The One of Peace Cometh from Bethlehem—Lectionary (RCL) Reflection for Advent 4C (Micah 5)
Micah 5:2-5a New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labor has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
to the people of Israel.
4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth,
5 and he shall be the one of peace.
***************
Christmas
is now on the near horizon. The anticipation grows as we draw near. The Christmas bells are beckoning us onward.
However, we’re not quite there. Advent has one last claim on our attention. On
the Fourth Sunday of Advent, as churches light the Love candle, Micah takes us
to Bethlehem. It is here, in this nondescript village, from which David is said
to have arisen, that the Gospels of Luke and Matthew draw our attention. Each
of these Gospels tells a different version of the story, versions we tend to
meld together to tell the story. But for now, let us attend to the words of
Micah.
The
prophet Micah is numbered among the Twelve Minor Prophets and the fourth such
prophet we’ve encountered during this Advent season. We know Micah best from
his message about what God requires of us—doing justice, loving kindness, and
walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8). This prophet, whose words many of us
treasure, ministered during the eighth century BCE, placing him in the same
period as First Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea. Like other prophets, Micah is
concerned about the people’s failure to live up to the requirements of the
covenant God with the people. We see that message present in Micah 6:8.
However, this passage focuses on a particular person, whom the prophet
believes, will arise from Bethlehem, to rule Israel. Now, when Micah made this
proclamation, a descendant of David sat on the throne of the Kingdom of Judah.
So, what is he up to here? What connects Micah’s vision with the story of
Jesus’ birth?
According
to Micah, God promises that a new ruler will arise from Bethlehem “whose origin
is from of old, from ancient days.” Could Micah envision the return of David?
Or at least someone who would embody David’s vision for Israel? To get a sense
of what is happening here, we might want to step back a bit. In Micah
3:12, the prophet tells the rulers of Judah/Jerusalem: “Therefore because
of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the temple a wooded height.” So, here in Micah 5, we have a
promise of some kind of restoration of the kingdom, with a new descendant of
David, who will bring peace and security. While Micah is thought to hail from
the eighth century, the word here seems to speak of a return from exile (Micah
5:3), which seems to suggest a post-exilic time frame. This may be a reference
to the restoration of Israel after the Assyrian invasion, but a majority of
critical scholars suggest an exilic or post-exilic date. Thus, the expectation
here would envision the restoration of the Davidic monarchy, or perhaps a new
beginning for the nation that will begin in Bethlehem, but perhaps not with a
direct descendant of David.
The
prophet moves from the promise of a Davidic ruler to a description of that
person in terms of being a shepherd. The promised one will feed his flock,
strengthened by YHWH, expressing God’s majesty, so that the flock (nation)
might live securely because the promised one will be great to the ends of the
earth. The shepherding imagery is a traditional descriptor of David, as seen in
his portrayal as being a shepherd at the time of his anointing by Samuel (1 Sam. 16:11-13). The shepherd king spoken of here, whose greatness will be seen by
everyone on earth, “shall be the one of peace.” We tend to envision kings and
monarchs expressing their rule through the sword, but the vision here is much
gentler. This shepherd king will bring peace to the land. Is that not a vision
that resonates with us, especially when wars and rumors of wars are everywhere?
We read
this passage, of course, with Jesus in mind (that is, if we’re Christians). He
is the one, as the carol declares, who is born in the “Little town of
Bethlehem” while its dark streets are silent. As the Gospel of Luke reveals,
the Holy Family journeys from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where a child is born in
the city of David, whom the angels proclaim to shepherds, is the savior and
Messiah (Luke 2:1-14). The reference to shepherds in Luke fits nicely with the
reading from Micah 5, since the promised one, who emerges from Bethlehem (not
Jerusalem) will be a shepherd also. What better witnesses to the birth of the
shepherd king than a group of shepherds? As this is the Fourth Sunday of
Advent, the moment of the unveiling of the one we’ve been waiting to meet
stands before us. The anticipation is great. The message we hear in this
passage from Micah is that one is coming who will bring us peace. It is not a
peace that involves the absence of conflict, at least not yet. The pathway, as
Micah notes, involves the coming of the shepherd king, who rules not with the
sword but by feeding the flock. While we await the coming of the prince of
peace, we might want to heed Micah’s message about what God desires of us—justice,
loving-kindness, and humility before God. As we await that moment, living
according to these guidelines, we can embrace the message of the angels who
sang to the shepherds on the night of Christ’s birth: “Glory to God in the
highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
So, as
we light the fourth candle of Advent, the candle of love, might we also sing:
O holy Child of Bethlehem
descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in;
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the
great glad tidings tell;
O Come to us, abide with us, our
God, Emmanuel.
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