Advent Words Day 3 ~ Promise

 

Day 3: Promise

" 'The days are coming', declares the LORD,

'when I will fulfill the gracious promise

I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.'

"In those days and at that time

I will make a righteous Branch

sprout from David's line;

he will do what is just and right in the land.

In those days Judah will be saved

and Jerusalem will live in safety.

This is the name by which it will be called:

The LORD is our righteousness."

Jeremiah 33:14-16

 

 

Advent is a time set aside for reflecting on the promises God made to His people in the past, and remembering His fulfillment of them. Reflecting and remembering help build our faith and our hope as we look forward to His Second Advent, the promised return of His Son. 

In our passage today God reminds His people, though the prophet Jeremiah, of an earlier promise He made to David:

“Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.” 2 Samuel 7:16

David was a righteous and loving King, and a strong ruler who protected his people. The promise God made to David, that His kingdom would be established forever, was in actuality a promise to God’s people for a righteous king to lead them forever. Through the later prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, this promise of God became the promise of the Messiah – the One who saves.

In this prophecy in Jeremiah we see the promise of God, made to a people in exile that a day is still coming when He will fulfill this promise.  A “righteous Branch” will “sprout from David’s line – from his descendants - and this king, the Messiah, will rescue and save His people.

And so, Matthew's gospel begins with "the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David..." and we then see how Jesus is descended from David’s line - his branch - in Matthew 1:1-17. We see the fulfillment of this prophecy repeated throughout the Christmas story found in Luke's gospel:

The angel said to Mary:

“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” Luke 1:31-33

From Zechariah’s Song:

“He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
    and from the hand of all who hate us—“ Luke 1:69-71

The angel to the shepherds:

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:11

Jesus Christ came in fulfillment of the prophecies God gave to David, the prophets, and the people. He is the promised One who will do what is just and right. He is the LORD our righteousness! 

Read more about this righteousness in Romans 3:21-24; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

Share you responses on Instagram using #adventwords2020 or in the Words Art & Faith Challenge group on Facebook.

Today is Giving Tuesday and I'm going to make a shameless plug for a ministry that means so much to me. Our church in partnership with 33 other churches has a ministry adopting public schools in our city. We do numerous things from reading tutoring to hosting events and volunteering in the schools. What I am most proud of is the School Supply Pantry we began in 2008. Together with 6 other churches we serve the teachers and students of 6 schools. The teachers come once a month during the school year to get much needed supplies for their students. Our goal in opening this pantry was to help alleviate the amounts teachers spend from their personal finances to supply the students in need. The schools we serve have many students who live at or below the poverty level. This year has been especially hard on families and we have seen a huge increase in the number of supplies the teachers have needed. Through the pantry we serve 240 teachers which in turn serves over 2500 students K-12. Would you consider donating to the School Supply Pantry this year for Giving Tuesday? Thank you! Click on photo to be taken to the School Supply Pantry Facebook page to donate.