Living the Questions

Fulfilling and Filling Full

During this season of Advent and Christmas, read the birth narratives in Matthew and Luke. You will notice the numerous citations from the Hebrew scriptures that are said to be “fulfilled” in the birth of Jesus. For example, in Matthew 1:22 we read: “All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophets: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.’ Which means ‘God with us.’”

I have been thinking about what it means to fulfill something.

Traditionally, in religious circles, fulfillment is a coming to fruition of a prediction or a deliverance on an expectation. For Christians, it is taken for granted that Jesus “fulfilled” the generational longing of the Jewish people for a Messiah. It is THE answer to the question; a one-way completion of a hoped-for outcome. There is only one way to interpret the passages and Christians have the right answer.

Yet does “to fulfill” only mean a single, direct cause and effect culmination of an expectation. Is there only one right interpretation, one correct answer? As my friend Tom once said to me; “Do they have to be wrong for us to be right?”

Yes, the Hebrew scriptures are full of longing and expectation. The Jews who are in exile want to return to Jerusalem. There is a yearning for someone from the “root of Jesse” (King David’s father) to become king and restore the fortunes of Zion. The famous passage from Isaiah (7:14 – written centuries before the birth of Jesus) that Matthew quotes to “prove” that Jesus is ‘Emmanuel’ does not hold the same gravitas for Judaism. For Jewish commentators the “alma” (maiden) of virginal status, who is pregnant with a child to be named Emmanuel, is a contemporary of Isaiah. The prophecy is being fulfilled. The maiden and child are a sign that the exiled Jews will be home soon.

Another set of texts that have become crucial to Christian identity are the famous passages that describe a “suffering servant.” (Isaiah 42:1-4,49:1-6, 50:4-11, 52:13-53:12). Christians believe that Jesus fulfilled these expectations. Jesus was the Suffering Servant. Indeed, when you read the passages from Isaiah and then read the New Testament accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus you can see the connections. And yet, when you talk to rabbis and Jewish biblical scholars, they would contend that the “Suffering Servant” is not one person who will appear in the distant future but rather a collective personification of the “children of Israel” who were, at the time of Isaiah, suffering in Babylon.

Is it a question of which faith tradition has the one right interpretation? I don’t think so. Rather, we need to rethink what “fulfill” and “fulfillment” might mean. Take the word “fulfill” and separate the two words that combine to make one word: “full” and “fill.” Perhaps a better way of understanding what the word “fulfill” can mean is by switching the order of the two words. Now you have “fill-full” – one passage can be filled full of meaning: different, rich, abundant, multiple “true” meanings. Each generation can add to the fulness! For Christians, Jesus is the baby that reveals God’s gracious intentions for the world; but not at the expense of what Jews believe. For Jews, the figure of the suffering servant has been filled full of meaning again and again through the centuries as Jews have been victims of horrific evil (exile, pogroms, persecution and in the Shoah) often at the hands of Christians. Yet, this historical reality does not take away the power of what Jesus represents and is for those who believe in him as the Christ.

I think always assuming that there is only one answer to apparent binary choices is hurtful and closes off a multitude of ways to celebrate new meanings for new generations.

How might the hope of Christmas be fulfilled in you? Even in this present disruptive and divisive age, where are you filled full of expectation and hope? Will you let your place of filled-fullness lead you to acts of love and hope? For me, these are the most important questions.

Happy Hanukah, Merry Christmas, Heri za Kwanzaa, Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year!

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I want to thank my friend Professor Timothy Beal for first bringing to my attention the fresh way of thinking about full-fill and fill-full.

Next month I will be in the high desert of New Mexico. It will be interesting to see how that sacred space shapes my living of the questions.