New Beginnings and Fresh Hope
AM Psalm 103 • PM Psalm 148
Isa. 62:1-5,10-12 • Rev. 19:11-16 • Matt. 1:18-25
A blessed 2022 to everyone, and, as Psalm 103 reminds us, the Lord blesses us with numerous benefits, such as pardoning our iniquities, healing our diseases, crowning us with loving kindness, and even restoring our youth! (103:3-5). Our New Year’s Resolutions will apparently be supported…well, so long as we bless the Lord, keep His covenant, and remember His precepts to do them (103:18).
Not only is today the beginning of a New Year, but it is also the day of the Feast of the Holy Name which celebrates the naming of Jesus. Fittingly, therefore, the readings for today from Isaiah, Revelation, and Matthew all revolve around a naming theme. Isaiah tells us, for example, that for Jerusalem’s sake, she “will be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will designate” (62:2). The passage from Revelation depicts the heavens opening revealing a figure with flames of fire for eyes and a “name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself” (19:12). But the reader gets a hint four verses later: “And on his robe and on his thigh He has a name written, ‘King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.” This reading from Revelation provides me an echo of Exodus 3 when Moses asks God for his name. You will recall God’s enigmatic reply: “I am who I am.”
But in the verses from Matthew, the naming is clear and hopeful indeed! Well, it was clear until I decided to research the etymology of the name “Jesus” and learned that in Hebrew the name of Jesus would be spelled “Yahusha, which means “Yahweh is salvation.” If my sources are correct, Jesus’ name appropriately connects Jesus with “I am who I am.” Or as we are told in Matthew 1:23, He will be called “Immanuel,” which translated means” “God with us.” But it is still this choice of our Lord in human form that I find hopeful for me, an older woman living in Arkansas. Jesus was not from a wealthy family; he was born in a small town as a member of the religious minority and under the boot of foreign occupation. From his place of powerlessness and with great humility, he was born the Christ to save us. Happy New Year of Hope and Blessings and Amen!
Written by Karen Hodges
...who is grateful to have this opportunity to be assigned a Morning Reflection which keeps her learning more about the Episcopal Church (she was raised in a wonderful Presbyterian family in the Carolinas) and keeps her focused on New Beginnings and Fresh Hope.