Reading 1
2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
When King David was settled in his palace,
and the LORD had given him rest from his enemies on every side,
he said to Nathan the prophet,
“Here I am living in a house of cedar,
while the ark of God dwells in a tent!”
Nathan answered the king,
“Go, do whatever you have in mind,
for the LORD is with you.”
But that night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said:
“Go, tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD:
Should you build me a house to dwell in?
“‘It was I who took you from the pasture
and from the care of the flock
to be commander of my people Israel.
I have been with you wherever you went,
and I have destroyed all your enemies before you.
And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth.
I will fix a place for my people Israel;
I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place
without further disturbance.
Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old,
since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel.
I will give you rest from all your enemies.
The LORD also reveals to you
that he will establish a house for you.
And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his Kingdom firm.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.
Your house and your Kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever.’”
Gospel
Lk 1:67-79
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
for he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hand of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Meditation: 2 Samuel 7:1-5,8-12,14,16
Should you build me a house? (2 Samuel 7:5)
King David was all settled. His palace was in good order, and he enjoyed victory over all his enemies. Still, he felt that all was not right. The Ark of the Covenant was housed in a tent, while he lived in an ornate palace. This discrepancy did not sit right with David, so he decided to do something about it: He would build God a house. The prophet Nathan confirmed David’s proposal, saying: “Go, do whatever you have in mind, for the Lord is with you” (2 Samuel 7:3).
But then God spoke to Nathan and gave David a different message. He told him that it was David’s son who would build him a house, not David. We know that this son was Solomon. And though the temple that he built was beautiful, it was only a physical temple that was eventually destroyed.
Nearly a thousand years later, Jesus was born. What David had lamented—that God dwelt in a lowly tent—Jesus came to set right. Since the fall of our first parents, humanity had given God a lesser role in their lives. They failed to honor him for his holiness and perfection. Because their hearts had been darkened by sin, they couldn’t see him as he truly is. Because our ailment was spiritual, we needed a spiritual remedy.
That remedy came through Jesus, the Word who became flesh and pitched his tent in our midst (John 1:14). He came to take away our sin and open our eyes. He came to rebuild the temple of God—not a temple of stone but a temple of human hearts. This new temple is far greater and far more splendid than anything Solomon could ever have built. It is the body of Christ, the dwelling place of God on this earth.
Tomorrow is Christmas, the day when God took a crucial step toward rebuilding the temple. When you see the baby Jesus tomorrow, make sure that you also see a master builder who is still at work in this world. That’s the one we are called to adore.
“Thank you, Lord, for being faithful to your promises! Jesus, I give you permission to come into my heart and turn it into a temple—a place where you, and you alone, are worshipped and adored.”
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