DECEMBER 12TH
A Christmas Blessing
Luke 1:56-79 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home. When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him. His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago) salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
People love listening to true stories about people who have accomplished incredible feats, such as winning the World Series, climbing Mount Everest, winning a gold medal, or setting a world record. As much as we love listening to these kinds of stories, the people who are a part of or witness something incredible have a hard time not telling the story over and over; it's difficult to keep quiet about being part of something incredible and noteworthy. You just want to tell people what you saw, experienced, how you felt, what it was like, and what challenges had to be overcome.
When we look at the first Christmas, those who encountered Jesus had a similar reaction. They were overwhelmed by what was happening and by what they were a part of. Mary was barely through the door of Elizabeth's house before she was pouring out her excitement over the child she carried. The shepherds told everyone they could find about the singing angels and the baby they had seen. When Zechariah saw the miracle the angel had promised him, he immediately began to speak and couldn't say enough about the goodness of God. His response shows us exactly how we, too should respond to the amazing event we celebrate at Christmas. Zechariah begins to testify, a word that means bear witness or give evidence. A witness is just as it sounds, someone who has seen something with their own eyes and can offer proof from their own life that something is true and trustworthy. Zechariah testified over and over about God's faithfulness to the nation of Israel and to him. Zechariah takes the witness stand to give evidence that God is keeping the promises He made through Abraham and the prophets: to send the world a Savior. He also testifies that God kept His promise to give Zechariah and Elizabeth a child. Zechariah has personally experienced God's goodness, love, and the fulfillment of God's promise to bring salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins. (vs 77) He testifies that we can come to our God without fear and that God is coming not in judgment as we deserve but with love and mercy. He comes to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. (vs 79) Zechariah's song in this passage is known as the Benedictus, from the Latin translation of the first two words "Blessed be."
We have real, continuing joy in our celebration because, like Zechariah, we know that God has kept His promise. That is something to celebrate even on Dec 26th and every other day of the year. We too have experienced the same love of God as Zechariah. How amazing is that? Like Zechariah, we should also be so overwhelmed by our experience of the Savior that we can't help but share that evidence with our friends, neighbors, and everyone we come into contact with. We can be a witness to the fact that God keeps His promises because we've seen them with our own eyes. We can witness that God offers forgiveness because we've been forgiven. Every Christmas gives us a fresh opportunity to testify to the love of God simply by sharing our story and how we've witnessed it firsthand.
When we look at the first Christmas, those who encountered Jesus had a similar reaction. They were overwhelmed by what was happening and by what they were a part of. Mary was barely through the door of Elizabeth's house before she was pouring out her excitement over the child she carried. The shepherds told everyone they could find about the singing angels and the baby they had seen. When Zechariah saw the miracle the angel had promised him, he immediately began to speak and couldn't say enough about the goodness of God. His response shows us exactly how we, too should respond to the amazing event we celebrate at Christmas. Zechariah begins to testify, a word that means bear witness or give evidence. A witness is just as it sounds, someone who has seen something with their own eyes and can offer proof from their own life that something is true and trustworthy. Zechariah testified over and over about God's faithfulness to the nation of Israel and to him. Zechariah takes the witness stand to give evidence that God is keeping the promises He made through Abraham and the prophets: to send the world a Savior. He also testifies that God kept His promise to give Zechariah and Elizabeth a child. Zechariah has personally experienced God's goodness, love, and the fulfillment of God's promise to bring salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins. (vs 77) He testifies that we can come to our God without fear and that God is coming not in judgment as we deserve but with love and mercy. He comes to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. (vs 79) Zechariah's song in this passage is known as the Benedictus, from the Latin translation of the first two words "Blessed be."
We have real, continuing joy in our celebration because, like Zechariah, we know that God has kept His promise. That is something to celebrate even on Dec 26th and every other day of the year. We too have experienced the same love of God as Zechariah. How amazing is that? Like Zechariah, we should also be so overwhelmed by our experience of the Savior that we can't help but share that evidence with our friends, neighbors, and everyone we come into contact with. We can be a witness to the fact that God keeps His promises because we've seen them with our own eyes. We can witness that God offers forgiveness because we've been forgiven. Every Christmas gives us a fresh opportunity to testify to the love of God simply by sharing our story and how we've witnessed it firsthand.