Good News and Great Joy

This December we have walked together slowly through Luke 2:1-40. Following an ancient practice known as lectio divina, we have stopped to allow each verse or pair of verses to lead us into a contemplation of its meaning for the past coming of Jesus in history, for His continuing present work in our lives, and in turning our hearts and our hope toward His coming again to put to an end to all evil—including the evil that still tugs at our own hearts—into the joy of an everlasting new creation in the glorious radiance of His presence.

Tomorrow is finally Christmas Day, and in preparation for tomorrow’s day that is sure to be full of festivity and celebration with family and friends, we invite you to read again on Christmas Eve through the entirety of Luke 2:1-40 in one sitting. Consider all the lessons that we have learned together and shared along the way and the prayers we have prayed at each step of the journey. Read it again with a great sense of joy. How is reading it today any different than when we read it on the opening day that led us into the season of Advent? Is it any richer, deeper, or more meaningful this time?

We encourage you also to read through this chapter with your family on Christmas Day, and perhaps even share some of the lessons and meditations that most stood out to you throughout the month of Advent in your deepened encounter and immersion in this beloved chapter.

Merry Christmas, and may the joy of Christ’s first arrival cause us to rejoice in the even greater joy of His coming again for us—the only Savior of the world, the perfect King of kings, and the Lord of life in its fullness. He is good news and great joy for us and for the world who still needs to know Him. 

Prayer

Father, thank You for the gift of Your written Word, in which we read and contemplate again and again of the first coming of our promised Lord Jesus and how it truly changed everything—Your good news and great joy for the world. We thank You for the salvation that Jesus brought for us through His perfect life, death, and resurrection, for His continual salvation work through Your Holy Spirit in sanctifying us, and for the glorious salvation that awaits us when King Jesus comes again.

Lord Jesus, I praise You for coming to seek and to save the lost. I was lost and You found me. In Your humility, You have restored me to Your Father who is now my Father by grace and mercy and compassion. In the love of God, I have found my true life and have been restored to my true, created self. You are the great Healer whose coming again will bring an end to all evil—in this world and in me. You are the only way to the Father, the perfect Wisdom to live by, and the King of the only everlasting Kingdom. Make me bolder to declare You as the good news of great joy to a world that desperately needs You.

Amen.