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Lectionary Research: Second Sunday after Christmas
Date: January 4, 2026
Liturgical Year: Year A
Liturgical Color: White
Liturgical Context
The Second Sunday after Christmas falls in the brief window between Christmas Day and the Epiphany of the Lord (January 6). We remain in the Christmas season—the liturgical color is white, and the themes of incarnation, light, and divine presence continue. This Sunday offers a contemplative pause before Epiphany shifts our focus to the revelation of Christ to the nations.
The Collect for the day captures this beautifully: “Almighty God, You have poured into our hearts the true Light of your incarnate Word. Grant that this Light may shine forth in our lives.” The unusual imagery of “pouring” light suggests something overflowing, abundant—grace upon grace.
For many congregations, attendance may be lighter in this post-Christmas lull. Those who come are often the faithful core. This provides an opportunity for deeper teaching on the profound theological claims of these readings.
First Reading: Jeremiah 31:7-14
For the LORD has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
Historical Context
This passage comes from the “Book of Comfort” (Jeremiah 30-33), a collection of oracles promising restoration after the devastating Babylonian exile. While chapters 1-29 prophesy judgment, chapters 30-33 pivot to hope. Jeremiah, who spent most of his ministry announcing destruction, here becomes a herald of homecoming.
The passage draws deeply from earlier prophetic tradition. Images of jubilant return, the physically challenged joining the procession, streams of water, and life “like a watered garden” echo Deutero- and Trito-Isaiah. From Hosea comes the intimate familial imagery: God as father to Israel, Ephraim as firstborn (verse 9).
Key Hebrew Terms
- הֶסֶד (hesed): God’s covenant faithfulness, often translated “steadfast love” or “lovingkindness”
- אַהֲבָה עוֹלָם (ahava olam): “Everlasting love” (31:3)—the eternal, unconditional nature of God’s affection
Lutheran Confessional Insights
The passage exemplifies the movement from Law to Gospel. Israel earned exile through covenant-breaking, yet God’s redemption comes not through Israel’s merit but through divine compassion. The initiative belongs entirely to God: “I will bring them… I will lead them… I will turn their mourning into joy.”
Luther’s theology of the cross resonates here. Those gathered include “the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor” (verse 8)—the weak and vulnerable whom the world discards. God’s redemptive work begins precisely where human capacity ends.
Connection to Christmas
The lectionary uses this text to celebrate “the abundance of gifts that flow from God’s gracious redemption.” The key word is “bounty” or “abundance” (verse 14). While Jeremiah 31 addresses Israel’s return from exile, it functions typologically as a foretaste of the greater homecoming accomplished in Christ’s incarnation. The exile from Eden finds its resolution in Emmanuel—God with us.
Psalm: Psalm 147:12-20
He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
Structure and Meaning
This psalm section exhibits a chiastic structure centering on weather phenomena:
- A: Praise the Lord (v. 12)
- B: God’s care for his people (vv. 12-14)
- C: God sends out the divine word (v. 15)
- D: Snow, wind, hail (vv. 16-17)
- C’: God sends out his word of power (vv. 18-19)
- B’: God’s unique care for his people (v. 20a)
- A’: Praise the Lord (v. 20b)
At the center stand the unexpected weather phenomena—snow like wool, frost like ashes, hail like morsels. These illustrate the effective power of God’s word in the surrounding verses.
The Word in Creation
The psalm unites creation and redemption as inseparable works of the one God. The same word that runs swiftly through the earth, commanding snow and melting ice, is the word given uniquely to Israel as Torah. Natural revelation and special revelation flow from the same divine source.
The snow imagery carries theological weight. Snow is “wild and uncontrollable… unexpected with huge consequences… remarkable and makes you take notice.” In Job 38:22-23, snow is a divine mystery. It serves here as a sign that God is “up to something.”
Connection to John’s Prologue
This psalm prepares for the Gospel reading beautifully. God’s word that creates, commands, and reveals in Psalm 147 becomes incarnate in John 1. The word that runs swiftly through the earth becomes the Word that dwells among us.
The thawing word (verse 18) has been read as a figure for the Gospel: converting grace that softens frozen hearts, as mysterious in its working as the wind itself (compare John 3:8).
Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14
He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.
The Cosmic Scope of Election
This magnificent sentence (in Greek, verses 3-14 form one continuous sentence) surveys salvation from eternity past to eternity future. The focus is not primarily on individual election but on God’s cosmic plan accomplished in Christ.
The passage moves in Trinitarian rhythm:
- The Father’s eternal purpose (vv. 3-6)
- The Son’s redemptive work (vv. 7-12)
- The Spirit’s sealing and guarantee (vv. 13-14)
Lutheran Confessional Teaching on Predestination
This passage requires careful pastoral handling. The Formula of Concord (Article XI) addresses election extensively, teaching that:
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Election is in Christ: We find our election not by speculation but by looking to Christ and his means of grace—Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, Absolution, and the preached Word.
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Election is comfort, not terror: “God gives you this glorious and comforting teaching of predestination, not for your fear and terror, but for your care and comfort.”
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Rejection of double predestination: Confessional Lutherans reject the Calvinist teaching that God predestines some to damnation.
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Rejection of intuitu fidei: Lutherans also reject the notion that God elects based on foreseen faith, as this still grounds salvation partly in human response.
The Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary resource captures it well: “Predestination challenges human logic. The sin-infested mind loves the logic of double-predestination, or intuitu fidei. Lutherans strive not to fall into either of those two ditches.”
The Gospel of Grace
The text rings with grace language:
- “blessed us in Christ” (v. 3)
- “chose us” (v. 4)
- “destined us for adoption” (v. 5)
- “freely bestowed on us” (v. 6)
- “the riches of his grace lavished on us” (vv. 7-8)
As one Lutheran preacher put it: “G-R-A-C-E: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.”
Pastoral Application
For a small town congregation, the comfort of election addresses deep pastoral needs: the fear of not being good enough, anxiety about salvation, uncertainty in the face of suffering. The doctrine teaches that before we existed, before we could do anything good or bad, God loved us and chose us in Christ.
Gospel: John 1:(1-9), 10-18
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Prologue’s Theological Weight
“It would be difficult to overstate the importance of this text in shaping Christian conceptions of Jesus’ divinity, the incarnation, and the Trinity.” John’s Prologue makes claims that no other Gospel opening approaches:
- Pre-existence: “In the beginning was the Word” (v. 1) pushes Christ’s existence back before creation itself
- Divinity: “the Word was God” (v. 1)—not merely divine, but God himself
- Creative agency: “All things came into being through him” (v. 3)
- Incarnation: “The Word became flesh” (v. 14)
The Meaning of Logos
The Greek term λόγος (logos) resists easy translation. “Word” captures only part of its meaning. In Hellenistic philosophy (especially Philo), logos represented the rational principle ordering the cosmos. For Hebrews, the Word was God’s creative power (Genesis 1) and revelatory speech.
John claims that this cosmic principle, this creative Word, this divine self-expression, became a particular human being at a particular time and place. The scandal is not merely that the divine became human, but that the transcendent Word entered so deeply into “our twisted affairs” that he endured humiliation and death.
”Dwelt Among Us”
The Greek ἐσκήνωσεν literally means “pitched his tent” or “tabernacled.” This evokes the wilderness tabernacle where God’s glory dwelt among Israel. The incarnation is not a divine visit but a divine dwelling. God takes up residence in human flesh.
Grace and Truth
“From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (v. 16). The construction suggests wave after wave of grace, one blessing following another. This abundance connects back to Jeremiah’s “bounty” and forward to the “riches of grace lavished on us” in Ephesians.
The phrase “grace and truth” (χάρις καὶ ἀλήθεια) likely translates the Hebrew pair “steadfast love and faithfulness” (hesed and emet)—the covenant attributes of God revealed at Sinai (Exodus 34:6). What Moses glimpsed partially, we now see fully in the incarnate Word.
Lutheran Emphasis
Luther and the Lutheran confessions emphasize the necessity of the incarnation. Jesus “came to save mankind so He had to take the place of man and become the substitute for man.” The incarnation is not merely revelation of God but redemptive substitution for humanity.
Thematic Connections Across the Readings
1. The Effective Word of God
All four readings emphasize God’s powerful, effective Word:
- Jeremiah: God’s word of promise brings the exiles home
- Psalm: God’s command runs swiftly through creation
- Ephesians: God’s plan, hidden for ages, is now revealed
- John: The Word that was God becomes flesh
This theme suits a small town Lutheran congregation where preaching and the Word remain central to faith and practice.
2. Abundance and Bounty
Each reading overflows with language of abundance:
- Jeremiah: grain, wine, oil, flocks, herds—“their life shall be like a watered garden”
- Psalm: God “fills you with the finest of wheat”
- Ephesians: “the riches of his grace that he lavished on us”
- John: “from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace”
In a culture of scarcity and anxiety, the Gospel announces divine superabundance.
3. God’s Initiative in Salvation
Across all readings, the emphasis falls on what God does, not what we do:
- Jeremiah: “I will bring them… I will lead them… I will turn”
- Psalm: “He sends out… he strengthens… he blesses”
- Ephesians: “He chose us… he destined us… he freely bestowed”
- John: “He gave them power to become children of God”
This is comfort for those who feel inadequate before God.
4. Community and Homecoming
The readings all imagine a gathered community:
- Jeremiah: the scattered remnant returns
- Psalm: Jerusalem praises her God together
- Ephesians: “we” are chosen and sealed
- John: “we have seen his glory… we have received”
Suggested Sermon/Blog Themes
Theme 1: “The Word That Comes Home”
Focus: The trajectory from exile to homecoming, from scattered to gathered
The exiles in Jeremiah longed for home. The Word that called them back became the Word that pitched his tent among us. Christmas is about God coming home to humanity—and bringing us home to himself.
Application for small town audience: Many in small communities know what it means to have children or grandchildren move away. The longing for gathering, for everyone to come home for Christmas, reflects a deeper spiritual longing that only Christ can fulfill.
Theme 2: “Chosen Before You Chose”
Focus: The comfort of election in Ephesians 1
Before you were born, before you decided anything, before you did anything good or bad—God chose you. This isn’t a doctrine for speculation but for comfort. When you doubt your faith, when you feel unworthy, remember: your salvation depends not on the strength of your grip on God but on the strength of God’s grip on you.
Application: In a culture that constantly evaluates performance, the Gospel announces that we are loved apart from performance. This frees us from both pride and despair.
Theme 3: “Grace Upon Grace”
Focus: The abundance of divine gifts in Christ
All the readings overflow with language of plenty. Against every impulse toward spiritual scarcity—“Am I good enough? Have I done enough? Do I believe enough?”—the Gospel answers with abundance. The Word became flesh to lavish grace upon us.
Application: Connect to Communion as the tangible experience of this abundance—the body and blood of Christ given “for you.”
Liturgical Considerations
Color and Environment
White continues from Christmas. Christmas decorations may still be in place, though some congregations begin simplifying before Epiphany.
Hymn Suggestions
- “Of the Father’s Love Begotten” (LSB 384)—beautifully expresses the eternal generation of the Son
- “The Word Made Flesh” (themes from John 1)
- “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” (v. 2: “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see”)
- “Songs of Thankfulness and Praise” (looking toward Epiphany)
Creed Connection
The Nicene Creed’s language about Christ (“God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God”) echoes John’s Prologue directly. Consider briefly highlighting this connection.
The Transition to Epiphany
January 6 falls on Tuesday. Some congregations will observe Epiphany on this Second Sunday after Christmas. If so, the readings would shift to Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14, Ephesians 3:1-12, and Matthew 2:1-12. Clarify which observance your congregation follows.