Author Archives: Deacon Chris

O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.

The Messiah to come would be born through a different lineage than most would have imagined. God would bring the Anointed One through the line of Judah.

We must remember that Judaism possesses a hereditary priesthood. The priestly line comes only from the sons of Levi (known as Levites) and the high priests must further be in the direct lineage of Aaron (known as kohains). This is the case even to this day.

(at right is shown a Jesse Tree)

But God would not call the Eternal High Priest from this sort of line — the Messiah would come from the stump of Jesse. The Messiah would decend from the line of Judah, from the line of David.

Kinda different than what one would expect, isn’t it? Just like I mentioned yesterday – this God is a different God, an unexpected God, a God that does things differently.

In the Psalter we often hear “you are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.” A better translation of the text would read “you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” Why the distinction? Because Christ the High Priest would come not as a kohain, but in a different way.

(at left is shown the garments of the High Priest (“Kohain Gadol” in Hebrew)

Jesus isn’t a Melchizedek-ian priest – he doesn’t belong to the “line of Melchizedek;” rather, what God was demonstrating was that the very essence of the High Priesthood would come not through the priestly line, but in a different way – just as the non-Jewish Melchizedek offered sacrifice to our God Most High.

Thank you, God Most High – for bringing our salvation to us in unexpected ways, in mysterious ways — in short, in different ways.

O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.

Theophany is a theological term that describes a special manifestation of God – the sort of first-person kind of encounter that Moses experienced. Today’s O Antiphon harkens back to that mysterious event.

God reveals himself to us gradually over time. Just as we considered the life-breath of God, ruah, yesterday – the originating breath that began all life – today’s antiphon reveals the first theophany. It also recalls the Law Giver to whom He revealed himself, and differentiates this God from all the other gods of the near middle-east.

Our God is a jealous God, our God is a singular God, our God chooses a disheveled, wandering lot as His own people. He is not like any of the gods of Egypt, or Sumer, or Assyria, or Mesopotamia or Persia or Greece. This God is so very different.

How different? We will come to see the differences over the next days as the antiphons continue.

Let our prayer this evening be one that Moses prayed himself – and let us pray it in the language he used:

Sh’ma Yisrael Adonai Elohaynu Adonai Echad
(Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One)
Barukh Shem k’vod malkhuto l’olam va-ed
(Blessed is the Name of His glorious kingdom now and forever)

On the 17th of December during the Liturgy of the Hours (Vespers, also called Evening Prayer) the Church begins the series of “O Antiphons” that we encounter each Advent. On these hallowed evenings I will write a short reflection for the current antiphon. Some may not know that the hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel is a musical composition of the O Antiphons.

O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.

The Wisdom of God is prevalent throughout the Sacred Scriptures in many locations, including the obvious ones such as the Book of Wisdom, as well as many references to the Holy Spirit, and to the life breath of God – ruah in Hebrew. An example of ruah can be found in Genesis when God breathed his life-force into Adam.

The Greek word for wisdom is sophia – and the finest Church in the East was dedicated to Holy Wisdom, Hagia Sophia in the city that was formerly known as Constantinople or Byzantium, or currently Istanbul in present-day Turkey.

(Here is a photo of this marvelous Byzantine Church and architectural wonder)


Let us pray for the day when the Wisdom of Allah will inspire Muslims to return this beautiful Church back to Eastern Christians.

For that matter, let us pray each day that the Holy Spirit would fill us and direct us and guide our every activity.

On this holy evening – the Holy Spirit should be the focus and attention of our prayer, our thoughts and our movements. The day of the Messiah draws near – make straight the pathway, prepare for Him with devotion, dedication and joyful hope!