Here is the latest installment in a look ahead at the readings and themes associated with this coming Sunday’s worship according to the 3-year lectionary. Thanks again to Pastor Bednash for the working title “Pericope Particulars” (A pericope (/pəˈrɪkəpiː/; Greek περικοπή, “a cutting-out”) in rhetoric is a set of verses that forms one coherent unit or thought, suitable for public reading from a text, now usually of sacred scripture. Also can be used as a way to identify certain themes in a chapter of sacred text.)
As per our regular structure, the first resource comes from Issues Etc. Issues, Etc. is a ten-hour weekly syndicated radio talk show and podcast. The program features expert guests, expansive topics while extolling Christ (their own tagline, but very fitting). The program is hosted by Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod Pastor Todd Wilken and produced by Jeff Schwarz. There is a running series on the show called Looking Forward to Sunday Morning (3 Year Lectionary) in which guest Dr. Carl Fickenscher presents the readings and themes associated with the specific Sundays of the church year. Below is the link for this coming Sunday.
Scripture Readings:
Old Testament Reading:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has tanointed me
to bring good news to the poor;1
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and uthe opening of the prison to those who are bound;2
2 vto proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor,
wand the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
xto give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
ythe oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
zthat they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD, athat he may be glorified.3
4 bThey shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
8 gFor I the LORD love justice;
I hate robbery and wrong;1
hI will faithfully give them their recompense,
iand I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them,
that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed.
10 jI will greatly rejoice in the LORD;
my soul shall exult in my God,
kfor he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself llike a priest with a beautiful headdress,
mand as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord GOD will cause nrighteousness and praise
to sprout up before all the nations.
New Testament Reading:
16 vRejoice always, 17 wpray without ceasing, 18 xgive thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 yDo not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise zprophecies, 21 but atest everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may bthe God of peace himself csanctify you completely, and may your dwhole espirit and soul and body be kept blameless at fthe coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 gHe who calls you is faithful; hhe will surely do it.
Gospel Reading:
6 There was a man isent from God, whose name was jJohn. 7 He came as a kwitness, to bear witness about the light, lthat all might believe through him. 8 mHe was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19 And this is the otestimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, p“Who are you?” 20 qHe confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? rAre you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you sthe Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am tthe voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight1 the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, u“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, v“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even whe who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Meditation: ‘Rejoice. It’s the Third Sunday in Advent’
Rev. Bednash
The words from the Lord given to the Prophet Isaiah come roughly around 740-681 BC. The Prophet proclaims judgment, captivity, woes, the promise of a Savior, comfort, encouragement, and examples of a Suffering Servant within these words. As Christians reading this book of the Bible after the time of Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we can see a Triptych of Christ. Isaiah presents the coming savior as the ideal Davidic king, a servant of the Lord, and the Lord in person. This threefold revelation of Christ is beautiful.
In our selected Scriptures for the third Sunday of Advent (Is. 61:1-4, 8-11), the centerpiece for Isaiah’s ‘third section’ is presented. These verses summarize the major motifs of Isaiah chapters 56-66. However, it is often a debate whether or not Isaiah is referring to himself in Is. 61:1-3 or to the Servant of the Lord; we will take the position that it’s the Servant of the Lord speaking in the first person, as He has done before. (Is. 48:16; 49:1-6; 50:4-9). With this assumption, we can correctly view and understand the works of the coming Servant God in greater detail.
The actions recorded concerning the Lord’s anointed would have greatly comforted God’s people during the prophet’s time. During Isaiah’s calling as a prophet, God’s people had fallen into dismay. The picture of God’s holy city is bleak, as her leaders are blind, selfish, and full of gluttony. (Is. 56:9-12). Isaiah describes them as dogs that can’t even bark, let alone bite! Weak leaders have led to inadequate understanding and faith among God’s people. Idolatry spreads like wildfire across the people, and many attend religious rituals in outward practice only.
There is seemingly a divide among God’s people, in which a remnant of faithful will present themselves. Isaiah lays out the Lord’s action and His process of comfort, gather, rebuild, and save His remnant. While Zion (the city of God/God’s people) sits in darkness, feeling abandoned, the Lord speaks these words found in Isaiah 61. Announcing the year of the Lord’s favor, God’s people have hope and comfort, something to rejoice.
The focus of the third Sunday in Advent is the theme of rejoining. Why? Why would we rejoice during a penitential time of the church year such as Advent? Because even amid our repentance and turning away from our sinfulness back toward the Lord, we know that Jesus Christ is the Suffering Servant who has come, in human flesh, to bring good news to the poor!
Rejoice! Why? Because the Spirit of the Lord God is upon Jesus. The Lord’s anointed (the Christ) is sent to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, open up the prisons for those who are bound, to comfort all who mourn, grant those who mourn in Zion heavenly marriage apparel, give them a garment of praise, and plant them in His vineyard with His righteousness.
We find real comfort in these words of the Old Testament prophet because Christ Himself read these words in a Nazarite synagogue in Luke 4:16-21. Therefore, we rejoice this third week of Advent. We reflect upon our salvation firmly rooted in Christ as we are grafted into God’s vineyard. Through Holy Baptism, Christ’s righteousness covers us as we are born again as His child. Galatians 3:27 As Children of God, we rejoice, praise, and thank Him for our Mother, the Church, looking forward to the marriage feast to come. We see the mystical relationship between God and His people when we layer upon Ephesians 5 over top of our selected verses.
Let us pray that we might be delivered through this year and all our lives by faithful leaders who will not sleep like lazy dogs but rather hunt and protect like dogs, called servants. Servants always pointing toward the Suffering Servant who did not open His mouth at His Passion, but with sword in mouth will come again in glory. (Revelation 19:15)
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robes of righteousness…”