The Christ of Christ-mas - 4 December 2024
By Ben Fourie
Um(Imi)bhalo weBhayibheli
NgokukaLuka 1
Of all the things surrounding Christmas, candles are my favourite. Having a wife who loves beautiful candles all year round, we have some burning at most of our mealtimes, but Christmas time is something special. On the first Sunday of the Advent, she would light the first Advent candle. Advent candles are also part of the celebrations in the church where we are members. Christmas is called Kersfees in Afrikaans. Kers is the Afrikaans word for candle, but this is not the meaning of Kers in Kersfees. The word derives from an old Dutch word, “Kerst”, which means Christ. Christmas, therefore, is not about something like a candle, but about someone.
This someone is called the Messiah in Hebrew and Christos in Greek, and both names mean “the anointed one”. Who is he? Let us start our search in the Old Testament with the same prophet from yesterday’s message, namely, Malachi.
To the Jews, it was very important that the Messiah should come from the lineage of David, as this was what the prophets said. The long list of ancestors of Jesus Christ in Matthew was specifically compiled to show that he was a descendant of King David. When the angel announced the birth of Jesus to Mary, he also said that he will have David as an ancestor. Malachi goes even further back in time when he called him the messenger or angel who will proclaim God’s covenant (Malachi 3:1). The Messiah or Christ was sent to fulfil the promise of the covenant that God made with Abraham, as far back as Genesis 17. In this covenant, God said: “I will be your God and the God of your descendants.” In Jesus, God became God not only for the descendants of Abraham, but for every person on earth.
This coming Christmas is another opportunity for every one of us to meet the Christ of Christ-mas and see the promise of God’s covenant going into fulfilment.
Prayer: Father, how can we ever thank you for the many promises that were fulfilled, especially the one that you will always be our God. Please help me to keep my side of the covenant. Amen
