Preparing for Worship - January 1, 2023

There are two possible sets of readings again this Sunday. Some churches may celebrate the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus, eight days after His birth. The Gospel, Luke 2:21, tells how His family obeyed Old Testament law in having Him circumcised, and His blood was shed, prefiguring His final shedding of blood on the cross. He was given the name, Jesus, for He would one day do that final sacrificial work as the “Savior“ of the world.

The Psalm is Psalm 8. David twice speaks of the majesty of God’s Name. He is Lord and the Creator who set all things in place. Yet He will humble His own Son as a man,  the Son of Man, lower than the angels, to do His saving work on earth, and then be crowned with glory and honor and given all dominion once again.

The Old Testament lesson, Numbers 6:22-27, is the Benediction, the blessing that Moses was to give to God’s people. That Benediction is still used often today in worship. The Lord will bless, keep, be gracious to us, and give us peace, as He looks upon us with His Favor. 

The Epistle lesson is Galatians 3:23-29. Paul tells us that once we were captives, imprisoned under the law. But once we are connected to Christ through our baptism and faith in Him, we are children of God and all one in Christ and are heirs of all the promises of God.

The Sunday service might also include, instead, readings for the first Sunday after Christmas. In the Psalm, Psalm 111, the Psalmist praises God for all His wondrous works and gives thanks to Him in the congregation, with other believers. The Lord has  kept the promises of His Covenant and will send redemption to His people, (finally coming through Jesus). We, in turn, can now grow in fear and trust in the Lord and in wisdom and good understanding, through Christ as our Savior.

The prophet Isaiah also recounts, in the Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 63:7-14, the steadfast love of the Lord. He redeemed and saved and carried along His chosen people, and even though they rebelled against Him and grieved His Spirit, He would reach out and put His Spirit again in their midst and give them rest, in His compassion.

How would God do all this? Paul tells us, in the Epistle lesson, Galatians 4:4-7, that in the fullness of time, God did send His own Son, born of a woman, to redeem all who were under the burden and condemnation of the law, and turn them (and us) from slaves into sons, children of God, and heirs of eternal life through faith in Him.

The Gospel lesson, Matthew 2:13-23, continues the Christmas story. Not only did God send His Son into the world, He also protected Him, warning Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt with Jesus and escape the massacre of children by King Herod and then calling them back out of Egypt, once Herod died, and returning with Jesus to Nazareth. All this fulfilled prophecy after prophecy from the Old Testament - Hosea 11:1 and Jeremiah 31:15-17 and the words of Philip in John 1:46, etc. God will keep His promises to us, too, in Christ.