My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, peace be with you as we get closer to the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and the celebration of His Nativity, His birth among us. I’d like to reflect on today’s readings and the emphasis they are making on the lineage that He comes from. In other words, it’s an emphasis that God Himself has fashioned and interwoven within the fabric of time to show that He has a plan. He has a plan for all of us. And it starts with a chosen people and extends to all people who will receive Jesus.
And these prophecies—today’s readings—we hear from the prophet Jeremiah, for example, where he says, “I will raise up for David a righteous branch, a righteous branch. He shall reign as king and govern wisely.” Then the latest prophet to speak of this lineage is Zechariah in 520 B.C.: “Behold, I am bringing My servant the branch.”
But truly, these prophecies go all the way back to Abraham himself, nineteen hundred years before Jesus was born: “I will make you exceedingly fertile. I will make nations of you. Kings shall stem from you.” Genesis chapter seventeen, verse six.
And then, in speaking of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, who, as we recall, was having difficulty bringing forth offspring for Abraham, they turned their attention to Hagar, the servant girl, and from her was born Ishmael to Abraham. But Ishmael wasn’t his legitimate son. God promises him a legitimate son, through whose offspring the Shepherd of Israel, the Eternal King, the One who would hold the scepter, would come and rule not only in our midst, but as the ruler of the Kingdom of Heaven which exists within us, which is in Paradise, which begins here in the Church.
And so from Abraham comes forth Isaac, from Isaac comes forth Jacob, the patriarch and prophet who blesses his sons. And Jacob says in Genesis forty-nine, verse ten, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler staff from between his feet.”
Then after Jacob, fast forward three to four hundred years, during the Egyptian slavery period that the Israelites underwent at the hands of the Pharaoh, God sends them a liberator, Moses, and a mediator of the New Covenant. And after He delivers them from Egypt, He promises through Moses. Actually, we can hear from Moses himself: “A prophet like me will the Lord your God raise up for you from among your own kindred.” Deuteronomy chapter eighteen, verse fifteen.
And then, as we saw a couple of days ago through the prophet Balaam, this non-Israelite seer and prophet, during Israel’s wilderness journey around the same time as Moses, Balaam says in Numbers chapter twenty-four, verse seventeen, “A star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.”
And then finally King David is born, year one thousand before Christ, and the prophet Nathan accompanies him. He’s a court prophet during the reign of his kingship. And through Nathan, God says, “I will raise up your heir after you, and I will make his kingdom firm.” In other places, He says, “Your kingdom will endure forever.”
And after David and Nathan, we come to Amos in the year seven hundred fifty before Christ. So we see how we’re counting down, the big countdown to the birth of Jesus. Amos says, “On that day I will raise up the fallen hut of David again,” a mention of David and his lineage.
The prophet Hosea, who was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom before its fall, seven hundred fifty to seven hundred twenty-two before Christ, says, “They shall seek the Lord, their God, and David their king.” That’s in the prophet Hosea, chapter three, verse five.
Then we hear from the prophet Isaiah, seven hundred forty to seven hundred before Christ: “A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom.” Again, look at the consistent and ever-enduring prophecies that God is making through these prophets about this all-important figure who is to come. He’s announcing Himself, basically.
Micah, seven hundred forty to seven hundred before Christ, says, “From you shall come forth for Me one who is to be ruler in Israel.”
Jeremiah the prophet, before and during the Babylonian exile, from whom we hear in today’s first reading, says, “I will raise up for David a righteous branch. He shall reign as king and govern wisely.”
And then Ezekiel says, “My servant David shall be prince among them.” This is in five hundred ninety-three before Christ, almost four hundred years after David. But he’s saying, through David’s lineage, ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.
Haggai once again instills hope in the people focused on a Davidic descendant: “I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you.” Haggai chapter two, verse twenty-three.
Finally, we come to Zechariah, five hundred twenty to five hundred eighteen before Christ: “Behold, I am bringing My servant the branch.”
And for five hundred years, up until the time of Jesus, all these prophecies were circulating among the people of God, my brothers and sisters.
He was finally born.
What has it done to the world? But more importantly, what has it done to us—this birth of all births? This King of all kings, the One who rules everything that is ruled by others, the God who keeps us in existence, the God whose mercy endures forever, the God who will ultimately die for us on a cross to make possible our eternal Paradise with Him.
Beyond our imagination, beyond our expectation, is the God whom we love and serve.
May He bless you this day.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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