Road to Emmaus Fourth Sunday of Advent (Cycle B)

Dec 17, 2008

First Reading – 2 Sam. 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16

Responsorial Psalm – Ps. 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29

Second Reading – Rom. 16:25-27

Gospel Reading – Lk. 1:26-38

 

This week’s readings are some of the most beautiful in all of Scripture, not to mention some of the most important, in particular the Gospel reading from Luke on the Annunciation and Incarnation.

 

Let us begin with Old and work our way into the New.

 

The first reading is taken from 2 Samuel 7. However we must go even further back into salvation history to realize the momentous import of 2 Samuel 7, and ultimately Luke 1.

 

Promise of kingship to Abraham

 

In Genesis 12 God promises Abram a royal dynasty. “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great…” (v. 2).

 

The promise of royal dynasty is raised to the level of a covenant oath in Genesis 17, when Abram’s name, “exalted father,” is changed to Abraham, “father of a multitude of nations.”  The Lord says to Abraham, “I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendents after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant…” (vv. 6-7). As for Sarah, Abraham’s wife, “I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her; I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall come from her” (v.16).

 

The people ask for a king

 

However, for approximately the next one thousand years, the people of God would not have an earthly king. In 1 Samuel 8, after a series of twelve judges oversaw the twelve tribes of Israel, the people come to the prophet/thirteenth judge Samuel and say, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint for us a king to govern us like all the nations” (v. 5).

 

Samuel is upset by this request because it seems to be a personal rejection of him. But, the Lord speaks to Samuel and says, “…they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them” (v. 7). It is even more serious than Samuel thought.

 

The problem with the request is not that they want an earthly king. God himself swore to Abraham to one day provide this. The problem is that they want an earthly king for the wrong reason. They want to be like the other nations who God has been telling them not to be like – even before they entered the Promised Land.

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All of this also tells us that Yahweh is king, and he has desired to share his kingship. In wanting a king like the nations, they reject God, his being their king, and his will to have a godly king.

 

King Saul

 

So what does God do? As God is wont to do on occasion he gives them what they want as a punishment for not asking for what they really need. However, by giving them what they want, in the future, God will give them what he wants.

 

God does give them a king, King Saul. Saul will proceed to sin grievously against the Lord. He will offer unlawful sacrifices, swear rash oaths, consult a medium which even he himself had outlawed, slaughter priests and try to kill David. Samuel informs Saul, “Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king” (1 Sam. 15:23b).

 

A new king is anointed

 

God then calls Samuel to “fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons” (1 Sam. 16:1b). Samuel then goes to the house of Jesse and privately anoints David as the future king. All the while Saul continues to reign until 1 Samuel 31 when we are told of his death.

 

In 2 Samuel 2 David is publically anointed king of Judah, one of the twelve tribes, over which he would reign for seven and half years. After this time, in 2 Samuel 5, David is publically anointed king over all twelve tribes of Israel. He immediately goes on to make Jerusalem the capital city, and bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem (cf. 2 Sam. 5-6). .

 

The covenant with David

 

This brings us to 2 Samuel 7, this Sunday’s Old Testament reading. Here is where God begins the fulfillment of what he swore to Abraham back in Genesis 17. He swears a covenant oath with David regarding his royal dynasty.

 

David starts by wanting to build a house, a temple for the Lord. However, God says no to this desire. In language similar to that of Genesis 12, God says to David, “…I will make for you a great name…” (2 Sam. 7:9)

 

Samuel goes on to tell David, “Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son…and your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever” (1 Sam. 7:11c-16).

 

Here we have the covenant made with David sung about in the Responsorial Psalm for this Sunday, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant: I will establish you descendents forever and build your throne for all generations” (Ps. 89:3-4).

 

A kingdom divided

 

However, the ten tribes in the north, because of their sins, would basically be destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. Also, in 586 B.C. the two southern tribes are taken into captivity by the Babylonians, because of their sins. With even there would be no reigning king for about another five hundred years.

 

So has God failed to live up to the covenant? By no means! Understanding this history is part of what makes this Sunday’s Gospel reading so important.

 

The fulfillment of the covenants with Abraham and David

 

The angel Gabriel appears to “a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David…” (Luke 1:27). Gabriel will go on to proclaim that “…you will conceive in your womb and bear a son…and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob [Israel] for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:31a, 32b-33).

 

It is interesting to reflect back on God’s covenant with David and the fact that God said that someone would reign on his throne forever, i.e. for all eternity. How is this even possible to begin with? The only way this is really possible is if God himself is that king, but also that that king is of the line of David. For all of this to take place God would have to become man and be of the line of David. And, miraculously, this is what happens to Mary when the Holy Spirit comes upon her. God takes on human nature, body, blood and soul and mysteriously unites it to his divinity. He will reign on the Davidic throne for all eternity. Christ is truly the King of kings.

 

It is also important that God said to David that he would be the Davidic king’s father, and the king shall be his son. Each Davidic king was considered to be a christ, i.e. an anointed one. They were also considered to be God’s son. How fitting it is that God the Father sent his Son to be the eternal Davidic king. It is not a coincidence that we hear the following words at Jesus’ royal anointing in his baptism, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22b).

 

Let us thank God that Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).