December 18, by John Bartholomew

SCRIPTURE
Isaiah 9: 2-6
2. The people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light;
Those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.
3. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy;
They rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest,
As people exult when dividing plunder.
4. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, you have broken as in the day of Midian.
5. For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood
Shall be burned as fuel for the fire,
6. For a child has been born for us, a son given to us;
Authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Advent may be about longing, and waiting, but for us it is also about remembering and anticipating.
The hymns we sing during Advent nearly all find ways of reminding us that Jesus, the Christ, has already come, and that we are anticipating not just a baby in a manger, but the full coming of his kingdom.

Music is one of our strongest stores of memory, and for Advent and Christmas, Handel’s Messiah is one of the most powerful ways we can be lifted above the jingles of the mall music, and brought face to face with the authentic message of the season. Handel and his librettist, Charles Jennens, achieve this result by combining a great range of Biblical texts with very memorable music. They are highly selective, clipping the most potent and affirming bits of text, to make the oratorio listenable.

The Messiah begins with Isaiah 40 (“Comfort ye”) and nods at several of the minor prophets, all building the suspense for the arrival of the Christ. Finally we come to a bass solo, “The people that walked in darkness” and a chorus, “For unto us a child is born” – both taken from today’s scripture. These are the climax of the Advent preparation, and to be sure we recognize that Handel follows these with a Pastoral Symphony to separate the anticipation from what comes next: “There were shepherds in the field.” We are off to Christmas, the texts coming more from the New Testament, with Luke leading the way.

But if we look closely at today’s scripture, there is more to it than verses 2 and 6. And it is in verses 3 through 5 that I find a strange mixture of innocent joy and remarkable realism. Isaiah’s world was not the world of shepherds and angels. He was struggling to explain how God could possibly be at work in a world where there is not just harvest, but also where “people exult when dividing plunder.” Judah is oppressed – their yoke is a bar across their shoulders, and there are the boots of tramping warriors and garments rolled in blood.

Just as the passage in chapter 7 –“ a virgin shall bear a son and name him God With Us – Emmanuel” was intended as a warning to the 8th century BCE king, Ahaz, so chapter 9 was originally intended for a much more immediate audience

Still, we need not consign Isaiah’s text to history. If we look at the news of the day – Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Wall Street, Illinois, we can see more than enough of tramping boots, spilled blood, and plunder. Surely the hope that Isaiah offered to his people is still our hope today, and the singing of these texts calls us to rejoice that indeed, God is with us, Emmanuel. We can remember God’s history with his people, and anticipate Christ’s presence, even in the midst of our troubled world.

John Bartholomew is an ordained Presbyterian minister who has served as a pastor, our synod executive and a missionary. John and Mary have a heart for the people of Ghana and live hospitality.