Jeremiah 33:14-16; 2 Samuel 7:1-17
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The word behold appears in the Scriptures no fewer than 1100 times, depending on the translation. Literally, the word behold means to see, but seeing is not so much an action that you do than it is a passive activity through which you receive. Seeing is what you were created by God to do. Seeing is the normal state of being for a human created in God’s image. God gave you your eyes to see and your ears to hear, and all your other senses through which you perceive Him and the world that He has made. To be blind or deaf is universally considered to be a disability. Indeed, supposing that you are otherwise healthy, that your eyes and ears function the way they are supposed to, the only way to not see or to not hear is to willfully shut your eyes and to intentionally stop your ears. For, left alone, as is natural, your eyes will receive light and images and you will see, and your ears will receive sounds and language and you will hear. Thus, when the Scriptures command us to behold, they are simply commanding us to receive rightly what God has done and what He is doing. A failure to behold God, whether intentional or unintentional, is the result of sinful corruption and spiritual blindness, a condition which only God the Holy Spirit can reverse through the preaching of His Word and the reception of His Sacraments.
“Behold,” “see,” “the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” “Behold,” commands the LORD; “See!” What the LORD would have us behold is that He keeps His promises and is faithful to us. This stands in stark contrast to Israel’s repeated unfaithfulness and inability to keep their covenant promises to God. It also stands in stark contrast to all other gods that we put our fear, love, and trust in – all of which will eventually fail and prove to be unfaithful. God’s promise and the proof of His faithfulness is there for us to behold and to see; all we need to do is open our eyes. All we need is to have our eyes opened by the LORD and not refuse and reject Him by willfully and intentionally keeping them shut.
The promise refers to the promise made to David in 2 Samuel chapter 7, that God would raise up an offspring from David and establish His kingdom forever. This is a clear messianic promise, a repetition and continuation of the promise first made to Abram and, more distantly still, to Adam and Eve in the Garden. As such, God says that the promise is made not just to David but to “the house of Israel and the house of Judah.” The promised one is described as a branch or a shoot springing forth from the burned-out stump of a tree that has been cut down and burned with fire. Such would be Israel and Judah, the result of their unrighteousness and apostasy, worshipping false gods and idols, treating the poor and needy with contempt. For this the LORD would deliver them into the hands of their enemies who would surround them and tear them down leaving not one stone on top of another. Then, after a time, the LORD would call them to repentance and they would return to Him, and from hopelessness, despair, and death would spring forth hope, salvation, and new life, not only for Israel and Judah, but for all the world, as was promised to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and again to David.
The righteous Branch will “execute justice and righteousness in the land,” unlike the kings of Israel and Judah, as well as the rulers of our own land, who pervert justice and increase unrighteousness. Jesus executes justice (or judgment) and righteousness primarily by bearing God’s judgment against sinners in His own body and soul on the cross and by imputing His righteousness to all who believe in Him. Thus, “in those days” refers to the time of the New Covenant (the New Testament), in which Christ reigns as King over the church by making many righteous through faith in Him. In Christ the church dwells securely, not because she is protected from earthly enemies by earthly rulers (as the Old Testament people of Israel and Judah would have thought), but because Christ reigns as Lord, has reconciled us to the Father who “defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil,” and gives the peace which surpasses all understanding.
The reign of the righteous Branch (the reign of Christ) will be marked by a new name. No longer will the LORD be known among His people as “the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,” referring to the Exodus, nor even as “the LORD who lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them,” referring to the Babylonian Captivity, but when the righteous Branch comes, God wishes only to be known as “the LORD is our righteousness.” Both the old and the new name focus on the deeds of salvation. Formerly, God’s exodus was the content of our song as the great act of salvation; now, it is the perpetually new song of Christ, accomplished in His first coming. The name, and our praise of that name, are defined by God’s saving deeds in Christ. The name that God gives Himself is a clear teaching on the central article of the faith, namely that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. God alone makes us righteous.
Behold! Wake up! Open your eyes! See! This is the cry of God to His children to which we hearken this Adventide in preparation for our celebration of Christ’s first coming. Behold! Wake up! Open your eyes! See! This is the cry of God to His children to which we must hearken every day that we might receive Him in all the ways He comes to us still. He has come. He is coming. And still He come. Behold! See!
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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