God’s Word Is Fulfilled for Us in the Flesh and Blood of
Christ Jesus, the Son of Mary
The Fourth Sunday in Advent turns our attention toward the Nativity of Our
Lord. With the Blessed Virgin Mary we await the coming of the Christ, her Son,
conceived in her womb by the Word and Spirit of God. This fulfillment of the
sign once given to the House of David, that “the virgin shall conceive and
bear a son” (Is. 7:14), is now given to us in the Gospel. It declares that
salvation is by His grace alone, entirely His work and a free gift. It is also
the way and means by which the Lord our God is “Immanuel,” God-with-us.
The almighty and eternal Son of God is conceived and born of St. Mary, and is
thus “descended from David according to the flesh” (Rom. 1:3–4). He
comes in this way to save us with His own flesh and blood; wherefore He is
called “Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt.
1:21).
As St. Joseph
received this sign in faith and immediately “did as the angel of the Lord
commanded him” (Matt. 1:24), we also live by faith in this Holy Gospel.
Collect for the Fourth Sunday
in Advent: Stir up Your power, O
Lord, and come and help us by Your might, that the sins which weigh us down may
be quickly lifted by Your grace and mercy; for You live and reign with the
Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen
Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be
rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty
deliverance; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and forever. Amen.
The Great ‘O’ Antiphons:
O Wisdom, proceeding
from the mouth of the Most High, pervading and permeating all creation,
mightily ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence.
O
Root of Jesse, standing as an ensign before the
peoples, before whom all kings are mute, to whom the nations will do homage:
Come quickly to deliver us.
O
Key of David and Scepter of the house of Israel, You
open and no one can close, You close and no one can open: Come and rescue the
prisoners who are in darkness and the shadow of death.
O Dayspring, Splendor of light everlasting: Come and enlighten those who sit in
darkness and in the shadow of death.
O King of
the Nations, the
Ruler they long for, the Cornerstone uniting all people: Come and save us all,
whom You formed out of clay.
O
Emmanuel, our King and our Lord, the Anointed for the nations and
their Savior: Come and save us, O Lord our God.
Time in the Word
12-17 December 2022
Preparation for next week, Advent 4
Monday, 12 December 2022—Psalm 130:5–8; Antiphon, Isaiah
64:1—In the antiphon, we make known our desire to see the coming of the
Lord in flesh: Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down! Having
expressed this fervent wish, we settle down and wait for the LORD to come at
His proper time. We know that the Lord will come, that He has come, for He
always fulfills His promises out of His steadfast love, especially to redeem us
from all our iniquities by His substitutionary death on the cross.
Tuesday, 13 December 2022— Psalm
24—This psalm may have been used when David brought the Ark of the Covenant—the
place where the LORD dwelt with His people—into Jerusalem and in later
festivals commemorating the event. How fitting that we sing this song as we
look forward to the coming of the King of Glory to dwell among us in human
flesh in order that we might receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness
from the God of our salvation.
Wednesday, 14
December 2022—Isaiah 7:10–17—Here is one of the most clear and
beloved prophecies of the coming of our Lord in the flesh: Behold, the virgin
shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Indeed, seven
hundred years later, the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived and bore a Son: the
promised Messiah who would deliver us from sin and its consequences, God in
flesh, Immanuel (which means God with us).
Thursday, 15 December 2022— Romans
1:1–7—In this beginning to his epistle to the Church at Rome, St Paul proclaims
the dual nature of Jesus Christ: true man, in that He was descended from David
according to the flesh; and true God, as testified by His Spirit of holiness
and resurrection from the dead.
Paul
proclaims Him to be Jesus Christ our Lord: Jesus, a human name meaning ‘the
LORD saves’; Christ his title, meaning the ‘Anointed One, the Messiah’; Lord,
another title, and witness to the fact that He is the eternal Second Person of
the Trinity, the only true God, though robed in human flesh. It is for the
proclamation of the Gospel—the salvation that comes only through Jesus Christ
our Lord—that Paul was called to be an apostle.
Friday, 16 December 20122 -Matthew
1:18–25—Here is the consummation of our advent preparation: the birth of
our Savior, Jesus Christ, to a virgin, just as Isaiah had prophesied. No
ordinary child, this One was conceived from the Holy Spirit and born to a human
mother. Jesus (‘the LORD saves’): what a fitting name for the Son of God come
down from heaven and the One who, by laying down His life for us, would save
his people from their sins.
Saturday, 17 December 2022— Sunday’s hymn of the day, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (LB #357), is
an ancient hymn based upon seven even more ancient antiphons (called the ‘O’
Antiphons) which were used in the Office at Vespers (the evening office) during
the last seven days of Advent. Each antiphon and each hymn stanza refers to a
different title for Christ: Wisdom, Adonai (‘Lord’), Root (or Branch) of Jesse,
Key of David, Dayspring, King of Nations, Emmanuel (‘God with Us’).
Sources:
Prayers from Lutheran Service
Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House
Collect for Pentecost 24 from Lutheran Worship © Concordia Publishing House
Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series C by John Brokhoff © 1979 CSS Publishing
Lima OH
For All the Saints A Prayer Book for and By the Church Vol. II © 1995 by the
American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY
The Story of 50 Hymns © 1934
By General Mills, Inc Minneapolis, MN
Schnorr von Carolsfeld woodcuts © WELS permission granted for personal and
congregational use
