One of the inconvenient facts about the Gospels, is that they all begin at different points in the story. The earliest gospel, St. Mark, begins with Jesus as an adult, coming to be baptized by John. St. Matthew describes how the angel appeared to Joseph in dreams and guided his decisions, and tells the story from his point of view. St. Luke tells the story from Mary's point of view, describing in today's lesson the angel's announcement of God's favor to Mary. And St. John begins his gospel with the beginning of everything: the creation of the universe.

With all due respect to the four evangelists, I think the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, is in our reading from 2nd Samuel. The story begins with the son of Jesse, David, the anointed king, who wanted to build a house for God. Through the prophet Nathan, God said, "no thanks" to David's plan, and instead, promised that the house and lineage of David would be established forever. This extraordinary promise has lived in the hearts of the Jewish people ever since. When Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 BC, and the king deported to Babylon, where he later died, it appeared that the promised had died. Never again was there a throne in Israel with a descendant of David on it.

Yet hope in the promise remained alive, partly by analogy with the stump of a tree. If the roots under the stump are alive, a shoot may grow out of the stump, and become a branch. Among the later prophets, this image ws used frequently. Isaiah says, "A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots" (11:1) Jeremiah says, "The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I wil raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king . . ."(23:5). In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there are several references which show that the Qumran community throught of themselves as such a branch, which would eventually produce the shoot of David, who would rule in Jerusalem. St. Paul quotes that text from Isaiah in his letter to the Romans, and the metaphor of Jesus as the Root of Jesse occurs twice in the book of Revelation (5:5 and 22:16).

As with the other O antiphons, which used images from the Hebrew scriptures to introduce the Song of Mary at Vespers, the Root of Jesse antiphon makes a strong linkage between the history of Israel, and the birth of Jesus, What it announces is nothing less than a resurrection. The stump of Jesse, the line of descendants from Jesse and David, had no possibility of ascending a throne. The promise seemd to have failed. For this reason, both St. Matthew and St. Luke go to considerable trouble to give us the genealogy of Jesus. Nevermind that these genealogies give different names in the 12 generations leading up to Joseph; what is interesting and important is that the lineage is traced though Joseph, not through Mary. Joseph is clearly identified as belonging to the house of David.

There are two approaches to resolving the dilemma that these facts present. The first approach is the traditional one, that Mary remained a Virgin, and conceived Jesus "by the Holy Spirit". The connection to the lineage of David was then established by Joseph"s acceptance of Jesus as his son. This is called "legal sonship", and is based on the assumption in the ancient world, that a father would never accept a son that he had not begotten. Since Jesus was raised by Joseph, and taught to observe the law by Joseph, Jesus was for all social and religious purposes, a descendant of David. But the idea that Jesus is a shoot from Jesse's stump, is really diminished by this approach.

The second approach, inevitably, throws Mary's virginity into question. Perhaps Joseph was the human father of Jesus, and the annunciation to Mary, concerned who their son would be, and not who his father was. And Gabriel does say, God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. Support for this interpretation comes from St. Paul, who gives us the earliest reference to the birth of Jesus in his letter to the Romans, 1:3. In the Revised, and New Revised Standard translations, this verse reads, "the gospel concerning his son, who was descended from David according to the flesh". In this instance, the King James translation is more accurate: "concerning his son Jesus Christ, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh". St. Paul leaves no doubt that Jesus was a biological descendant of David.

I don't think it is necessary to choose one of these approaches and reject the other. Each one supports an important theological claim we make as Christians, and we believe both claims are spiritual truth, even if they are not historical truth. On the one hand, we claim that Jesus was and is the Son of God, and on the other hand, we claim that Jesus fulfills the prophecy of the coming of an anointed descendant of David, a shoot from the stump of Jesse. Now some of you may be thinking that our assertion in the Nicene Creed, that Jesus is "eternally begotten of the Father" is far more important, than the claim of descent from David. I would certainly agree that "eternally begotten of the Father" is important; but at the same time, I want us to recognize that we have no knowledge of how eternal begetting actually takes place; it might be compatible with human begetting. It might be something like baptism, where there is a human action of sprinkling with water, which is spiritually linked to the divine action of joining a person to Christ.

This leads me to reflect on WHY the claim that Jesus is the root of Jesse, might be important too. Surely the fulfillment of prophecy is important; expecially since we believe the prophets were inspired by God. More than that, however, is the belief that in the Kingdom of God, there will be justice, and compassion, and abundance. David was a human king attempting to follow that ideal, and failing. Perhaps the prophecies point to a king greater than David, a king descended from David, yet "eternally begotten of the Father". In his reign, there would truly be justice, and compassion and abundance. It would be a community of peace, where each family would have their own home, and there would be no violence, and everyone would live to old age (see Isaiah 65:17-25)

More even than that, is the thought that Jesus is the one who connects the chosen people Israel, though all their generations, with the baptized people, the church, through all our denominations, and generations. The root of Jesse becomes the Vine with its branches in the Gospel of John, and it becomes the olive tree for St. Paul, who says to the Gentile Christians of Rome: "If some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches. . . if those of Israel do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again" (Romans 11:17, 23). As Gabriel said, "nothing will be impossible with God".

With all this talk of kings and kingdoms, there is yet one more part of the prophecy that needs explaining: the throne. In Gabriel's speech to Mary, the angel says God will give Jesus the throne of his ancestor David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. Is there any sense in which this was fulfilled? When we remember that a throne is the place from which a king rules, I am inclined to say that Jesus had two thrones--one at his birth and one at his death. In the Gospel of John there are several references to Jesus being glorified, which clearly refer to the cross. The cross is the place where Jesus is lifted up, and draws all the world to himself (12:32).

What may, perhaps, be more surprising, is the thought that Mary's womb was also a throne. This thought comes from Jesus himself, who both lived and taught compassion as the central quality of God, and the principle on which we are to base our lives. The Hebrew word which is in some places translated ÒcompassionÓ and in other places "mercy", means womb. This thought also comes from St. Paul, who describes how Christ emptied himself of his divinity and humbled himself to be born into humanity. It even shows up in a favorite Christmas hymn, "O Come All Ye Faithful", in the second verse: "lo, he abhors not the Virgin's womb". It is precisely because the throne of Christ is in the womb, and on the cross, that the kings of the earth are struck dumb and keep silence.

The purpose of the O antiphons, on which I've based my Advent sermons, is to broaden our understanding of who Jesus is. Listen now to them all, in their original order:

O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end, ordering all things mightily and tenderly, come, lead us in the way of prudence. O Lord Most Holy, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, and gave him the Law on Sinai, come, stretch out your hand to set us free. O Root of Jesse, you stand as a sign for all people; before you kings keep silence and to you all nations bow down; come, free us and do not delay. O Key of David, and Scepter of the house of Israel, which opens and none can shut, which shuts and none can open, come, lead captives, sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, from their prisons. O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, and sun of righteousness, come and illumine those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. O King of the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O keystone of the arch of humanity, come and save the creature you fashioned from dust. O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, the desire of nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free.