Lectionary lessons for December 15th

Isaiah 35:1-10  This is another passage which envisions the Shalom of God, God's reign of peace, justice and love. To a people who had suffered frequently from invasion, subjugation and exile, this imaginative prophecy would have brought much comfort. Modern visions of Utopian societies draw much from Old Testament passages like this.

Luke 1:47-55 (UMH 199) Mary's song, known as The Magnificat from its first Latin word, is actually a psalm of praise echoing and possibly derived from the Song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2.
   
It celebrates the promised birth of the Messiah announced to Mary by the angel Gabriel as yet another act of God bringing to Israel the Shalom of justice and peace. But this will also involve a social and economic revolution. We often overlook this facet of our faith in this materialistic age when Christmas becomes crowded with feasting, gifts and frivolity.
James 5:7-10 Waiting for the Lord to come again soon was a prominent theme in many New Testament letters. Here James, believed to be the brother of Jesus, urges patience at a time when the faithfulness of the church was being tested. Only very reluctantly did the church realize that the Second Coming of Christ was not so imminent as first believed.
        Matthew 11:2-11  Jesus did not appear to be the kind of Messiah even John the Baptist expected. Perhaps John had hoped that if Jesus was indeed the Messiah, he would free John from prison as Isaiah 61:1 had promised.

In reply to John's question, communicated through his disciples, Jesus told them to report back to John the facts about his ministry. Jesus did not deny the role that John had played in preparing the way for him. Yet something more than John's message of repentance was needed. The Shalom of God comes to those who believe that Jesus is the Messiah/Christ.