Revisiting Redemption
By April Hoelke Simpson
First Sunday after Christmas Day
Salvation. Vindication. Redemption. These are the sentiments that burst off the pages of this week’s scripture readings. The words of Paul in Galatians are a beautiful reminder of how personal redemption is. “You,” Paul says to his Galatian audience—and in light of the canonization of his letter, to all Christians ever since—“are children” who house the Spirit of God’s Son (Gal. 4:6). What good news indeed!
But the good news of the Gospel does not stop there. Writing about the birth of Jesus, Luke’s author says that it is good news for those eagerly anticipating the “consolation of Israel” (Luke 2:25). The devout man Simeon links the birth of Jesus with God’s salvation, which is “for glory to your people Israel” (2:30–32), and the prophet Anna speaks about the child to all who are longing for the “redemption of Jerusalem” (2:38). Yes, the good news of Jesus is about personal redemption, but it’s also decidedly about something communal, something political, as well.
Writers such as Luke were not the first to envision God’s salvific intervention in the world as both personal and political (and this should not surprise us, as US culture today is far more individualistic than was life in an ancient Jewish or Greco-Roman context). The author of Third Isaiah (Isaiah 55–66) writes of being “clothed” by God “with the garments of salvation” (61:10), but then insists that he won’t rest or be silent “for Jerusalem’s sake” until the city’s vindication is so clear that it radiates, to be seen by all the nations (62:1–2).
Third Isaiah was composed during the Second Temple Period, not long after the Babylonian Exile. This period of Judah’s history is characterized by foreign domination, when the people were subject to foreign rule. Consequently, the literature reflects a longing to see the nation’s power restored. Similarly, when the Gospel of Luke was composed, the Jews were under the foreign rule of Rome. Yet again, the context of foreign domination leads to a longing in the literature for the nation’s restoration to its previous splendor. Luke’s author envisions the birth of Jesus as the sign that God is up to this very task. The good news of the Gospel is good news for the nation, not just for individuals.
On the other hand, it’s complicated. In Luke 2, Simeon also prophesies that Jesus will be a source of division among the Jewish people. He speaks of tensions in violent terms, whether the reference is to literal or metaphorical violence (2:34–35). This part of Simeon’s prophecy suggests that the world is not entirely as it should be, despite the coming glory of God’s work.
I cannot read these scriptures, with their political and spiritual hopes for the people of Israel and the city of Jerusalem, without thinking about the state of affairs in Israel today. The desire for glory, vindication, and political redemption matches some present-day sentiments concerning the modern State of Israel. Of course, modern and ancient political affairs do not have a one-to-one correlation, and reading biblical texts as if they do is a dangerous affair. Our biblical authors’ hopes for Israel’s restoration are not license for unreflective support of a 21st-century government and its actions.
Although we should avoid readings that map directly onto present international relations, it is possible for these texts to invite reflection upon the ways that oppression of the Jewish people is, tragically, not a mere matter of ancient history. Even more tragically, throughout history, violent anti-Jewish acts have often been spearheaded by Christians. From this perspective, the cries for Jerusalem’s renewed glory resonate beyond the contexts of the Babylonian, Persian, and Roman empires. It is no wonder that this desire for restoration lives on and is linked to the land at the heart of the Jewish sacred story. But instead of using Luke 2 and similar passages as prooftexts that mean the Israeli government must be supported at all costs, perhaps Christians can read them as a call to acknowledge the Christian heritage of anti-Jewish oppression that remains stubbornly ingrained in individuals and societies today. Where have we actively or passively perpetuated anti-Jewish harm in our societies (from misguided stereotypes to outright individual and structural violence)?
It is also possible to consider the longing of these texts—for salvation, vindication, and redemption—as a reminder that oppression in all its forms must be rejected. This includes the oppression of Palestinians over the past three quarters of a century. The fourth text for today is Psalm 148, a text that praises God over and over from the perspective of all created entities. In a world that is as it should be, like the world called for in Psalm 148, how can the oppression of any individual or group ever be justified? It cannot.
In this liturgical season of Christmas, the church celebrates the birth of Jesus and the good news that God is acting to end oppressive structures in the world. May this be our action too.