Peter Espeut | The new builds on the old

“The new is in the old concealed; the old is in the new revealed” – Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD).

I hope no one ever comes to me for legal advice, for I am no lawyer. I am a theologian, among other things, and can speak with some background in theological matters.

So let me begin by wishing all my readers a very joyful Christmas!

But I hear many of you: “Christmas done!” Not so, I say! We all know the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, and today – January 2 – is only the ninth day of Christmas. So, even though the radio stations have stopped playing Christmas carols, and the shopkeepers have begun to take down the Christmas decorations, that does not change the fact that it is still Christmas.

We celebrate the Epiphany of Jesus to the Jews (represented by the shepherds) on December 25, and the Epiphany of Jesus to the Gentiles (represented by the wise men) on January 6. Since most of us are Gentiles, our Christmas should be on January 6, which is when the Christmas season comes to a close, and the trees should come down.

And so again: A joyful Christmas to all!

BE CAREFUL

We really must be careful from where we get our theology, and our catechesis on Christmas: certainly not from shopkeepers and radio stations; and definitely not from lawyers, even if they went to Campion College. On Sunday, December 21 last year, eminent counsel Gordon Robinson put pen to paper (“Out with the old; in with the new”) to offer theological advice. Here is how he concluded his treatise:

“What should we do with the Old Testament now we’ve been gifted a New Testament? I know. Me, teacher! Like our old phone, we should throw it away! So, this Christmas, celebrate Jesus’ birth by casting aside the Old Testament”.

We will never understand the New Testament without knowing what the Old Testament leads us to expect. My word limit will only allow two examples.

The Christmas stories in Luke, Matthew and John are chock-full of fulfilled Old Testament promises and expectations. And many Jews of the time got it right away! It is we modern Gentiles who have to have it explained to us.

In both Matthew and Luke, Joseph is identified as being of the house and line of David (Luke 1:27, Matthew 1:20). The genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and Luke are careful to include King David. Why is this important?

God made a promise to King David, which we read in the Old Testament:

“When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. … But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:12-16).

God had promised that David’s throne would last forever, but his line had apparently been broken in 587 BC when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem, ending the Kingdom of Judah. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and some of the inhabitants were exiled.

King Herod was not in the line of David.

KING OF THE UNIVERSE

Six hundred years later, Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that her son, a descendant of David, will be King of the Universe, the one who would bring unity and peace to all the Gentile nations – a King not just in an earthly sense and not just for a time. The kingly line of David was, in fact, unsevered, and now the full meaning of God’s promise would be revealed.

“The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:32-33)

In John’s first chapter, there is the famous line referring to the Christmas event: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us, and we saw his glory” (John 1:14). The Greek word for “glory” is “doxa” (hence doxology), and its Hebrew equivalent is “shekinah”.

When Jesus was presented in the temple, we are told that Simeon took him in his arms and declared (in the Jamaican equivalent) “I can dead now, because “my eyes have seen your salvation, … and glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

In Ezekiel chapter 10, we read that the “Glory of the Lord” (shekinah) left the temple because of the sins of the people; and the Jewish people looked forward for the shekinah – one day – to return to the Temple. Here in this story of the Presentation of Jesus in the temple, the “Glory of the Lord” returns to the temple in the arms of Mary and Joseph, thus fulfilling one of the deepest aspirations of Israel’s people. And this is what Simeon saw.

Throw away the Old Testament and we would miss the point!

We Christians are New Covenant people, New Testament people (the word Testamentun in Latin means covenant). The New has transcended the Old, and Christians no longer have to follow the Old Law “You have heard it said …, but I say to you …”). But that does not mean that we flip the Old Testament into the dustbin; if we did, we would lose much of the context of New Testament, and be that much the poorer.

Follow learned counsel when it comes to the law – and maybe when it comes to dominoes and horse racing; but please: leave deep theology to the theologians.

Peter Espeut is a theologian and social scientist. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com