Advent - do you know what I know?
Read Matthew 2:13-23
“An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
Reflect - God brings hope and victory through despair and loss
There is lots in life that we don’t know or don’t understand. This part of the nativity story is quite shocking and a world away from the sentimental side of Christmas. As we read in Matthew about Herod killing all the babies below the age of two, it’s hard not to be reminded Pharaoh committing the exact same atrocity in Exodus. In both instances, a fearful leader is trying to protect their power through a horrific act. And yet in both instances, lives are preserved and those lives are the means through which God saves his people. This should make us think of something else … the Christian faith is founded upon the fact that Jesus comes through death to bring us to life. God always brings hope out of loss, victory out of defeat and life out of death.
As we continue to read the story of the Exodus, Israel comes out of Egypt, goes through sea, enters a desert in which they begin to discover who they are, who God is, and what their ministry with him will look like. They also receive God’s word on Mount Sinai.
And as we continue reading Matthew, Jesus comes out of Egypt where his family flee to escape Herod, he goes through the water of the Jordan and then enters the desert where he determines who he is and how he is going to go about his ministry, he then climbs a mountain and teaches people God’s word.
As we read the nativity narrative and allow ourselves to think “I’ve come across this somewhere before” we remember that God is showing us something about himself. God has certain ways of how he engages in the world, there are consistent patterns to his work. As we become familiar with his ways by reflecting on them throughout the bible, we can better look for and recognise when he is at work in our lives today as ‘Emmanuel, God with us’.
Respond
2020 has been a year of great loss. Do you feel like you’re in a place of despair, or loss, or even death? These things can often be so much more heightened at Christmas. If you have lost someone, or a relationship has ended, or if you’ve lost a job or even something of ‘life the way it was’, it’s at this time of year that is about people, or when finances are pinched, that these things can be felt the most.
If you’re facing this, remember that God hears the cry of his people. Know that you are seen and heard, and God is with you. What Matthew and indeed the rest of the bible shows us is a God who has everything, giving everything to those who don’t. A God who is not suffering, stepping into the suffering of people. A God who is King of all the earth, being born as a vulnerable baby in order that he might alleviate suffering, and provide, and uphold, and care.
As Christ-followers, we’re called to follow this example. And Christmas provides an opportunity for us to do this. Who are those who are experiencing loss or lack at the moment? In what practical ways can you be good news to them? How can we empty ourselves, give of ourselves, inconvenience ourselves in order that they might experience the love God demonstrates through Jesus’ birth?