Fourth Wednesday of Advent
Reflection: Wednesday, Day 25 of Advent
Read the Scripture here first.
By Chris Pipkin
We are spending the last week of Advent meditating on Isaiah, whose prophecies deal most explicitly with the Messiah—and who also uses the image of light, and light dawning, as a metaphor for the Messiah’s long-awaited reign.
Today’s “O Antiphon” is “O Oriens,” which means “O Dawn” or “O Dayspring,” and it addresses Christ using Zechariah’s prophecy about his son, John, and his role in relation to Jesus. Here’s the antiphon itself:
O Oriens
[O Dayspring,]
splendor lucis aeternae, et sol justitiae
[splendor of light eternal and sun of righteousness:]
veni, et illumine sedentes in tenebris, et umbra mortis
[come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.]
And here is Zechariah’s prophecy, which he speaks over Baby John the Baptist:
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
As a sidenote, it’s interesting to see how Zechariah’s prophecy comes only a few verses after the Magnificat, almost as though it is answering it. Similarly, when used in a service, these “O Antiphons,” rather than following Davidic Psalms, are sung in answer to Mary’s great psalm.
Zechariah’s prophecy is rooted in the light-related prophecies of Isaiah (there’s some Psalm 23 in there as well), and it is about how John will prepare the way for Jesus, who gives light and guidance to those sitting in gloom. Zechariah, though, mainly refers to what the Messiah will do for the Jewish people, whereas Isaiah’s own prophecies regarding light and the Messiah tend to heavily involve the Gentiles, or “the nations.”
Isaiah 60 says that while the peoples are covered in deep darkness, the Lord’s glory will be seen upon Israel, and all the nations and their kings will be drawn to it. At the same time, Isaiah 49 says that Israel will be God’s light to the nations, so that his salvation will reach the ends of the earth.
It is a peculiar quality of light (spiritual and physical) that it both illumines other things and attracts the eye to itself. The Messiah will draw the nations to him in much the way a radiant sunrise draws our attention—while at the same time giving us light to begin to see everything else clearly. It is an object of contemplation as well as a means of illumination.
Isaiah 8-9, likewise, uses the image of people in darkness seeing light, and a kingdom being established that brings peace to the earth, because “to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
In the West, we don’t usually view light as a symbol of political power or kingly authority. In fact, our “Enlightenment” (like it or not) coincides with a rejection of monarchy, or at least absolute rule. Advances in certain areas of knowledge caused people to demand less authority from their kings than people previously believed was good. To view a monarch as the source of any sort of light slowly became unthinkable—people could rule themselves by the light of reason God gave them.
But in Isaiah, Israel, when ruled by the Messiah, becomes a kind of beacon for all peoples, providing not only spiritual clarity and wisdom, but justice and peace. Just as a single crack can, in time, spread across an entire egg or windshield, destroying it, so the opposite can also happen (when God wills). The mending of Israel by Christ will result in the mending of the world. Justice and light in Israel will result in worldwide justice and light.
The Messiah will rule over the world just as the sun rules over the day—with the difference that “there will be no end of the increase of his government and of peace.” This rising sun will not set. We are all still waiting for Isaiah’s prophecy to come true—Jews, Gentiles, and, really, people of all faiths and no faith. We all sense a lack of clarity in our own world, and we’re all dismayed by the failure of justice. It is not a bad idea to pray for the coming of Messiah’s reign, just as observant Jews continue to. Like them, we can allow grievous and everyday injustices and misunderstandings, both in our own lives and in “the nations” drive us not to impotent wrath but faithful prayer.
“This means, of course, that we can afford to admit that we are imperfect. And in fact, the extent to which we stop bearing witness to our own awesomeness is often the extent to which God can make us true lights to other broken people.“
But part of the reason that Zechariah’s prayer is still prayed—daily—by Christians is that he is addressing someone who prepares the way for Christ. It can be easy to forget that, if we belong to Christ, we are no longer living in gloom or the shadow of death. We are the emissaries of the Messiah’s kingdom, as it exists now, invisible but real. Jesus, the Messiah himself, calls us “the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do men light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”
We are given Christ’s power—by the Holy Spirit—to bring light, peace, and justice to our own corners of creation, as well as to those around us. Through us, God slowly mends a broken world, person by person and heart by heart. The paradox here is that we are the light, according to Jesus, but at the same time, we are not the light. “We do not preach ourselves but Christ,” says Paul, “and ourselves your servants for Christ’s sake.” Like John the Baptist, we are not the light, but we come to bear witness about the light—the true light that enlightens everyone.
This means, of course, that we can afford to admit that we are imperfect. And in fact, the extent to which we stop bearing witness to our own awesomeness is often the extent to which God can make us true lights to other broken people. We can be transparent in the midst of our December gloom and pre-Christmas performance anxiety (which you likely still have, even if you’re staggering presents and get-togethers throughout the twelve days). If we’re not transparent about our darkness, in fact, we can’t really be lights. We don’t bear witness to Christ’s authority and light by contriving some way to look perfect. Instead, we make him our own light, our own authority, and allow him to shine in our darkness. Our neighbors and the nations (and occasionally, we ourselves) will sometimes catch glimmers of his light shining through us, here and there—of his light and reign at work in our lives, bringing healing and brightness. It is the beginning of God’s Kingdom coming on earth, as it is in Heaven.
We will talk a bit more about light on the Third Day of Christmas, St. John’s Day—stay tuned!
BONUS!
Read another reflection on light by Davey Pipkin, age 8.
Advent
Activities
Watch the sunrise (if you’re up early enough) while praying today’s antiphon.
Think of a light-themed gift to give members of your family or friends for the third day of Christmas, the Feast of St. John.
Post something to social media that does not make you look good, or simply be honest with friends about the places in your life you still feel you’re muddling through—where you’ve yet to see God’s light and authority made manifest. After making yourself transparent, trust God to shine through you anyway.
Scripture for 12/16
Passage from Isaiah 11:1–10
Isaiah 60:1-3
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples;
But the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.
And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
Isaiah 49:6
[God] says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Isaiah 8:22-9:7
And [rebellious Israel] will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness.
But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Literature
“O Oriens” by Malcolm Guide
E vidi lume in forme de riviera Paradiso XXX; 61
First light and then first lines along the east
To touch and brush a sheen of light on water
As though behind the sky itself they traced
The shift and shimmer of another river
Flowing unbidden from its hidden source;
The Day-Spring, the eternal Prima Vera.
Blake saw it too. Dante and Beatrice
Are bathing in it now, away upstream…
So every trace of light begins a grace
In me, a beckoning. The smallest gleam
Is somehow a beginning and a calling;
“Sleeper awake, the darkness was a dream
For you will see the Dayspring at your waking,
Beyond your long last line the dawn is breaking”.
Song
“Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” The Petersens
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