Jesus and Marys’ Inaugurals
The Revised Common Lectionary for Advent 3 in Year B begins with Isaiah 61, which Bible nerds might recognize as the text Jesus chose as his inaugural sermon in Nazareth. His speech in Luke 4, however, is a rather sloppy rendition of verses 1 and 2 that omits Isaiah’s “binding up the brokenhearted,” changes “opening of the prison to those who are bound” to “set at liberty those who are oppressed.” He also adds “recovering of sight to the blind.”
His recitation is at variance with the Septuagint (LXX) and the Great Isaiah Scroll, which was composed and stored in caves near the Dead Sea by the time He was born. Of course, you can’t blame him since his mother was also prone to exegetical hiccups. Mary displays the same creative reordering of scripture in her Magnificat in Luke 1, which happens to be another text for Advent 3.
What’s the takeaway?
Not only is it cute that mom and son share similar exegetical SNAFUs, but it’s also significant that in each of their introductory addresses, Mary and Jesus select scripture that draws upon the martial imagery of God. It makes sense since if God is a man of war, Mary is a military spouse, and Jesus is a “brat.” The good news is not just dependent upon military families, the Holy Family are military dependents.
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Another text for Advent 3 is Mary’s Magnificat in Luke 1 which begins, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” This language also borrows from Isaiah 61, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God” (v.10). But we must dig deeper to understand what God is doing in this intra-testamental text.
There’s no way to know why the Son of Mary ended his recitation of Isaiah 61 when he did, using less than a third of the second verse. Even the Great Isaiah Scroll, which circulated within a generation of Jesus’ own life, preserves an unbroken clause in verse two, “to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God.” Though Jesus omits this juicy tidbit, his audience would have recognized the reference.
Illiterate societies, like rural first-century Galilee, didn’t suck at memorization, far from it. Oral traditions rely not on literal precision but on dynamic remembrance. Verbs and nouns are densely packed with meaning, while prepositions and conjunctions can be more fluid. Jesus and Mary’s rearrangement of Isaiah 61 might startle us literate Moderns, but they and their audience knew what was about to happen - God was about to wage war on the forces of evil, with high church lowlifes like Mary and Jesus leading the way. The section of Isaiah they chose was foundational to the Divine Warrior motif of the Bible.
By using Isaiah 61, Mary’s Magnificat and Jesus’ Inaugural drew upon symbolism that depicts God as the Divine Warrior-Priest. The rest of the chapter combines articles of priestly vestments with elements of the Armor of God. Take verse three, for example, where “garland” is pᵊ'ēr (H6287), the same used for a priest’s turban. Just after that is oil, used in anointing every priest (and an occasional king) and the basis for the word Messiah. Another clue comes with the “garment of praise,” but it is brought home in verse 10, the same used by Mary in her poem of praise. Like her son, Mary moves on without concluding a sentence where scripture does. The part she borrows continues, “my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation.” The next clause adds “robe of righteousness,” two keywords for the Armor of God.
Simply put, God’s incarnation, beginning with the annunciation, is a call to battle. Although we do not wage war against flesh and blood, we are to make no mistake - every Christian is expected to serve in the militia Dei. To understand how, you have to come to scripture through the lens of service. 🤷
