The 12th Day of Christmas
Its the Twelfth and Final Day of Christmas … you made it!
On Wednesday nights during the Advent Season, a dozen or so of us had the blessing of a time of study and conversation on the incarnation, this belief we hold to that Jesus Christ was/is the eternal Son of God, who was born into the world, also becoming the Human One (the Son of Man). The root of our study was a single verse from the Gospel of John:
“The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish”
The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. You might know it better as, ‘The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’ The word in Greek, skēnoō, where we get moved/dwelt/lived, literally means to ‘pitch a tent.’ In a way, Jesus becoming Human, accepting a human name, and body, and pains, and joys, and sorrows, and moving, is reminiscent of the ancient time of the Hebrew people, where God’s dwelling place was a tabernacle, a tent, a mobile temple that went from place to place with Israel in their Exodus wanderings.
Jesus came into the world to personally experience the human condition, his body from birth to death to resurrection, the living and breathing temple of God With Us. Before we even knew we needed him, he moved to us from eternity and into time. And he called people to move towards him, just as the light in the sky led the Wise Men to his home, or the Angels telling those shepherds to hurry up and run to his side. Yes, people would move towards him, but we can only do so because he first became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.
Isn’t that Good News? As we put a neat bow on the season of Christmas, celebrating that Christ moved to us on Christmas Day, how will we (you and Community UMC of Krum, TX) move closer to him in the seasons to come?
It’s the Twelfth and Final Day of Christmas, but it’s not the last day to celebrate that when we needed God, God was born unto us in Jesus Christ. Glory to God in the highest and peace upon those whom God favors - you.
In Christ,
Pastor Jarrod