First Sunday of Christmas Year B 31st December 2023
Lectionary Readings:
Isaiah 61 v10 – 62 v3 Celebrate and shout!
Psalm 148 Come, praise the Lord.
Galatians 4 v4-7 God’s children.
Luke 2 v22-40 Simeon and Anna.
Recognition, acceptance and celebration of promises kept.
Luke tells of Joseph and Mary taking the infant Jesus to the temple for the ceremony of circumcision in accordance with Jewish tradition. There they meet Simeon, presumably an older man, who had been promised by God that he would not die before he had seen ‘Christ the Lord’.
‘Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and praised God’ (v28) for keeping his promise. Simeon says “With my own eyes I have seen what you have done to save your people”. (v30).
Simeon, like Anna, recognised that Jesus was to become the means by which the people would be saved.
Luke tells us this recognition was by means of God’s Spirit at work within Simeon and Anna.
The apostle Paul also talks of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians. “God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, and his Spirit tells us that God is our Father. You are no longer slaves (to the Law of Moses), you are God’s children and you will be given what he has promised”. (v6,7).
Paul is urging the followers of Jesus to accept that the relationship between God and us has changed for the better, because of Jesus, who by his life, death and resurrection, has become the means of our reconciliation with God. We can now be considered ‘children of God’, blessed with the gift of his Spirit.
The promises that Paul alludes to are those foretold by the prophets, that God would provide a Messiah (Christ), who will bring justice, mercy, forgiveness and peace for all, when God’s kingdom is established on earth.
The work of establishing the kingdom has begun, thanks to Jesus, and we, as his followers, are encouraged by the Spirit to make this kingdom real to others.
This week’s readings are an invitation to join Simeon, Anna, Paul, Isaiah and the Psalmist in celebrating God’s saving power and justice by praising the Lord our God.
The Psalmist says, “Every king and every ruler, all nations on earth, every man and every woman, young people and old, come, praise the Lord”. (Psalm 148 v11).
Isaiah says, “I celebrate and shout because of my Lord God. His saving power and justice are the very clothes I wear. The Lord will bring about justice and praise in every nation on earth like flowers blooming in a garden”. (Isaiah 61 v10, 11).
Thank you Lord for keeping your promises to us.
Bible quotations are taken from the Contemporary English version.