A Thrill of Hope in a Weary World

CHRISTMAS OFFERS AN opportunity to reflect on how well we know Jesus as he would want to be known. Can we be the kind of Jesus followers we should be without an adequate understanding of who Jesus really is? Only a good grasp of who Jesus is offers a solid foundation for our worship and service in the new year.

For many, this Christmas Jesus is a beautiful baby boy wrapped in swaddling clothes, sleeping in a trough on a bed of straw, as farm animals and shepherds look on pensively. Another common scene of tranquility is one of the baby Jesus in the arms of his mother Mary—the Madonna and child portrait so prominent throughout church history. In many ways, these depictions are appropriate for the Christmas season, but there is a potential problem. For many, these are the defining images of Jesus: helpless, dependent, silent.

This is not at all the person of the Messiah who is announced in the Old Testament. What was the expectation that gripped the Jewish people for centuries? What was the Coming One to do? How would he change the world as they knew it? How can he change the world as we know it?

These readings explore prophetic passages that describe the One who was to come. How does the New Testament celebrate Jesus as that long-expected Messiah? How can his coming help us to live out our faith well?

January 5

A Migratory People

WORDS OF HOPE arise in response to human need and suffering. These needs vary, according to circumstances. In parts of the world today, life is overwhelmed by terrible violence. Other places experience ecological disaster and a lack of food and water. Survival is what the unfortunate long for, a different future for themselves and their families. So, people try to migrate to a new place. These factors are not new; the history of humanity is the history of migration to escape unrelenting misery. Today, the numbers of displaced people are in the many millions.

Centuries ago, God’s people experienced a crushing war. Jerusalem was destroyed, thousands died, and thousands were taken away to Babylon. Amid terrible defeat, Jeremiah announced that one day they would come home! YHWH, their father, shepherd, and redeemer (Jeremiah 31:10-11), would bring them back, comfort them, and provide all they desired. God would turn their weeping into indescribable joy (verses 12-14). In ancient times, a nation’s defeat meant the defeat of their god. God’s people cannot be deceived by that lie. YHWH reigns supreme. God will bend history on their behalf, even if everything around seems to say that God cannot.

This concrete prophetic word still rings true. Our God cares about the harsh realities endured by the hopeless, those victims of wars, drug violence, and climate change who swarm to other lands seeking respite and a new start. To those migrants this word brings comfort, to others it ignites a call to mission to make a tangible difference in the life of others.

But there is more. Hope comes through the One who is life and the light of the world (John 1:1-18). Through this Jesus, God incarnate, we can become God’s children, which also means we are redeemed and receive the promised Holy Spirit. All of this is for the praise of God’s glory (Ephesians 1:3-14). Here lies hope beyond despair.

January 12

Servants to Justice

EPIPHANY, CELEBRATED ON Jan. 6, commemorates the revelation of the Incarnate One to the Magi. There are several other important revelations of Jesus’ deity in the gospels. One occurs at his baptism by John in the Jordan (Matthew 3:13-17). The text tells us that the heavens opened and that a voice declared, “This is my Son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” In addition to the appearance of the Holy Spirit in the form of the dove, there is a key detail not to miss: the phrase “with whom I am well pleased.”

These words and the presence of the Spirit echo Isaiah 42:1. This prophetic passage (42:1-9) is the first of several that announce God’s coming Servant. Note that in the opening verses, “justice” occurs three times. To establish justice on the earth is the essence of this Servant’s mission! This is the new thing that YHWH will bring to pass. In the world we live in, this seems like an impossible dream.

But, at Jesus’ baptism, God announces that the Servant has come. The mission of that Servant, Jesus, to bring justice has begun. The disciples testify to Jesus’ works in the Spirit (Acts 10:34-43): preaching the good news of peace, doing good, and healing the sick. This Servant’s ministry was bound up with his death, but it is this Crucified One who will one day judge humanity.

In this in-between time, between the cross and Jesus’ coming again, does it seem like all our efforts at justice are hopeless, our faith a delusion? We need to see that our involvements—whatever they may be—in immigration reform, the care of the homeless, drug rehabilitation, and so much more, testify to Jesus no matter the appearances. Like those first disciples, with the help of the Spirit we carry out the mission of the Crucified One to give our life for the world.

January 19

Seeing Rightly

CAN WE SEE the world rightly? If I take off my glasses, everything is blurred. I see, but not clearly. I need those glasses to see the world as it really is. The scripture is the lens for our lives, and only with those glasses can we understand that we are called to an upside-down kingdom.

Isaiah describes a Servant who is Israel (49:3), but who ministers to Israel and beyond Israel as light for all nations (verses 5-6). Great suffering will be part of the Servant’s calling (verses 4, 7). God’s Servant will be despised by everyone and then honored before the powerful (verse 7). But wait, rulers do not bow to servants! How does this work? This is the Servant’s good news of a different kingdom. Honor comes in serving the world.

In John’s gospel these confusing statements begin to make sense. John shows that Jesus embodies all that Israel was meant to be as God’s Servant. Jesus came to minister to Israel and to redeem all humanity as the Lamb of God (John 1:29-37). In Jesus, the hope of Isaiah 49 has come. There is more. Isaiah 49:4 speaks of the Servant’s deep trust in God no matter how hard the circumstances. Psalm 40 calls us to confidence in God’s mercy, steadfast love, and faithfulness. Now, as God sustains us, with our gifts we serve this Jesus—Servant, Lord, and Lamb—until Christ is revealed again (1 Corinthians 1:1-9).

In a culture where winning is everything, where people we disagree with are vilified, and where so many seek attention in the media, the Servant shows us another way. Honor before God, and eventually the powerful, comes in serving the world. This upside-down way of the Servant is not easy. We must trust God even when we face opposition.

January 26

Bright Light Ahead

OUR WORLD IS fascinated by death and darkness. Look at the wars around the globe, the violence against many who are vulnerable, the ugliness of our politics. We even embrace this darkness vicariously in video games and movies. This is what humans do.

The hope of Isaiah 9:1-7 is announced at a time when Israel had chosen darkness (8:16-22). A “great light” will come through an amazing royal child, a Davidic king who will establish justice. But that hope is not limited to the future. God is our light and salvation now (Psalm 27:1). When we are in difficult circumstances, we know that in God there is protection (verses 4-6). God beckons us to seek the help and assurance that we so desperately desire (29:7-9).

In a terrible moment in his ministry—John had been arrested and would soon be executed—Jesus turns to Isaiah 9 (Matthew 4:12-16). What days of darkness! But the light had come; Jesus was that light, calling everyone to repent and to turn to the light. There is a lesson here: Those who have come to the light—to Jesus—can trust in the salvation and support of the God of light, and this privilege brings with it the responsibility to announce the good news.

Fulfilling this mission well is a challenge. We may leave our former lives behind to follow Jesus (Matthew 4:18-22), and even witness the wonders that Jesus performs (verse 23). But all of us know that division can raise its ugly head even among Christians (1 Corinthians 1:10-16). Again, we must choose the light over the ways of the world. The light of Jesus must illumine every area of our lives.