Hey, Y'all,
Well, once again it's Christmas Eve ("Nochebuena" for those of you who speak the language of heaven :-) --- and yeah, I must be getting old, 'cause I'm starting to sound like the "old folk" who say it seems like just a couple of months ago it was last Christmas :-) . Today's RST is at once simple and profound--I was reminded of this again in church yesterday. It's found in Matthew 1:21-23:
...And she will have a son,
and you are to name Him Jesus,
for He will save His people from their sins.
All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message
through his prophet (Isaiah):
“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call Him 'Immanuel,'
which means ‘God with us.’”
Just a couple of quick thoughts...first, how cool is it that the angel, at the Father's behest, delivers this message to Joseph, that the baby's name was to be Jesus because He will save His people from their sins. That's us--not some annoyance that He feels obligated to deal with because He's God and He said He would: He has always loved us fiercely and wanted nothing but our best, and He has always called us "His people"--a seamless thought running throughout history (check out Zechariah 2:7-9: "He has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye..." and Psalm 100: "It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture."
And the second thought is really just a continuation of the first: "they will call Him Immanuel...God with us." How mind-boggling is that?!? God with us. Not far off somewhere grousing about what a pain this planet and these people have been and how He has to come set things right. Nope. Immanuel: God with us. Always. So Feliz Nochebuena...a very "good night" it was indeed, for all of us.
You've been prayed for today...
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