On the way to Christmas | 2025 #3

December 

The last month of the year has arrived. How do you look back? Sunday, November 30th was the first Sunday of Advent. What does that mean? Advent is a period of about four weeks that precedes Christmas. The word comes from adventus, Latin for “coming”.

In the Bible, the Book of God, much is written about the coming of Jesus to earth. His coming was foretold by prophets. The famous musical piece 'The Messiah' by G.F. Händel is about this. He also quotes from the prophet Zechariah, from chapter 9: 

‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is the righteous Saviour, and he shall speak peace unto the heathen.’ (Zechariah 9, vv.9–10)

‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you, righteous and He is a Saviour...’ (Zechariah 9:9a)
‘...He shall speak peace to the nations;’ (Zechariah 9:10 middle)

What joy for Zion and Jerusalem, and thus for all those who await the coming of Jesus! The Saviour, the Healer, the Redeemer will come. The prophet Zechariah was certain of this. He could almost see it happening before his eyes. However, it would still take about 500 years before it actually happened.

We now look back on the fact of Jesus’ first coming. He came to earth as a little Child. Poor and despised, yet He was King. He is righteous. He has always done what is good and right.

In the musical piece ‘The Messiah’ a phrase is omitted. Händel, of course, had to make a selection from the many Bible texts. In Zechariah 9:9b it says:
‘lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass.’

This was fulfilled in the New Testament, in Matthew 21:6-9. The people welcomed Jesus as King into the city of Jerusalem.

‘Say to the daughter of Zion: Behold, your King is coming to you, gentle and sitting on a donkey and a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.
And the disciples went and did as Jesus had commanded them,
Brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.
And the great multitude spread their clothes on the road, others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
And the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’

‘...He shall speak peace to the nations’
Jesus gives peace, even to Gentiles who do not belong to the people of Israel. Jesus is the Saviour for people from all countries, all nations, and all languages. People who learn that they need a Saviour. That is what the name Jesus means: Saviour.

In Matthew 1:21 we read: ‘And she (Mary) will bear a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS; for He will save His people from their sins.’

To save means to make free from sins. Jesus restores the broken relationship with God. He can do this because He bore the punishment for sin. For whom? For His people. Do you belong to them? If not, God is still adding people to His people, even in 2025.

In Ephesians 2:12-14a it says about people who were once Gentiles and lived without God the following:

‘That at that time you were without Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For He is our peace’

Through the blood of Jesus, you too can become part of His people!

Watch the explanation video about Christmas here! 

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