Psalm 80,1-2.14-15.19; Luke 21,28. Ad te Levavi

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Psalm 80,1-2.14-15.19; Luke 21,28 0217

2. Sonntag im Advent  02

Ad te Levavi (Unto You, I lift up my soul)  

Barbara, Virgin Martyr 235 

John of Damascus, Theologian & Hymnwriter ✠ 749 

4. Dezember 2016 

1. O Son of God, Thou Perfection of beauty shining forth from Zion, draw near to us with Your advent and gather Your faithful ones so that we may rejoice in the testament of Your incarnation and birth.  Amen. (Gradual). 

2. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your might and save us! Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that Your right hand planted, and for the son whom You made strong for Yourself. Restore us, O Lord God of hosts! Let Your face shine, so that we may be saved!

3. Ad te Levavi Sunday, the 2. Sunday in Advent exhorts us to lift up our soul unto the Lord, for Jesus reminds us that our redemption is drawing near. Adam and Eve had made all mankind subject to the Devil in their Fall, but God the Father has redeemed mankind when He sent Christ as a ransom to redeem fallen mankind from the Devil. The arrival of God in the flesh was the final stage in this Divine redemptive act. The Psalmist describes this for us in this morning’s Introit.

4. »You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.« This brings to mind the blessed Simeon’s song of praise when he beheld the infant Jesus at the temple: »This Child is a Light to lighten the Gentiles.« The Psalmist proudly declares that the Christ is God Himself. Let that sink in: the Son of God who created the world with His Father and sits at His right hand at the heavenly throne has taken on flesh, became a man and entered our world. The Very God who is praised and worshipped by the majestic cherubim entered our history. 

5. »Before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your might and save us!« The Psalmist reminds us that Jesus is the Messiah promised to His Jewish people, and Simeon proclaims this, singing: »This Child is the Glory of Thy people Israel.« (Luke 2,32). While the Messiah was sent to the world to redeem the world from sin, death and hades, this Messiah was promised to descend from a particular nation. The Messiah was promised to descend from Abraham and Sarah, their son Isaac and their grandson Jacob. Twelve sons were begotten by Jacob and they are the forefathers of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The tribe of Judah was chosen to carry the messianic promise and from Judah descended the family of David, the line of Jewish kings. Jesus, the Prince of the Universe, was born into the line of Davidic kings. 

6. »Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that Your right hand planted, and for the son whom You made strong for Yourself.« While the Jews were chosen by God, they were by no means a perfect people. They were stubborn; they rebelled against God; they worshipped idols alongside the Lord; they had great kings, mediocre kings and downright evil king; they ignored the poor and the defenseless. They were a microcosm of all the nations who likewise are capable of great compassion but also vile wickedness. Yet, the Prophet Isaiah declared that all hope was not lost: »There shall spring forth a Shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots shall bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him« (Isaiah 11,1-2). 

7. »Restore us, O Lord God of hosts! Let Your face shine, so that we may be saved!« The Prophet Isaiah proclaims that this Messianic Branch will draw both Jew and Gentile under the His righteous shade. Where Adam and Eve wanted to ascend to divinity; Jesus descended to humanity. Adam and Eve reached out for the forbidden fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, thus denying themselves access to the fruit of life. Jesus tasted the fruit of death so that we could once again take and eat the fruit of life. The Tree of life in Eden was guarded by the cherubim; the tree of life in heaven is unguarded and inviting us to enjoy our eternal rest. The Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed us from our sin. He has restored us as true children of God our Father, and on the last day He will recreate us in bodily righteousness as people remade in His Divine Image and Likeness. 

8. The signs  celebrating Jesus’ birth are drawing nearer; straighten up and raise your heads, because our redemption is drawing near in the little town of Bethlehem.  Amen.  

9. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, You judge the world in righteousness; send forth Your Holy Spirit so that we faithfully look forward to and prepare for the celebration of Your birth.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4^th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27^th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.  

All quotations from the Book of Concord are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche, 12. Edition © 1998 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.