Thursday, December 17
In Human Form
Hebrews 10:5-7
The Bible quotes the Psalms a lot. Jesus quotes the Psalms, Paul quotes the Psalms, the Psalms quote other Psalms, and the writer of the book of Hebrews quotes the Psalms. This text from Hebrews 10 is a near-direct quote from Psalm 40:6-8. But there is an added piece that does not appear in the psalm. The added words are “but a body you have prepared for me.” This line is inserted by the writer of Hebrews to flag its meaning. The writer takes this ancient song of the people of God, a song that everyone in the Jewish tradition would have learned by heart as children, and makes it a confession of faith in Jesus Christ.
The fragment from Psalm 40, along with the extra line “but a body you have prepared for me,” is a clear reference to the incarnation of Christ. The text is making the confession that God has sent Christ, with a body, to do the will of God. An odd plan it is, according to all those people, both ancient and modern, who want to make faith something “spiritual.” A body is so, well, unspiritual. But Hebrews 10 makes it clear that it is in the life of the earthly, embodied Jesus Christ that God’s plan is fulfilled. This quote from the Psalms, with its added line of explanation, is a small Advent treasure, an affirmation of God’s plan fulfilled in the one for whom we wait during this season.
Prayer: Lord of all our seasons and times, we praise you because you came in human form like us. We look forward to when you will come again to make all things new. Amen.
–Leanne Van Dyk
Daily readings for the season of Advent, written by members of Hope Church in Holland, Michigan
Art by Kari Miller Fenwood, “Studies of Advent Sculpture 2008 for Hope Church, Holland, MI”
Posted by tomgoodhart
Posted by tomgoodhart
Posted by tomgoodhart