5 to 7 minutes they said... That’s how long you will have to tell people about the Christmas message. But Christmas is central to the Bible story, sitting right in the middle of the narrative of the people of God. The Bible with its 66 books, 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament, written by many authors over millennia, tell us about the people of God and the struggles they had in living out the promise that God had for them, particularly in the time before Jesus was born (B.C. – Before Christ), and the events that occurred after Jesus was born (A.D. - Anno Domini, 'in the year of our Lord').
You have already bought the DVD'S from the latest movie releases when you went to TESCO to do the weekly shop, and you can stream any music you want, anytime of the day, so no need to buy the latest album. So, what do you buy someone who already has many of the things you think of buying them, and yet you want the gift to have more meaning to them, than yet another Yankee Candle or cosmetics set?
Buying gifts and receiving them from people, is an important part of the Christmas tradition because of the Gift of Jesus to the world. Gift giving is an important part of my expression of love because it is one of the 'love' languages I identified with, in Gary Chapman's book,
‘The
Five Love Languages.' You can identify your main love language by completing an online survey...
I can remember one year when a friend of mine took my son and I, to visit the ''Bond, James Bond,' exhibition in Covent Garden in London. In the gift shop there was this fantastic illustrated book with the story behind each movie, the history of the writer, Ian Fleming, story boards, artefacts and of course, the cars and gadgets. The book was hundreds of pounds in value yet a year later, in a discount bookstore in the high street, that same book was being sold for a fraction of the price. So I said to my wife, '''That's it... That's the book we looked at in the Bond exhibition. I'm buying that for Neil." What I didn't know is that because the bookstore was a chain, Neil had seen the same book as I had, and had had the same idea. So on Christmas Day when we opened each others presents, it was obvious from the shape, size and weight, that we had bought each other the same gift.
There is also the negative side to the gifts you might want to buy because they are simply too expensive. Another worry is that the gift you have invested emotional energy in choosing, might not be well received... Both concerns reveal aspects of the commercialisation of Christmas that is distasteful and dare I say, reveals the heart of those receiving the gift as much as the gift giver. We even have a tradition now of giving gift receipts so that if you don't like the gift you have been chosen, you can take it back and 'buy-what-you-want'.
Christians often attribute the birth of Jesus, in the town of Bethlehem, the same birthplace as that of King David (1 Samuel 16:1), whose bloodline Jesus shares through his mother Mary and his earthly father Joseph, as a gift given to humanity: bringing new life to the world. King David, born in 957 BC, secured the Kingdom of Israel, established its borders and defended the territory of the land promised to his ancestor Abraham.
Indeed, such was the bloodshed David endured to win the land, that he was considered by God to lack the spiritual holiness necessary to build the temple of God in Jerusalem. This task was given to David's son Solomon instead, who was blessed by God for asking for wisdom to lead the people of Israel in this time of peace. And so, as the story goes, the nation of Israel became wealthy and prosperous under Solomon, but it wasn't to last.
There is an old English phrase we use: 'pride comes before a fall' which sums up what happens to the nation of Israel after the building of the original temple in Jerusalem and it's later destruction. There are moments when the old glory is restored, as in the rebuilding of the temple led by Zerubabel in 522 BC, but the nation of Israel never returned to the opulence of Solomon.
In fact, the phrase 'pride comes before a fall' is not English at all, but an old Hebrew proverb written by King Solomon himself (Proverbs 16:18). By the end of King Solomon's reign, he had lost his direction and his relationship with God to such an extent that when Solomon's son, Rehoboam, took over from Solomon, he was rejected by 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel as King, splitting the united nation of Israel into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah.
What is significant to Christmas about these historic events, is the occasion of a visit to Solomon by the Queen of Sheba. Drawn to Solomon by the stories of his wealth, prestige and wisdom, she wanted to see for herself, the palace and the temple he had built for God, and test Solomon's wisdom through a series of questions. It is traditional that a visiting dignitary, even a Queen, would offer their host a gift in recognition of their hospitality and status. Indeed, you can visit an exhibition in Buckingham Palace to view the gifts given to Queen Elizabeth ll during her reign in the UK.
The tradition of bringing gifts to a King is also reflected in the Christmas Story through the arrival of Magi or wise men in the nativity story, bearing gifts for the new baby. We give gifts to one another at Christmas, as the Magi did, because we recognise that Jesus is a gift from God to humanity.
The Magi were Arabic astrologers whom some scholars believe, were wise men who travelled to find Jesus from the same region of Persia that the Queen of Sheba originated. It would appear that the Magi possessed knowledge of the wisdom of Solomon and knew some of the prophetic words that were spoken of a coming Messiah, born in the town of David (Micah 5:2).
Now the Magi don't know at this point, the exact place for Jesus' birth, as we read from Matthew's Gospel, chapter 2. They only find out the exact location for the birth of Jesus from King Herod. The Magi had followed the star they had seen rise in the East, to Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, ruled by King Herod, because their knowledge of Jewish culture and tradition based on historical record, would have pointed them towards the city, as an obvious location for the birth of a king.
Before we get too far in the story, let's consider why the Magi started out looking for revelation through the constellations of the stars. At the beginning, the Magi observe an unusual star in the sky. There is no definitive astronomical answer to why the star suddenly appeared or even if the appearance of the star was a special one-off event. If it was a star, how did it move? A moving star might suggest a comet, rather than a star but this is often dismissed by astronomers due to the chronology of known comets and the date of the Magi's visit. Some suggest it may have been a planetary event where Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn align, forming a distinctive light not previously seen by the Magi. Or it could simply be that the star was indeed the planet Venus itself, which is regularly visible as a crescent in the sky, at sunrise and sunset, during late autumn and early winter.
Whatever the phenomenon was, the magi believed the star to be a sign of an ancient Hebrew prophecy about a 'King of Kings' being born (Numbers 24). They followed the star and journeyed to where they felt the star settled, above a small town called Bethlehem, the town that Jesus' ancestor David was born, in the region of Judea (modern day Palestine).
Bethlehem means 'city of bread' in ancient Hebrew, with Jesus often referring to himself as ''the bread of life:
Another interesting angle about the Magi is that they are also referenced as having a link to the ancient Babylonian Empire (located 60 miles from present day Baghdad in Iraq), where the Jewish people existed in exile in Babylon, after Jerusalem is 'sacked' by King Nebuchadnezzar (603 BC). Part of the subjugation of the King was to take the conquered people to Babylon for instruction in the values and custom of the nation. This was considered to be the fastest way for 'foreigner's' in the land, to adopt the new way of life the Israelites now had to endure, particularly in the worship of false gods, and respecting the sovereignty of a foreign king.
Nebuchadnezzar had a dream one evening and finds himself troubled by the memory of it. He calls for 'wise men' to help him interpret the dream but they cannot help him, except for a refugee from Judah, named Daniel (Daniel 2).
Now the story gets a bit weird because we need to go much further back in history to the book of Numbers, written in 1400 BC by Moses, where we encounter a man called Balaam and his talking donkey... you read it here first. Now I know that Shrek has a talking donkey but bear with me. Balaam is a wise man, soothsayer and conjurer, contracted to curse the Israelite people to prevent them from settling in the land that wasn't their own. On the way down to meet with the Israelite's, God uses Balaam's donkey to tell him to bless Israel, rather than curse them.
It is believed that Balaam's skills made him influential in royal courts who used people like him as advisers. Drawing together the stories from the book of Numbers in the Old Testament and the later story in the book of Daniel, Balaam could have been an ancestor for the wise men who tried to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar''s dream and the Magi who visited Jesus. The link is further substantiated by the geographical location of these events separated only by history.
The association of Balaam to the region near Babylon (modern day Iraq), the lands of Moab, the Amorites and the Edomites, (Modern day Jordan) and the story in Daniel, is an insight into the ancestors of the magi and the historicity behind the understanding they might have had in interpreting the prophecies associated with Jesus' birth, and why the Magi are compelled to set out on their journey to Bethlehem.
We dig deep into the Old Testament stories because Christians believe in what is know as the Biblical Meta-narrative. If we look at the Bible as a whole story, answers are revealed by God through the narrative of the Bible which is why, when I was told I had 5 to 7 mins to tell people about the gift of Christmas, I didn't know where to begin.
This story about Balaam reveals a small insight into the connection in the Bible between different events across history. The reasons behind why the Magi followed the star, are referenced in the Bible through Balaam, 1400 years before a future event. Although this could only be conjecture, it is compelling:
This paragraph is a prophetic insight by Balaam because it references the Israelite's current situation in Moab, travelling through foreign lands, trying to get to the promised land. It also refers to the location of a future event that will happen when Israel is finally settled in the promised land, with the emergence of someone who will rule over their enemies now and at a future point - a descendent: I see him, but not now.
If Balaam was indeed an ancestor of the Magi and a potential source behind why they were even looking for a sign in the stars, it would explain why, on noticing the star in the East, that the wise men got up from their study and travelled to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was where King Solomon built the temple and where the Queen of Sheba had knowledge of the location for the birth of the King of the Jews. The Magi receive further instructions from King Herod's advisors for the likelihood of the birthplace for Jesus, and head to Bethlehem. Herod's advisors identified from Micah 5:2, that Bethlehem, the birthplace of King David, was the place for the birth of a King:
During the time that the Israelite's were exiled in Babylon, Daniel would have added to the Babylonians knowledge of Yahweh, the Hebrew God, and taught them of the nature and purposes of the Jewish people. The evidence for this is that Daniel became an influential person in Babylon after interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream, building around him, a group of wise men seeking to preserve the Jewish teachings while in exile. These wise men followed on from what Balaam and Daniel taught them, becoming the Magi we read about in the Nativity Story.
Jesus wasn't simply a gift given to the nation of Israel so that he could rescue them from the terrible Romans, rather, he is the Saviour of the whole world - what greater gift could you hope for at Christmas?
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
'How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?' The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God' (Luke 1:38, NLT)
If there was a 'Big-Bang' at the beginning of our universe, the logical thought would be that energy, with the ability to create physical elements, is transformed into the agents necessary for the creation of our known universe by some kind of reaction - a trigger point in time. Just as we understand the mechanics of conception, there similarly has to be a cause or flash point between the elements required for life or nothing will happen.
Hawking suggests that this doesn't have to be so in this quote. He asserts that life can come from nothing. If one of the greatest minds of our generation is able to make the assertion of faith, then surely it is less risky to believe that a loving, all powerful creator could instigate an immaculate conception, in order to save the world...
If we are to accept that matter can come from nothing and believe as Hawking would suggest, in a 'virgin' birth for the universe: getting something from nothing, we can also believe that God can also do the miraculous. We can believe in the virgin birth: Of a God who loves us so deeply that... he gave us his Only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16, NLT). The Bible states that Jesus "became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14, NLT).
'How can I tell people about the meaning of Christmas in 5 minutes, when Jesus' birth transformed the course of time?'As I was musing on this and looking through the mornings social media, I spotted a meme on Facebook, which for a man of a certain age, symbolises the types of gift we expect to get given, when all other ideas about what we might like for Christmas, have been exhausted...
#The trouble with buying presents for those you love, is that it can get trickier to find a genuinely unique gift each year of your relationship, as you both get older and you have exhausted all the other interests they have...
Phone contracts renew themselves when the time comes, so you can't really surprise people with some new technology. Computer games are often streamed during the year with in-app purchases to keep
the game fresh. There may still be some perfume from last year's bottle remaining, and you can only wear one set of ear rings at a time (unless you have multiple piercings of course...)
You have already bought the DVD'S from the latest movie releases when you went to TESCO to do the weekly shop, and you can stream any music you want, anytime of the day, so no need to buy the latest album. So, what do you buy someone who already has many of the things you think of buying them, and yet you want the gift to have more meaning to them, than yet another Yankee Candle or cosmetics set?
Buying gifts and receiving them from people, is an important part of the Christmas tradition because of the Gift of Jesus to the world. Gift giving is an important part of my expression of love because it is one of the 'love' languages I identified with, in Gary Chapman's book,
‘The
Five Love Languages.' You can identify your main love language by completing an online survey...
I like to spoil my family with unexpected gifts or at least try to be generous with what I buy. For me, giving a gift reveals the thoughtfulness that the gift giver has for you: it demonstrates how well they know you. Giving gifts means you have spent time thinking, planning and purchasing that perfect item, which reflects the recipients character and personality, and in choosing the gift, you reveal the love you have for that person.
I can remember one year when a friend of mine took my son and I, to visit the ''Bond, James Bond,' exhibition in Covent Garden in London. In the gift shop there was this fantastic illustrated book with the story behind each movie, the history of the writer, Ian Fleming, story boards, artefacts and of course, the cars and gadgets. The book was hundreds of pounds in value yet a year later, in a discount bookstore in the high street, that same book was being sold for a fraction of the price. So I said to my wife, '''That's it... That's the book we looked at in the Bond exhibition. I'm buying that for Neil." What I didn't know is that because the bookstore was a chain, Neil had seen the same book as I had, and had had the same idea. So on Christmas Day when we opened each others presents, it was obvious from the shape, size and weight, that we had bought each other the same gift.
There is also the negative side to the gifts you might want to buy because they are simply too expensive. Another worry is that the gift you have invested emotional energy in choosing, might not be well received... Both concerns reveal aspects of the commercialisation of Christmas that is distasteful and dare I say, reveals the heart of those receiving the gift as much as the gift giver. We even have a tradition now of giving gift receipts so that if you don't like the gift you have been chosen, you can take it back and 'buy-what-you-want'.
Christians often attribute the birth of Jesus, in the town of Bethlehem, the same birthplace as that of King David (1 Samuel 16:1), whose bloodline Jesus shares through his mother Mary and his earthly father Joseph, as a gift given to humanity: bringing new life to the world. King David, born in 957 BC, secured the Kingdom of Israel, established its borders and defended the territory of the land promised to his ancestor Abraham.
Indeed, such was the bloodshed David endured to win the land, that he was considered by God to lack the spiritual holiness necessary to build the temple of God in Jerusalem. This task was given to David's son Solomon instead, who was blessed by God for asking for wisdom to lead the people of Israel in this time of peace. And so, as the story goes, the nation of Israel became wealthy and prosperous under Solomon, but it wasn't to last.
There is an old English phrase we use: 'pride comes before a fall' which sums up what happens to the nation of Israel after the building of the original temple in Jerusalem and it's later destruction. There are moments when the old glory is restored, as in the rebuilding of the temple led by Zerubabel in 522 BC, but the nation of Israel never returned to the opulence of Solomon.
In fact, the phrase 'pride comes before a fall' is not English at all, but an old Hebrew proverb written by King Solomon himself (Proverbs 16:18). By the end of King Solomon's reign, he had lost his direction and his relationship with God to such an extent that when Solomon's son, Rehoboam, took over from Solomon, he was rejected by 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel as King, splitting the united nation of Israel into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah.
What is significant to Christmas about these historic events, is the occasion of a visit to Solomon by the Queen of Sheba. Drawn to Solomon by the stories of his wealth, prestige and wisdom, she wanted to see for herself, the palace and the temple he had built for God, and test Solomon's wisdom through a series of questions. It is traditional that a visiting dignitary, even a Queen, would offer their host a gift in recognition of their hospitality and status. Indeed, you can visit an exhibition in Buckingham Palace to view the gifts given to Queen Elizabeth ll during her reign in the UK.
The tradition of bringing gifts to a King is also reflected in the Christmas Story through the arrival of Magi or wise men in the nativity story, bearing gifts for the new baby. We give gifts to one another at Christmas, as the Magi did, because we recognise that Jesus is a gift from God to humanity.
 |
| The Persian Empire, home of the Queen of Sheba and the Magi |
Now the Magi don't know at this point, the exact place for Jesus' birth, as we read from Matthew's Gospel, chapter 2. They only find out the exact location for the birth of Jesus from King Herod. The Magi had followed the star they had seen rise in the East, to Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, ruled by King Herod, because their knowledge of Jewish culture and tradition based on historical record, would have pointed them towards the city, as an obvious location for the birth of a king.
Before we get too far in the story, let's consider why the Magi started out looking for revelation through the constellations of the stars. At the beginning, the Magi observe an unusual star in the sky. There is no definitive astronomical answer to why the star suddenly appeared or even if the appearance of the star was a special one-off event. If it was a star, how did it move? A moving star might suggest a comet, rather than a star but this is often dismissed by astronomers due to the chronology of known comets and the date of the Magi's visit. Some suggest it may have been a planetary event where Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn align, forming a distinctive light not previously seen by the Magi. Or it could simply be that the star was indeed the planet Venus itself, which is regularly visible as a crescent in the sky, at sunrise and sunset, during late autumn and early winter.
Whatever the phenomenon was, the magi believed the star to be a sign of an ancient Hebrew prophecy about a 'King of Kings' being born (Numbers 24). They followed the star and journeyed to where they felt the star settled, above a small town called Bethlehem, the town that Jesus' ancestor David was born, in the region of Judea (modern day Palestine).
Bethlehem means 'city of bread' in ancient Hebrew, with Jesus often referring to himself as ''the bread of life:
Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35 NLT)The Magi believed that one 'King above of all Kings' would be born in the place where the star came to rest, and so they find Mary and Joseph in the town of Bethlehem, caring for a new born baby.
#SPOILER ALERT Matthew's gospel have Mary and Joseph living in a house at this point in the story and not in the traditional stable or inn (Matthew 2:11).Believing that the prophecy they had read about, had come true, the Magi had brought with them gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh: Gold symbolised the wealth of a royal child; Frankincense was an anointing oil used to identify the King and set him apart for the purpose God intended (it was also burned as incense) and finally Myrrh was a balm used to preserve and soothe the skin, also used in the practice of preparing a body for burial.
When I was a scout hiking at night, we learned to look at
the position of the stars so that we could get our bearings by identifying familiar constellations. We could then find the north star, which would help us to orientate the map we were following, and identify our location. Somehow these wise men knew that finding the
location of the King of the Jews was an important quest, a journey worth
making...and a choice they each made to leave home, and everything that was familiar to them, to go on a quest to find the one who was promised.
I encourage each of you to set-out on your own quest to find King Jesus this Christmas. Jesus continues to call out to each of us, proclaiming that 'He came to bring us life in all of its fullness.' (John 10:10, NLT)
Another interesting angle about the Magi is that they are also referenced as having a link to the ancient Babylonian Empire (located 60 miles from present day Baghdad in Iraq), where the Jewish people existed in exile in Babylon, after Jerusalem is 'sacked' by King Nebuchadnezzar (603 BC). Part of the subjugation of the King was to take the conquered people to Babylon for instruction in the values and custom of the nation. This was considered to be the fastest way for 'foreigner's' in the land, to adopt the new way of life the Israelites now had to endure, particularly in the worship of false gods, and respecting the sovereignty of a foreign king.
Nebuchadnezzar had a dream one evening and finds himself troubled by the memory of it. He calls for 'wise men' to help him interpret the dream but they cannot help him, except for a refugee from Judah, named Daniel (Daniel 2).
Now the story gets a bit weird because we need to go much further back in history to the book of Numbers, written in 1400 BC by Moses, where we encounter a man called Balaam and his talking donkey... you read it here first. Now I know that Shrek has a talking donkey but bear with me. Balaam is a wise man, soothsayer and conjurer, contracted to curse the Israelite people to prevent them from settling in the land that wasn't their own. On the way down to meet with the Israelite's, God uses Balaam's donkey to tell him to bless Israel, rather than curse them.
It is believed that Balaam's skills made him influential in royal courts who used people like him as advisers. Drawing together the stories from the book of Numbers in the Old Testament and the later story in the book of Daniel, Balaam could have been an ancestor for the wise men who tried to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar''s dream and the Magi who visited Jesus. The link is further substantiated by the geographical location of these events separated only by history.
The association of Balaam to the region near Babylon (modern day Iraq), the lands of Moab, the Amorites and the Edomites, (Modern day Jordan) and the story in Daniel, is an insight into the ancestors of the magi and the historicity behind the understanding they might have had in interpreting the prophecies associated with Jesus' birth, and why the Magi are compelled to set out on their journey to Bethlehem.
We dig deep into the Old Testament stories because Christians believe in what is know as the Biblical Meta-narrative. If we look at the Bible as a whole story, answers are revealed by God through the narrative of the Bible which is why, when I was told I had 5 to 7 mins to tell people about the gift of Christmas, I didn't know where to begin.
This story about Balaam reveals a small insight into the connection in the Bible between different events across history. The reasons behind why the Magi followed the star, are referenced in the Bible through Balaam, 1400 years before a future event. Although this could only be conjecture, it is compelling:
I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult. (Numbers 24:17)
This paragraph is a prophetic insight by Balaam because it references the Israelite's current situation in Moab, travelling through foreign lands, trying to get to the promised land. It also refers to the location of a future event that will happen when Israel is finally settled in the promised land, with the emergence of someone who will rule over their enemies now and at a future point - a descendent: I see him, but not now.
If Balaam was indeed an ancestor of the Magi and a potential source behind why they were even looking for a sign in the stars, it would explain why, on noticing the star in the East, that the wise men got up from their study and travelled to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was where King Solomon built the temple and where the Queen of Sheba had knowledge of the location for the birth of the King of the Jews. The Magi receive further instructions from King Herod's advisors for the likelihood of the birthplace for Jesus, and head to Bethlehem. Herod's advisors identified from Micah 5:2, that Bethlehem, the birthplace of King David, was the place for the birth of a King:
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
During the time that the Israelite's were exiled in Babylon, Daniel would have added to the Babylonians knowledge of Yahweh, the Hebrew God, and taught them of the nature and purposes of the Jewish people. The evidence for this is that Daniel became an influential person in Babylon after interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream, building around him, a group of wise men seeking to preserve the Jewish teachings while in exile. These wise men followed on from what Balaam and Daniel taught them, becoming the Magi we read about in the Nativity Story.
Jesus wasn't simply a gift given to the nation of Israel so that he could rescue them from the terrible Romans, rather, he is the Saviour of the whole world - what greater gift could you hope for at Christmas?
The tradition of celebrating Christmas comes from an original Roman
festival of Saturnalia, held between the 17th and 23rd December. Saturnalia was a pagan festival honouring the planet Saturn, which included general merrymaking
and revelry. The new Christianity of the Roman Emperor Constantine introduced
new traditions of worship. Where there was once a pagan festival, a new Christian festival was put in its place. Instead of worshipping many different pagan gods for each
season of the year, Constantine encouraged Romans to adopt the worship of one true God; one who had lived amongst them in the Roman territory of Judea; the one who is called
Jesus; the one who was crucified by Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem; the one who rose again to
reveal himself as the Son of God.
I can often be underwhelmed with presents at Christmas in comparison to the gift of Jesus: "Do I really need another Lynx deodorant set - do I really want to smell like an adolescent teenager at 47?"
Receiving a product I can buy every day from the store does seem a bit dreary, a bit mundane, no matter how fancy the packaging? What about the environmental cost of all that plastic and card in making an everyday product look more expensive and exciting? Now don't get me wrong, people need to wash and wear deodorant!! I do need underwear and socks from time to time, but are we not looking for more in life, than a fragrance in a box to cover our bad smells?
Receiving a product I can buy every day from the store does seem a bit dreary, a bit mundane, no matter how fancy the packaging? What about the environmental cost of all that plastic and card in making an everyday product look more expensive and exciting? Now don't get me wrong, people need to wash and wear deodorant!! I do need underwear and socks from time to time, but are we not looking for more in life, than a fragrance in a box to cover our bad smells?
The gift of Jesus at Christmas, was God's Plan 'A' to rescue the
world from itself.... to cover our bad smell once and for all. Left to our own devices, our lives and the world we live in, would continue on its collision course, with each new generation finding new ways to lose its sense of what makes us human. There has been massive social change in the last 70 years, yet we continue to treat each other and the planet that we live on, with a lot of contempt and indignity.
Jesus was given the gift of frankincense by the Magi, with frankincense being an anointing oil used to identify those set apart by God for his service. Jesus was set apart by God so that the will of his father in heaven could be achieved on Earth, as it is in heaven.
Jesus was given the gift of frankincense by the Magi, with frankincense being an anointing oil used to identify those set apart by God for his service. Jesus was set apart by God so that the will of his father in heaven could be achieved on Earth, as it is in heaven.
Jesus lived the very life that we each live so that he could know what it was like to live as we do; how life, with all of its temptations and hardship, leads us into making decisions that we often regret. Jesus understands how our choices and actions affect our emotional and mental health. He understands the social, racial and ethnic pressures on society, the lack of basic sanitation, accommodation, access to education and economic well being. Jesus' message was that we cannot continue to live as we do today whilst trying to make choices that honour God and bless our neighbour, families and friends. He challenges us to give up on the things that bind us and hold us captive.
He taught that we don't have to endure in life, simply to live with dignity, but that we can have an abundant life, if we believe and trust in him. Jesus became a man so that we could relate to him and he us... He faced rejection from the very people he came to save, despite healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead, proof enough you would think, that Jesus was who he said he was.
Being denied the love and obedience of the people he came to rescue, he was tried by his own people for breaking religious rules and murdered on a Roman cross to keep the public happy and hold onto political power. He was forsaken by the very friends he had spent most of his time teaching, some denying they ever knew him; hiding away, fearing for their own lives, and leaving him to die. Yet three days later, just as he promised he would, Jesus rises triumphantly to new life so that each one of us can receive the same gift of life that he won for all people on the cross.
He taught that we don't have to endure in life, simply to live with dignity, but that we can have an abundant life, if we believe and trust in him. Jesus became a man so that we could relate to him and he us... He faced rejection from the very people he came to save, despite healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead, proof enough you would think, that Jesus was who he said he was.
Being denied the love and obedience of the people he came to rescue, he was tried by his own people for breaking religious rules and murdered on a Roman cross to keep the public happy and hold onto political power. He was forsaken by the very friends he had spent most of his time teaching, some denying they ever knew him; hiding away, fearing for their own lives, and leaving him to die. Yet three days later, just as he promised he would, Jesus rises triumphantly to new life so that each one of us can receive the same gift of life that he won for all people on the cross.
There is always great depth in relationships between people, when they have been through the very worst together, sharing the experience, and growing in the love they have for each other because of it. Because of
Jesus—because the one who birthed the universe was also born among us—that same
depth of relationship is possible today with God because he knows us. He is one of us and stands before the father in heaven on our behalf, telling him that those who believe in him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 11:25-26, NLT).
#This is why we celebrate Christmas; that a child born of God would set us free.
For God to achieve this, humanity needed someone who was able to take on all that God required of humanity and all that humanity required of God. We needed someone bigger than ourselves, yet also one of us. So the greatest miracle of all was that God became a man. This is something all other world religions reject but one in which Christians hold closely to their hearts.
Some people struggle with the idea of what we call 'The immaculate conception.' We know about childbirth - we know what is necessary to conceive a child, surely Joseph was the real father and this was a cover up because of their age and the shame that comes from the fact that they were not yet married?
Yet read Mary's response to the Angel below. There is real humanity here. Yet Mary's belief in something bigger than her worldview could comprehend, resulted in her faithful obedience to her father in heaven:
Some people struggle with the idea of what we call 'The immaculate conception.' We know about childbirth - we know what is necessary to conceive a child, surely Joseph was the real father and this was a cover up because of their age and the shame that comes from the fact that they were not yet married?
Yet read Mary's response to the Angel below. There is real humanity here. Yet Mary's belief in something bigger than her worldview could comprehend, resulted in her faithful obedience to her father in heaven:
'How will this be,' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?' The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God' (Luke 1:38, NLT)
If you do struggle with the virgin birth, listen to how the late Professor Stephen
Hawking attempted to explain, in layman's terms, how our universe came to be:
'...the universe can
and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there
is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist.’ (Stephen Hawking, The Grand Design(New York: Bantam, 2010), 180)
If there was a 'Big-Bang' at the beginning of our universe, the logical thought would be that energy, with the ability to create physical elements, is transformed into the agents necessary for the creation of our known universe by some kind of reaction - a trigger point in time. Just as we understand the mechanics of conception, there similarly has to be a cause or flash point between the elements required for life or nothing will happen.
Hawking suggests that this doesn't have to be so in this quote. He asserts that life can come from nothing. If one of the greatest minds of our generation is able to make the assertion of faith, then surely it is less risky to believe that a loving, all powerful creator could instigate an immaculate conception, in order to save the world...
If we are to accept that matter can come from nothing and believe as Hawking would suggest, in a 'virgin' birth for the universe: getting something from nothing, we can also believe that God can also do the miraculous. We can believe in the virgin birth: Of a God who loves us so deeply that... he gave us his Only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16, NLT). The Bible states that Jesus "became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14, NLT).
Jesus was born under trying circumstances: Roman occupation
using martial law to exert military control over everyday civilian life, led to oppression, taxation and fear. Mary
is heavily pregnant and is to be taken by donkey to Joseph's family town of Bethlehem for a census to count the number of adults that could be registered for taxation. There are clearly no relatives to stay with in Bethlehem, hence the need for a room for the night, but they have no joy in securing accommodation. With nowhere to stay, Jesus begins his life not as a king, but as a homeless baby, born at the rear of an inn, where a manger used
for feeding animals, is borrowed for use as his first cot.
In the middle of the night, the family flee to Egypt on the command of an angel, as
the Judean King Herod was so jealous of the prospect of a rival King, that he commands that ALL first-born
male children under the age of two years old be slaughtered (Matthew 2:16, Jeremiah 31:15). So the family become political refugees in a foreign land, under threat of death, until it was safe for them to return to Nazareth, his mother Mary's home in Galilee.
From Nazareth, Jesus begins his preparation for what was to happen in his life. As we each live and breathe, Jesus also lived among us. He went through childhood, puberty and adolescence, and emerges as an adult at the age of 30, to live out the remainder of the Gospel Story.
After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” (Matthew 2:13 NLT)
From Nazareth, Jesus begins his preparation for what was to happen in his life. As we each live and breathe, Jesus also lived among us. He went through childhood, puberty and adolescence, and emerges as an adult at the age of 30, to live out the remainder of the Gospel Story.
At Christmas, Jesus comes and lives in our home through the season of Advent — the time of preparation for the arrival of the king; Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus, with his experience of life, it's temptations and its suffering, offers us the hope that we will one day have an eternal home where: '[God] will wipe every tear from [our] eyes,' where there
will be 'no more death or mourning or crying or pain.' (Rev 21:4)
I don't know about you, but I need Christmas to be what God intended for it... Jesus, Light of the World, becoming a man, so that we might have an eternal life with our father in heaven. In order for me to receive this gift, I need to do something about how I choose to live my life.
Jesus appeals to our broken spirit by saying "come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28). How we do this, is by recognising we need to change. Our human nature prevents us from being able to achieve the life God wants for us. So we have to set it down. We have to say to God in both our heart, our head and our will that enough is enough. We do this at the foot of the cross as we look upon Jesus hanging there.
Jesus was undeserving of death on a cross, yet chose to receive the worst we could throw at him so that in death, he could bring life. Jesus buries our sin, our wrong doing, in the grave. Every thought we have had that would wish harm on our neighbour; every action we have taken to seek justice on our terms, despite the consequences... Every bad word, every lustful thought, all the bitterness we hold onto, Jesus died for these things because there is no good in us, despite our best efforts to believe we are good.
I hope this Christmas, as you unwrap the presents from those who love you that you also unwrap the gift of grace that God offers with open arms, beckoning you home. Give your whole self to Jesus, the best gift you could ever receive this Christmas.
Jesus appeals to our broken spirit by saying "come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28). How we do this, is by recognising we need to change. Our human nature prevents us from being able to achieve the life God wants for us. So we have to set it down. We have to say to God in both our heart, our head and our will that enough is enough. We do this at the foot of the cross as we look upon Jesus hanging there.
Jesus was undeserving of death on a cross, yet chose to receive the worst we could throw at him so that in death, he could bring life. Jesus buries our sin, our wrong doing, in the grave. Every thought we have had that would wish harm on our neighbour; every action we have taken to seek justice on our terms, despite the consequences... Every bad word, every lustful thought, all the bitterness we hold onto, Jesus died for these things because there is no good in us, despite our best efforts to believe we are good.
I hope this Christmas, as you unwrap the presents from those who love you that you also unwrap the gift of grace that God offers with open arms, beckoning you home. Give your whole self to Jesus, the best gift you could ever receive this Christmas.
And if you do get some toiletries this Christmas, think about the Magi who were seeking a King and yet found him lying in a manger - a Holy King anointed to do what God called him to do.
And it you receive some new underwear, reflect on the Royal robe Jesus now wears in heaven, seated at his Father's right hand... Our friend, our saviour, our king.
What is God calling you to do this Christmas? What changes do you need to make to get right with God? I hope that you give your life to him so that in 2019, you can live a transformed life, receiving the best gift you could ever accept and become a child of God.
And it you receive some new underwear, reflect on the Royal robe Jesus now wears in heaven, seated at his Father's right hand... Our friend, our saviour, our king.
What is God calling you to do this Christmas? What changes do you need to make to get right with God? I hope that you give your life to him so that in 2019, you can live a transformed life, receiving the best gift you could ever accept and become a child of God.
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