December 24 (Morning Mass)

1st Reading: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16

Nathan's Prophecy About the Dynasty
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[1] Now when the king dwelt in his house, and the LORD had given him rest
from all his enemies round about, [2] the king said to Nathan the prophet, 
See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent." 
[3] And Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that is in your heart; for the
LORD is with you."

[4] But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, [5] "Go and
tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to
dwell in?

[8b] "'I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be
prince over my people Israel; [9] and I have been with you wherever you went,
and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a
great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. [10] And I will appoint
a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their
own place, and be disturbed no more: and violent men shall afflict them no more,
as formerly, [11] from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel;
and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares
to you that the LORD will make you a house. [12] When your days are fulfilled
and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who
shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. [14a] I will be
his father, and he shall be my son. [16] And your house and your kingdom shall
be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.'"

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Commentary:

7:1-17. Nathan is a court prophet will also appear in later accounts connected
with Solomon and Bathsheba, his mother (cf. 2 Sam 12:1-25 and 1 Kings
1:11-40). As prophet he is God's spokesman (he twice uses the classic formula-
tion, "Thus says the Lord": vv. 5 and 8); here he has to oppose the king's plans
(vv. 5-7); he proclaims a message which cannot but have its effect on the listener
because the word of God is true and it always comes to pass.

Nathan's prophecy is particularly important: it decides who will succeed David,
and it has to do with the Messiah, who will be a descendant of David. What he
says has all the formality of an oracular statement; it confirms the dynastic
succession and specifies the role of the temple among God's chosen people.

For pagan peoples (Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian etc.) the temple was the
center of their world and the focus of their religious spirit; it was there that they
kept their gods. In Israel, on the other hand, the temple will have quite a different
role. It is based on the fact that the true God is not content with a temple; he has
no need of a house in which to dwell (cf. 1 Kings 8:27). If he allows there to be
sanctuaries or shrines (cf. Gen 28:20-22), the desert tabernacle or tent (cf. Ex
33:7-11) and later the temple of Jerusalem (cf. 1 Kings 8:1-66), these are only
signs of his presence among the people, not a habitation that he in any sense
needs. Nathan's prophecy shows that it is not so much the temple as the Davidic
dynasty that is the sign of divine presence and protection that God has set up
from the start. Hence the play on words between "house of God" (temple) and
"house of David" (dynasty).

The hereditary monarchy, then, is the center of Nathan's prophecy. If Michal's
sterility cut off the line of succession from Saul, the prophecy assured that
David's line would endure. From the central part of the prophecy (vv. 13-16) we
can see that every descendant of David, the figure of the future Messiah, will
have the following qualities:

a) He will be a son to God (v. 14a). This is not natural, human, sonship; it
refers to the closeness of the relationship between God and the king (cf.
Ps 2:7; 89:26-27), so that the person and rule of the king will symbolize the
presence of God and the active role he plays in the life of the people. The
king's sonship to God, then, is an _expression of the covenant established
between God and David's line. God commits himself to act towards the king
as a good father to his son. Jesus will bring these words and this covenant to
full fruition, for he is the "eternal Son of God" made man (cf. Gal 4:4). Whereas
he is the Son of God by natural generation, all the baptized are "sons in the
Son": "For this is the very reason why the Word became flesh, why the Son
of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with
the Word and thereby partaking of divine filiation, might be converted into a son
of God" (St Irenaeus, "Adversus Haereses", 3, 19, 1; cf. "Catechism of the
Catholic Church", 460).

b) He will be punished when necessary, but the punishment will be only tempo-
rary (14b-15), that is, David's line will not be cut off as happened to Saul, nor will
any dethronement last, because the love of God will always win out. In the light
of this oracular statement, any misfortunes of the people, even the exile in
Babylon, despite being punishment for their sins, will be above all a proof of
God's mercy. The death of Jesus on the cross, though caused by the sins of
men, is above all a proof of the love of God who gave up his Son (cf. Rom 8:32),
and of the love of Jesus who gave himself up on men's behalf (cf. Rom 4:25;
Eph 5:25).

c) The Davidic dynasty will endure forever (vv. 12-13, 15-16). The title "son of
David" will refer not only to genealogical descent but also to the fact that the
holder is the beneficiary of this promise and of the Davidic covenant (cf. 1 Kings
8:25; Ps 132:10-18; Jer 17:24-27; Ezek 34:23-24; etc.). After the exile this is
the title which is most often applied to the Messiah, and the writers of the New
Testament, of course, are at pains to point out that Jesus is the "son of David"
(cf. Mt 1:1; 9:27; Rom 1:3). The liturgy of the Solemnity of St Joseph, Husband
of the Blessed Virgin, includes this text, because it is he who is the guarantor
of the Davidic descent of Jesus (Mt 1:20) through being "of the house of David"
(Lk 1:27). 


Gospel Reading: Luke 1:67-79

The Benedictus
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[67] And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied,
saying, [68] "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed
his people, [69] and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his
servant David, [70] as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
[71] that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who
hate us; [72] to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember
his holy covenant, [73] the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, [74] to
grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him
without fear, [75] in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our
life. [76] And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will
go before the Lord to prepare his ways, [77] to give knowledge of salvation to
his people in the forgiveness of their sins, [78] through the tender mercy of our
God, when the day shall dawn upon us from on high [79] to give light to those
who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way
of peace."

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Commentary:

67. Zechariah, who was a righteous man (cf. v. 6), received the special grace of
prophecy when his son was born--a gift which led him to pronounce his canticle,
called the "Benedictus", a prayer so full of faith, reverence and piety that the
Church has laid it down to be said daily in the Liturgy of the Hours. Prophecy
has not only to do with foretelling future events; it also means being moved by
the Holy Spirit to praise God. Both aspects of prophecy are to be found in the
"Benedictus".

68- 79. Two parts can be discerned in the "Benedictus": in the first (vv. 68-75)
Zechariah thanks God for sending the Messiah, the Savior, as he promised the
patriarchs and prophets of Israel.

In the second (vv. 76-79) he prophesies that his son will have the mission of
being herald of the Most High and precursor of the Messiah, proclaiming God's
mercy which reveals itself in the coming of Christ.

72-75. Again and again God promised the patriarchs of the Old Testament that
he would take special care of Israel, giving them a land which they would enjoy
undisturbed and many descendants in whom all the peoples of the earth would
be blessed. This promise he ratified by means of a covenant or alliance, of the
kind commonly made between kings and their vassals in the Near East. God,
as Lord, would protect the patriarchs and their descendants, and these would
prove their attachment to him by offering him certain sacrifices and by doing
him service. See, for example, Genesis 12:13; 17:1-8; 22:16-18 (God's promise,
covenant and pledge to Abraham); and Genesis 5:11-12 (where he repeats these
promises to Jacob). Zechariah realizes that the events resulting from the birth of
John his son, the Precursor of the Messiah; constitute complete fulfillment of
these divine purposes.

78-79. The "dawning", the "dayspring", is the Messiah, Jesus Christ, coming
down from heaven to shed his light upon us: "the son of righteousness shall rise,
with healing on its wings" (Mal 4:2). Already in the Old Testament we were told
about the glory of the Lord, the reflection of his presence--something intimately
connected with light. For example, when Moses returned to the encampment
after talking with God, his face so shone that the Israelites "were afraid to come
near him" (Ex 34:30). St John is making the same reference when he says that
"God is light and in him there is no darkness" (1 Jn 1:5) and that there will be no
light in heaven "for the glory of God is its light" (cf. Rev 21:23; 22:5).

The angels (cf. Rev 1:11) and the saints (cf. Wis 3:7; Dan 2:3) partake of this
divine splendor; our Lady does so in a special way. As a symbol of the Church
she is revealed to us in the Apocalypse as "clothed with the sun, with the moon
under her feel, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" (12:1).

Even when we live in this world, this divine light reaches us through Jesus Christ
who, because he is God, is "the true light that enlightens every man" (Jn 1:9), as
Christ himself tells us: "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not
walk in darkness" (Jn 8:12).

Such is Christians' share in this light of God that Jesus tells us: "You are the
light of the world" (Mt 5:14). Therefore, we must live as children of the light (cf.
Lk 16:8), whose fruit takes the form of "all that is good and right and true" (Eph
5:9); our lives should shine oul, thereby helping people to know God and give him
glory (cf. Mt 5:16).


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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

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