December 17, 2008
Christmas is almost here and I hope that you and yours have a blessed, safe and happy Christmas. This year I have been doing more thinking about the first Christmas. Here is one thing that has changed my perspective . . . .
Jesus comes into a dark and hopeless world. How dark, you ask? Consider being one of God’s people at that time. You have the promises that God made to Abraham and David, but you have a lot of evidence that God has forgotten about you. Here is some of it: God had not spoken through prophets for hundreds of years before Christ. This time, called by biblical scholars the Intertestamental Period—or the time between the Old and New Testaments—was a time of divine silence. Although God had sent the people back to the land under leaders like Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah to rebuild
Jerusalem
and the
Temple
; they were constantly under the rule of oppressive empires (
Babylon
,
Persia
,
Macedonia
and
Jerusalem
and the
Temple
; they were constantly under the rule of oppressive empires (
Babylon
,
Persia
,
Macedonia
and
Rome
) with no end in sight. Finally, there is Ezekiel 10. This is one of the most terrible and haunting passages in the Bible and one that we should keep at the forefront of our minds when considering Advent. In Ezekiel 10, the prophets see God’s glory cloud leaving the
Temple
. It looks as if God is abandoning His people. This was the last vision concerning this glory cloud. The people had promises, but no sign of God’s presence.
It had been quiet for 20 generations—with no word from God. The
Roman Empire
, perhaps the most brutal in the history of the world, was encamped in God’s land poised to crush any rebellion and all hope. Now that is dark! It was at this point, when all hope seems lost, when darkness seems to have quenched light, on midnight on the darkest night of the year (or so the Church Fathers thought) that God began the invasion and re-conquest of this lost world. He did it not by sending an army of angels to undo the political oppression of the day; He did it not by sending a prophet to give new revelation; He even sent more than a glory cloud. He sent is His only Son to save us and in an insignificant town in an insignificant province of the great empire a baby cried out, a savior was born. In the end, He will end all oppression and restore righteous and justice to our world. His arrival is the first sign that means that the darkness of this world is passing away and that God is with us. Have a Merry Christmas!
Roman Empire
, perhaps the most brutal in the history of the world, was encamped in God’s land poised to crush any rebellion and all hope. Now that is dark! It was at this point, when all hope seems lost, when darkness seems to have quenched light, on midnight on the darkest night of the year (or so the Church Fathers thought) that God began the invasion and re-conquest of this lost world. He did it not by sending an army of angels to undo the political oppression of the day; He did it not by sending a prophet to give new revelation; He even sent more than a glory cloud. He sent is His only Son to save us and in an insignificant town in an insignificant province of the great empire a baby cried out, a savior was born. In the end, He will end all oppression and restore righteous and justice to our world. His arrival is the first sign that means that the darkness of this world is passing away and that God is with us. Have a Merry Christmas!
