The Sunday Before Nativity - 22 December 2024

On the Sunday before the Nativity of our Lord, the Church places before us a magnificent tapestry of faith, the genealogy of Christ and the chronicle of those righteous ones who prepared the way for His coming. This is not merely a list of names, but a living testament to God's faithfulness across generations.

In the first reading at Vespers, we encounter Melchizedek blessing Abram, prefiguring Christ's eternal priesthood. This mysterious figure, both king and priest, offers bread and wine, elements that would later become central to our worship of the incarnate Lord. In Abram's encounter with Melchizedek, we see a foreshadowing of how God would unite heaven and earth in the person of Jesus Christ.

The passages from Deuteronomy remind us that our God is the "God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome." Yet this mighty God chose to work through human history, through families and generations, through the weak and the strong alike. Moses tells us that God "executes justice for the orphan and widow, and loves the stranger." This divine care for the vulnerable finds its ultimate expression in Christ's incarnation, God Himself choosing to become vulnerable, to be born as a helpless infant.

The epistle to the Hebrews presents us with a magnificent panorama of faith. We hear of Abraham, who "waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." We learn of Moses' parents, who saw their child was beautiful and were not afraid of the king's command. These ancestors of Christ lived by faith, not having received the promises but seeing them afar off.

Finally, in Matthew's Gospel, we encounter the genealogy of Jesus Christ, which might seem at first a mere list of names. But look closer. Here we find not only patriarchs and kings but also women like Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, some foreigners, some with complicated pasts. Their inclusion reminds us that God's plan of salvation embraces all humanity, and that His grace works through our human frailty.

What does this all mean for us today, as we stand on the threshold of the Nativity feast? These readings remind us that we too are part of this great story of salvation. Like Abraham, we are called to trust in God's promises. Like Moses' parents, we are called to act with courage in the face of worldly powers. Like Joseph, whose betrothal to the Virgin Mary was troubled by doubt but who acted in faithful obedience to God's message, we are called to trust in God's providence even when His ways seem mysterious to us.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, let us remember that we stand in this great stream of faith, joining our voices with those who waited in hope for generations. The same God who worked through Abraham, through Moses, through David, through the righteous men and women of old continues to work in our lives today.

In these final days before we celebrate the Nativity of our Lord, let us prepare our hearts to receive Him with the same faith that animated our forebears in Christ. For what they saw dimly and from afar, we now see clearly in the face of the incarnate Word of God, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.