My wish this Christmas is that you and yours will find and secure all of the blessings of our Lord. I hope that you will grow in your walk with Christ in the coming year, that your loved ones will be well, prosper and know Jesus. I hope and pray that this will be the best Christmas that you and your family, friends and associates have ever had, and that 2020 will be the best year of your life so far.
A very merry Christmas, and may God bless all of you.
I was 10 years old on December 24, 1968: Christmas Eve!
I was sure excited, as any self-respecting 10-year-old would be on Christmas Eve, but that year was to be different for me. My family didn’t watch TV on Christmas Eve; my Mom wouldn’t hear of it, nor would my older sister, but that year, my Dad “pulled rank” and turned our set on, and you couldn’t have pried me away from it if you wanted to.
My Dad was an engineer who had worked on the Apollo Program, and on that historic day, the first manned spacecraft to reach lunar orbit had begun to orbit the Moon. The crew would speak to the nation that Christmas Eve from Apollo 8, more than a quarter million miles from Earth.
The crew and TV commentators did their job of reporting on this great scientific achievement, and I would have been quite satisfied at that, but Mission Commander Frank Borman took things just a little beyond the news at the end of the broadcast when he began to read these words:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
He continued reading for a little longer before signing off, and though I don’t recall just how far he got into Genesis chapter one that night, I do recall how his reading of it made me think…
For a 10-year-old, the impact of an astronaut hero reading the Bible on Christmas Eve from lunar orbit is something of a mind-blower! I remember laying awake in my bed that night, but I was no longer dreaming of presents around the tree, I was thinking about space, God, creation and the baby in the manger.
Wow…
In the days that followed, I started reading Genesis secretly; I didn’t want anybody commenting about my new reading material just yet; this was my quest to understand the meaning of things, a quest I still pursue. To know the God who created the universe, to know His Son who came to this Earth for the forgiveness of my many sins and to serve His purpose…
Wow…
There just isn’t much more to be said, is there?
Wow!
It still blows my mind.
Well here we are, December 24… the day before Christmas… or as some call it illogically “Christmas Eve Day”. (I can’t figure out how it could be “Eve” and “Day” at the same rime, but I digress…)
When I was a little kid, I always wanted to keep very busy on the 24th of December. I thought that if I was very busy the time would pass quickly… and to be perfectly honest, I couldn’t wait for old Santa Claus to visit, and then to find out what he left under the tree.
As a young man, the 24th was hectic. I had to keep the kids away from the goodies under the tree, secretly put toys together, make sure we hadn’t forgotten anything… and hope that everything came out all right. The eager anticipation of trying to be busy had turned into the haste and anxiety of actually being busy.
Now that the kids are grown, they have those Christmas problems and I can just relax; much better.
I sure hope that in the last-minute rush and crunch people don’t lose sight of what Christmas is supposed to be about; the arrival of a babe who would change everything, and who would set us free from death itself.
Please try to take a minute today to reflect on that. Doing so always helped me to be a little more grounded on this day… that is if I remembered to do it.
May God richly bless you and yours this Christmas!
As Jesus was saying the words of 26:46, the party sent to arrest Him is entering the scene with Judas in the lead. In the events that follow, there are a few actions that have an almost comical quality to them, even though this is serious business. Judas had a sign for the arresting party: ‘Grab the one I kiss.’ So old Judas walks up to Jesus as though everything was completely normal and says, “Greetings Rabbi,” and kisses Him. Now to be quite sure, this was a normal sort of greeting back in the day, but I almost want to laugh at the comic nature of it. Judas came onto the scene at the head of an armed mob, and pretends nothing is amiss, even though Judas Knew that Jesus knew what he was up to− incredible.
Jesus was placed under arrest, and then lo and behold, who should produce a sword and start swinging it? Our pal, Peter! Peter’s action should get high marks for courage, low marks for intelligence, and failing marks for understanding. Yes, it was courageous, maybe even heroic, but if a battle were to follow, Jesus and the Eleven are dead right then and there. But then Jesus, from Peter’s point of view, is a sort of “wild card”; what would He do in the situation?
Jesus stepped in instantly, and put a stop to the whole business of violence, heals the man that Peter had struck, and tells Peter to stand down. Perhaps reading Peter’s mind, Jesus said:
Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way? (26:53-54)
If you wonder about such things, 12 legions of angels would produce about 75,000 very unhappy angels, but the cavalry would not be coming to the rescue on that night, for God’s will went in a different direction. Then Jesus addressed the mob that had come to arrest Him:
Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled. (26:55-56a)
Actually that He was leading a rebellion was most likely exactly what everyone thought, for they saw Him as the son of David come to reclaim the throne; the Messiah come to conquer and restore Israel to greatness, the King of the Jews. Jesus rubbed their noses in their error by pointing out that they could have grabbed Him at any time, but they had waited until now, under cover of darkness, and with that, Jesus would address the crowds no more; He went away quietly and meekly to do His Father’s will and accomplish the real mission of the Messiah.
That was also when His disciples finally comprehended that His mission was not conquest and the reinstatement of the Nation of Israel among the Pantheon of Nations. Of course, that is not to suggest that they yet comprehended what His mission really was; that would come later. Many scholars have written that they believe this also included Judas, who might well have been shocked that those legions of angels did not come. These scholars believe that Judas betrayed Jesus to force the issue and get Jesus’ messianic mission completed more quickly, a sort of helping push in the right direction.
For me, that’s a bit of a stretch too far, but it is an interesting theory. Whatever motivated Judas, there was no going back now and old Judas was in a very bad state, as the whole of Creation held its breath…
“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Phil. 4:7
When you watch movies about Christmas, you almost get the idea that there is something magical about it, but sadly, this really isn’t true. In fact, this attitude results in quite a bit of disappointment and sadness.
There is no magic about Christmas as a date on the calendar. But there is great power in the One whose birth we celebrate. It could be that most people just behave better at this time, once the shopping, preparation and craziness are over and they can sit back and relax. Maybe for some, their humanity is more visible; the truth is, I don’t know.
Here is what I do know: Peace comes from relationship with Jesus Christ, and we celebrate His birth at Christmas. If you desire peace in your very soul, you must develop your relationship with Him, for peace comes not from without, but from within. Seek Him, cherish your time with Him, and live for Him; peace from deep within will be your reward.
There is so much to take in when we consider the story of the birth of our Lord Jesus in Bethlehem so many centuries ago, the story is almost too much to absorb. There is one aspect to it that I’ve never written about before; I suppose this is because it’s almost too much for me to quite grasp, but I’ll take a stab at it this morning.
We know that the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We know that Jesus was God Incarnate; the Son of God. We can understand why He made such an impact in His ministry when He was preaching about the Kingdom, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, making the lame walk and driving out demons, after all, He was God! We read the story of His birth and are amazed at the choirs of angels, the star and the Magi; He was the Son of God after all…
Yet, have we considered the fact that the baby Jesus was God in the flesh? No, maybe I haven’t been clear enough; that He was the Son of God there in that manger isn’t an academic concept, it was a fact. Think about it.
The baby Jesus was helpless. He had to be nursed by His mother or else He would die. He had to be changed and cleaned up just like any other baby. He had to be burped. He woke up His mother in the middle of the night to be fed and changed… He was completely helpless…
…And He was Almighty God.
Through Him everything was created that has been created. Before Abraham was, He Was… He sustains the entire universe by His Word, and He was a helpless baby as He did so.
It is enough to blow your mind when we ponder such things as this.
Now dear reader, tell me about His love for us, this God of ours who would go to such lengths to save us! His is a love that defies human comprehension; such is the greatness of our God!
Matthew shifts the scene to the Garden of Gethsemane (which means “oil press”). This is another scene that is no doubt a familiar one for most all of us, a scene that has an odd feel to it, when we see the contrast between the Jesus of the prior scenes, confidently predicting His death, secure in the knowledge that He is doing His Father’s will, and the Jesus of Gethsemane who is troubled and mournful, asking His Father for another way. It might prompt us to ask, “Is there an internal conflict going on?”
I don’t think there is, but at the same time I must admit that off the top of my head, I can’t think of another scene in which Jesus seems conflicted about anything, maybe we’d better have a look at His Gethsemane prayer!
Here’s the scene: They went to Gethsemane where Jesus left 8 disciples, went a little further with 3 disciples, left them and went still further to be alone to pray. As the disciples were being placed in their positions, Jesus “began to be sorrowful and troubled” (26:37).Jesus told the three that “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me” (26:38) Matthew records these words as His prayer:
“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (26:39)
“My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” (26:42)
Matthew also tells us that Jesus “fell with his face to the ground” in 26:37, and that He prayed the same thing a third time in 26:44. Interestingly, he only gives us one-liners for the prayers, yet Jesus was praying long enough for the disciples to fall asleep, so we can safely assume that more was said in those prayers…
One of the highest and boldest forms of piety in Israel was the prayer of lament (cf. Ps. 31:10; 40:11-13; 42:6, 9-11; 43:1-5; 55:4-8; 116:3-4) and it was not all that unusual for someone to ask God to change His mind (cf. Ex. 32:10-14; 2Kings 20:1-6; 2Sam 15:25-26).
Jesus knew His mission, He was OK with His mission; He was determined. Yet, as the hour approached, He seemed to wonder if there might be another way to accomplish it, for He was fully human after all. Notice what He did: He took this to His Father in an attitude of submission; for He would do His Father’s will whatever that will turned out to be. Please take special note of this, for He was troubled and He cried out to God in submissiveness, not in rebellion. That is where we tend to go wrong, don’t you think? We might cry out to God, but we don’t always do so in submission to His will, preferring our own plans instead.
Apparently, Jesus got the “go ahead as planned” message from His Father, for we see these words in the concluding verses of this passage:
Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour has come, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” (26:45-46)
From that moment forward, there were no doubts, no questions; God’s redemption of Mankind would move into full execution.
Those disciples? Obviously they had failed to grasp the gravity of the situation, as they would continue to do, as the most momentous events in all of history unfolded…
Who was it exactly, who was born in Bethlehem so long ago. John makes it clear at the beginning of his Gospel:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
John 1:1-5
The One who was born was the Word, and the Word had been with God from the very beginning, and in fact was God in John’s rather heavenly perspective. That baby was responsible for creating the entire universe. That baby brought “light” and that light was the life of men, and yet this dark world did not understand the light.
I will concede that this might be a little too lofty a perspective; unless you read the entire Gospel of John. Throughout the book, John uses “light” as a metaphor for Truth, and darkness as a metaphor for Evil. With that in mind, let’s try again:
That baby was full of truth, that truth brings and gives life. He came into a dark (evil) world, and the inhabitants of that dark world did not understand who the baby was, and for the most part, they rejected him.
How can we be sure this is correct?
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
We know all of this because John told us so! He also mentioned that he was an eye-witness to this One, and that he personally saw who He was (and is).
What shall we conclude from this view?
That baby in the manger was God become flesh: This was no normal birth.
What are we celebrating this Christmas time? We are celebrating the merger (so to speak) between God and Man, a whole new epoch. This season, therefore is not just about parties, entertaining, buying things and amusement. It really isn’t just “for the children” it is very much more than all of that. The Christmas Season marks the day when God began to manifest His ultimate purpose: The redemption of all Mankind to fellowship with Him.
I wonder if most of us might consider treating this occasion with a little more respect than we usually do.
Matthew 26:1-28:20
This final section of Matthew’s account of Jesus is quite interesting for several reasons and is deserving of a little extra background information. To begin, it is comprised of three parts, the first of which runs from 26:1-56 in which Jesus actively predicts and accepts the course of events that culminate in His death. In these scenes there is a cohesiveness that is comprised of Jesus’ own words that detail coming events, and even set them in motion; they are punctuation by prophetic announcements concerning upcoming scenes (See 26:3, 12, 18, 21, 24, 31, 32, 34, 45, 50, 54, 56). With this continuing contrast between Jesus’ foreknowledge and His constant determination to do the Father’s will (cf. 26:34, 39, 42, 54, 56) Matthew shows us that the Passion of Jesus was not a strange twist at the end of the story, but a conscious and voluntary self-sacrifice made to accomplish God’s will.
The second part extends from 26:57-27:50, in which Jesus moves away from being an active participant and into a passive role, seldom speaking and silently enduring pain and humiliation as God’s suffering servant. Following Jesus’ death in 27:50, God once again takes an active role in the story, confirming His pleasure with His Son’s actions through miraculous signs of approval. As a result, the mocking of the Jewish leaders in 27:38-41 is replaced by Gentile onlookers’ claim that Jesus was “the Son of God” (27:54). The Jewish leaders take every precaution to ensure that no one can claim Jesus had risen from the tomb by posting guards; yet He bursts forth from that very same tomb. You no doubt know the story and the series of events; God is quite active in the remainder of the narrative.
There is another aspect of the Passion that might be of interest: The Passion has many parallels with the opening section of Matthew’s Gospel (1:1-4:17). The concluding section of Matthew’s account brings to a climax the rising Jewish opposition that began way back when Herod attempted to kill Jesus at the time of His birth (2:16-18 cf. Rev. 12:1-4). We might also note that early in the story, the “chief priests and teachers of the law” are aligned with political forces in opposition to Jesus (2:4-6). In addition, the final section resumes the emphasis on prophetic fulfillment in a manner parallel to the opening chapters (Chs. 1-5 cf. 26:56, 59; 27:9-10). The latter chapters also abound with references to Old Testament texts (e.g. Ps. 22, 69; Zech. 11:13; Is. 50-53).
There are many themes, ideas and phrases that were found in early chapters which are repeated in the final section such as forgiveness of sins (1:21; 9:6; 20:28; 26:28), as well as terms relative to Jesus such as Christ, King of the Jews, shepherd and Son of God. Even the mocking scenes have a parallel in the Temptation narrative (4:1-11) when the mockers take on the role of tempters to try and deflect Jesus from His course of doing God’s will.
Finally, the ending of the narrative (28:18-20) recalls the themes of: A mountain as the place of revelation, the universal appeal of the Gospel and the abiding presence of Christ, and with this abiding in the last sentence, it is as though Matthew has taken us full circle, back to Jesus in Galilee. Clearly, with this final command to teach “everything I have commanded you” we find that the entirety of Matthew’s narrative becomes an active part of our Christian lives.
In the entire series of events beginning with the plot of Judas and ending with his suicide, the disciples aren’t portrayed in a very flattering light, but Jesus isn’t surprised by any of this, in fact He predicts it. It is really quite easy for us to look down our very righteous noses at the disciples’ actions that night; yes they failed miserably. Would we have acted differently in their places?
I rather doubt it. Trying to honestly place myself in their shoes, I must (grudgingly) admit that the scene in the Garden when the mob comes to arrest Jesus would probably have done it for me, for seeing this Man whom I had witnessed walking on water and calming storms being taken away quietly by such a motley force would simply have blown my mind, and even now, knowing how the story ends… it still blows my mind! No, I don’t think I’ll be joining the finger-pointers on this one.
Jesus tells them that on this night they will all disown Him, citing the prophecy from Zech. 13:7, and they are astonished, and proclaim their faithfulness; Peter is their spokesman. Notice that just as they did when Jesus predicted His death, they missed the last part. Shouldn’t they be saying something like, “What did you mean, ‘after you have risen’?” But they didn’t say that.
Matthew tells the familiar story about Peter’s three denials and the rooster crowing, and again Peter steadfastly says he won’t do any such thing:
But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same. (26:35)
Ultimately, Peter’s claim would turn out to be true, but on this night, they would all falter.
The way I see it, there was much too much at stake for God to let the disciples get in the way of events, for it was vital that Jesus keep His appointment with the cross, for this was at the very core of God’s eternal purpose of redemption. Suppose that the disciples fought the troops in the garden, as Peter started to do, and a general engagement ensued. What would become of God’s purpose if there had been a bloodbath in the Garden?
No, Jesus, the Lamb of God, had to go quietly in submission to do His Father’s will, and the disciples needed to get out of the way and let Him do it, for they had a critical role to play in the early years of the church− of course, this is just speculation on my part. Next time, we pick up the action in the Garden of Gethsemane.
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