December 2, 2018

Friday  |  November 30, 2018  |  09:36 AM

Often enough we hear and agree with the lament of the people of Israel asking God why the wicked prosper. However, when we call out for justice, we usually want someone to get his or her comeuppance. God’s justice is something other than this, of course. God’s justice comprises a wonderful rightness between God and humankind.
Today, Jeremiah looks ahead to a time when a just one will sprout from the shorn-off stump of Jesse of the house and family of David. Life was not fair in Jeremiah’s time. Israel’s kings held the promise of God’s fidelity, but it was difficult to see how God’s promise could be realized through them.
Nevertheless, Jeremiah lifts his voice and announces that the Promised One will come. Luke’s Gospel echoes that announcement, and Paul is filled with sturdy encouragement. And so Advent begins with a promise.