{"id":493,"date":"2012-12-21T09:00:54","date_gmt":"2012-12-21T15:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/?p=493"},"modified":"2024-05-05T23:14:22","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T04:14:22","slug":"december-21-december-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/2012\/12\/21\/december-21-december-28\/","title":{"rendered":"December 21 – December 28"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, December 21<\/strong><\/p>\n

Revelation 21:1-8: We now come to the final two chapters of John\u2019s book of prophetic visions. Now we see no more battles, no more bloodshed, no more persecution. John sees, rather, the holy city, New Jerusalem, as the ultimate reality that gives meaning to all that preceded it.<\/p>\n

In this final vision, which lasts two chapters, John is aware that seven<\/em> things are gone forever: the sea, death, grief, crying, pain, the curse, and the night (21:1,4; 22:3,5). Here we are dealing with the definitive abolition of conflict, the end of chaos. The first symbol of this chaos is the sea, which has only such shape as it is given from outside of itself. The sea represents the nothingness out of which God creates all things, conferring meaning upon them. This chaos is both metaphysical and moral. It represents a nothingness replaced by the lake of fire, the second death. The sea is the hiding place of the monster and the setting where the scarlet woman thrones. This sea disappears at the coming of the new heaven and the new earth.<\/p>\n

If we take the earth to represent man\u2019s empirical and categorical experience, and heaven to represent man\u2019s experience of transcendence, then the appearance of the new heaven and the new earth means the transformation of all of man\u2019s experience. All of it is made new. The grace of God in Christ does not sanctify just a part of man\u2019s existence, but his whole being. Man is not a partially redeemed creature. Both his heaven and his earth are made new.<\/p>\n

Both heaven and earth are part of God\u2019s final gift to man, the New Jerusalem, the \u201cdwelling of God with man.\u201d This dwelling, skene<\/em> in Greek and mishkan<\/em> in Hebrew (both, if one looks closely, having the same triliteral root, skn<\/em>), was originally a tent made of \u201cskins,\u201d as the same etymological root is expressed in English. During the desert wandering after the Exodus, this tent of skins was the abode of God\u2019s presence with His people. Indeed, sometimes the word was simply the metaphor for the divine presence (verse 3). For instance, in Leviticus 26:11 we read, \u201cI will set My mishkan<\/em> among you . . . . I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luke 1:57-66: In the case of John the Baptist, faith began before<\/em> he was born. His ears could already hear the prayers of his mother and father. He could already listen to the hymns they sang at home and in the temple. The sounds of their voices were already giving shape to his soul. In proportion to his tiny abilities, his culture was already taking shape. He was already assuming his place in history.<\/p>\n

John held his identity as a matter of memory, memory earlier than his ability to recall critically. This memory, for John, was primitive, more aboriginal than mere recollection. The man that finally placed his neck on the block for beheading is the same person as the child that was awakened by the voice of the Virgin Mary as he nestled in his mother\u2019s womb. Through all the vicissitudes of his life, there was a personal continuity in John the Baptist.<\/p>\n

Saturday, December 22<\/strong><\/p>\n

Revelation 21:9-27: All of history is symbolized in two women, who are two cities. We have already considered the scarlet woman who is Babylon\/ Rome. The other woman is the Bride, the New Jerusalem, whose proper place is heaven, but who also flees to the desert, where she does battle with Satan (Chapter 12). Now that battle is over, however, and she appears here in her glory. That other city was seated, as we saw, on seven hills, but this New Jerusalem also sits on a very high mountain, which everyone understood to be symbolized in Mount Zion (cf. Ezekiel 40:1-2). John\u2019s vision of the gates on the city is reminiscent of Ezekiel 48.<\/p>\n

John\u2019s vision here, especially verses 19-21, is also related to Ezekiel 28:12-15, where we find joined the themes of the mountain and the precious stones, for this city is also the Garden of Eden, where those stones first grew (cf. Genesis 2:10-12).<\/p>\n

The symbolic number here is twelve, which we already considered in Chapter 12, where it was the number of the stars around the head of the heavenly woman. The identification of twelve stars with twelve stones is obvious in our own custom of birthstones to represent zodiacal signs. The symbol is not only astrological, however, but also historical, because it is the number of the patriarchs and apostles. Here, in fact, the twelve gates bear the names of the twelve tribes, who are the seed of the twelve patriarchs, while the twelve foundation stones of the city are identified as the twelve apostles.<\/p>\n

We recall that one hundred and forty-four thousand\u2014the number of the righteous\u2014partly involves squaring of the number twelve. In the present chapter John stresses that the plane geometry of the holy city is square, as in Ezekiel 45 and 48. John goes beyond Ezekiel, however, in viewing the New Jerusalem as a cube, as in the Holy of Holies of Solomon\u2019s temple (1 Kings 6:20).<\/p>\n

Psalms 139 (Greek & Latin 138): The psalmist, instead of using one image to describe God\u2019s knowledge of the heart, uses six: search and know, sitting down and rising up and lying down, paths and ways, thoughts and words. Obviously he wants to dwell on the thought; he is not anxious to leave it. He wants the conviction to sink deeply into his soul that God knows him through and through, so he comes at the idea from a variety of angles and aspects.<\/p>\n

The psalm continues in the same vein: \u201cYou have beset me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.\u201d He is not content to say that this idea is transcendent; he must say it twice: \u201cSuch knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And because God\u2019s knowledge of us is complete, it is impossible to escape His gaze. Once again the poet uses several lines to meditate on this fact, moving in several directions, as it were: \u201cIf I ascend to heaven [up!], You are there. If I make my bed in the netherworld [down!], behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning [east!] and dwell at the uttermost parts of the sea [west!], even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand hold me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here we are, ten verses into the psalm, and so far there is only a single idea. The poet is still not finished with it, however. He now switches from space imagery to symbolisms of light: \u201cIf I say, \u2018Surely the darkness will cover me,\u2019 even the night will be a light around me. Yea, the darkness hides me not from You, but the night shines as the day; to You the darkness and the night are both alike.\u201d Once again he has repeated the same motif several times. God\u2019s knowledge of our hearts is not an idea that he is disposed to let go of.<\/p>\n

After these images of space and light, the psalmist moves to a consideration of time. He goes back to his very roots of being, his mysterious formation in the womb: \u201cFor You take hold of my inner parts; You covered me in my mother\u2019s womb.\u201d Is that sufficient? Oh, no. He must say it all again: \u201cI will praise You that I am awesomely and wonderfully put together; marvelous are Your works, and my soul knows it well.\u201d Then, using a bold comparison of his mother\u2019s womb to the depths of the earth, he goes on to reflect on his own gestation as a prelude to his coming life: \u201cMy substance was not hidden from You, when I was being formed in secret, and strangely put together in the depths of the earth. You saw my substance, as yet unfinished, but all my days were written in Your book before a single one of them came into being.\u201d Even in the deepest past, God knows the future.<\/p>\n

Then there is a quick twist. The tone of the psalm has, hitherto, been calm and contemplative, but we suddenly learn that there is trouble afoot: \u201cSurely You will slay the wicked, O God; depart from me, therefore, you bloody men.\u201d This dramatic mention of enemies makes us realize that, even while making this deep meditation on a single theme, the poet is somehow fighting for the very life of his soul. He resolves this problem by placing his soul ever more deeply under the gaze of God: \u201cSearch me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The psalm\u2019s final strophe thus indicates that this whole effort takes place in a situation of strife and conflict. His quest is for salvation, and salvation consists in God\u2019s salvific knowledge of us: \u201cIf anyone loves God, this one is known by Him\u201d (1 Cor. 8:3); \u201cThen I shall know just as I also am known\u201d (13:12). So the believer seeks refuge in God\u2019s saving knowledge of him and ends by praying that God will ever lead him \u201cin the path eternal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday, December 23<\/strong><\/p>\n

Revelation 22:1-21: The biblical story begins and ends in paradise. Thus, in John\u2019s vision of the river of paradise we remember the four-branched river of paradise in Genesis 2. Both here and in Ezekiel 47:1-12 there are monthly fruits growing on the banks of the river—twelve in number—obviously. Just as Adam\u2019s curse drove the whole human race out of paradise, so the leaves of the paradisiacal tree of life are for the healing of all the nations.<\/p>\n

The theme of the living waters is very much central to the Johannine corpus (cf. John 4:7-15; 7:38; 19:34; 1 John 5:6-8).<\/p>\n

Heaven, portrayed here as vision and worship with the angels (verses 8-9), is for all those whose foreheads are sealed with the mark of the living God. This sealing, of course, stands in contrast to the mark of beast. (It is curious to note that, outside of the Book of Revelation [7:2-3; 9:3-4; 13:16-18; 14:1.9; 17:5; 20:4], the word \u201cforehead\u201d does not appear in the New Testament.) The literary background of John\u2019s sealing is apparently Ezekiel 9:1-4.<\/p>\n

The urgency of John\u2019s message is indicated by the command that he not seal it up for future generations. The Lord\u2019s coming, in fact, will be soon, and it is imperative for John\u2019s readers to \u201cget out\u201d the message. John\u2019s visions are not sealed, concealed, esoteric codes to be deciphered by future generations. John clearly expects his own contemporaries to understand what he is writing. These things \u201cmust shortly take place\u201d (verse 6); it will all happen \u201csoon\u201d (1:1,3). John is warning his contemporaries that a special moment of judgment and grace is upon them and that they had better prepare themselves for it, because it is later than they think.<\/p>\n

This final chapter of Revelation resembles in several particulars the first chapter of the book, one of which is that in both places Jesus speaks to John directly. In both chapters He is called the Alpha and the Omega (verse 12; 1:8). As in that first chapter, likewise, the references to Jesus\u2019 swift return (verse 7, for instance) do not pertain solely to His coming at the end of time; He is saying, rather, that in the hour of their trial those who belong to Jesus will find that He is there waiting for them. The blessing in verse 7, therefore, resembles the blessing in 1:3.<\/p>\n

In this book a great deal has been said about the worship in the heavenly sanctuary. Now we learn that Christians already share in the worship that the angels give to God (verses 8-9).<\/p>\n

Verse 11 indicates a definite cut-off point in history, which is the final coming of Christ. Verse 12, which quotes Isaiah 40:10, promises the reward, which is access to the Holy City, eternal beatitude—the fullness of communion with God. In preparation for that reward, verses 14-16 are something of an altar call, an appeal for repentance, based on all that this book has said.<\/p>\n

In referring to those \u201coutside\u201d the City, John is relying on an ancient Eucharistic discipline of the Church, called \u201cexcommunication,\u201d which literally excluded the person from receiving Holy Communion (cf. Didache<\/em> 9.5; Justin Martyr, First Apology<\/em> 66.1). One of the major problems of the Christian Church, in any age, is that of distinguishing itself from the world, and the Christian Church, like any institution in history, finds its identity threatened if it does not maintain \u201clines\u201d that separate it from the world. In early Christian literature, beginning with the New Testament, we find the Church insistent on making those lines sharp and clear. This preoccupation is what accounts for the rather pronounced \u201cthem and us\u201d mentality that we find in the New Testament. It is an emphasis essential to maintain if the Church is to preserve her own identity down through history.<\/p>\n

Monday, December 24<\/strong><\/p>\n

Matthew 1:18-25: Jesus\u2019 family bore Joseph\u2019s name. Although Matthew and Luke testified that Joseph was not Jesus\u2019 biological father, it was through him that both evangelists traced Jesus\u2019 family lineage (Matthew 1:1-16; Luke 3:23\u201331). Jesus inherited the messianic title, \u201cSon of David,\u201d not from Mary, but from the man who served him—literally—in loco patris<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Jesus \u201cwas supposed\u201d (enomizeto<\/em>—Luke 3:23) to be \u201cthe son of Joseph,\u201d Jeshua Bar Joseph<\/em> (John 1:45; 6:42). When he first addressed the citizens of Nazareth, those in the synagogue inquired, \u201cIs this not Joseph\u2019s son?\u201d (Luke 4:22)<\/p>\n

Matthew provides an instructive variation on this question: \u201cIs this not the craftsman<\/em>\u2019s son?\u201d (Matthew 13:55) The underlying Greek noun here, usually translated as \u201ccarpenter,\u201d is tekton<\/em>, a term including any sort of builder, craftsman, or skilled worker—even a blacksmith. A tekton<\/em> was someone who constructed and fashioned things with his hands.<\/p>\n

In short, Joseph taught Jesus those cultivated manual talents summarized by George Eliot as the inheritance bequeathed from a craftsman father: \u201cthe mechanical instinct, the keen sensibility to harmony, the unconscious skill of the modeling hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph passed these technical skills on to Jesus, who was also known as a tekton<\/em>. A tekton<\/em> was a man with talented hands, and Jesus\u2019 hands could heal the sick and injured! Mark surely recognized the irony of calling Jesus a tekton<\/em> in the context of his miracles and teaching: \u201cAnd what wisdom is this which is given to him, that such mighty works are performed by his hands<\/em>. Is this not the tekton<\/em>?\u201d (Mark 6:2-3)<\/p>\n

What more did Jesus learn from Joseph? Let me suggest that he also found in Joseph an ideal son of Abraham\u2014that is to say, a man who lived, as Abraham did, by faith<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Consider the calling of Joseph. Every vocation is unique\u2014—n the sense that the Good Shepherd calls each of his sheep by its own proper name—but there was something supremely unique in the vocation of Joseph, who was called to be the foster-father of God\u2019s Son and the protector of that divine Son\u2019s virgin mother. Joseph\u2019s vocation was not only difficult; it was impossible! In a sense, Joseph had to figure it out as he went along, simply following God\u2019s call, as best he could, wherever it led. He was obliged to \u201cleave the heavy lifting\u201d to God.<\/p>\n

With so distinctive and demanding a vocation, Joseph might be excused, if, on occasion—the flight into Egypt, for instance—he felt anxious and insecure. The evidence, however, indicates that this was not the case. Joseph was not a person given to anxiety. He appeared, rather, as a man of extraordinary serenity. We find Joseph in five scenes in the Gospel of Matthew, and every single time he is sound asleep (Matthew 1:20-24; 2:12, 13, 19, 22). Whatever troubles Joseph endured, they apparently did not include insomnia.<\/p>\n

Tuesday, December 25<\/strong><\/p>\n

Christmas: Even as we proclaim that the eternal Word assumed the concrete circumstances of an individual human life—becoming a subjective participant in human history—the redemptive significance of the Incarnation is rooted, not in the individuality of Jesus\u2019 life, but in the general and common humanity he shares with the rest of us.<\/p>\n

Indeed, in the New Testament one finds no impulse to treat Jesus as an \u201cexceptional\u201d man, as the world understands such a one: a heroic figure who rises above his contemporaries to answer the call of destiny. Such a man is different<\/em> from other men.<\/p>\n

Jesus is treated, rather, as one<\/em> of us. This treatment is very different from the way their contemporaries regarded Caesar, Alexander the Great, and other \u201cexceptional\u201d men. Such figures were not usually thought of as mere members of the human race; they were not normally called \u201cbrothers\u201d to the rest of humanity. They were, on the contrary, the viri illustres et clarissimi<\/em>. Thus, although Plutarch\u2019s Lives<\/em> of famous Greeks and Romans was a work roughly contemporary with the composition of the gospels, its sundry biographies bear not the slightest resemblance to the gospels.<\/p>\n

In fact, Jesus discouraged men from thinking about him in that way. He even manifested a reluctance to be called the Messiah (cf. Mark 8:29-30), inasmuch as that term had come to signify military and political ascendancy. Moreover, he deliberately assumed the role of a servant among those who followed him (John 13:4), precisely to discourage them from imitating the \u201crulers over the Gentiles\u201d (Mark 10:42).<\/p>\n

The biblical emphasis on the \u201ccommon\u201d quality of the Lord\u2019s humanity, on the other hand, indicated more than an ethical preference on his part. His complete solidarity with the rest of the human race was a condition, rather, of His ability to redeem<\/em> the human race. Such was the force, I believe, of the reference to Jesus as \u201cborn of a woman\u201d in Paul\u2019s account of the Son\u2019s coming \u201cto redeem<\/em> those under the Law\u201d (Galatians 4:4-5).<\/p>\n

This solidarity of God\u2019s Son with our humanity—in order to redeem humanity—gives structure to the argument made in the Epistle to the Hebrews:<\/p>\n

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (2:14-15).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This biological solidarity with the rest of humanity is what prompts the author of Hebrews to speak of Jesus as our \u201cbrother\u201d: \u201cHe is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: \u2018 I will declare Your name to my brethren\u2019\u201d (2:11).<\/p>\n

Our Lord\u2019s oneness with mankind, however, is more than biological. He is not called a \u201cbrother\u201d simply as the rest might bear that title. On the contrary, he has identified himself with human beings in the special sense of becoming their historical representative—their truly definitive spokesman: \u201cGo to my brethren and say to them, \u2018I am ascending to my Father and your Father, my God and your God\u2019\u201d (John 20:17).<\/p>\n

Indeed, in the Gospel of Matthew, this special sense of Jesus\u2019 \u201cbrotherhood\u201d pertains directly to eschatology. At the end of history, all human beings—\u201call the nations\u201d (25:32)—will be judged on the basis of their brotherhood with Jesus: \u201cAmen, I say to you, whatever you did to one of the least of these my brethren, you did to me\u201d (25:40).<\/p>\n

Wednesday, December 26<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saint Stephen: Generations of preachers have employed no little ingenuity—and sometimes a fair measure of eloquence—to expound the theological reasons for celebrating St. Stephen\u2019s Day so close to Christmas. It is not to slight those rhetorical efforts that one reflects that \u201cthe feast of Stephen\u201d was celebrated long before anyone thought of celebrating the birthday of the Savior. Stephen, that is to say, got into the liturgical calendar first.<\/p>\n

Indeed, there is good reason to think that St. Stephen\u2019s is among the oldest feast days in the Christian Church. Moreover, except for the days of Holy Week and the paschal cycle itself, it is possible that the annual commemoration of the martyrdom of St. Stephen is the oldest feast day in the Christian liturgical calendar.<\/p>\n

In Luke\u2019s description of Stephen\u2019s martyrdom, several features are worthy of remark:<\/p>\n

First, like the Savior (John 20:19; Hebrews 13:12), Stephen is executed outside the city wall (Acts 7:58), because even in this massive miscarriage of basic justice, Stephen\u2019s murderers adhere to the Mosaic prescription (Leviticus 24:14; Numbers 15:35\u201336). This is ironic, because in Lukan theology this exit from Jerusalem, for the murder of Stephen, symbolizes that outward movement of the witness from Jerusalem that is so strong a theme in the Book of Acts (1:8).<\/p>\n

Second—and also as a feature of considerable irony—it is in this scene that St. Paul is first introduced in the Acts of the Apostles (7:58). This introduction of the Apostle to the Gentiles, at exactly this point in the narrative of Acts, is of a piece with the theological significance of Stephen\u2019s dying outside of the walls. Later on, praying in a state of trance, Paul will say to Jesus, \u201cAnd when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him\u201d (22:20).<\/p>\n

Third, there is a powerful emphasis on the Holy Spirit. It was early said that Stephen was \u201cfull of the Holy Spirit\u201d (6:3, 5), but the statement is repeated once again in the context of his death (7:55). This emphasis, which relates Stephen\u2019s death to the pentecostal outpouring, reflects the conviction of the early Church that martyrdom is the supreme charism of the Christian life, the final and crowning gift of the Holy Spirit that definitively seals and consecrates the testimony, the martyria<\/em>, of the Church and the believer. We meet this conviction somewhat later in The Martyrdom of Polycarp and in the earliest treatises on martyrdom by the Christian apologists.<\/p>\n

Thursday, December 27<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saint John: It is often remarked that the omission of the Transfiguration account from the Fourth Gospel is properly explained by the fact that Jesus always appears transfigured in that Gospel. In its every scene, including the Passion narrative, Jesus is suffused with the radiance of the divine light. \u201cWe beheld His glory,\u201d says St. John in the prologue, \u201cthe glory as of the only begotten of the Father\u201d (1:14).<\/p>\n

Today we read that prologue, which sets the theme for John\u2019s entire story. It is peculiar to John, whose Gospel otherwise adheres to the exact time span covered by the earliest apostolic preaching, namely, \u201call the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us\u201d (Acts 1:21\u201322). Adherence to this same primitive time frame is also characteristic of the message of Peter and Paul (10:36\u201342; 13:23\u201331), as well as the earliest of the Gospels, Mark. So too John, except for his prologue.<\/p>\n

Matthew and Luke had expanded that original time frame by adding the stories of Jesus\u2019 conception, birth, and infancy. John\u2019s prologue, however, escapes the confines of time altogether, rising to God\u2019s eternity, where \u201cin the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God\u201d (John 1:1). Only then does this Gospel begin to speak of the ministry of John the Baptist (1:6, 15).<\/p>\n

The Jesus presented in John\u2019s Gospel, then, is the eternal Word, in whom \u201cwas life, and the life was the light of men\u201d (1:4). Becoming flesh and dwelling among us (1:14), He is the living revelation of God on this earth. Even though \u201cno one has seen God at any time,\u201d John says, \u201cthe only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared Him\u201d (1:18).<\/p>\n

These themes will appear again in the Lord\u2019s Last Supper discourse and the long intercession that He prays at the end of it. There will He speak of his being \u201cthe way, the truth, and the life\u201d (14:6) and refer to the glory that He had with the Father before the world began (17:5, 24).<\/p>\n

John\u2019s contemplative gaze at the glory of God on the face of Jesus also determines other features of his Gospel. We observe, for instance, his treatment of Jesus\u2019 miracles. Although his narrative very intentionally includes fewer of these than do the other Gospels (20:30; 21:25), John provides them greater theological elaboration.<\/p>\n

John limits the number of recorded miracles, which he calls \u201csigns,\u201d to the sacred figure seven. Leading to the commitment of faith, these seven signs commence with the fine wine of the wedding feast: \u201cThis beginning [arche<\/em>, the same word as in 1:1] of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him\u201d (2:11, emphasis added).<\/p>\n

The second sign John identifies as the curing of the nobleman\u2019s son (4:46\u201354); as in the first case, the man himself \u201cbelieved, and his whole household\u201d (4:53). Next comes the curing of the paralytic at the pool (5:1\u201315), followed by the miracle of the bread (6:1\u201314), the walking on the water (6:15\u201321), and the healing of the man born blind (9:1\u201341). The final and culminating sign is the raising of Lazarus from the dead (11:1\u201344).<\/p>\n

John\u2019s recording of these revelatory signs is accompanied by theological comments on their significance, either in the detailed conversations of the narrative itself (as in the raising of Lazarus and the healing of the blind man) or by the Lord\u2019s own further elaboration (as in the Bread of Life discourse). Thus, each of these events in the Lord\u2019s life and ministry becomes a window through which we perceive the divine glory, and Jesus is transfigured with light through the whole narrative. In addition, two lengthy conversations, one with Nicodemus (3:1\u201321) and the other with the Samaritan woman (4:5\u201342), sound the depths of the revelation that takes place in the narrative.<\/p>\n

At the end of the seven signs, John summarizes the tragedy of the unbelief with which the enemies of Jesus responded to His revelation (12:37\u201341). This unbelief leads immediately to the Lord\u2019s Passion, which is introduced by the great Last Supper discourse.<\/p>\n

In every scene, then, from the Lord\u2019s appearance at John\u2019s baptismal site all the way through the Lord\u2019s death and Resurrection, the divine light appears among men. John records all these things that we readers, too, may \u201cbelieve that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God\u201d (20:31).<\/p>\n

Friday, December 28<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Holy Innocents: By way of prophetic type in the Book of Genesis, it was the dreaming of a man named Joseph that originally brought the Chosen People into Egypt. That prophetic type is fulfilled in today\u2019s Gospel reading, when another Joseph has a dream that results in his taking the Chosen People back to Egypt. According to today\u2019s reading from Exodus 1:8-22, it was in Egypt that the little boys were sacrificed to the fears of a sinful king. This also happens in today\u2019s Gospel.<\/p>\n

The account of the Pharaoh\u2019s shrewdness in the Exodus story ties it to to two narratives: First, to the account of the serpent, \u201cmore cunning than any beast of the field,\u201d in Genesis 3:1. Each of these two books, Genesis and Exodus, commences with a wily enemy who endeavors to deceive God\u2019s people. Second, this theme is related to the later stories of Pharaoh\u2019s attempts to outwit Moses.<\/p>\n

This early verse of Exodus, then, introduces a major motif of our book: the \u201cmatching of wits,\u201d in which the sinful wisdom of the world encounters the baffling wisdom of God. As this first chapter progresses, Pharaoh\u2019s shrewdness is quickly outwitted by the Hebrew midwives, who are thus to be contrasted with the gullible Eve at the beginning of Genesis. Ultimately, of course, Pharaoh will be defeated by his own shrewdness, a process that the Bible calls hardness of heart.<\/p>\n

For the first time in this book, the Israelites \u201cpull a fast one\u201d on Pharaoh, thus demonstrating a superior wisdom that ties this story back to the Joseph narrative at the end of Genesis. The midwives \u201cfeared the Lord,\u201d and this was the source of their wisdom; cf. Psalm 110:10. Whereas the enemy outsmarted Eve at the beginning of Genesis, the women here in Exodus outwit the enemy.<\/p>\n

The endeavor to kill the male children places this text in a parallel with Matthew 2:16. Beginning with the dreams of two Josephs in Genesis 37 and Matthew 1, there are many striking correspondences between the opening chapters of Matthew and the long account of the Chosen People in Egypt.<\/p>\n

Psalms 2: the parallels of Psalm 2 with the \u201clast days\u201d described in the Bible\u2019s final book, Revelation, are quite remarkable: the anger of the nations and the wrath of God (Rev. 11:18), the political conspiracy against God (19:19), and the Messiah\u2019s \u201crod of iron\u201d inflicted on His enemies (2:27; 12:5; 19:15).<\/p>\n

God, meanwhile, may laugh at His enemies: \u201cHe that thrones in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord will hold them in derision.\u201d His Chosen One and Heir is already anointed. In the verse that explains the Church\u2019s partiality to this psalm at Christmas time, the Messiah proclaims: \u201cThe Lord said unto me: \u2018You are My Son; this day have I begotten you.\u201d These words, partly reflected at the Lord\u2019s Baptism (Matt. 3:17) and Transfiguration (Matt. 17:5; 2 Pet. 1:17), came to express the essential Christological faith of the Church.<\/p>\n

This verse is cited explicitly in the apostolic preaching (cf. Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5; 5:5; also 1 John 5:9) and directly answers the major question posed by Christian evangelism in every age: \u201cWhat do you think of the Christ? Whose Son is he?\u201d The (most likely) earliest of the Gospels thus commences: \u201cThe beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God\u201d (Mark 1:1).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis day,\u201d God says, \u201ctoday have I begotten You.\u201d So early in the Book of Psalms is the Christian mind elevated to eternity, that undiminished \u201ctoday\u201d of Christ\u2019s identity—\u201cJesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever\u201d (Heb. 13:8). No one knows the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (Matt. 11:27).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday, December 21 Revelation 21:1-8: We now come to the final two chapters of John\u2019s book of prophetic visions. Now we see no more battles, no more bloodshed, no more persecution. John sees, rather, the holy city, New Jerusalem, as the ultimate reality that gives meaning to all that preceded it. In this final vision, … Continue reading December 21 – December 28<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":495,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493\/revisions\/495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.touchstonemag.com\/daily_reflections\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}