He sent a strong messianic signal

The first prophecy on which we should meditate during Advent evokes the time of the coming of the Messiah. It is found in Genesis (Gen 49:1-10), when Jacob, son of Isaac, blesses his own sons before he dies. "Gather around me so I can tell you what will happen to you in the future." He continued: "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor."

This passage, which has always been understood by scholars of Israel in a messianic sense, takes on a new significance at the time of the Virgin, after Herod I was appointed king of Judea, putting an end to the Jewish Hasmonean dynasty. Judea became a vassal province of Rome and remained so until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

With the ascension of Herod I, authority passed to the Romans and the messianic sign was fulfilled, since it is at the time of the Messiah that the scepter was permanently taken away from Judah. The Jews were correct in their answer to Pilate at the trial of Christ: "We have no king but Caesar" (Jn 19:15).

The "Foi Chrétienne" (Christian Faith) Team