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Meditative Reflection
The Impact of John the Baptist

“Many of the people of Israel will he (John the Baptist) bring back to the Lord their God…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Lk. 1:16-17)

The Four Gospels not only mention the ministry of John the Baptist, but they also point out that he and his ministry have already been foretold by the prophet Isaiah. In other words, his ministry was not to be taken lightly and he was to play an important part in the plan of salvation in Jesus Christ.

In the Four Gospels, we see the immediate impact of his ministry as he boldly pointed out the sins of the religious leaders and called them and the people to repentance. His ministry was greeted with great success, as even many of the religious leaders came to receive his baptism of repentance.

But his ministry was meant to be preparatory in that if these repenting Jews did not subsequently listen to his testimony about who Jesus is, their baptism of repentance would be totally meaningless.

As it happened, some of those who received his baptism of repentance did believe in his testimony and followed Jesus, and they included Peter and Andrew.

As Luke finished his Gospel account and continued to write the Book of Acts, we have come to realize that many of the Apostles stayed in Jerusalem and that many of John’s disciples spread throughout Asia Minor and beyond, carrying the gospel with them. As a result, they played no small part in the spread of the gospel beyond Jerusalem. All these have been a result of the bold ministry of John the Baptist.

As much as we do understand that no one is indispensable when it comes to the ministry of the church, one has to wonder what if — what if John did not faithfully carry out his role as the one who prepared the way of the Lord?

Meditative Reflection
Knowing Who We Are

“ 'I am the Lord’s servant', Mary answered, 'May it be to me as you have said'.” (Lk. 1:38)

Many Bible scholars estimate that Mary would likely be between 16-18 years old at the time of bearing the Christ child. Maybe, in her time, girls of her age might be a bit more mature than girls of her age today, but still, a teenager is a teenager. How much life experience, how much biblical knowledge and knowledge of God could she have, let alone the knowledge of being pregnant and being a mother?

However, it was because of her young age that God’s choice of her is even more special.

Upon seeing the angel Gabriel and hearing his greeting, she appeared to be marked more by being “troubled” than shocked. To a normal person, the very words that he or she is highly favored by God would have brought jubilation: “How I must be very special! I must have done something right!” But Mary was different: This teenage girl seemed to understand that being highly favored by God carries with it an awesome responsibility, and it sure did — perhaps the heaviest responsibility any woman on earth should ever shoulder — giving birth to and rearing the Son of God!

Upon receiving a more detailed clarification of what she had been chosen for, Mary’s focus was a very practical one, “How will this be…since I am a virgin?” (Lk. 1:34). This was not a sign of disbelief, but a sign of her maturity, of not being too overwhelmed by the miracle or vision that was before her, but seeing the very practical implication of her charge.

And when the angel further explained to her that her pregnancy would be a result of the Holy Spirit coming upon her and assured her that such a miracle was not too far-fetched, given the pregnancy of her relative, Elizabeth, Mary gave a very brief response: “I am the Lord’s servant…May it be to me as you have said.” (Lk. 1:38)

If Mary had to keep on treasuring and pondering the meaning of the birth of this son of hers even after the angel’s visit, she must have been extremely perplexed with many unanswered questions at this time, yet she expressed the above words of submission. Why? As much as there remained many things about this child’s birth that she did not know or understand, there was one thing that she knew for sure, and that was who she was — the Lord’s servant. A more literal translation of her words are, “I am the maid-slave of the Lord…”.

Yes, she knew she was the slave of the Lord, and as such, it did not really matter whether she knew all the answers and implications of her charge. Her only attitude as a slave was total submission.

Isn’t this also true for all of us who belong to the Lord?! There are many things that happen in life which are beyond our comprehension, and we find ourselves continually asking “Why?”. But if we understand, as Mary did, who we are—slaves of the Lord—and that the only attitude that matters is “total submission”, then the Lord will take care of the rest. The Lord certainly did in the case of Mary.

Meditative Reflection
Not Just a Tool

“…for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is His name.” (Lk. 1:48-49)

Mary was certainly a very unusual woman of God and her famous song of praise, called the “Magnificat”, is certainly one that expresses her great devotion and submission to the Lord. As this is such a rich, rich song and full of spiritual insights, I would only wish to share with you two thoughts that have touched my heart during the past Christmas as I reflected on her song.

(1) “He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant”: As I reflected on this statement, I came to realize that it can be simply translated, based on the original sense of the Greek words, as “He has even cared to look at me or even paid attention to me”.

You see, Mary was just such an ordinary Jewish girl, poor and living in an ordinary town of Nazareth — in fact, a town rather despised by the Jews (Jn. 1:46). Why would God, of all people and of all places, choose someone like her in Nazareth to be the earthly mother of His Son, to bear and to raise Him for such an earth-shaking, epoch-changing mission?! But as incredible as it was, it was true that she had been chosen, and as she received such an affirmation from Elizabeth and from the child in her womb, she burst into praise, wondering aloud, “How could God even look at me?!”

(2) “The Mighty One has done great things for me”: You might say to Mary, “Wait a minute; it is all about the Son of God and the salvation for the entire world. You are just a tool!”

But Mary understood that God never simply chooses and uses anyone as a tool. As much as she had been chosen to be a blessing to the world, she herself would be the most blessed. Who would witness first-hand the sinless life of the Son of God? Who would witness the great humility of the Son of God in greater fashion than Mary — having witnessed His humble birth, having to teach Him to talk, to eat and to walk, and then watch Him go all the way to the cross? Who would understand the love of Christ like her — having experienced His love first-hand as His earthly mother? As much as she was a tool, she knew she was more than tool, but someone God has chosen to greatly bless as well.

Brothers and sisters, this is always how God treats each one of us. No one is too insignificant in His eyes — He sees and He cares. No one is purely chosen as a tool for His kingdom, but as we are chosen, we are the first ones He seeks to bless, if we learn to obey as Mary did!

Meditative Reflection
God-centeredness

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and has redeemed His people.” (Lk. 1:68)

Just imagine:

- You are rather advanced in age, say in your 60’s. Though not that old these days, in those days, you would be quite old.

- You and your wife have no children, and your hope for having any children, which was very, very important in those days, especially for the Jewish woman, had certainly vanished after so many years.

- Unfortunately for the wife, she felt somehow ashamed — as if accursed of God — having done something wrong — that is why Luke emphasizes that they are both upright.

- Then you encountered the angel Gabriel and miracle of miracles, you are given a son.

Now, people around you are not only amazed, they truly rejoice with you. In this hill community where everybody knows everybody, they sense that you have found favor with God; and of course, they eventually will hear of your divine encounter. As a result, they cannot help but ask, “What then is this child going to be?” (1:66).

Now, let me ask you: Apart from being excited and jubilant, what might be your focus at the birth of your son, especially with the angel saying, “for he will be great in the sight of the Lord” (1:15). Of course, you will think of what he is going to be, his achievement, and his greatness. If this is your focus, you will naturally express this in your song of praise, perhaps right in the beginning of your praise. Right?

But Zechariah began his praise without any reference to his son in the first long sentence. Instead, he spoke all about God and the redemption of His people as foretold by prophets of long ago. In other words, as much as God had answered their own prayer of perhaps over 40 years with the gift of a son, he was more thrilled to know that God had now answered the prayers of the entire nation after a lapse of more than 400 years during which there was not any word from any prophet. With such a God-centered life, no wonder he was chosen by God to raise the champion of the Messiah who would prepare the way of the Lord!

Meditative Reflection
We are Chosen Just as We are!

“While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born…She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Lk. 2:6-7)

“There was no room…in the inn”: This one statement is a very powerful indictment of the world then and now. The world had no room for the Son of God then, and it still does not. But I wonder how Joseph and Mary felt at the time.

The decree by Caesar Augustus was most unexpected and most inconvenient. We believe that Joseph and Mary were rather poor from the fact that they could not afford to offer the usual sacrifice of a lamb at the time of purification, only a pair of doves or two young pigeons (see the provision laid down in Lev. 12:8). For Joseph, a poor carpenter, the trip to his hometown Bethlehem would mean the stoppage of work as a carpenter — something he could not really afford with the soon addition of a baby to the family.

This 80 miles journey might take ordinary folks three days to complete, but for a heavily pregnant woman like Mary, it would obviously take a few more days. So, as others passed them by as  they journeyed to Bethlehem, they would sense that finding a room would be very difficult. However, if I were Joseph, I would comfort Mary with these words, “Don’t worry. It is the child of the Most High that you are bearing; He would not mistreat His own, would He? Furthermore, the angel appeared to Zechariah, to me, and to you; he might have appeared to someone in Bethlehem already. Who knows, maybe the richest person in Bethlehem is waiting for us at the city’s gate to receive us into his home.”

As we know, no one was willing to open their homes to let them deliver their baby. Only an innkeeper was “kind” enough to shuffle them into the manger, a place only fit for animals, to deliver their baby. As one Bible scholar comments, the fact was “Nobody cared”.

I wonder, apart from the disappointment and bewilderment Joseph and Mary felt, would they not have asked in their heads, “I wish we were of more means, that the Son of God would not have to end up in a manger!”

The truth of the matter is, they have been chosen exactly because they were poor and that there was nothing they could do to give the Christ Child a more noble birth. It was through them that the Son of God identifies with the poorest of the poor — people whom nobody cares about!

Meditative Reflection
Simple Obedience

“Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has told us about.” (Lk. 2:15)

Maybe you have wondered why Luke would choose to include the shepherds’ encounter with the angel and their visitation to the Christ Child in his gospel account. Perhaps, the more appropriate question is, why did God choose to announce the birth of Christ, of all people, to these shepherds?

For one, the announcement of Christ’s birth to the shepherds is consistent with the way of the Lord. He often appears to the humble and the simple, as the Lord Jesus makes plain in Matthew 11:25.

These shepherds were indeed simple folks without a lot of means. They were not well educated and certainly not too well respected. However, as the angel announced this good news of great joy, introducing who Jesus is in no uncertain terms—the Savior, the Messiah and the Lord (God Himself)—they did not wait until they could consult the learned and sophisticated rabbis; they did not sit down to do a Bible study; they “hurried off” to visit the Christ Child. What they said before they went was significant: “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see the things that have happened, which the Lord has told us.” (Italics, mine).

They recognized the glory as God’s presence and so those words were not so much from the angel, but from the Lord — God Himself. Furthermore, they simply believed that "this thing" that was told them “has happened" already. Yes, they were simple folks, and they expressed their belief in simple steps of obedience—they hurried off!

They might not have understood the significance of their simple steps of obedience until they reached heaven. What they had seen, heard and shared meant a lot to Mary (and I am sure to Joseph as well) to the point that she had to treasure up all these things (that were told by the shepherds) and pondered them in her heart. To treasure is to “guard” these things, not allowing them to be forgotten. To ponder is to put them together, as piecing a jigsaw puzzle together to find their true meaning. It obviously means that even at that point or perhaps, especially at that point of having delivered the Son of God in a manger, she was very confused and puzzled. What happened to the angel who made the announcement? Why did he not intervene? This is the very Son of God — why didn’t Father God intervene? Doesn’t He care?

The story told by the shepherds positively answered her doubts — the angels cared and so did Father God!

Yes, we might doubt that what we do for God and His kingdom is as insignificant as we are, and that our simple steps of obedience can really matter. The shepherds have set a very good example and have provided us with the answers.

Meditative Reflection
A Time of Joy or Grief?

“And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Lk. 2:35)

Many of us take offence at the way the world celebrates our Christmas. Surprisingly, we do not seem to bothered too much about how the merchants take advantage of Christmas to sell their products and to encourage people to buy stuff that they do not really need, and for many, with money that they do not have. We care more if they celebrate it with the "Merry Christmas" slogan or with the atheistic slogan of "Happy Holidays".

The truth of the matter is, if they do not believe in Jesus Christ, it really does not matter how they greet us or one another during Christmas. If we do understand and remember the meaning of Christmas, we should celebrate it with both joy and sadness.

With joy, because it is the demonstration of the great love of God in sending His only begotten Son to be one of us, to bring forgiveness of sin and eternal life to all who would believe in Him — This is the greatest news the world has ever heard.

With sadness, because the path to forgiveness and eternal life was through Him being rejected by the world and eventually being crucified on the cross on behalf of us sinners. In other words, as many poets and scholars like to put it, “He was born to die!”

With joy, because He has gained victory over sins, death and Satan, and He will soon return as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We, who have believed in Him, will reign with Him forever (2 Tim. 2:12).

With sadness, because the world continues to reject Him and at His return, they will be judged and their eternal destiny is the eternal fire (Rev. 20:15).

Many of us do not belong to liturgical churches, but we would do well to follow many of their examples to celebrate Advent with both fasting and feasting. This, to me, is not so that I could prepare myself to be more worthy to celebrate Christ’s birth, but so that I can remind myself of the true meaning of the coming of Christ and prepare myself to wait for His second coming.