Daily Mass Gospel Reflection - Barren Fulfillment

Word on Fire Ministry ^ | 12.19.22 | Bishop Robert Barron

[MurphsLaw]

MONDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF ADVENT
LUke 1:5-25

Friends, our Gospel today is from the first chapter of Luke,
which is thoroughly drenched in Davidic themes from the Old Testament.

The first thing we hear about Zechariah is that he serves as priest in the Jerusalem temple;
and David’s dream was to build the temple in which Zechariah serves.
While in the sanctuary, Zechariah is visited by the angel Gabriel;
and the temple locale and the announcement of the birth of a child against all expectations
brings us back to Hannah’s pregnancy, which resulted in the birth of the forerunner to David.
Indeed, Elizabeth’s words upon conceiving—
“So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit
to take away my disgrace before others”—
powerfully evoke Hannah’s frame of mind when she, after many tears and much prayer,
finally became pregnant.

What does this have to do with the life of Jesus?
From beginning to end of his preaching career,
Jesus’s central theme was the arrival of the kingdom of God,
which was understood to mean the ingathering of the scattered tribes of Israel.
And what becomes eminently clear in all of the Gospels
is that this coming together would happen in and through Jesus himself,
much as the knitting together of ancient Israel happened in the person of David.
Jesus definitively fulfills what David himself left incomplete and unfinished.

[MurphsLaw]

+++ In the days of Herod,
King of Judea,
there was a priest named Zechariah
of the priestly division of
Abijah;
his wife was from the daughters
of Aaron,
and her name was Elizabeth.
Both were righteous in the eyes
of God,
observing all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord
blamelessly.
But they had no child, because
Elizabeth was barren
and both were advanced in years.

Once when he was serving as priest
in his division’s turn before God,
according to the practice of the
priestly service,
he was chosen by lot
to enter the sanctuary of the
Lord to burn incense.
Then, when the whole assembly of
the people was praying outside
at the hour of the incense
offering,
the angel of the Lord appeared
to him,
standing at the right of the
altar of incense.
Zechariah was troubled by what
he saw, and fear came upon him.

But the angel said to him,
“Do not be afraid, Zechariah,
because your prayer has been heard.
Your wife Elizabeth will bear
you a son,
and you shall name him John.
And you will have joy and gladness,
and many will rejoice at his birth,
for he will be great in the
sight of the Lord.
He will drink neither wine
nor strong drink.
He will be filled with the Holy
Spirit even from his mother’s womb,
and he will turn many of the
children of Israel
to the Lord their God.
He will go before him in the
spirit and power of Elijah
to turn the hearts of fathers
toward children
and the disobedient to the
understanding of the righteous,
to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”

Then Zechariah said to the angel,
“How shall I know this?
For I am an old man, and my wife
is advanced in years.”
And the angel said to him in reply,
“I am Gabriel, who stand before God.
I was sent to speak to you and
to announce to you this good news.
But now you will be speechless
and unable to talk
until the day these things take
place,
because you did not believe my
words,
which will be fulfilled at their
proper time.”
Meanwhile the people were
waiting for Zechariah
and were amazed that he stayed
so long in the sanctuary.
But when he came out, he was
unable to speak to them,
and they realized that he had
seen a vision in the sanctuary.
He was gesturing to them but
remained mute.

Then, when his days of ministry
were completed, he went home.

After this time his wife
Elizabeth conceived,
and she went into seclusion for
five months, saying,
“So has the Lord done for me at
a time when he has seen fit
to take away my disgrace before others.”+++