The Fullness of Time

Georg Friedrich Handel’s oratorio, The Messiah, is a staple of the Advent and Christmas season. Presentations abound, especially in a place like New York City. The words sung are a compilation of scriptures that attest to the unfolding narrative of redemption found in the Bible. Between the score and the libretto, the composer produced a powerful artistic expression of what the apostle Paul declares: “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). Handel’s Messiah is an ode to “the fullness of time.”

In his own way, Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, by including the events surrounding Jesus’ birth in his “orderly account,” also produced an ode to “the fullness of time.” We learn from him that the birth of Jesus was something planned before the creation of the universe, for he was God’s Son entering into the world in the womb of a virgin. “Born of a woman,” he was the promised seed who would crush the head of the serpent. He was the evidence of God having remembered the covenant he made with Abraham, the one through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed. He was the promised eternal inheritor of David’s throne. He was the one to come out of Bethlehem “who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.” He was the one before whom would go the one sent “in the spirit and power of Elijah . . . to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” He was the “light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to . . . Israel.” He was the Anointed One, the long-awaited and longed for Messiah.

Having Luke’s “backstory,” there can be no guesswork as to what we are dealing with when he records for us, “Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age . . .” (Luke 3:22). And we understand with greater depth the pronouncement of Christ, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’’ (Mark 1:15).

A Christmas Primer: Lesson 1, The Biblical Foundations

Trees, decorations, lights, giving of gifts, parties, family gatherings, cards, television specials, and the occasional creche or performance of the Messiah, these are the trappings of the season. In and of themselves, they are not bad things. But they do have the power to obscure the biblical foundation of Christmas. Consider the following words from an oft-sung carol heard at this time of year:

God rest you merry, gentlemen,
let nothing you dismay,
remember Christ our Savior
was born on Christmas day,
to save us all from Satan's pow'r
when we were gone astray;
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy.

There’s a lot of important information in that verse that has been lost in the clutter of all the goings-on of the “holiday season.” Alas, the tune is no longer a celebration of salvation. Instead, it has become part of the shopping mall playlist or rendered background music for a trip up the elevator.

I’m not griping. I’m grieving.

The Bible relates that the birth of Jesus signals the fulfillment of God’s word. “As it is written,” “this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken,” “for so it is written by the prophet,” all point to the reality that God had planned this redemption long before, from before the foundation of the world, in fact. He purposed that he would “save his people from their sins” and sent his son to accomplish the task. Those with eyes to see and ears to hear understood that the one born in Bethlehem was the substance of God’s promises.

I may be deluded, but it seems that generations past were aware of these basic facts. I have a feeling that when they sang Christmas carols they knew enough of the story to know what the words spoke of, even if they didn’t believe them.

A lot of ground has been lost. Our neighbors are ignorant. That’s why we need to be educated and to educate. Pray that our Christmas Primer will go some distance in helping us to make the biblical foundation of the season known.

Advent 2014: And He Shall Be Called . . . Christ

The angel Gabriel announced to Mary that the child that was to be conceived in her womb by the Holy Spirit, would be given by the Lord “the throne of his father David,” and he would “reign over the house of Jacob forever,” and “of his kingdom there [would] be no end.” The pronouncement signaled the fulfillment of a covenant that God had made with David some thousand years before (2 Samuel 7:12-13). What’s remarkable is that Mary didn’t need any explanation as to what the angel’s announcement meant. Neither did Simeon, or Anna, or Zechariah, or even the lowly shepherds who learned of the Christ’s birth from an angelic messenger. Despite the fact that the promise was a millennium old, the people of Israel had imbedded in their collective conscience that a Messiah, an anointed one, the anointed one, was going to come.

What would keep such a promise alive in the minds of the descendants of Abraham? Two things to suggest: the first is that it was stated by Yahweh, the one, true, and living God, whose word does not fail; the second is that with the Messiah’s arrival would come to pass all the wonderful things that had been prophesied about him, and chief among those promises was that his reign would be one marked by peace, prosperity, justice and righteousness (among the many passages see Psalm 72; Isaiah 11:1-12:6). Who wouldn't want to live under the reign of such a perfect king? Who wouldn't continue to hold fast to God’s promise no matter how long it took to fulfill?

We have even greater reason to hope than those who received Jesus into the world. He himself announced that his reign had begun (see Luke 4:14-21) and Scripture testifies that it will continue until all his enemies are subdued (Hebrews 1:1-13). The envisioned “peaceable kingdom” will come. 

What are we to do in this “already, not yet” state? Knowing what the consummation of history looks like we must help others to see it and experience it even now. If we faithfully follow our king and allow him to use us as ambassadors of his kingdom we can offer people a picture of what it’s like to live under his gracious rule.