℣ O Adonai and Ruler of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the Burning Bush and gave him the Law on | Sinai: *
℟ Draw near with outstretched arm and re- | deem us.
The LORD shall judge the poor with righteousness, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt around His waist and faithfulness the belt around His loins (Isaiah 11,4-5), for the LORD is our Judge, Ruler and our King; He will save us (Isaiah 33,22). And Moses said: I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt (Exodus 3,2). The LORD said to Moses: Draw near to Me onto the mount, and I will give you tablets of stone, a law and commandments which I have written; so that you may teach them (Exodus 24,12).
Adonai is Hebrew for "Lord". In this antiphon we confess that Jesus is the LORD. We tend to confine Jesus to only the New Testament, but as this antiphon reminds us: He also appears in the Old Testament. We call these pre-incarnation appearances of Jesus "theophanies" (Theophany is Greek and means "the appearance of God to a human being"). Jesus is the one who who walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden. Jesus is the one who spoke the law to the serpent but gospel to Eve. Jesus is the one who appeared in the Burning Bush to Moses. These all show that Jesus appears to redeem His people. He fulfilled those promises in the New Testament with His death and resurrection. His birth in Bethlehem heralds that great redemption.
Prayer: O Jesus Christ, Thou our LORD, send out Your grace through the gospel so that we may be assured that You have purchased our forgiveness and earned for us eternal life. Amen.
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