Tied to Advent, the Second Part (John 3:16, Matthew 1:18-25)

The 2008 tie has a picture drawn by one or both of my daughters: it has a picture of Mary and Baby Jesus in a manger as well as the Star. It says “I love you” reminding us of the Christmas story and how Jesus was lain in a manger because their way no room for him in the inn – it recalls the Father’s great love for us as recorded in John 3:16 and 17: “For God so love the world that He sent His Only Begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life for God did not send His Son to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.”

The 2009 tie from Rebecca and Sarah-Grace has the creativity of my young children on full display with Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus under the Christmas star and a Christmas tree. This reminds us, as well as everything else, of the faithfulness of Joseph as told in the Gospel of Luke, how he loved Jesus as his own and served God with all his heart. Matthew 1:18-25:

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Next, we have two undated ties. The hand is the handprint of a baby Heather, so we know that this tie was made in 2010 or later. And the next one is really neat. Take a look: under the Christmas Star that led the magi and shepherds to Bethlehem are three figures: one in blue representing Mary, and one in red representing Joseph and the baby Jesus is in white. If you look at the three figures you will notice that each one is the fingerprint of one of my daughters: reminding us all the God came to earth as a small child, as a baby born to His mother and adoptive father and laid in swaddling cloths in a manger.

Comments

Hosanna! The Triumphal Entry into Holy Week (Matthew 21:1-11)

Today is Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is when we commemorate the Sunday before Jesus’ death. Jerusalem was occupied then, like it is now; now it is occupied by the Israelis, then it was occupied by the Romans. The Judeans in the first century didn’t like being occupied then any more than the Palestinians like it today. The Romans were harsh, not nearly as brutal as modern Israel, but harsh enough that the first century had their version of … (Remember the suicide bombers of the ‘70s and ‘80s?) …suicide bombers: the Sicarii (zealots), Judean terrorists / revolutionaries would walk into crowds with daggers looking for Romans to kill –. One of Jesus’ followers, Simon, was arguably a Sicarii or zealot. Passover is the commemoration of ancient Israel’s birth as a nation. The Angel of Death passed over Egypt and the nations of Isreal and Judah were created through the Exodus. Passover, in the Roman period, was a time when many people of Judean descent descended upon Jerusalem. I ...

Lanterns (Matthew 25:1-13, Psalm 146)

The topics I chose from our Lenten list for today are “God has rescued us from the Dominion of Darkness”; “He has Freed Us from the Power of Sin”; the Kingdom of God is at hand. Do we believe that? Do we live that? In theology we use the term ‘prolepsis’ to refer to the time when the Kingdom of God begins, which is now, the time between the resurrection of Christ and His return at the eschaton. This is the time in which we are living and as Christians it is our responsibility to be willing instruments of God to display what it means that He has rescued us from the Dominion of Darkness; He has Freed Us from the Power of Sin, that the Kingdom of God is at hand. But do we even actually believe that He has already done this? And if He has why does it not seem that the Sin and Darkness still reign? We know the parable of the bridesmaids (holy ones) in the Bible who needed to keep their lanterns lit – because lit lanterns were to be there when the Bridegroom Jesus returns...

Bah Ram You Shaggy Goat (Daniel 8)

This book is written in a couple of different languages as we have it tod ay. Ch apter 7 that Susan looked at with us is the last Aramaic chapter - if that is on purpose then chapter 7 probably concludes the first section of Daniel rather than beginning the next section but Ch apter 8 that we are looking at today (and everything flowing from it) is obviously connected to Chapter 7 as Da n iel refers to the first dream when relaying the second one. Chronologically speaking, Chapter 8 and Chapter 7 take place before C hapters 5 and 6. In Chapter 5, Babylon falls, Belshazzar is killed and the Persians take over. None of that has happened in Chapter 8 which we are about to read . Verses 1-4 8 In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me. 2 In my ...

Salvogesis

Search This Blog