This night is Christmas Eve, and kids all across the region are watching "The Grinch" and trying to get sleepy so Santa will come. A couple of friends of mine are recently separated, but they will be spending this blessed evening together with the kids; and we hope the occasion will give them some needed hope.
But as we sing about the "Little Town of Bethlehem" where the Savior was born, what everyone is talking about is the Israeli City of Jerusalem where He died and was resurrected. Just last week, President Trump finally recognized what everyone knows but have been averse to acknowledge: JERUSALEM IS THE NATIONAL CAPITAL OF ISRAEL.
This is an important event in the ministry of our Savior whose birth we celebrate tonight and tomorrow. This was prophesied both in the Old Testament and by Jesus Himself. The fig tree is in full leaf now; and the fruit (His Second Coming) is very near to come.
We wonder sometimes if His mother Mary knew that "This child that you delivered would soon deliver you". And did the Magi know that the gifts they brought to The Manger were besides the gold spices used for embalming a corpse?
Actually Jesus was born sometime in mid-spring. The shepherds would not be standing around with their flocks in the middle of a December night, the flocks would have been indoors and so would the shepherds have been. But it is so appropriate to celebrate His birth on a day after the darkness began to give way to the light. In so doing we Christians celebrate not only His birth but also His mission.
And so God rest you merry on this blessed and holy day.
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