😇 Advent 1

Readings: Isaiah 2:1-5;Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44. *Full, free access at https://pewpewhq.com/formation/a1-a.

Central Thesis/Theme: The Advent season inaugurates a new way of seeing humanity itself—the "son of man" as both ordinary human and harbinger of radical transformation. This first Sunday reintroduces the lectionary cycle not as institutional prescription but as framework for discovering what Scripture says when freed from calcified interpretation and enforcement of meaning.

Key Textual/Historical Insights: The Septuagint provides our earliest textual witness, predating the Masoretic text by centuries and representing what Jesus and the earliest Christian community likely read. Isaiah's "word of Yahweh" emanating from Jerusalem connects to John's Logos—divine communication that judges (convicts, brings to trial) rather than simply condemns. The Psalm's Hebrew root for "throne" (kisê/kasa) carries connotations of concealment, not Solomon's ostentatious throne room. Romans 13's "rulers" (al) signifies those who set standards and examples, distinct from those who lord over (radha). The "son of man" in Matthew echoes ben adam—child of earth, ordinary human—language Jesus employs to simultaneously claim and democratize messianic expectation.

Theological Argument: Advent announces something emerging from below, not imposed from above. Like the judges of Israel who arose charismatically in response to oppression, transformation comes through ordinary humanity when systems calcify. The Hebrew prophetic imagination offers "logic incarnate"—of course charlatans on thrones will be challenged, of course new language will route around enforced meanings, of course salvation comes through the unexpected.

Contemporary Application: Language belongs to the people, not to those who sell dictionaries and enforce definitions. When institutional interpretation becomes weaponized control, faith must be "federated"—distributed, accessible, belonging to the many rather than monopolized by the few. The Marshall hermeneutic reads Scripture as everyman/everywoman, privileging the grunt's perspective over the officer class, the scraps over the cool kids' table.

Questions Raised: How does beginning with the Septuagint rather than Masoretic text reshape our reading? What does it mean that Jesus identifies with "son of man"—ordinary humanity—rather than royal messianism? How do we distinguish between confidence and arrogance when claiming interpretive authority outside institutional ordination?