On the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle B, a main theme is the revelation of the incarnated Christ, whose coming that we have been preparing for during Advent season.
The Second Reading (Romans16:25-27) gives a pithy
description of what the Sunday before the Solemn Feast of the Nativity of the
Lord focuses on:
To
him who can strengthen you, according to my gospel and the proclamation of
Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret for long
ages but now manifested through the prophetic writings and, according to the
command of the eternal God, made known to all nations to bring about the
obedience of faith, to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever
and ever. Amen.
This is Paul’s final doxology in concluding his Letter
to the Romans.
To God, who can really strengthen you, according to
the Gospel proclamation of Jesus Christ, as the mystery of him is being
revealed through prophetic writings, including the text of the First Reading (2
Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16), made also known to the Gentiles (non-Jews),
commanded by the eternal God, so that we all may be obedience to the only wise
God through Jesus Christ, to whom be everlasting glory.
Paul praise God through these words above, for the
revelation of the mystery of His Son, the Christ, through the prophetic
writings, so that we come to God with obedience. One such writing reveals that
Christ is the everlasting Davidic King.
And this is how God revealed this aspect of the mystery of Christ to
David through prophet Nathan:
The
Lord also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you. And when your
time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after
you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. I will be a
father to him, and he shall be a son to me. Your house and your kingdom shall
endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever (2
Samuel 7:11b-16).
The above dynastic oracle, in response to David’s
intention to build the Temple for God(2 Samuel 7:1-7), is the concluding part of the revelation of
God’s intimacy toward David and the Israelites (2 Samuel 7:8-16).
It is not David, who is to build the Temple as the
house of God. But rather, it is the Son of God (2 Samuel 7:14), the Christ, who
is the eternal Davidic King (2 Samuel 7:12; cf. Matthew 1:6-16; Isaiah 9:7;
11:1; cf. Revelation 5:5), to establish the everlasting royal house of God (2
Samuel 7:13). And this Davidic royal house to be established by Christ is his
Kingdom.
The revelation of Christ’s mystery was also made to
Mary through Gabriel, one of the Archangels at the time of the Annunciation, as
addressed in the Gospel Reading (Luke 1:26-38):
Do
not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be
great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him
the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his kingdom there will be no end (Luke 1:30-33).
The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow
you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God
(Luke 1:35).
These words of God spoken to Mary through Gabriel, when she conceived the incarnated Christ in her womb, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s oracle to David about how He would erect his hair as the everlasting Davidic King and how this Davidic King would establish his everlasting house, his Kingdom (2 Samuel 7:11b-16), was reaffirmed and began to be fulfilled. At that point, the revelation of the mystery of Christ was not only further made but began to become reality.
In today’s readings, we see how the long-kept secret
mystery of Christ (Romans 16:25), who pre-existed before the Creation (John
1:1-2; Colossians 1:17; cf. Proverbs 8:22-31), had been revealed, to David (2
Samuel 7:11b-16), and to Mary (Luke 1:30-33, 35). And today being the last
Sunday of Advent, the Sunday before the Solemn Feast of the incarnated Christ’s
Nativity, Christ, already incarnated in
her womb, is about to be revealed through the very first theophany!
This took place in the stable in the outskirts of
Bethlehem about 2,000 years ago, Christ, visibly and tangibly revealed to Mary
and Joseph and then to the shepherds (Luke 2:4-18).
Now, the same Christ is about to be revealed to us!
And this theophany is at hand! Mary is about to give birth to the incarnated
Christ!
Are we readily prepared to celebrate the full
revelation of Christ, fully incarnated in the human flesh of Jesus, born of
Mary the Blessed Virgin, into our hearts?
He is our anointed savior (Luke 4:18-19; cf. Isaiah 61:1-2) and
everlasting Davidic King and the Son of God (2 Samuel 7:12-14; Luke 1:32-33.35)
and the eternal High Priest of the Melchizedek’s order (Hebrews 5:5-6).
Finally, the Responsorial Psalm (89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29) shall be our doxology to
God for revealing the mystery of His Son, the Christ!
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