Today's Scripture Reading (August 1, 2020): Isaiah 49
Christmas is
coming. I guess that is an ever-present reality. I have friends who are already
making their preparations for a Christmas Celebration that is now just under
five months away. I have always waited until much closer to the day before I
start my preparations. But while the celebration of Christmas is still months
away, the story is always with us. The Incarnation, God with us, shapes our
faith and everything that we do.
It was the eighth-century B.C.E. prophet Micah who wrote
about the coming incarnation. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the
clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over
Israel, whose
origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2). And the biblical historian Luke
wrote that;
But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary;
you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him
Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son
of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father
David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants
forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:30-33).
Isaiah sends a message to the distant lands that one is coming
who will be for them. The coming of the Messiah was not just an event that would
be important for Israel. His coming would be important for the entire world. And
before he would be born, God would call him, supporting the message of Micah who
had declared that his roots would be “of old, from ancient times.” And Luke
confirms the message of Isaiah that “from my mothers womb he has spoken my name”
by declaring that the angel called him Jesus even before he was conceived.
So, Merry Christmas. The celebration might still be months
away, but the reality of the Incarnation of Messiah is with us every day of the
year, and not just in the cold and snowy days (at least where I live) of
December.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah
50
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