DAY 1
Micah 5:2-5a
But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labour has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
to the ends of the earth,
and he shall be the one of peace.
During this past year the global church has been recalling one of the great councils of the early church. In 325 AD, bishops from across the Roman Empire gathered in Nicaea to discuss one of the fundamental questions in the Christian faith: Who was Jesus? Was he just a man of God? Or was he more than that, possibly God Godself? Much of the debate revolved around Jesus as “Son” and what that relationship indicated about the identity of Jesus. What was decided formed a statement that, to this day, underpins the Christian belief of who Jesus was and is.
Over this season of Advent, as we prepare once again to proclaim Jesus’s birth and look towards Jesus’s return, we are going to explore who Jesus is. We will do this from the perspective of scripture, from the insight of theologians and historians, and how Jesus is met in the church and the world. The hope is that by the time Christmas arrives, our joyous proclamation of Jesus’s birth will have a different depth to it: that we will not only sing with the angels but have the courage to say more—to tell the world who Jesus is!
As we begin our explorations, the prophet Micah provides us with a description of who, as Christians, we might say Jesus is. He was one whose ancestors were from the north of Israel. He was one who would be a king of Israel; one who was there at the begin of time; one who would be born; one who would be a shepherd; one who would always know security; one who would be great throughout the world; one who would be of peace; and one who would proclaim God. As descriptions of a person go, this is not simple, yet who of us is simple to describe. For Jesus, though, the complexity of his character as suggested by Micah’s description is vast. Despite this, it does give us a good starting point, reminding us of the context where we meet Jesus in the gospels—as a citizen of Israel, a Jew, as one of a people who identify themselves as God’s own.
Therefore, we begin Advent by recognising Jesus was born a Jew. The place of honour of Jesus in the Christian faith does not alter this fact. Jesus’s teachings and disputes with Pharisees and Priests do not offer evidence to the contrary. As we will explore tomorrow, Jesus’s mission was first and foremost to rebuild the people of Israel.
Long ago, prophets knew
Christ would come, born a Jew,
come and make all things new;
bear his people’s burden,
freely love and pardon.
Ring, bells, ring, ring, ring!
sing choirs, sing, sing, sing!
When he comes, when he comes,
who will make him welcome?
If you would like to download the full series, a pdf booklet is available here