Advent 2: The Key of David
We continue today with our Advent series on the Antiphons (def.). Last Sunday we looked at Jesus as Lord of Lords, drawing together two of His names - O Sapientia (Wisdom – there from the creation of the world) and O Adonai (Lord). Today we draw on two more names – O Root of Jesse and O Key of David – focussing primarily on O Key of David.
O Root of Jesse
Jesse was King David’s father – so he was one of Jesus’ ancestors. This is clear from the genealogy in Matthew chapter 1 – Jesse appears in vv.5 and 6. Normally genealogies are depicted as trees, where the root is the first person, and all subsequent descendents are drawn on as branches of that root. Do genealogy of someone in the congregation.
Calling Jesus root of Jesse instead of branch, which is what He was humanly speaking, is like using God’s description of Himself to Moses at the miraculously burning bush in Exodux 3 – ‘I am who I am’. It is saying, ‘Before Jesse was I am. I am the root, the origin of all, the one who was and is and is to come. I am!’
O Key of David
What do ‘keys’ do? [answers] They open things!
Bag of ‘keys’
My keys allow me to get into church, get into the safe at church to take out the chalices for communion, open my car, lock up my bike, get into my house, find out how well my gym workout has gone, etc. Pins are also keys, because they make it possible to access accounts – they open the way to draw money out, for example. Keys on maps open our understanding – they are more than clues! Keys open things! But keys are usually very personal – they are meant to keep out as much as to let in – to lock as well as open. Sometimes it is the identity of the person themselves that is the key to let that person in – movies where fingerprints and iris recognition open the doors.
Keys are about ownership and trust. Only owners have keys – or those whom they trust enough to give the keys to. In the royal courts of the OT, these would have been the palace stewards.
In the passage from Isaiah we have a contrast between the bad steward and the good steward. Shebna, the bad steward, was ambition exemplified. He wanted to use the position of power that he had as keeper of the palace’s keys to build himself up. He wanted to provide an enormous grave for himself that would ensure he was remembered. In fact, there is a tomb that is widely believed to be his in Jerusalem. But a good steward or servant (because that is really what a steward is) does not look out for his own interests – he is responsible for ensuring the interests of his master. So King Hezekiah replaced Shebna, fulfilling the prophecy against him that we heard this morning. V.20 of that passage makes it clear that the person to replace Shebna would be Eliakim son of Hilkiah. He is called ‘my servant’ in the prophecy, meaning God’s servant. And because of his faithfulness – meaning that he is one to do God’s will and not fight to fulfil his own ambitions – he would be blessed. He would use his position of authority to lovingly care for others – as the passage says, to be a ‘father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.’ All that was Shebna’s would be his, including the ‘key to the house of David’. It goes on to say that ‘what he opens no-one can shut, and what he shuts no-one can open.’
This is where the prophecy, like so many OT prophecies, becomes double-pronged. The ‘Servant of the Lord’ was a commonly understood OT picture of the Messiah. The Servant of the Lord would bring judgement, dividing the righteous from the unrighteous, opening the way for every obedient servant of the Lord to enter into the presence of God as glorious King and ruler of all. Here the line between the specific prophecy that we know to be already fulfilled, and that of the prophecy referring to the Messiah becomes blurred – or maybe, clear! The Messiah is the one who will have the authority to use the keys of the kingdom to open and shut according to God’s will, because he alone is the righteous servant.
Today we remember that John the Baptist prepared the way for the coming of the Lord, Jesus, that righteous servant, with his baptism of repentance. Jesus is the WAY, He is the KEY that opens the way to God the Father. Philippians 2 makes clear that Jesus exemplifies the servant who gives up all claims to Himself, emptying himself for our sakes in response to God’s will. He has no personal ambition, because his identity is tied up with the knowledge that he is one with God the Father. It is enough for a servant to do his/her master’s will! And the ‘trusted’ servant always does his/her master’s will. The key that expresses a trusted relationship between master and servant, is more than something we hold in our hands - it is inherent in the identity of the person. So as we hold onto Jesus, He is our key – it is He who opens up the way for us to enter into the loving presence of and into loving relationship with God. The imprint of His identity by his Spirit in us allows that identity to open the way, just as fingerprints and irises do, to go into that inner place of intimacy with God who loves you and me.
Describe what that might mean.
The thief breaks in and steals – the real shepherd goes in by the door, because only He has the KEY. He IS the key, the way, the door – only the one who is the real Servant can be trusted with God’s sheep.
In choosing the name of O Key of David for Jesus, the antiphon is drawing on that OT picture of the Messiah as the ‘Servant of the Lord’ – the keeper of the keys, the housekeeper, and the one who opens the door. The Servant is the one who does God’s will. During this period of penitence, as we approach the memory of Jesus’ coming in all humility as a baby, as one of us, let us repent of all disobedience, depending on God’s mercy to help us as we turn to Him, our Saviour, Master and Lord of Lords. AMEN.