A reading from the prophet Isaiah (9:1-6)
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light;
on the inhabitants of a country in shadow dark as death,
light has blazed forth.
You have enlarged the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you as people rejoice at harvest time,
as they exult when they are dividing plunder.
For the yoke that weighed on them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
these you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For all the footgear clanking over the ground
and all the clothing rolled in blood
will be burnt, will be food for the flames.
For a son has been born for us,
a son has been given to us
and dominion has been laid on his shoulders;
and this is the name he has been given,
‘Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace’.
His rule will be great and there will be no end of peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom,
secure and established in fair judgement and righteousness.
From this time onwards and for ever
the jealous love of the Lord Sabaoth will do this.
In the deepest darkness of night this messianic poem of the prophet Isaiah invites us to embrace the light of Christ. God has saved his people and brought them rejoicing. This is compared to the rejoicing of harvest time, and of sharing the spoils of war. Three specific reasons for rejoicing are then given: an end to oppression, an end to war, and the birth of a child. The context may well be the enduring Assyrian threat. The birth of the child signifies, as in Isaiah 7:14, that God’s solidarity continues, that ‘God is with us’. The names are such as are given at the coronation of a prince, and conclude with ‘Prince-of-Peace’. Such a list of titles is given to David in 2 Samuel 23, and the poem ends with the promise of an enduring kingdom, as had been made to David through Nathan the prophet (2 Samuel 7).
Psalm 96 (95) contains an invitation to all peoples to sing a ‘new song’, which is enhanced by the rejoicing of all creation.
A reading from the letter of St Paul to Titus (2:11-14)
The grace of God our Saviour has been revealed to the whole human race, teaching us that, giving up impiety and all worldly passions, we should be self-restrained and live righteous and religious lives in this present world, waiting for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus. He offered himself for us in order to ransom us from all our faults and to purify a people to be his very own, eager to do good.
The letter to Titus speaks of the ‘revealing’ (epiphainein) of the ‘grace’ (charis) of God for the salvation of all. God invites ‘the whole human race’ to live ‘righteous and religious lives’. They should await the ‘blessed hope’ (he makaria elpis) , the ‘appearing’ (epiphaneia) of the ‘glory’ (doxa) ‘of our great God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ’. The essence of Christ’s work is then resumed in that he ‘offered himself’ so as to ‘ransom’ (lytroun) and ‘purify’ (katharizein) a people to be his own. The free gift of grace encourages people to live lives full of good works.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Luke (2:1-14)
Now it happened that at this time a decree came out from Caesar Augustus that a register should be made of the whole world. This registration – the first – took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria, and everyone went to be registered, each to his own town. So Joseph set out from the town of Nazareth in Galilee for Judaea, to David’s town called Bethlehem, since he was of David’s House and line, in order to be registered together with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. Now it happened that, while they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her son, the first-born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the living-space. In that countryside there were shepherds living in the fields keeping the night watch over their flock. An angel of the Lord stood over them and the glory of the Lord shone round them. They were terrified, but the angel said, ‘Do not be afraid. Look, I bring you good news of great joy for the whole people, that today a Saviour has been born to you in the town of David, who is Christ the Lord. And this is a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a throng of the heavenly host, praising God and saying:
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among people of good will.’
That Joseph was descended from king David was announced in the account of the annunciation to Mary (Luke 1:27), and by the angel to Joseph ‘son of David’ in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 1:20). His davidic descent is affirmed again here with the statement that Mary and Joseph were forced to travel to Bethlehem by the ‘decree’ (dogma) of the emperor Caesar Augustus, so that Joseph could be registered in David’s town. Luke thus relates the coming birth to the history of Israel and places it within the context of the Roman occupation of Palestine. The birth of the child is into straightened circumstances, so that the newborn is laid to rest in a manger (phatne), a feeding trough for animals. The first visitors to the newborn child are shepherds, a deprived and despised social group. To such people the ‘angel of the Lord’ brings ‘good news’ (euaggelizein) of the birth of the Messiah. Luke’s point that Jesus has come to ‘preach good news to the poor’ (Luke 4) is thus affirmed from the very beginning. Luke celebrates the birth of the Messiah with an angelic throng heralding peace on earth.
How realistic is this account of the birth of Jesus?
The one who is ‘son’ of God is born into deprivation and oppression.