2023-12-24
John 1:14 NKJV
When the angel visited Mary, he said, “Don’t be frightened… God has decided to… bless you!” (Luke 1:30 TLB). Yet when it comes to approaching God directly, many religions are ruled by fear.
Philip Yancey says: “Certainly the Jews associated fear with worship… A person ‘blessed’ with a direct encounter with God expected to come away scorched or glowing or maybe half-crippled like Jacob… Among people who walled off a separate sanctum for God in the temple and shrank from pronouncing or spelling out the name, God made a surprise appearance as a baby in a manger. In Jesus, God found a way of relating to human beings that did not involve fear… A New Covenant… that would not emphasize the… gulf between God and humanity but instead would span it… I learned about incarnation when I kept a saltwater aquarium… You would think, in view of all the energy expended on their behalf, that my fish would at least be grateful. Not so. Every time my shadow loomed above the tank they dove for cover… to [them] I was deity… too large for them, my actions too incomprehensible. My acts of mercy they saw as cruelty; my attempts at healing… as destruction. To change their perceptions… I would have to become a fish and ‘speak’ to them in a language they could understand. A human being becoming a fish is nothing compared to God becoming a baby. Yet… that is what happened at Bethlehem. The God who created matter took shape within it, as an artist might become a spot on a painting or a playwright a character within his own play. God wrote a story, only using real characters, on the pages of real history. The Word became flesh.”
Soul food: Isaiah 11:1-10; Luke 1:39-56
2023-12-23
Lukas 1:31 NLV
Ons sing die woorde van hierdie Kerslied al van kindsbeen af. Die woorde van die lied kom egter nie uit die Skrif nie. ‘Stille Nag’ is ‘n gedig wat deur ‘n Oostenrykse priester in 1816 geskryf is. Die woorde roep ‘n rustige prentjie met die gelukkige paartjie wat hul pasgebore baba dophou, op.
Dit is egter onwaarskynlik dat daar stilte was. Na ‘n uitputtende reis op ‘n donkie, het Josef en die hoogswanger Maria nie by die grootste kamer van die Bethlehem Grand Hotel ingeboek nie. Hulle het gesmeek dat hulle die stal, kompleet met die gekletter en geure van staldiere kon gebruik – wat alles behalwe stil was! Vra enige ma uit oor geboorte. Selfs met die hulp van moderne pynstillers en gesteriliseerde omgewings bly die dapperste vrou selde stil terwyl sy geboorte skenk. Dit was kwalik ‘n stille nag vir Maria, Josef en Jesus!
Heilige nag: Van al die nagte in die geskiedenis, was hierdie die heiligste. God het sy ewige plan om aarde toe te kom as die Verlosser van verlore mense in werking gestel. ‘Die boodskap van versoening bestaan daarin dat God deur Christus die wêreld met Homself versoen het en nie die mense se oortredings teen hulle hou nie…’ (2 Korintiërs 5:19 NLV). Jesus het gekom om die sondes van die verdoemde mensdom op Homself te neem, sodat ons: ‘…op grond van ons eenheid met Christus, deur God vrygespreek kan word’ (vers 21 NLV).
Op hierdie heiligste nag is ons geestelike en morele donkerte vir ewig deur Jesus, die Lig van die wêreld, verdryf. Ons vrese as verlore sondaars is deur die vrede en vreugdevolle versekering dat ons sy ewige vergewe volk is, vervang.
Sielskos: 2 Tim 1-4; Joh 19:31-42; Ps 128; Spr 31:10-13
Luke 1:31 NIV
We have sung the words of that Christmas carol since infancy. But those words actually do not come from Scripture. “Silent Night” was a poem written by an Austrian priest in 1816. The words conjure up a serene picture with the happy couple watching their newborn baby. It’s not likely, however, that there was silence. After an exhausting journey on a donkey, Joseph and the very pregnant Mary didn’t check into the master suite of the Bethlehem Grand Hotel. They begged the use of an animal shelter, complete with the clatter and scents of barnyard animals – anything but silent! Ask any mother about giving birth. Even with the help of modern pain-reducing medicines and sterilized environments, the bravest woman rarely remains silent while giving birth. For Mary, Joseph, and Jesus – this was hardly a silent night!
“Oh, Holy night”: Of all the nights in history, this was the most holy. God set in motion His eternal plan to come to earth as the Redeemer of lost people. “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them” (2 Corinthians 5:19 NKJV). Jesus came to take on Himself the sins of doomed humanity, so “that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (v. 21 NKJV). It doesn’t get any holier than that!
“All is calm, all is bright”: On that holiest of nights, our spiritual and moral darkness was forever dispelled by Jesus, the Light of the World. And our fears as lost sinners were replaced by the peace and joyful assurance that we are His eternally forgiven people.
Soul food: 2 Tim 1-4; John 19:31-42; Ps 128; Prov 31:10-13
2023-12-22
John 13:35 NRSV
Have you seen the poster depicting three men, each representing a different version of Jesus? The first looks like an uncouth mountain man, the second is tanned and athletic, the third is a slight, meek-mannered character. The caption underneath says, “Will the real Jesus please stand up?”
In John 13, the real Jesus stands up. He tells us what He is all about and what He wants us to be all about – and it’s love! In the upper room, Jesus recognized that His time was short. The cross was looming, Judas was about to betray Him, and He had to prepare His disciples to continue without Him. It’s like asking a pastor, “If you had one last sermon, what would it be?” Or asking a teacher, “What great truth would you most like to convey to your students?” Or asking parents, “If you could tell your kids only one thing, what would it be?”
Jesus spells it out: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you… By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (vv. 34-35 NRSV). Like a last will and testament, Jesus’ final message is important not only because of its content but because of its tone and timing. It sums up His life and our responsibility to God and to others – to love them! Now, since love isn’t what you say but what you do – today go out and find practical ways to express God’s love to those you meet. They will feel good, and you will too.
Soul food: Micah 5-7; John 19:17-30; Ps 47; Prov 31:6-9
Johannes 13:35 NLV
Het jy die plakkaat gesien wat drie mans, wat elkeen ‘n ander weergawe van Jesus voorstel uitbeeld? Die eerste lyk soos ‘n onbeskofte man, die tweede is bruingebrand en atleties, die derde is ‘n klein, sagmoedige karakter. Die byskrif daaronder sê: ‘Sal die ware Jesus asseblief opstaan?’
Die ware Jesus staan in Johannes 13 op. Hy vertel vir ons wat vir Hom die belangrikste is en wat vir ons die belangrikste moet wees – en dit is liefde! In die bovertrek het Jesus besef dat sy tyd min was. Die kruis het gedreig, Judas was op die punt om Hom te verraai en Hy moes sy dissipels voorberei om sonder Hom voort te gaan. Dis soos om ‘n pastoor te vra: ‘As jy net een laaste preek oorgehad het, wat sou jy sê?’ Of soos om vir ‘n onderwyser te vra: ‘Watter een groot waarheid sal jy die graagste vir jou studente wou leer?’ Of om vir ouers te vra: ‘As jy vir jou kinders net een ding kon sê, wat sou dit wees?’
Jesus spel dit uit: ‘Ek gee julle ‘n nuwe opdrag: Julle moet mekaar liefhê; soos Ek julle liefhet, net só moet julle mekaar ook liefhê. As julle liefde teenoor mekaar beoefen, sal almal daaraan sien dat julle my dissipels is’ (verse 34-35 NLV).
Soos ‘n laaste testament, is Jesus se finale boodskap belangrik, nie net vanweë die inhoud daarvan nie, maar vanweë die toon en tydsberekening daarvan. Dit som sy lewe en ons verantwoordelikheid teenoor God en ander mense op – om hulle lief te hê! Aangesien liefde nie is wat jy sê nie, maar wat jy doen – gaan vandag uit en vind praktiese maniere om God se liefde aan diegene wat jy ontmoet uit te druk. Hulle sal goed voel, en jy sal ook.
Sielskos: Miga 5-7; Joh 19:17-30; Ps 47; Spr 31:6-9
