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Commentary on Luke 1:26-38

For us Christians, the heart of today’s Gospel passage—continuing immediately from yesterday’s text—is a turning point in the history of the world. It is so even for those who do not know Christ, or who refuse to believe in his origins.

As the story is told by Luke, Mary must have been truly alarmed at the words of her unexpected visitor. Her cousin Elizabeth is now pregnant for six months. The incident is taking place in Nazareth, not exactly the centre of the earth, or even of Palestine. A future disciple of Jesus will be heard to say with some cynicism:

Can anything good come out of Nazareth? (John 1:46)

Truly, in the eyes of the more sophisticated, Nazareth was something of a backwater. Yet this is the place God chooses to enter our world—not Rome, not Athens, not Alexandria, nor any of the other great centres of power, culture or learning in the world of the time.

The angel Gabriel greets Mary:

Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.

Gabriel is the same angel who spoke to Zechariah. How did Mary react to such an extraordinary salutation? The Gospel says that she was “much perplexed”, and well she might be. As a young girl in an obscure little town, what could the words possibly mean? “Favored one” means that she is being showered with God’s special grace. It is more something that is happening to her, than something she already has. The nature of that favour is expressed in what follows—she is to become the mother of a Son whom she is to call Jesus (meaning ‘God saves’). He will be a King:

…and of his kingdom there shall be no end. (Luke 1:33)

What really disturbs Mary is that, although she is already betrothed to Joseph, she is not yet married to him. In other words, she is not yet intimate with him as his wife. How can she become a mother? It will happen because the conception will be the work of God:

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you…

The child who is born will be, in a very special way, the Son of God. He will also, of course, be the son of Mary. In this way we have the deep mystery of the Incarnation expressed in the language of a story. Jesus will be, at the same time, someone who is fully divine and fully human. Jesus will be the unique bridge between God and his creation. He will be human “like us in all things but sin”. He will also, through his whole life, his words and actions, be the “splendour of the Father”.

In a great leap of faith and trust in the angel’s message, Mary says ‘Yes’:

Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.

For us Christians, the moment of that ‘Yes’ is a turning point in the history of the world—as it is also even for those who do not know Christ or who refuse to believe in his origins. It is the moment of Incarnation, when the Word became flesh and began to live among us as one of us. The world would never be the same. In a way, this is a more important moment than Christmas, but it is understandable that we should tend to celebrate more the visible presence of God in Jesus at Bethlehem.

Mary had yet to learn what that ‘Yes’ involved, but it was given unconditionally and it was never withdrawn. Through a life of trials and tribulations, of which we can know surely only a fraction, right up to those terrible moments as she stood beneath the cross and saw her only Son die in agony and shame as a public criminal, she never once withdrew that ‘Yes’.

There is a clear message there for us. We too have been called in our own special way to give birth to Jesus in our lives and in our environment. We too have been called to say ‘Yes’—an unconditional ‘Yes’ to following Jesus. Now is the time for us to renew that pledge with Mary’s help and example.

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Commentary on Isaiah 7:10-14

The Gospel today (Luke 1:26-38) will describe the fulfilment of the prophecy spoken of in today’s First Reading from the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah is speaking to King Ahaz of Judah. Among a number of bad kings, King Ahaz of Judah comes out as particularly bad. He revived the barbarous custom of human sacrifice:

He even made his son pass through fire [burnt his son as an offering], according to the abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the people of Israel. (2 Kings 16:3)

He followed other religious customs of the neighbouring idolatrous religions. When the king of Syria attacked Ahaz’s capital of Jerusalem, he appealed to the Assyrians:

I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me…
(2 Kings 16:7)

He then took treasures from the Temple, and sent them as a gift to the Assyrian king. He also made an exact copy of an altar he saw in Damascus, set it up in the Temple, and moved the bronze altar of the Temple to one side. On this new altar, he made offerings in the Assyrian manner, which included throwing blood on the altar.

Ahaz’s reign lasted 16 years and he was succeeded by his son Hezekiah, whom the Bible speaks of as being one of the best of the kings. His reign lasted for 29 years, but it was a very trying period for the Jews. During it, the famous Sennacherib “came down like a wolf on the fold” and laid siege to Jerusalem, but his whole army was suddenly decimated by some highly contagious epidemic which swept right through it killing, according to the Bible account, more than 100,000 soldiers. The siege had to be called off.

All of this, of course, is only indirectly connected with today’s reading, but it does give some idea of the context in which the prophecy was made. The reading begins with the Lord (through the mouth of Isaiah) urging Ahaz to ask for a sign either from God or from Sheol, the place of the dead. Ahaz, however, declines because he does not want to put his God to the test. Nevertheless, although God (and especially his prophet, Isaiah) is clearly not pleased with this rejection of the Lord’s offer, Ahaz will be given a sign anyway.

The statement is a prophecy, and is very positive in meaning. It denotes God’s blessing on the Kingdom of Judah and on God’s people. It is also seen as a messianic prophecy. It promises a king and an heir to David who will bring salvation to God’s people, who, at this time, are being attacked by the Syrians on one side, and by the Assyrians on another.

Even though it seems that Isaiah is immediately thinking of a successor to Ahaz, namely, his son Hezekiah, the formal nature of the prophecy and symbolic name given to the future heir indicates he was speaking about a more decisive intervention by God and the establishment of a messianic kingdom.

The prophecy reads:

Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel.

This is clearly meant to be an encouragement to Ahaz about the future of the kingdom now under siege from so many sides. The original text does not say explicitly that it is a virgin who will give birth. The Hebrew word almah simply means a young girl.

However, in Genesis (24:43), ‘almah’ refers to a young woman about to be married (and hence still a virgin). The pre-Christian Greek translation of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint and made by Jews, translates ‘almah’ as ‘virgin’. It is this version that Matthew uses, and reads it as indicating that Mary is a virgin when she conceives Jesus.

And of course, from the time of the Gospels, especially with Matthew who quotes from today’s passage, the prophecy has been understood as pointing to the birth of Christ, who is Immanuel, ‘God-is-with-us’. And Matthew will emphasise this at the very end of his Gospel when, just before leaving his disciples, Jesus in his final instructions promises:

And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matt 28:20)

This Child does not only give us God’s blessings, and miraculous and divine liberation, but through him, God becomes present among humankind and the promises heard so many times come true:

…I will be your God, and you shall be my people. (Jer 7:23)

We see the beginning of the fulfilment of all this prophecy in the Gospel, which speaks of Mary’s being invited to be the Mother of the Saviour who will be both God’s Son and hers. Even Isaiah is not likely to have dreamt of the implications of all this—when the Word was made flesh and lived among us as one of us.

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Commentary on Luke 1:5-25

There are close parallels in Luke’s Infancy Narrative between the birth of John the Baptist and that of Jesus. There are also significant differences. The First Reading, too, provides a prototype for today’s Gospel story as it describes the birth of Samson.

Today we read about the annunciation to Zechariah about the birth of a son to his elderly wife, who is already past child-bearing age. Clearly it was a birth which, in normal circumstances, should not have happened. In a society where having children, and especially boys, was a wife’s primary duty, to be unable to produce children was a terrible shame—the ultimate failure. One had been chosen as wife for this purpose and this purpose alone. Love and affection would have had very little to do with it. And of course, it would have been presumed that the wife and not the husband had failed. At that time, a woman who could not be a mother was considered less than a person.

That is why widows in the Scripture are listed as among the most pitiable of people. Such women might still be quite young when they lost their husbands to war, an accident or disease, but as widows, they were not eligible for remarriage and so would not become mothers.

Right through the Scriptures—in both the Old and New Testaments—the births of significant people happen in circumstances which point strongly to some divine intervention. So, there are in the Bible a number of incidences where elderly women who had never borne a child are, through the intervention of God, blessed with a child, usually a son. Here, too, Elizabeth’s barrenness is seen less as a curse than as a preparation for something special.

As we see, today’s First Reading recounts one of these incidents—the birth of Samson. What is peculiar to all these stories is that the child to be born has a very special role given to him by God. In today’s Gospel, too, there is a sign of God’s intervention in the birth of John the Baptist. He is no ordinary child. He has been chosen for a very special purpose, to be the forerunner of Jesus, the last of the great prophets of the Hebrew Covenant.

The opening of Luke’s Gospel is a kind of diptych, with parallel stories announcing the birth of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus. We are not dealing here with literal history, although Luke posits the story in a genuinely historical context:

In the days of King Herod of Judea…

Luke writes in imitation of Old Testament birth accounts (like the one in the First Reading), mixing historical facts and legends. So we do not ask: Did all this happen exactly as described? Rather, we ask: What does it mean? And primarily it is part of the answer to another question: Who is Jesus Christ?

In today’s story we have the classical situation of the elderly wife who is childless. Then one day, the husband Zechariah, a member of the priestly caste, is spoken to by an angel while serving in the Temple. The birth of a son is announced, along with his destiny. He will not touch strong drink (like Samson before him) and he will be filled with the Spirit of God even before his birth. He will be the source for many to find their way back to God. Zechariah responds with some scepticism and is punished with loss of his ability to speak because of his unbelief. But following this experience, Elizabeth conceives a child. The stage is then set for the next, and more important, Annunciation.

Today, let us reflect seriously on our own calling by God. Like John, each of us has been called to be a forerunner of Jesus, to prepare the way for Jesus to come into other people’s lives, especially those who have not yet had the experience of knowing him.

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Commentary on Judges 13:2-7,24-25

In the Bible, there are a number of incidences where elderly women who had never borne a child, through the intervention of God are blessed with a child, usually a son. Today’s First Reading recounts one of these—the birth of Samson.

What is special to all these stories is that the child to be born is given a very special role by God. It is as if to say that God had played a role with the mother in the birth of this child. He was, in a way, God’s child. And that is what we also see in today’s Gospel, which speaks about the circumstances in which the elderly Elizabeth is blessed with a son, who will be John the Baptist.

Today’s reading is from the book of Judges. These ‘judges’ were really heroic figures from various Israelite tribes who were engaged in the struggle of the Israelites to establish their dominion over the land which they believed had been allotted to them by God. Not surprisingly, the present occupants of the territories were not too pleased and resisted strongly, with varying degrees of success and failure on both sides.

Our reading is concerned with one of these ‘judges’—Samson. Overall, he is presented as being physically very strong, but in other respects very weak, particularly where women were concerned. And it was a woman, the notorious Delilah, who would bring about his downfall. Nor, in spite of some successes, did he ever manage to free his country from the Philistine enemy. His exploits were more concerned with himself than with his people.

The Philistines, who will appear later in the story of David (remember, Goliath was a Philistine), were a non-Semitic people, possibly from Crete. They settled on the coastal plain of Palestine about the same time as the Hebrews were entering the land from the east. Conflict between them was inevitable.

In a way, Samson can be seen as a symbol of his people. The misdeeds of the Israelites are often pictured by the prophets in the light of their foolish pursuit of foreign women, some of ill-repute, and falling victim to them. During the Judges’ period, the people constantly prostituted themselves in worshipping Canaanite gods.

Samson was from the tribe of Dan. His story is told from birth to death. We are only concerned today with his birth. His father’s name was Manoah and he came from Zorah, in the territory of Dan (Dan was one of the twelve sons of Jacob). Manoah’s wife, whose name is not given, is “barren”—in the society of her time, the greatest curse a married woman could suffer.

She shares this fate with some other prominent women in the Old Testament—Sarah, the mother of Isaac; Rebecca, the mother of Jacob; Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel; and, of course, in today’s Gospel, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist.

But it is then that “the angel of the Lord” appears to her. She hears the wonderful words:

…you shall conceive and bear a son.

These same words are repeated in the Gospel, and will be heard again during the Annunciation to Mary.

Samson’s mother is to prepare for his birth by not taking wine, or any food regarded as unclean. As a future liberator of his people, this son will be especially dedicated to the Lord. From his very conception he is to be regarded as a Nazirite. The word nazir in Hebrew means ‘consecrated’. A Nazirite was obliged to abstain from drinking wine or having his hair cut. In early times, the Nazirite vow was for life, but in later times it could be temporary, and its termination would be signified by the cutting of one’s hair. It is implied that Samson’s uncut hair is the source of his great strength, which is lost when it is cut by the treacherous Delilah.

When the child is born, his mother names him Samson, a word which means ‘sun’ or ‘brightness’. This could be an expression of joy over the birth of an unexpected child or refer to a nearby town, Beth Shemesh, ‘house of the sun(-god)’.

The passage ends with the words:

The boy grew, and the Lord blessed him.

This final remark refers to his future feats of strength. Compare this with the words about Jesus after he had returned to Nazareth following his presentation in the Temple by Mary and Joseph:

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor. (Luke 2:52)

Today, let us reflect on our own calling by God. Perhaps there was nothing very special about it. Yet, like John the Baptist, each of us has been called to be a forerunner of Jesus, to prepare the way for Jesus to come into other people’s lives, especially those who have not yet had the experience of knowing him.

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Commentary on Matthew 1:18-24

There were three stages for Jews getting married in Jesus’ time. First there was the engagement, then the betrothal, and finally the wedding. The betrothal was a serious commitment. It was already the first part of the marriage. There would be no sexual relationship, as the couple would not yet be living together, but it was a binding relationship. Normal married life began some months later when the husband took his betrothed into his home. To violate the betrothal by having sexual relations with another person was equivalent to adultery.

Imagine, then, the horrific dilemma of Joseph. He discovers that the woman to whom he is already betrothed, but with whom he has not consummated their relationship in marriage, is already pregnant. There could be only one explanation—she had been unfaithful and was having another man’s child. It was a very serious matter and, if brought out into the open, would have made Mary liable to death by stoning.

But Joseph was a “righteous man”. As a devout follower of the Mosaic Law, he would want to break the union with someone who had so seriously broken the Law. And yet, because he was such a good man, he did not want to expose her to a terrible punishment. In this, for his time and indeed for our own time, he shows extraordinary forbearance. Few men would be like Joseph and accept such a situation with such calmness and self-restraint. Most would find it a terrible blow.

It is at this point that there is divine intervention and God communicates the true situation to Joseph. He is assured that no other man is involved, and that she has conceived through the power of God’s Spirit. Joseph is further instructed to call the newborn child Jesus. Jesus, in Hebrew Joshua, had the meaning at this time of “Yahweh saves”. Jesus is so called because he will save his people from their sin.

And as Matthew likes to do, he shows that all this is in fulfilment of an Old Testament prophecy (following the Septuagint text of Isaiah 7:14):

Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel…

‘Immanuel’ means “God-is-with-us”. This will be re-echoed when, at the very end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples just before he ascends to his Father:

And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matt 28:20)

Jesus remains with us forever.

Joseph, now at peace, took Mary to his home as his wife. Thus, there is no mistaking the origins of Jesus. He has a human mother, but a divine Father. He will be the perfect Saviour of his people—in a fully human person, the power of God himself will be at work.

God still lives with his people. And he does that through the Body of the Risen Jesus, the Church, the Christian community and its communities all over the world. Each one of us is called to be Immanuel. Through us people can meet God and hear the message of love and salvation and forgiveness and reconciliation. Let us renew our commitment to be Immanuel for the people in our lives.

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Commentary on Jeremiah 23:5-8

Today’s reading comes from one of three prose sermons which seem to originate either from the period of exile in Babylon or soon after the return to Jerusalem. After scolding Judah’s rulers for scattering Judah, in today’s passage God promises to establish an upright member, a “Branch”, of David’s line over a restored Israel.

‘Branch’ is used elsewhere as a messianic title. Zerubbabel, whose name means ‘branch/shoot of Babylon’, was one of the leaders in the return of the Jews from exile. And he was a descendant of David.

The Messiah, unlike any previous descendant of David, will be the ideal King. He will sum up in himself all the finest qualities of the best rulers, and infinitely more. He will rule responsibly before God as a real king and not as a puppet like King Zedekiah. He will be a true shepherd for his people, free of the corruption found in so many of Judah’s rulers. He will:

…deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

He will be called “The Lord is our righteousness”. This is in contrast with the present ruler, Zedekiah, whose name in Hebrew meant ‘the lord [Yahweh] is my justice’. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon originally gave this name to Mattaniah when he was appointed king. Zedekiah was the last king of Judah (597-587 BC). He was a tragic figure. He tried to enter into an alliance with surrounding peoples, including Egypt, to rebel against Babylon. But he suffered defeat and was led off to Babylon. Here his two sons were executed in his presence and then his own two eyes were gouged out. Although Zedekiah did not in any way live up to his name ‘the Lord is our righteousness’, the new Lord of Righteousness will bring many blessings to his people and give them all that they need to be truly God’s people.

A new era is on the way. People will no longer be thinking of God as the one who brought his people out of Egypt. Rather, they will think of him as the one who brought his people from their place of exile to live once more on their own soil. This will be the ‘New Exodus’, one of even greater significance than the earlier one. And it will not be complete until the Messiah comes and establishes the Kingdom of God, not only in Israel, but throughout the world—bringing true justice and peace to all.

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Commentary on Matthew 1:1-17 Read 17 December – Gospel »

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Commentary on Genesis 49:2,8-10

In today’s First Reading, Jacob is on his death bed and making his last statement to his family. It is the longest poem in Genesis. The reading is part of what is known as the ‘Blessings of Jacob’, although they are more like prophecies than blessings. This is especially true of the section in today’s reading. And it is directed, not so much to the sons of Jacob, but more to the tribes who bore their name.

Although this passage ostensibly refers to Jacob’s immediate descendants, in fact, the final writing dates from the time of David (much later), with possibly some earlier elements contained in it. Its contents really concern the time of the Judges and the Kings. It was at this later time that it would have been inserted into the Genesis narrative. Put together from preexisting songs and sayings, it looks at the tribes of Israel in their early days in Canaan. It is put here to signify the closing of a historical period—that covered by the Book of Genesis.

Two of the tribes stand out—those of Judah and Joseph. Judah is seen as coming to dominate all the others, but not permanently:

The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him,
and the obedience of the peoples is his.

Another reading of “until tribute comes to him” in the original Hebrew text translates as “until he comes to whom it belongs”. This is a reference to the Messiah. Judah will be the one through whom the promises made to Abraham and Jacob will be fulfilled. Judah was the fourth born to Jacob’s wife Leah, and also the fourth son born to Jacob, but his three older brothers, for various reasons, lost their right to family leadership.

Judah is shown as preeminent over his brothers:

…your brothers shall praise you…your father’s sons [i.e. his brothers] shall bow down before you.

From the time of the second journey of Jacob’s sons to Joseph in Egypt, Judah acted as their spokesman. Judah, under the name of Ephraim, did in fact become the most influential of the northern tribes and would form the nucleus of the future kingdom of Israel. And through his descendant David, he would be an ancestor of Jesus—hence the purpose of today’s reading.

Judah is called a “lion’s whelp” (or ‘lion’s cub’) as a symbol of power, strength and courage. In later times, he is often pictured as a lion and, in Revelation (5:5), Jesus himself is called the “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”.

The meaning of the closing prophecy is obscure, but it is often read in a Messianic sense—fulfilled first of all in David, and ultimately in Christ, the Messiah. It is to Jesus Christ that the ‘sceptre’, the ruling power ultimately belongs.

Both the First Reading and today’s Gospel, which contains Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, emphasise Jesus’ roots going back to the very beginnings of Israel. Jesus was a Jew through and through, and linked with many of the most significant characters in Israel’s turbulent history.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Child Jesus in Bethlehem, we need to remember that the content of today’s readings is an important aspect of the Incarnation. Jesus did not just appear as an isolated human being. He came from God, but he is also intimately and crucially linked with the history of his own people. And because of that, so are we.

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Commentary on Matthew 9:35—10:1,6-8 Read Saturday of Week 1 of Advent – Gospel »

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Frank Doyle SJ 1931 – 2011

Living Space is the area of the Sacred Space website where you will find commentaries on the daily scripture readings. These are written by the late Frank Doyle SJ unless other contributors are credited. (About Frank Doyle)

Using Living Space

You can access the current commentaries by using the Living Space calendar in the right column. This sidebar allows you to select readings from the coming days – with a few days in the past allowed for too. You will see this calendar on the right sidebar of all Living Space pages.

Please note that the calendar may differ from region to region and cannot take account of all the regional variations.

In general, the following commentaries are provided:

• Sundays: one commentary on all readings.
• Weekdays: separate commentaries on the first readings and gospel texts.
• Saints: separate commentaries on the saint and on the assigned readings.

Archives

The following lists can be found on the Living Space Archive page.

Index of commentaries on Gospel texts from the Gospels:

• Matthew
• Mark
• Luke
• John

Index of scripture texts for which commentaries are available:

• List of books of the bible in canonical order

Index of commentaries on texts according to the liturgical cycle:

• Year A – Matthew
• Year B – Mark
• Year C – Luke
• Feasts and Saints