Word to the Wise
Wednesday, December 20, 2023 - December 20
[Isa 7:10-14 and Luke 1:26-38]"Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel." [Isaiah] "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus." [Luke]
DECEMBER 20 "COUNT DOWN" DAY TO CHRISTMAS
These last days before the celebration of Christmas focus on promise and fulfillment. There are prophetic "promises" that foretell the births of John the Baptist and Jesus and the "fulfillments" in the annunciations of the conceptions of Jesus and of John the Baptist. The broad historical canvas of the Old Testament is brought to focus on two women in the New Testament, Mary and Elizabeth, and their husbands, Joseph and Zechariah. Ultimately the fulfillment is personified in the two births of Jesus and John the Baptist.
We continue to live in the realm of promise and fulfillment because Jesus promised that he would return and bring "time" to an end and judge the living and the dead. The birth of Jesus is the beginning of a new promise that was made with his own life, death and resurrection. John the Baptist led the way for us in the past as proclaimers of the promise and its fulfillment. Now it is our turn to proclaim the new promise and its continual fulfillment in our lives and all those who have lived in the same hope. If we take human promises seriously, can we not take God's even more? The child in the manger is the fulfillment of a promise and we are challenged to proclaim that promise with the help of the Holy Spirit that he also promised and continually fufills. AMEN