Go with haste
Fourth Sunday of Advent: 19 December 2021
Bible texts: Mi 5:1-4a | Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 | Heb 10:5-10 | Luke 1:39-45
Back to David
The importance of Jerusalem is often emphasised in the Bible. Now we hear about a small town nearby, called Bethlehem. It is so unimportant that it was not mentioned when the prophet Micah listed the principal clans of Israel (Mi 1:10-16). Still, this same prophet announces that the new king of Israel will come from the small town of Bethlehem. Why Bethlehem? Well, Micah explains that this king will be of an ancient bloodline, which goes all the way back to King David. David came from Bethlehem. His father Jesse was son of ‘an Ephrathite of Bethlehem’ (1 Sam 17:12). This helps to understand the often-quoted prophecy of Isaiah: ‘A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse’ (Isa 11:1). This offspring of David, this King of Israel is Jesus. With the birth of Jesus, God fulfils the promise made through the words of the prophet Micah (Mt 2:6).
Humble beginnings
Another reason for choosing Bethlehem is precisely its unimportance. Saint Paul emphasised God’s preference for ‘what is low and despised in the world’, so that there is nothing for us to boast about (1 Cor 1:28-29). After his birth, the King of Kings will have a simple crib for feeding animals as his manger. But great things are to come, as the Old Testament texts announced. ‘Bethlehem’ means ‘house of bread’ in Hebrew. In the New Testament, we hear how Jesus is the ‘bread of life’ (Jn 6:35). And ‘Ephratat’ means ‘fruitfulness’ or ‘abundance’, which again is a meaningful name. Jesus wants to give us ‘life in abundance’ (Jn 10:10). His apparently humble beginnings are the start of a great future. In fact, his origins go much further back than to King David, as he was with God from the beginning, and even is God himself! (Jn 1:1).
All people
Micah foresaw the future exile and return of the people of Israel when he said that the Lord ‘will give them up’ (Mi 5:3). But God would not give up his people forever, and once the new king was born, the dispersed people of Israel shall once more become faithful to God. Mary and Elizabeth are part of a small group of Israelites who had remained faithful. In their midst Jesus is born, with the sole aim of bringing them together with all God’s children. The new people of Israel do not only include the descendants of David, but all people everywhere. Jesus wants nothing better than that we all become his family, and says: ‘Whoever does the Will of God is my brother and sister and mother’ (Mk 3:35).
God’s Will
It is God’s Will that all people be saved and get to know the truth of his love (1 Tim 2:4). But is up to us to accept the hand God extends to us; it is up to us to accept his love! Mary did so without hesitation. Once the angel had announced God’s plan to her, she ‘went with haste’ to see her cousin Elizabeth (Lk 1:39). Later, also the shepherds who heard an angel announce God’s message will ‘go with haste’ to see Jesus in his manger (Lk 2:16). To depart with haste on the long journey all the way to Juda was not a small thing. Mary had to travel several days to get to her cousin. But for her it was only logical that she would depart immediately. Had she not replied to God: ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your Word’? (Lk 1:38).
Profession of faith
Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth is more than a happy encounter between pregnant women: it is one great profession of their faith that Jesus is the Lord! They profoundly believe that he is the Saviour who was announced by the prophets of the Old Testament throughout the centuries. Jesus and John the Baptist meet for the first time, both still safely in the womb of their respective mothers. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and little John ‘leaps for joy’ (Lk 1:41.44). All his life, John the Baptist will be filled with joy because he can serve his cousin Jesus, who he recognises as the Lord. Scripture underlines that he did not leap with joy because he was drunk, but because he was filled with the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:15). Later, John himself said that his ‘joy had been fulfilled’ (Jn 3:29).
How?
If you are able to let yourself be filled with such divine joy because of Jesus, you too will find true happiness already in this life. Here are two attitudes that can help you get ready for celebrating Jesus’ birth at Christmas next week.
Attitude of listening
Elizabeth said that Mary was ‘blessed’ because of her unwavering faith in God: she immediately answered positively to her calling (Lk 1:42). Mary probably will not have understood everything the angel told her. Still, she got up and ‘went with haste’ in answer to God’s voice. You may think that God does not speak today, but that is not true. God wants to speak to you now, and does so in particular through his Word, the Bible. You too are called to say to God: ‘I come to do your Will’ (Heb 10:7). And as soon as you have found the Will of God for you, follow Mary’s lead, get up, and go with haste. To help you find God’s Will, try to take a quiet moment every day for prayer and reading in the Bible. Do be faithful to this prayer time, for it will take time to learn to listen to God’s voice. While you grow in your relationship with him, you will discover that indeed God is still speaking today!
Attitude of service
John the Baptist said that Jesus must increase and that he must decrease (Jn 3:30). And indeed, after a life of service to God, John was ingloriously beheaded in prison because of the whim of a playboy king and his grudged wife (Mk 6:17-28). From the very beginning of his existence, John was devoted to the service of Jesus alone. Mary had the same attitude. In the ancient biblical view, a mother was great when her child was great. Elizabeth calls Mary ‘blessed among women’ because she is the mother of the Lord! (Lk 1:42.45). She realised that this greatness was not her doing, but that of God. Both Mary and John the Baptist are excellent examples for us in this season of Advent. How can you follow their example of humble and devoted service of God? How can you serve God by serving people in need in your surroundings?
