All during Advent we have been speaking of prophecy and promise and fulfillment. On the eve of Christmas it’s the same. In the first reading, through the prophet Nathan, God promises David that he will establish a house for him, that is, a royal dynasty that will last forever. Another prophecy promised that one from the royal line would come who would be a greater than David. During the next 700 years, the Jewish people clung to these prophecies, yearned for their fulfillment. This gave them hope. They must have wondered, “how long must we wait?”
The song of Zechariah is a jubilant cry of celebration because these promises have been fulfilled. Fulfillment however is only partial. It has not been fully accomplished. This child, John, is to prepare a straight path for the one to come, the one who will bring the promises to complete fulfillment.
This brings us to our own part in the journey of salvation. We, too, are to prepare a straight path for the Lord. Salvation is now but not yet. The Lord has come and will come again. People still dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. The Lord guides their feet into the way of peace. He invites us to help prepare that path.
The Lord who comes makes us holy. He delivers his people from all our enemies. But coupled with this gift is a task, a mission. We have been gifted with God’s peace. Therefore we are called to make peace in our world.
On this Christmas eve, we join with one another to celebrate anew the kindness of our God who visits us in his mercy. We seek to experience afresh his gifts of freedom from fear and from our modern enemies, consumerism, racism, militarism, sexism, pride and hopelessness. We seek to renew our dedication to the mission we have received, to share life, love and liberty with all who dwell in the shadow of death, to be guided ourselves and to guide others into the way of peace.
