December 13: The Messiah is God's Only Begotten Son
♫ Music:
WEEK THREE INTRODUCTION
TITLE: PART 1C--THE MESSIAH
December 13-19
The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew word, Mashiach which means “the anointed or holy one.” Christos or Christ is the Greek equivalent. Most Old Testament Jews were familiar with the concept of a coming Messiah, one they believed would at some point in time deliver them from their Roman conquerors. They knew the prophecies regarding the Messiah’s victory over God’s enemies. They believed that this Messiah would establish an earthly kingdom and that as a result, they would live as free men and women. Yet, they failed to understand that Christ’s work was spiritual not political in nature. He came not to release them from physical bondage but to heal their spiritual diseases.
While most of the religious leaders of his day did not acknowledge Christ as the true Messiah, they realized that he was certainly out of the ordinary. But they easily dismissed his miracles and mighty acts as coming from the devil. Because he threatened their tightly controlled system with his unorthodox ways and disregard for legalisms and established norms, they wanted him eliminated. Throughout the New Testament there are repeated acknowledgements that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ and Son of the Living God. When Jesus spoke with the woman at the well in Samaria, she said, “ ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He’ ” (John 4:25, 26).
Hebrews 13:8 (KJV) is a verse most relevant for twenty-first century Christians. It states, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and forever.” The qualities that Christ exhibited when he came as a child over two thousand years ago are still true in this present age--Messiah is God’s Son; our Guide through life; the Messiah offers rest; his burden is light; Christ is the Great Healer; The Ruler of Israel and the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. This week Handel offers us a breathtaking portrait of the Messiah, the one we bow down before at this beautiful season of the year.
Day 15 - Sunday, December 13
Title: THE MESSIAH IS GOD’S ONLY BEGOTTEN SON
Scripture: Hebrews 1:5-6
Unto which of the angels said He at any time: “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee.” Let all the angels of God worship Him.
Poetry:
Advent
by Thomas Merton
Charm with your stainlessness these winter nights,
Skies, and be perfect!
Fly vivider in the fiery dark, you quiet meteors,
And disappear.
You moon, be slow to go down,
This is your full!
The four white roads make off in silence
Towards the four parts of the starry universe.
Time falls like manna at the corners of the wintry
earth.
We have become more humble than the rocks,
More wakeful than the patient hills.
Charm with your stainlessness these nights in
Advent, holy spheres,
While minds, as meek as beasts,
Stay close at home in the sweet hay;
And intellects are quieter than the flocks that feed
by starlight.
Oh pour your darkness and your brightness over
all our solemn valleys,
You skiesL and travel like the gentle Virgin,
Toward the planets’ stately setting,
Oh white full moon as quiet as Bethlehem!
GOD’S ONLY BEGOTTEN SON: “. . . THINGS INTO WHICH ANGELS LONG TO LOOK”
---1 PETER 1:12
Angels have a prominent position culturally in the west. They are associated with wings, with hope (according to Emily Dickinson, that “thing with feathers”), and with the Advent season. A prominent pastor once pointed out that, traditionally and scripturally, the sighting of angels has given people great anxiety, even fear. Recall that angels often begin by telling their onlookers not to be afraid (e.g., Luke 2:10). Their status as beings who are usually above and beyond us is well established. The verses for today’s Advent calendar may not surprise us, but they should at least inspire us. The Messiah’s status in relation to these heavenly beings is clear: “Let all the angels of God worship Him” (Heb. 1:6).
Our artwork for today, thirteenth-century Italian painter Cimabue’s Maesta (Virgin Enthroned with Six Angels), emphasizes Christ’s angelic retinue, who seem to be holding on to the throne rather than lifting it up. Their embrace of God’s throne is one of devotion; one angel even seems to be almost gripping on to the infant Jesus’ scroll-bearing arm. That scroll represents the Child’s status as the promised Messiah, the One who has come to earth to fulfill all the words of the Law and the Prophets. These angels, most of whom appear identical facially with Mary, adopt a posture not unlike a child who wants a parent or older sibling to protect them from an unwanted antagonist, standing behind the Christ child as he reaches out his right hand in blessing. It seems clear where these attending angels derive their strength, and to Whom their loyalty is devoted. Angels serve God, sometimes acting as divinely appointed messengers to the people with whom they share the cosmos.
Thomas Merton, the American Trappist monk, brings readers into Advent by locating us seasonally in the time of year when days are shorter, nights are longer and colder: “Charm with your stainlessness these winter nights.” The entire poem is infused with words associated with our faith, words such as “manna,” “holy,” “Virgin,” and even “Advent.” Merton’s poem embraces the mystery of the winter night sky, prominently the moon, one of the “holy spheres” that suggest the grandeur and solemnity of the season. Relying on other images long associated with the birth of Christ, such as “beasts” and “flocks,” culminating with the word, “Bethlehem!” the poem recreates the cosmological and spiritual miracle of the God of All Creation coming to earth to dwell among us. When we gaze up at the “white full moon,” are we allowing ourselves to reflect on its Creator, the One who illuminates our every step, who deserves our faithful obedience? Are we sufficiently mindful of the ways in which Creation calls out the name of the Messiah with every cold winter night? God is waiting for us: He wants us all to join “th’angelic train” (Phillis Wheatley).
Prayer/ Reflection:
"Will I surrender to Jesus Christ, placing no conditions whatsoever as to how the brokenness will come?"
--Oswald Chambers
Marc Malandra
Associate Professor of English
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
Maestà (Virgin Enthroned with Six Angels)
Cimabue
c. 1280
Tempera and gold on poplar panel
427 cm x 280 cm
Originally in the Church of San Francesco at Pisa
Currently in the Louvre, Paris, France
This is one of Cimabue's earlier works, painted around 1280. The iconography of the Maestà - the Child and the Virgin surrounded by a host of angels - is accentuated by the monumentality of the sumptuous gold ground. On the original frame, twenty-six painted medallions depict Christ and four angels as well as saints and prophets. Cimabue led an artistic movement in late 12th-century Tuscany that sought to renew the pictorial vocabulary and break from the rigidity of Byzantine art. He demonstrated a novel sensibility in this painting with subtly modeled and delicately painted forms, giving the figures a new sense of humanity and expressiveness.
https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/madonna-and-child-majesty-surrounded-angels
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cenni_di_Pepo,_dit_Cimabue_-_La_Vierge_et_l%27Enfant_en_majest%C3%A9_entour%C3%A9s_de_six_anges,_1270.jpg
About the Artist:
Cimabue (c. 1240–1302) was an Italian painter and designer of mosaics from Florence. Although heavily influenced by Byzantine models, Cimabue is generally regarded as one of the first great Italian painters to break from the Italo-Byzantine style. While medieval art was composed of scenes and forms that appeared relatively flat and highly stylized, Cimabue's figures were depicted with more advanced lifelike proportions and shading than was seen in the work of other artists of his time. According to Italian painter and historian Giorgio Vasari, Cimabue was the teacher of Giotto, the first great artist of the Italian Proto-Renaissance.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cimabue
Music #1:
“Christ Child Lullaby” from the album Lullabies for Love: A Celtic Collection to Benefit One Home Many Hopes
Lyrics:
My love, my tender one are you
My sweet and darling son are you
You are my love, my darling you
Unworthy I of you
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah
Your mind and gentle eyes proclaim
The loving heart with which you came
A tender helpless tiny babe
A boundless gift of grace
King of kings, most holy one
God’s own son, eternal one
You are my God and helpless son
The ruler of all mankind
My love, my treasured one are you
My sweet and lovely son are you
You are my love, my darling you
Unworthy I of you
Performers:
Alasdair Fraser, Aoife O'Donovan, Dougie MacLean, Natalie Haas and Solas
Alasdair Fraser (b. 1955) is one of the greatest musicians of the Scottish fiddle music tradition, a fiddler whose warmly expressive playing, mastery of his instrument, and deep understanding of his native music has made him internationally acclaimed. Inclined towards science as well as music at school, Fraser worked as a petro-physicist with British Petroleum, a position that took him to California where he rediscovered this love of music. As a fiddler equally capable of playing haunting Gaelic airs, rumbustious dance tunes, and endless variations on traditional themes, Fraser has worked in a variety of successful musical partnerships including his band Skyedance. He has also guested with The Chieftains, The Waterboys, Itzhak Perlman, and Los Angeles Master Chorale and has appeared on innumerable broadcasts including A Prairie Home Companion and Kennedy Center Honors.
https://www.alasdairfraser.com/about
Aoife O'Donovan (b.1982) is a Grammy Award–winning Irish-American singer and songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer for the progressive bluegrass/string band Crooked Still and as a member of the Grammy Award–winning female folk group I'm with Her. She has worked with Chris Thile (Nickel Creek, Punch Brothers), Edgar Meyer, Stuart Duncan, Greensky Bluegrass, and Yo-Yo Ma. O'Donovan has also performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Utah Symphony Orchestra. During the summer of 2013, she toured with Garrison Keillor and his A Prairie Home Companion Radio Romance Tour. In summer 2017, she joined Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Love and Comedy Tour.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aoife_O'Donovan
https://www.aoifeodonovan.com/
Dougie MacLean, OBE (b.1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. MacLean has performed under both his own name, and as part of multiple folk bands. MacLean's most famous pieces include "The Gael" (1990), which became the main theme to the 1992 film The Last of the Mohicans, and "Caledonia" from his first album (1978); the latter has been called Scotland's "unofficial" national anthem. He also served as music director for TAG Theatre Company's 1993 production of A Scots Quair releasing his contributions on the Sunset Song LP (1994). MacLean was the subject of the 1993 BBC documentary film The Land: The Songs of Dougie MacLean. Aside from his career as a touring singer-songwriter, MacLean founded the Dunkeld Records label and recording studio with his wife Jennifer in 1983.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dougie_MacLean
Natalie Haas is an American cellist, originally from Menlo Park, California. A graduate of the Juilliard School, she has toured and recorded extensively with Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser. She has appeared on more than 30 albums. Haas teaches privately and at the Berklee College of Music in Boston as an associate professor. She now lives in Montreal, Quebec, with her husband, Yann Falquet, a member of the Quebecois folk group, Genticorum.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Haas
Hailed as perhaps the finest Irish traditional band extant, American-based Solas is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Seamus Egan (b. 1969). Born in Pennsylvania, Egan moved to Ireland with his family when he was three years of age and a few years later he began taking lessons on the tin whistle. At age 14, Egan returned to the United States and already displayed talent on the whistle, flute, banjo, mandolin, and guitar. He cut his first album by age 16 and toured with Peter, Paul & Mary. Solas began to take shape when Egan joined forces with fiddler Winifred Horan and gifted guitarist John Doyle. Naming themselves Solas - which is Celtic for “light” - the band soon found themselves a major draw at folk clubs after appearances on radio shows including A Prairie Home Companion and Mountain Stage. Though some of the members have changed through the years, Egan and Horan remain the pillars and are currently joined by accordionist Mick McAuley, guitarist Éamon McElholm, and vocalist Moira Smiley. The band had an indefinite hiatus in 2017.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solas_(group)
Lyricist:
The words are believed to have been written by Fr. Ranald Rankin (1811-1857), a Scottish Roman Catholic priest. The hymn was originally titled Tàladh ar Slànuighear (The Lullaby of our Saviour) and sung to a tune called Cumha Mhic Àrois (The Lament for Mac Àrois). Father Rankin, who lived during the aftermath of the Great Highland Famine in Scotland, was an advocate on behalf of emigration and urged his parishioners to depart for Australia to escape the dire poverty in which they lived.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A0ladh_Chr%C3%ACosda
Composer:
Traditional Scots Gaelic Tune
Music #2:
Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 2: 11. Unto Which of the Angels
Lyrics:
Unto which of the angels said He at any time:
“Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee?”
Music #3
Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 2: 12. Let All The Angels of God
Lyrics:
Let all the angels of God worship Him.
Messiah Performers/Musicians/Lyricists/Composer:
Unless otherwise noted, all Messiah performances are by Margaret Marshall, Catherine Robbin, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Robert Hale, Charles Brett, Saul Quirke, the English Baroque Soloists, and the Monteverdi Choir conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Biographical information for the performers and musicians can be found by clicking here.
About the Poet:
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was a Roman Catholic monk, poet, and prolific writer on spiritual and social themes and one of the most important American Roman Catholic writers of the 20th century. After a year at the University of Cambridge, he entered Columbia University where he earned BA and MA degrees. Following years of agnosticism, he converted to Catholicism and entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. The Trappists are considered to be one of the most ascetic of the Roman Catholic monastic orders and it was there that Merton grew as a mystic, pursuing spiritual quests through his writing. Merton’s first published works were collections of poems—Thirty Poems (1944), A Man in the Divided Sea (1946), and Figures for an Apocalypse (1948). With the publication of the autobiographical Seven Storey Mountain (1948), he gained an international reputation. His early works are strictly spiritual, but his writings of the early 1960s tend toward social criticism, civil rights, pacifism, and nonviolence.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Merton
About the Devotion Author:
Marc Malandra
Associate Professor of English
Biola University
Marc Malandra is an Associate Professor of English at Biola University. Malandra teaches courses in American literature, composition and creative writing at Biola University. His poetry and scholarship have appeared in over three-dozen publications. He attends EV Free Fullerton Church and lives in Brea, California, with his wife Junko, college-aged children Noah and Sasha, and their cat Tora.
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