Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.
This refrain of the responsorial Psalm of Wednesday of
the Third Week of Advent, based on Psalm 24:7, 10, sums up today’s readings (Isaiah
7:10-14; Luke 1:26-38). In the readings, there is a contrast. Ahaz, king of
Judah, refused to let the Lord enter in him, as he was so prideful. On the
other hand, Mary, the Blessed Virgin, let the Lord enter her. Thus, she let Him
make her the New Ark of the Covenant. She let the Lord enter in her womb, though
she was virgin, and let His Son open her womb to give birth to him (Luke 1:31,
35; 2:7). This way, the light of God shines out of the darkness in the world
(Isaiah 9:2).
Because Advent is the season to prepare ourselves for the
birth of the incarnated Christ in our respective hearts, letting the Lord enter
us is imperative. For this reason, it is apt to sing Psalm 24 during this
season of preparation to let the incarnated Christ come and enter in us.
David composed Psalm 24 on the joyful occasion of the
placing the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem upon redeeming it from the
Philistines (2 Samuel 5:6-6:23). This way, the Lord (Yahweh) entered Jerusalem
through the Ark of the Covenant and be with His people.
Lift
up your hands, O gates; be lifted, you ancient portals, that the king of glory
may enter.
Who
is this king of glory?
The
Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in war.
Lift
up your heads, O gates; rise up, your ancient portals, that the king of glory
may enter.
Who
is this king of glory?
The
Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory (Psalm 24:7-10).
In the Advent context, lifting up hands and lifting up
heads mean to open ourselves for the Christ to come and enter in us, as a gate is
lifted to open the entrance. In this
sense, collectively, as the Church, we are like Jerusalem, God’s beloved
daughter, to receive Christ in us, as this city of David (Jerusalem) received
Yahweh as the Ark of the Covenant was safely redeemed and securely placed
there. And each of us is a daughter of Zion.
In the Gospel Reading (Luke 1:26-38), we see how Mary
opened herself to let God in her, letting Christ the Son be conceived in her
womb by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:31,35). Because she was at first
greatly troubled as she pondered upon what kind of greetings brought to her by
the angel of God might be (Luke 1:28-29), Mary could have closed herself to
this and declined to let God enter her. But, she fully opened herself,
submitting herself totally to God’s will, thus, letting God inter in, as being
assured by the angel that it was God’s salvific will, letting her take an indispensable
part of it (Luke 1:31-33, 35). So, she said, as she opened herself to let God
enter her:
Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May
it be done to me according to your word (Luke 1:38).
This fiat of Mary, in response to the coming of God to her to enter her, really shows Mary’s total openness to Him. And her complete reception of God kept her to be His handmaid, letting the Son of God grow in her womb, giving him birth, raising him with her husband, Joseph, and following him.
In contrast, Ahaz, king of Judah (southern kingdom),
closed himself to God, when God approached to help him, as his kingdom, Judah,
was threatened by the allied forces of Syria and Ephraim (Israel, the northern
kingdom) (Isaiah 7:2). The Syro-Ephraimite war (735-732BC) was in brewing, as
Judah’s enemies were attempting to overthrow the Davidic royal rule from Judah.
Because God He made a covenant with David to make the house of David
everlasting (2 Samuel 7:12-13; cf. Luke 1:32-33), God wanted to make sure of
Judah’s national security (Isaiah 7:1-9). So, through Isaiah, He called Ahaz to
ask Him for a miraculous sign for Judah and against Syria and Ephraim (Isaiah
7:11). But Ahaz’s response was:
I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!
(Isaiah 7:12)
This response of Ahaz may make him sound pious. But,
he was simply rejecting Him at His offering of a sign to save Judah from Syria
and Ephraim. He rejected God’s offering of a sign because he wanted to handle
this national security crisis on his way, not with God but with Assyria,
submitting not to God’s will but to Assyria’s political calculation (2 Kings
16:7-18).
Knowing Ahaz’ pretentious piety, then, God said to
Ahaz through Isaiah:
Listen, house of David! Is it not enough
that you weary human beings? Must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord
himself will give you a sign; the virgin, pregnant and about to bear a son,
shall name him Emmanuel. Curds and honey he will eat so that he may learn to
reject evil and choose good; for before the child learns to reject evil and
choose good, the land of those two kings whom you dread shall be deserted
(Isaiah 7:13-16).
Because of Ahaz’s refusal to trust God and let Him
enter him, this miraculous sign, the virgin conceiving a son, named Emmanuel, did
not take place during Ahaz’ reign. But this promise was fulfilled through Mary,
because, unlike Ahaz, she was open to God and fully accepted Him in her, more
than 700 years later. And the Gospel Reading (Luke 1:26-38) describes how this
promise to the house of David was fulfilled through Mary’s fiat.
By the time of the fulfillment of the virgin
conception, monarchies of Syria and Ephraim had ended. But, through this
fulfillment, Christ the Davidic King was conceived in the Blessed Virgin Mary
to bring his Kingdom. And it was because Ahaz refused to let the Lord enter him
but Mary let the Lord enter her, as David let the Lord enter the Ark of the
Covenant in Jerusalem.
Are you letting the Lord enter you, opening yourself totally to Him so that you receive Christ in your heart.
Remember, these words of Christ:
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If
anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine
with him, and he with me. I will give the victor the right to sit with me on my
throne, as I myself first won the victory and sit with my Father on his throne.
Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches (Revelation
3:20-22).
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