Christmas Day 2025 and Christmas 1 - Sunday 28 December 2025

CHRISTMAS DAY

Theme: that is pretty obvious, isn't it? :)

Sentence: To you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord (Luke 2:11).

Collect: Bosco Peter's Book of Prayers in Common March 2025

O God,

year by year you make us glad

with the hope of our redemption;

grant that we who joyfully receive your only begotten Son as our Redeemer

may with sure confidence behold him when he comes as our judge;

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Readings: [I am just giving one set from the NZ Lectionary]

Isaiah 9:2-7
Psalm 96
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-14

Comments:

Isaiah 9:2-7

In this prophecy, as originally given, the hope and expectation concerns restoration of the greatness and supremacy of the Davidic throne.

At the point of writing, Israel's situation is oppressive: note the implicit violence of the language of "yoke," "bar," "rod," and "boots" in verses 4-5.

Verse 4's reference to "Midian" is a recollection of story of Gideon's defeat of Midian (Judges 7:15-25).

Verses 6 onwards celebrate the birth of a new David (perhaps, at the time of writing, the birth of Hezekiah). Christian readers of these verses have read these verses as perfectly correlated with the birth of Jesus and his subsequent growth to be the adult preacher and leader of the Kingdom of God.

Psalm 96

This psalm is coherent with the hope and expectation of the restoration of Israel, foreshadowed in the Isaiah reading above.

Titus 2:11-14

11: In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the grace of God has appeared (been manifested) to the world. "Bringing salvation to all" is enigmatic: does it imply that all will be saved? At the very least it is stating that the salvation the Saviour brings is available to all humanity.

12: The coming of the Saviour (the birth and life of Jesus Christ) and the expectation of his return to earth (v. 13) creates a "present age" in which we (followers of Jesus Christ) need to know how to live. Paul thus speak of the same "grace of God" which has saved us also working within us to train us to "renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly."

13: This training scheme (so to speak) endures "while we wait for the blessed hope and manifestation of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ." Christ is unseen in our midst during this time but we will know when he comes in glory because it will be manifest among us. Note the rare occasion here when Jesus Christ is identified within the New Testament as God.

14: Who is Jesus Christ? Three notable characteristics are mentioned in this verse.

First, "who gave himself for us" (see also Galatians 1:4; 2:20; Ephesians 5:2; 1 Timothy 2:6). Christ came for our sakes and in his coming gave himself over to death that we might live.

Secondly, "redeem us" or, in the context of Paul's day, buy us out of slavery (to Satan, to sin): see also Romans 3:24; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:20; 7:23; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Mark 10:45). Christ gave himself in costly sacrifice that we might be redeemed.

Thirdly, "purify for himself a people of his own": see also Deuteronomy 7:6-8; exodus 9:5-16; 1 Peter 2:9. Christ came to restore and enlarge the people of God, according to the promises made long ago to Israel (see above, Isaiah and Psalm readings).

Luke 2:1-14

There is a wonderful but quite technical debate within the first few verses of this passage concerning the reference to Quirinius and thus to the time of this registration (census). In short, the debate concerns whether we can match what we know of Quirinius as a Roman official and the time when we think Jesus was born (according to Matthew's chronology which places Jesus' birth before the death of Herod the Great). See here for a discussion of the issues.

What is indisputable is what Luke is attempting in these first few verses.

First, he is locating the birth of King Jesus in the world ruled by another king, the Roman emperor Augustus (1). The whole story of Luke-Acts tells us how the king born in Bethlehem, via the preaching of his apostles, became a rival king to the Emperor in Rome itself. Later in the passage, the angelic announcement of "good news" to the shepherds is an (Israel, Jewish, Old Testament-ish) equivalent of an imperial Roman announcement of "good news" re a new, supreme emperor.

Secondly, he is explaining how Jesus of Nazareth (i.e. Jesus who grew up in Nazareth) nevertheless was born in Bethlehem, some distance away (2-4).

Thirdly, he is connecting the birth of Jesus as king with the house of David, the greatest King of Israel (4, 11).

Of course for there to be a baby there needs to be a birth, and with the preliminaries of time and place out of the way, we finally read that Jesus is born (6-7).

Note how the specific location of his first days/weeks of life "in a manger" is a tiny detail within these verses. Do we make too much of this when we talk much of Jesus being born in a stable, seemly unwanted in the inn? (As an aside, the use of the term "inn" is much debated. Luke's uses a different word to the Story of the Good Samaritan, where the Samaritan takes the injured traveler for his recovery. We might more accurately use a word such as "lodging" and leave open the question whether it was an inn or a (crowded) house of a relative.)

Nevertheless, in a passage mentioning Augustus and David, the reference to Jesus being placed after birth in a feeding trough underlines the obscurity of Jesus' beginning to his life: he is born in Palestine (at the edge of the Roman Empire), in Bethlehem (an insignificant village relative to the great city of Jerusalem) and placed in a manger (outside of ordinary human residency).

Why do we then meet shepherds (8-14) as the first, in Luke's telling, to greet the newborn king?

Obviously we must speculate as Luke gives no hints. But shepherds in the context of associating Jesus with King David (the shepherd-king) suggests that shepherds are very appropriate as a group to recognise the new Shepherd-King Jesus.

They are good shepherds, incidentally, because in the middle of the night they are "keeping watch over their flock" (8) Understandably they are afraid when unexpectedly an angel appears, the glory of the Lord shines around them and they hear a voice (9-10). Everything here, including the fear, is redolent of many instances in the Old Testament when the angel of the Lord appears to a person or a couple or a group. As then so now the first words of the angel are "Do not be afraid" (10). The angel has not come to judge the shepherds but to announce good news to them and to ask them to be part of the celebration of that announcement, which is "good news of great joy for all the people"  (10-11).

Verse 11 piles on the titles for Jesus! He is "A Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord." With these three titles the angel is saying that the newborn baby is the full fulfilment of all Old Testament prophecies about the one who would come to restore Israel (see, again, our passage from Isaiah above, as one such prophecy). And "Lord" is particularly significant as it equates Jesus with God himself (since the exclusive name of the God of Israel, YHWH, is translated by the same Greek word, kyrios, in the Greek Old Testament).

Verse 12 adds a little to the meaning of the manger. How will the shepherds know where to find this baby? (Remember, no GPS, no cellphones in those days!) Presumably more than one baby was born at that time. But only one had been placed in a manger. The others would have been in their cots and cribs in their homes. A few questions in the nosy, gossipy community of Bethlehem and the shepherds would have easily found the baby-in-a-manger.

With a final burst of song, verses 13-14, the angels were gone and the shepherds were on their way to Bethlehem (15). But what a burst of song it was. What would we give in the world today for the simple matter of "peace"?  

CHRISTMAS 1 

[It is also Holy Innocents but the readings are not commented on here, though note the gospel readings are similar: Jeremiah 31:15-20; Psalm 8; 1 Corinthians 1:25-29; Matthew 2:13-18.]

Theme(s): Vulnerability of Christ / Holy Innocents [strictly, Saturday 28 December 2019] / God's new way in the face of evil /Jesus became like us to save us

Sentence:

I will cause a righteous branch to spring forth for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. Then Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely. (Jeremiah 33:15, 16).

Collect: Bosco Peter's Book of Prayers in Common March 2025

O God,
you wonderfully created
and yet more wonderfully restored
the dignity of human nature;
grant that we may share the divine life
of your Son Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever. Amen.

Readings:

Isaiah 63:7-9

Psalm 148

Hebrews 2:10-18

Matthew 2:13-23

Commentary:

Isaiah 63:7-9

Here the prophet recalls the deliverance of Israel from Egypt by the hand of God, through God's own presence saving Israel (v. 9). In our gospel reading, Jesus, like Israel the son of God, is forced to go down to Egypt and brought back to Israel by God. So this passage is apt. It connects with Jesus being brought out of Egypt, like Israel of old. It also generally conveys a message of God as immediate deliverer and saviour of Israel by his presence, as God will save Israel by his presence in Jesus Christ the Emmanuel, God with us.

Psalm 148

This is - obviously - a song of praise. In organ terms, it pulls out all the stops as it invokes praise of God from every corner of the world and through every aspect of nature.

Why should each and every part of creation be cajoled into joining this great chorus of praise? Well, they exist by command of the Lord! 'Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.' (v.5)

Why this psalm on this day? It is the season of Christmas so a season to praise God for the gift of Jesus Christ. But it is also a day when we get very close with out gospel passage to the guiding star of the wise men. So we note the presence of the phrase 'all you shining stars' (v. 3).

Hebrews 2:10-18

Why did Jesus come as a human being? Couldn't (say) an angel save us? Writing to an audience of Jewish Christians (and/or Christians) tempted to revert to a stricter Jewish way of obedience to God, specifically through the system of temple sacrifices, the author of this epistle repeatedly, from many angles, nails down the supremacy of Jesus, greater than the angels, in a different and better order of priests and thus the uniqueness of his sacrifice.

In this passage, relevant to Christmas and celebrating Jesus being born a real human being, the writer tells us that Jesus was really and truly one of us. For instance,

'Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, to that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil ... (vss. 14-15), 

and

'For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect ... (vss. 16-18).

Further, these verses tell us that Jesus became like us in order to help us.

Actually, the author to the Hebrews goes even further than that. Jesus became a human being in order that (generally speaking) he might save humanity but he was also tested by what he suffered so that 'he is able to help those who are being tested' (v. 18).

Are you wondering what the fuss of Christmas is all about? It is about you!

Are you wondering if in the particular predicament in life which you face right now, Jesus can help you? He can! (It would be worth turning a couple of pages in Hebrews to chapter 4 verses 14-16, where we are encouraged to take what troubles us to the Lord in prayer so that 'we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.').

Matthew 2:13-23

An oddity of church history combined with the lectionary means that this Sunday we read Matthew 2:13-23 (Flight of the Holy Family to Egypt) and next Sunday (should we celebrate the Feast of Epiphany one day early) we would read Matthew 2:1-12 (Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ).

Matthew is consistently Josephite in his narratival point of view. 

Here Joseph receives another appearance of an angel of the Lord in a dream and there will be a third such appearance before the end of this passage. Joseph, like Mary in Luke's birth and infancy narratives, is obedient to the Lord. He takes 'the child and his mother by night and went to Egypt' (v. 14).

Note that Herod (whether Herod the Great as in this story or his various successor sons in later stories) is something of a dangerous 'type' in the gospel stories. Here the danger is greatest when Jesus is at his most vulnerable. Accordingly the narrative takes Jesus out of the danger zone around Bethlehem (with one dream warning to Joseph) and later brings him back to the mission zone of Israel (with another dream).

Laced through this passage is Matthew running riot with his Israelite scriptures! 

He has already relied heavily on them to compose his opening, seventeen verses concerning the genealogy of Jesus, connected, delved into the prophets to connect the special circumstances of Jesus' conception with God's previously foretold plan (1:23/Isaiah 7:14) and to connect the obscure and humble place of his birth, Bethlehem, with that same plan (2:6/Micah 5:1,3; cf. 2 Samuel 5:2). 

In our passage today, Matthew:

Links the flight to Egypt (2:14-15) with Hosea 11:1 (and in the process creates an identification between Jesus son of God and Israel (to whom Hosea refers) son of God.

Explains the horrific Herodian massacre of infants in and around Bethlehem as a fulfillment of a prophecy of Jeremiah (2:18/Jeremiah 31:15).

Explains the shift of home for Joseph and his family, from Judea to Galilee, to Nazareth in particular as yet another fulfillment of prophecy (2:23/echoing Isaiah 11:12 and Judges 13:5).

What is Matthew up to, here and elsewhere in his gospel as he sees fulfillment of the Israelite scriptures writ large in the life and times of Jesus? Two thoughts.

One, for a largely Jewish readership, Matthew is proving that Jesus is the Christ, the long ago foretold anointed new King David sent from God. (Whether we think such an approach 'proves' anything is something to think about, but we should not mistake any doubts we have about this method with any doubts we have about whether this was a good way to proceed in Matthew's day).

Two, for a largely Jewish Christian readership, Matthew embeds the new things God is doing through Christ and his movement with what God had done through his patriarchs and prophets of old. This (Christ, Christian movement) was that (foretold and anticipated long beforehand by the God of Israel's servants).

Nevertheless, upbeat though we are, reading about Jesus as fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, we confront a terrible, terrible event which illustrates acutely and desperately the age old problem of evil in a world created and presided over by a good God: the slaughter of the innocent children (always remembered on 28 December as 'Holy Innocents' for which the gospel reading is Matthew 2:13-18). The tragedy is all the more appalling, we could say, because if Jesus had not been born, these children would never have died.

A long answer to questions raised by this massacre within the narrative would be very long (i.e. the attempt by theologians through the centuries to resolve the 'problem of evil' or 'problem of suffering.')

A shorter answer is to note some things Matthew says explicitly or implicitly through his gospel, if not within the passage itself.

(1) Matthew does not say that Jeremiah explicitly foretold in detail a slaughter of the kind which happened, as though a more attentive reading of Scripture might have led to more responsible people avoiding this tragedy. He draws attention to a saying of Jeremiah about a situation in which Rachel (whose tomb was near Bethlehem) and thus Judah is in great sorrow. No one could have predicted from Jeremiah that the Herodian massacre would take place, let alone be tied to the birth of Jesus. Matthew with hindsight recognises Jeremiah as seeing ahead to a time of sorrow and realises that that time had now happened.

(2) Matthew pins the blame for this shattering event on the choice of a powerful human, Herod the despotic and tyrannical king. God has not orchestrated this to happen (e.g. in order to fulfil the saying of Jeremiah). 'Man's inhumanity to man' results from human capacity to choose to inflict pain on others.

(3) Matthew tells of such awful horrors precisely within a larger account of God's plan through Jesus to transform the world. God is not powerless to alter the course of history but (it is implied) does not intervene in each and every bad moment within that history. Through the coming of Jesus a new way of life, the kingdom of God, is entering the world as a counter to the old and often terrible and terrifying way of life, illustrated by the kingdom of Herod. 

In short: there is good news to tell about Jesus because there is bad news to tell about life without Jesus.

Sunday 21 December 2025 - Advent 4

Theme(s): Jesus our saviour / God's plan for us - A better future /A God near at hand

Sentence: You heavens above rain down righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up. (Isaiah 45:8)

Collect: Bosco Peter's Book of Prayers in Common March 2025

Pour forth, we beseech you, O God,

your grace into our hearts,

that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ your Son

was made known by the message of an angel,

may, by his passion and cross,

be brought to the glory of his resurrection;

through Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Readings:

Isaiah 7:10-16
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
Romans 1:1-7
Matthew 1:18-25

Commentary:

Isaiah 7:10-16

At a difficult time for God's people, God promises King Ahaz a sign of a better future: the birth of a son to a young woman (Isaiah's own wife? See 8:3. Or Ahaz's wife?).

We read this passage in conjunction with today's gospel reading because this birth foretold centuries beforehand is understood by Matthew to look ahead to the birth of the eternal king of Israel, Jesus Christ.

As Matthew tells the story of that birth he tells the story of a virgin conceiving the baby who will become the Emmanuel of Isaiah's prophecy.

Some scholars get (in my view) a bit stuck on an old record of "originally Isaiah didn't envisage it was a virgin". That is true as far as it goes: the NRSV for Isaiah 7:14 accurately, according to the Hebrew, has 'young woman' rather than the particularity of 'a virgin(al young woman)'. That particularity is captured in the Septuagint (Greek) translation of Isaiah. Matthew uses that text rather than the Hebrew version of Isaiah. Why would he do that? Presumably not to prove that Mary was a virgin. There is no reason for Matthew to emphasise Mary's virginity unless he believed her to be one. Certainly there is no pressing reason from Isaiah for Matthew to invent such a statement.

The simpler approach is to recognise that Matthew, telling a story of Jesus' conception and birth which involved divine paternity, recognises that the Greek version of Isaiah 7:14 neatly foresees such an event, so he invokes it and includes it in his narrative. He could just as easily have made no reference to Isaiah. After all, the odd thing about the reference is that Emmanuel as a name for Jesus is never again used in Matthew's Gospel (or any other gospel for that matter).

Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19

In this psalm there is a strong plea for restoration. For God to do a work among his people which not only saves God's people from their plight but also restores them to the splendour and goodness they once enjoyed.

This plea is well made by us through this reading three days out from Christmas. Jesus came to save us, to bring new life and to establish the kingdom of God.

Romans 1:1-7

Paul launches into his most famous epistle. When all the great books and commentaries on this epistle are digested the simple fact is that Paul sets out to tell us what the gospel of Jesus Christ is, in a world in which the message of a Jewish rabbi has spread beyond the confines of Judaism. The gospel went global and now the question arises, what is the global meaning of the gospel?

In this launch into the subject, Paul says something simple and directly relevant to the Christmas story: the gospel concerns the Son of God and the Son of God was 'descended from David according to the flesh ...'. There is more to say (and linked to the Easter story). But vital to the gospel is the birth of Jesus as a real flesh and blood descendant of King David. Even in a globalization of the gospel, this fact is important.

One reason for this importance is that it underscores the importance of God's previous words to humanity, to Israel in particular via his prophets: a messiah/king in the line of David would come to bring salvation. That has happened: God's Word is true.

Matthew 1:18-25

It may seem a bit odd reading this reading when it is not Christmas Day but don't worry, there are Christmas readings in the lectionary for Christmas Day!

In this brief reading we do not need to get stuck on any particular point (though preachers do do that!). Essentially Matthew tells us three salient facts:
- the conception of Jesus was a divine act according to a divine plan;
- the name of Jesus meant something important: it summarised his purpose, to save people from their sin;
- Jesus was born as a normal baby with a mum like any other baby.

What response could we make to this baby?

(1) We could celebrate and rejoice that God was at work in our world, doing something hugely important to change the course of history, while at the same time wonderfully fulfilling words previously spoken to us by ancient prophets.

(2) We could ask Jesus to be our saviour, to be the one who saves us from our sins.

(3) We could marvel that in this tiny baby, God was present in a way previously unknown. (No other baby in the Bible, even when miracles were performed to overcome barrenness, was born without a human father).

An alternative line of thought from this passage is to focus on the name Emmanuel. Although only used this once in the gospels, this name brought forward by Matthew from Isaiah's prophecy, speaks of a great gospel theme: that in Jesus Christ, God is 'with' humanity. 

Sunday 14 December 2025 - Advent 3

This is a challenging Sunday for faithful Anglicans. For some faithful Anglicans, today is the day when we best, relative to the ending of school year and proximity of Christmas, hold our Sunday School Pageant/Christmas Play, or, possibly, a Nine Lessons and Carols service, and thus the lectionary takes a back seat. For some faithful Anglicans, this Sunday is "Gaudete Sunday" and time to replace "violet" with "pink" and to rejoice with the Virgin Mary with the slightly awkward lectionary challenge that in the Year of Matthew, the gospel reading has nothing to do with Mary and everything to do with John the Baptist. (Our lectionary does offer Luke 1:47-55 as an alternative for the psalm).

Theme(s): Restoration / Healing / John the Baptist /Jesus the true Messiah

Sentence: For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert ... and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing (Isaiah 35:6,10).

Collect: Bosco Peter's Book of Prayers in Common March 2025

Incline your ear, O God,

to our pleading,

and by the grace of your coming to us

enlighten the darkness of our hearts;

through Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Readings:

Isaiah 35:1-10
Psalm 146:5-10 (or The Magnificat, Luke 1:47-55)
James 5:7-10
Matthew 11:2-11

Commentary:

Isaiah 35:1-10

We cannot understand the Old Testament if we do not keep in view the cataclysmic event of Israel being exiled (the northern kingdom, 721 BC; the southern kingdom, 597/587 BC).

The people of God living in the 'promised land' provided by God were now living as subjects of a foreign power in a foreign land. Theologically this seemed to be a complete denial of all the promises of God. In a world of competing gods of nations, did YHWH the God of Israel even exist? If YHWH did exist, what kind of pathetic power did he have? Israel - it appeared - was no more. Or not. In passages such as this one we have a 'prophetic oracle of salvation' which conveys a sweeping and thrilling vision of 'the return' of God's people, 'redeemed' by God out of new slavery, to live again in 'Zion.'

In other words, Israel, theologically and psychologically could hold their heads up high. The promises of God were true, the exile was a catastrophe but not the end of Israel or of Israel's God. Indeed the future spelled out here in certain ways was to be more glorious than the most glorious past of Israel (i.e. when David was king).

Later aspects of this passage will feature in the reception of Jesus and his 'restorative' ministry of healing and mighty acts (e.g. Matthew 11:5 which is part of our gospel reading today).

The (arguably) most famous New Testament scholar in the world today, N.T. (Tom) Wright, has made much in his gospel scholarship of the theme of 'return from exile', arguing that the gospels present Jesus as the one who truly and completely brings Israel (finally) out of exile.

The reality of Israel's return from exile (as we can read in books such as Nehemiah, Ezra, 1 and 2 Maccabees) was a 'mixed bag': there was a return of people and a rebuilding of the temple and walls of Jerusalem but there was also further subjection by foreign rulers, first Greece and then Rome. Thus Wright's approach (much debated) has something in it: to the extent that the return from exile was envisaged in all its dimensions in Isaiah 35, much was missing and unfulfilled by the time Jesus appeared in Israel to preach the 'kingdom of God.'

Psalm 146:5-10

This psalm conveys a similar message to the prophetic oracle in Isaiah 35 (see above).

The completeness of God's care for his people is emphasised: God will execute justice AND give food to the hungry; set the prisoner free AND open the eyes of the blind; etc.

James 5:7-10

When we consider Advent in respect of the return of Christ inevitably we ponder the question of 'how long?' A thousand years may be as one day in the Lord's sight but to us it is a very long time and two thousand years is twice as long! In this passage James urges us to be patient. A timely lesson in more ways than one.

Matthew 11:2-11

John the Baptist in prison finds his mind going round the bend. He has discharged his prophetic ministry at great cost. The central theme of that ministry was announcing the coming of the Lord's Anointed One (or Messiah). He thought the Messiah was Jesus. Now he is not so sure. As any of us would do when in a state of uncertainty, he decides to check up on what is happening. Perhaps Jesus was just a bit like the Messiah-of-expectation but not the actual Messiah?

Jesus responds in a kind of code language which also reports accurately on what has been happening. The list of what had been happening, verse 5, to be reported back to John, was framed in the language of the great restoration, return and redemption vision in Isaiah 35. Jesus knew that John would understand the meaning of the report: messianic deeds were happening because the Messiah was here and at work. "Dear John, Doubt no longer! Love Jesus."

In turn, Jesus sets out his understanding of the impact and importance of John the Baptist, vss. 7-14. John the Baptist is the last and greatest prophet of the old order or pre-kingdom history of Israel. God is doing a new thing and John's honour was to usher that new thing into being.

Thus, in the season of Advent, there are several aspects of the coming of Jesus into the world to contemplate. 

Sunday 7 December 2025 - Advent 2

Here is a really nice track to listen to while you prepare your sermon! Alison Krauss with Down to the River to Pray.

Theme(s): Justice and Judgment // Just a prophet (!) // Prophetic justice // Jesus comes as judge

Sentence: 'With righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.' (Isaiah 11:4)

Collect: Bosco Peter's Book of Prayers in Common March 2025

Stir up your power, O God,

and with your great might

come to our aid,

so that where our sins impede us,

the help of your grace may swiftly deliver us;

through Jesus Christ,

who is alive with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Readings:

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19
Isaiah 11:1-10
Romans 15:4-13
Matthew 3:1-12

Commentary:

Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

Some psalms are prayerful and this is one of them. The psalmist prays for the king of Israel, likely Solomon (according to an ascription at the beginning, 'Of Solomon'). His prayer covers 'all the bases' of what we would expect from a ruler. Reading this psalm in Advent we naturally read into it the character of King Jesus.

The last two verses remind us that great kings are a blessing from an even greater God!

Isaiah 11:1-10

This prophecy is 'thick' with content. Looking ahead from a context of a shattered kingdom of David, the prophet sees 'a shoot' growing out of the 'stump of Jesse [=David's father]'. (Alternatively the shoot is depicted as a 'branch' growing out of the roots of the stump, v. 1, and later the shoot/branch will be referred to as 'the root of Jesse', v. 10). As Christians we understand that shoot to be Jesus. Isaiah sees ahead what we see in hindsight: this shoot was full of the spirit of the Lord.

But the shoot will be a Spirit-endowed, wise king who will 'judge' the world. Unlike judges who may rely on human senses of sight and hearing, the shoot of Jesse will judge 'with righteousness' (v. 4, 5). This judgment will be severe: the wicked will not survive it (v. 4b).

But that is not all Isaiah sees. Beyond judgment, Isaiah sees a new world of peace, harmony and wellness. He depicts this with inspiring word pictures: 'the world shall live with the lamb ... the cow and the bear shall graze ... the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den' (vss. 6-8).

Romans 15:4-13

This epistle is chosen for today because it cites Isaiah 11:10 (in verse 12). That is, relative to Isaiah, the epistle passage offers evidence of fulfilment of the ancient prophecy about Jesus as the root or shoot of Jesse. Paul (apostle to the Gentiles or nations beyond Israel) can confidently declare the fulfilment of the Isaianic prophecy because he himself has been party to the fulfilment as he has preached the kingdom of God around the Mediterranean world.

There is much more to the passage than this connection with Isaiah, but the theme of Christ fulfilling Old Testament prophecy is resounding through 15:8-12.

A couple of themes to note in the remaining verses:

1. Verse 4 is an endorsement of the importance of the Old Testament for Christians: 'whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scripture we might have hope.'

Within this passage this verse also functions to chart where Paul is about to go in verses 8-12: the glory and greatness of Christ includes the wonderful note that his coming into the world is fulfilment of scriptural promises and visions.

2. Verses 5-7 and 12 offer a picture of wholesome life in the church when we understand who Christ is: steadfastness and encouragement; harmony and unity; welcoming fellowship together; marked by joy, peace, and hope. What is not to like!

Recall that chapter 15 is at the end of this long epistle. Paul is setting out his closing thoughts as he brings an amazing theological journey (chapters 1-11) joined with a challenging application pathway (chapters 12-16) to an end. Like a musical composer who brings notes sounded at the beginning into the ending of his piece, and maps out the ending with notes at the beginning that will be reinforced as the whole ending is played out, Paul says some things which recall what has gone before while charting how the future of the church should look.

In particular, verse 7, 'Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God' is a summary of Paul's theological argument about the inclusive nature of the gospel of justification by faith in which both Jew and Gentile are welcomed into the kingdom of God.

Matthew 3:1-12

Following the lectionary is a good thing - it encourages common reading of Scripture across the global church and it offers readings appropriate to the calendar. But there are idiosyncracies which result. Today's passage is about the coming of Jesus Christ (per reflection below) but it is also the story of John the Baptist told through Matthew's narratival lens. Do we continue that story next Sunday? No! We next read about John the Baptist in Matthew 3 on Sunday 11 January 2026, when Matthew 3:13-17 is the gospel, and the theme of the day is "the Baptism of the Lord."

What is (the adult) John the Baptist doing in the run up to Christmas?! There are two possible ways to think about this reading in Advent (the season of coming).

First, John the Baptist is preparing for the coming of Jesus' mission and ministry so this gospel reading reminds us that Jesus didn't just come to be an adorable baby but to do something for God as a mature adult.

Secondly, as we think in Advent about Jesus' Second Coming, we think about judgment and this reading is full of judgment! 'You brood of vipers!' Etc.

Here I will concentrate on themes of judgment in the reading.

1. To proclaim the gospel is to proclaim judgment: verse 2,

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near."

To accept the good news, to respond to the invite to enter the kingdom is to end one way of life and to begin another way of life. That is a judgment on the old way of life: it is not up to kingdom standards! (E.g. self-centredness does not match up to the kingdom standard of generous regard for others).

2. To live a different lifestyle is to proclaim judgment: verse 4,

"Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey."

John lived differently and challenged the 'normal' way people were living. It appears that it was not only the message he proclaimed but the lifestyle he lived which drew people to leave their homes and journey to the wilderness. They did not come to gawk but to be baptized as they confessed their sins: that is, they accepted the judgment proclaimed by John in word and deed.

3. To preach a message of judgment is to proclaim judgment. In verses 7-10, John holds nothing back in a specific, pointed denunciation of Pharisees and Sadducees. Sometimes religious people, including religious leaders and leading religious groups get things wrong. Implicit in John's message to these folk seems to be a denunciation of superficiality (they were not bearing fruit worthy of genuine repentance) and of complacency (they relied on Abraham's faith rather than having their own faith).

What would John say to you and me today?

What would John say to the faith community (local church and/or denomination) we belong to? It would be a bit surprising if there was no superficiality or complacency among us!

4. To preach the coming of Jesus is to preach the coming of God's Judge: verse 12,

"His [Jesus Christ's] winnowing fork is in his hand ... he will burn with unquenchable fire."

John uses strong, even frightening pictures to talk about the mission of Jesus. At first sight they may not resemble much of what we perceive about Jesus' activity as compassionate healer, sympathetic provider of food, carefulness in treating children and women well. But the larger story of Jesus includes his battles with Pharisees and Sadducees, whom he often denounced for their hypocrisy and manipulative zealousness. Perhaps more importantly, wherever Jesus went he divided people into those who were for or against him. Finally, heading towards execution on the cross, he exposed the crowds with whom he was popular as superficial in their allegiance, for they too turned on him.

Jesus was indeed a winnowing fork, sorting the wheat from the chaff.