The Immeasurable Power of Jesus’ Birth – 24 December 2021
Isaiah and Luke share the idea that the birth of a child pointed towards God’s redemptive future. An irony catches the reader off guard. Isaiah’s people lived in massive social turmoil. Luke’s people lived under the heel of a powerful military regime. Yet, the birth of an infant is a more world-shaping event than those two forces—for the birth of the infant points toward the work of a God of immeasurable power. The prophetic reading and Gospel (along with Titus) also share a theological issue: a renewed world is immediately on the horizon when the child grows up or when Jesus returns.
The fact is that conditions in the world are no different today than they were in the time of the prophet or of first-century Palestine. Isaiah may say that the child’s “authority shall grow continually,” but idolatry, injustice, exploitation, and violence still grind down human life. Jesus has not returned. –– Ronald J. Allen
Luke 2:1-14 [15–20]
Luke wrote during Roman oppression. Luke’s world was one of sickness, poverty, social inequality, and enmity between humankind and nature. Jesus announced the coming of a renewed world of justice, righteousness, and endless peace called the realm of God.
. . . The birth is a sign that God is present and active. The preacher could point to concrete signs in the world today that show God present, active. The preacher could point to events that are as low-key in our world as the births of the infants in the worlds of Isaiah and Luke but that point to God’s renewing presence. –– Ronald J. Allen
Isaiah 9:2-7
While Isaiah did not have Jesus in mind, Christians have found this passage to be an excellent lens for interpreting the ministry of Jesus.
. . . Isaiah perceived that the people of Judah had violated the covenant through idolatry, injustice, and unholy alliances. In consequence, God passed judgment on the community and sent other nations to do violence to Judah . . . Although the community had transgressed the covenant and deserved punishment, God pledged to redeem them. In its present setting, Isaiah uses the passage to assure the community that salvation (release from exile, return to the land, and the reinstitution of a faithful government and a just way of life) is coming.
God has created joy in the community by freeing the people from oppression and even destroying the oppressor’s instruments of war (e.g., the rod, boots, and garments). Isaiah points to the birth of a child who will grow into a monarch that will rule according to the values of the covenant: the ways of justice and righteousness, which will bring about endless peace. –– Ronald J. Allen
Titus 2:11-14
In Titus’s day, impiety and worldly passions ran wild. Many people were self-indulgent, self-centered, and self-serving. Such behavior destroyed individuals, undermined community, and set the culture on a path towards destruction. To be upright, self-controlled, and godly was to be a sign of a better way. Today, impiety, worldly passions, and other forms of self-centered indulgence propel our culture toward destruction. By behaving in ways that are upright, self-controlled, and godly, today’s congregation can be a sign of the possibility of a better life. –– Ronald J. Allen
Ronald J. Allen is a former professor of preaching and New Testament at Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Homily Service 43, no. 1 (2009): 41–51.