“You do know that wonder and wander are two different words, right?”
I found myself asking my husband that question after listening to him preach one night. He kept saying that the Israelites were wondering in the desert.
At this point, you’re either saying, “Amen, sister!” or you are completely lost. For those of you who are lost, here’s a quick lifelong grammar lesson.
For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on His shoulders.
He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
I vividly remember being the kid who got mad every time I saw “X-mas” rather than “Christmas.” I felt as though, accidently or not, people were taking Christ out of Christmas.
Many years later, I was sitting in Biblical Greek class in college and learned about the “chi rhos” (pronounced “keye ross”). The early church used the first two letters of “Christos” (translated as “Christ”) to create a symbol to represent the name of Jesus.
“X-mas” can still mean “Christmas,” though if you don’t want to be mistaken for taking Christ out of Christmas, it’s probably better to go ahead and write out His full name.
As the energy and excitement of Christmas begins to fade, let’s be reminded that we celebrate the birth of our God in human form. He truly is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace.
Happy (almost) New Year!
Last night my husband and I were able to attend a presentation called The Season of Lights at our local planetarium. Though the projector was old, making the images fuzzy, it was still an interesting narrative on how many of our December Holiday traditions began. Whether it was the celebration of the Star of Bethlehem, yule log, or Menorah, the presentation pointed out that most of our traditions revolve around light.
As Christians, we believe that the Star led the wise men to Jesus so that they could worship Him. Much ink has been spilled in an attempt to scientifically explain the phenomena that led to this unique star. But the simple truth is – we don’t know.
A profound truth – right? So what can we learn from the Star in the East?
When the light of Jesus is revealed to us, we are take action. Matthew chapter two contains the story of the wise men who have left their homes in pursuit of the King of the Jews. These men were not content to stay in their cities and hear about the birth of the Messiah second hand. They pursued the truth for themselves. Following the star was an act of faith.
Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me. His origin is from antiquity, from eternity.” – Micah 5:2
West Tennessee has some crazy town names: Three Way, Frog Jump, Bucksnort, Milan (pronounced MY-lynn) and Medina (pronounced Muh-DINE-uh). I like to think Bethlehem had a similar reputation. Micah writes that it is a small clan in Judah. And study of the Hebrew language reveals that it actually means “House of Bread.” Bethlehem would fit in nicely as a town near me.
Oh come, Oh come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the son of God appears
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, oh Israel
The lyrics to this song have survived since the 12th century. It reflects the longing that Old Testament believers felt for a Savior to come rescue them. They had forgiveness of sin but only through the regular shedding of the blood of animal sacrifices along with grain offerings. They had access to God but only through a priest. They longed for the One who would restore their relationship with God.
“And ransom captive Israel.” There is a ransom on our souls that you and I can never pay off. It is the grip of sin that has clung to humanity since Adam and Eve disobeyed.
We, too, long for our relationship with God to be restored fully. Through Scripture, we have the privilege to read about our Messiah who came – the One whose birth we celebrate this month. But we are still exiled on an earth heaven-laden with sin. We join in the lyrics as we long for the day that the Lord returns and makes all things new.
“Emmanuel” means “God with us.” Just as God kept His promise to the Israelites by sending His Son, Jesus, into the world, so we, too, can rejoice knowing that God will keep His promise to return to this world.
How is the reality of Emmanuel a promise fulfilled? Isaiah (7:14) tells us “the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
The one blank page between our Old Testament and New Testament doesn’t adequately convey the years of silence as the people of God awaited for this Messiah. We can only imagine how many people scoffed this prophecy as lunacy – how can a virgin conceive a child?
Luke 1 tells us that God sent the Angel Gabriel to “a virgin engage to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.” His message? Another one of lunacy – that she would conceive a son, name Him Jesus; that He would be great, be called the Son of the Most High; that God would have Him reign on the throne of David with an everlasting kingdom.
Mary, in response, asks the one most logical question to this prophecy, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?”
God hadn’t made a mistake or overlooked an important detail. His promise dating back to Isaiah was about to come true. Mary was willing to believe God enough to obey His will for her life and for the life of her son.
December is a wonderful time of the year – one full of celebrations and excitement. Let’s not forget that it’s also a season to reflect on God’s fulfilled promises to us.
Copyright © 2013. Pedestrian God Ministires
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