”

14 Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. 16 For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. (Hebrews 2:10-18, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of December 31, 2006 (the First Sunday after Christmas, Year One), when comments were repeated with revision and supplement from December 26, 2004 (the first Sunday after Christmas, Year One), and on comments on Hebrews 2:5-18 repeated from May 17, 2007 (Thursday, Ascension Day, Year One), when comments were combined with revision and supplement from May 5, 2005 (Thursday in the week of the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year One), from January 10 and 11, 2006 (Tuesday and Wednesday in the week of the First Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two), from March 5, 2006 (the First Sunday of Lent, Year Two), and from May 25, 2006 (Ascension Day, Year Two):

The Epistle to the Hebrews alternates between what we might call doctrinal or theoretical sections focused on the identity of Jesus as the final revelation of God and the greater, perfect priest and mediator of salvation to God’s people–sections based on passages from the Hebrew Bible–and stern admonitions to remain faithful to Christ. The scripture texts quoted in chapter one demonstrate that Christ, the “Son” (Heb. 1:2) is greater than the angels. The lesson drawn in the admonition (2:1-4) is that if the law of Moses, thought by many contemporary Jews to have been delivered to Moses by angels–“the message declared through angels” (Heb. 2:2a)–was given with severe sanctions for failure to obey–“every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty” (v. 2b)–we ought to “pay greater attention”–all the more!–“to what we have heard [i.e. the gospel of Jesus Christ], so that we do not drift away from it” (v. 1).

Paul says of the law that “it was ordained through angels by a mediator” (Gal. 3:19), which “reflects a later Jewish belief that the law was delivered on Sinai not directly from God but by Angels; see Deut 33:2 (Septuagint); Acts 7:38, 53; Heb. 2:2)” (Sheila Briggs, NOAB, 3^rd ed., 2001, on Gal. 3:19). The comparison of the revelation from God given through the Son (Heb. 1:2) to that given through angels (2:2) leads into today’s reading through the quotation in 2:6-8 from Psalm 8:4-6. The Psalmist asks, “What are human beings (wOnx#, ’ ^enôsh, ‘man’ AV) that you are mindful of them (Heb. ‘him’), / mortals (Md!x!-Nb@U, ûven-’ādām, ‘son of man” AV) that you care for them (Heb. ‘him’)” (Ps. 8:4 [Heb. v. 5]). Notwithstanding the NRSV plural form “them” (due to the inclusive language policy), the writer to the Hebrews apparently takes the words “son of man” as a reference to Jesus, and comments, “As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them (aujtw:/, autō(i), lit. ‘to him’), but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:8b-9). The reference to being “a little lower than God” or “angels” (Myh9lox# , ’ ^elôhîm, Ps. 8:5 [Heb. v. 6], ‘God’ NRSV, ‘angels’ LXX, which Hebrews follows, and other ancient versions), is related to Jesus’ incarnation, “for a little while . . . made lower than the angels” (Heb. 2:9). The dominion mentioned in the Psalm (Ps. 8:6) is seen as future for Jesus, “we do not yet see everything in subjection to them/him” (Heb. 2:8). These things are part of making “the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10).

This comparison of Christ with angels, based on understanding the phrase “mortals” (Ps. 8:4 NRSV, literally “son of man” as noted above), as a reference to Jesus, “who for a little while was made lower than the angels” (Heb. 2:9), reinforces the previous warning to “pay greater attention to what we have heard” (2:1), and not to “neglect so great a salvation” (v. 3). The writer uses a fortiori (“all the more”) logic, doubled up, as it were. If the Son who brings God’s final revelation (1:1-2) is so much greater than the angels (1:5-14), then so is the revelation through Christ even more serious than the earlier revelation.

If the sanctions of the Mosaic law, “declared through angels” were severe, “and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty” (Heb. 2:2), how much more important is it for us to obey the message of revelation through God’s Son (1:2), that is, to obey the gospel? This gospel message from the Lord, “attested to us by those who heard him” (v. 3), with the added testimony of God “by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit” (v. 4) calls for our obedience.

The present world, but not the world to come, has been subjected to angelic beings. F. F. Bruce says,

The biblical evidence for the angelic government of the world is early: it goes back to the Song of Moses in Deut. 32. The Septuagint reading of Deut. 32:8 (which has claims to represent the original text) runs thus:

“When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,

when he separated the children of men,

he set the bounds of the peoples

according to the number of the angels of God”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“The world to come, which is our theme” (NEB) is the new world-order inaugurated by the enthronement of Christ at the right hand of God, the world-order over which he reigns from that place of exaltation, the world of reality which replaces the preceding world of shadows. (ibid., p. 71, on Heb. 2:5, with footnote references to Heb. 8:5 and 10:1).

F. F. Bruce sees the Psalm as “plainly based on the words of the Creator in Gen. 1:26: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that loves on the earth’” (ibid., p. 72 on Heb. 2:6-8a). “Our author,” says Bruce,

applies these words not to the first Adam but to Christ as the last Adam, the head of the new creation and ruler of the world to come. Here is probably a tacit identification of “the son of man” in Ps. 8:4 with the “one like a son of man” in Dan. 7:13, who receives from the Ancient of Days “an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away.” (ibid.).

In summary of this part of the Epistle to the Hebrews (1:1-2:18), F. F. Bruce puts it this way:

Jesus, the Son of God, is the one to whom the dominion of the world has been committed for all time to come. As the eighth psalm teaches us, god has put everything under the dominion of human beings, and it was the nature of humans–our nature–that the Son of God took upon himself in order to win back this dominion. To do this he had to conquer the devil who had usurped it, and rescue those whom he held in bondage; and he conquered the devil when in death he invaded the realm of death, which the devil had controlled until then. It is because Jesus is truly Man, moreover, that he is qualified to serve as high priest on his people’s behalf; he knows all their trials from his own experiences and therefore can give them the timely help they need. (ibid., p. xix)

As noted above, the quotation from Psalm 8 (in Heb. 2:6-8) is used to support this view of the enthronement of Christ. The Psalm itself wonders at the place of human beings in God’s world; this interpretation takes the reference to “the son of man” (Ps. 8:4; Heb. 2:8 KJV) as a reference to Jesus, “one like the Son of man” (Dan. 7:13 KJV; ‘one like a human being NRSV), that is, representative man, or, as Bruce puts it, “the last Adam, the head of the new creation and ruler of the world to come” (ibid., p. 72 on Heb. 2:6-8a). But this exaltation comes through abasement, Jesus’ “suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste of death for everyone” (v. 9). Jesus, the “pioneer” of our salvation was made “perfect through suffering” (v. 10).

 It is God the Father who makes the Son “perfect through sufferings” (v. 10). Bruce takes this to mean, not that Jesus was somehow “imperfect” before, but rather, “Son of God [who] is the effulgence of his Father’s glory [Heb. 1 :3, Bruce’s translation],” “the perfect Son of God has become his people’s perfect Savior, opening up their way to God; and in order to become that, he must endure suffering and death” (Ibid., p. 80 on Heb. 2:10). Jesus, “the one who sanctifies,” and the people, “those who are sanctified,” have the same Father, and “Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters” (v. 11a). In that, the writer takes the speaker in Psalm 22:22, “A Psalm of David” in the superscription, as Christ:

I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: (Ps. 22:22 NRSV, Heb. text v. 23)

According to Bruce, it was by “becoming a human being [that] the Son of God [could] conquer death, which mankind without him could never have done” (ibid., p. 86 on Heb. 2:15). Having been made one with us (vv. 11-14), he was able to “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (v. 14) and thus “free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death” (v. 15). Since he “did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham” (v. 16), he became “like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people” (v. 17). We have seen a transition in chapter to from the description of Jesus as the one who brings God’s final revelation, in contrast to the angels, credited with bringing the Mosaic law (2:2), to Jesus as “a merciful and faithful high priest” (v. 17) who, “tested by what he suffered . . . is able to help those who are being tested” (v. 18; cf. 4:14-15).

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)

On January 1, 2008 (Tuesday in the week of the First Sunday after Christmas, the Festival of the Holy Name), comments were repeated with some editing from December 24, 2007 (Monday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year Two; Presbyterian ref. for December 24). On that day, comments were repeated from December 24, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year Two, Christmas Eve; Presbyterian ref. for Dec. 24):

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. 1:20-21 NRSV).

Matthew says that this is in fulfillment of prophecy. In my comments of December 12, 2008 (16 days ago, Friday in the week of the Second Sunday of Advent, Year One), I pointed out that there is an Old Testament context and meaning of Isaiah 7:14, 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, as, in the first of several “formula quotations,” Matthew interprets the verse as a prophecy. The introductory formula, sometimes shortened, says “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 is 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. “Look, the virgin (parqevnoV, parthenos) shall conceive and bear a son, / and they shall call him Emmanuel” (Mt. 1:23, citing Isa. 7:14 LXX). The Isaiah text has hm!l4f1h! (hā‘almāh), which William L. Holladay translates as “girl (of marriageable age), young woman (until the birth of first child)” (A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 1971, 10^th corrected impression 1988, s.v. hm!l4f1, ‘almāh). When Joseph awoke he followed the angel’s command (Mt. 1:24) and when Jesus was born, “he named him Jesus” (v. 25).

In addition to the angelic reassurance to Joseph (Mt. 1:20) about Mary’s condition–“found to be with child from the Holy Spirit (v. 18)–and the actual report of Jesus’ birth (v. 25), this passage presents two names for Jesus: “Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (v. 21, cf. 25), and “Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us” (v. 23).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net