Advent | An African American Twelve Days of Christmas
The Fifth Day of Christmas
INVOCATION
“In thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light.” O Light… illuminate my dark, cold heart.
NEWS SO GOOD HOW CAN IT BE TRUE
Luke 2:10 | The King James Bible; The Passion Translation; The Plain English Bible
And the angel said unto them, Fear not:
for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
But the angel reassured them, saying, “Don’t be afraid,
for I have come to bring you good news, the most joyous news the world has ever heard!
And it is for everyone everywhere!
But the angel said, “Don’t be frightened.
I’ve got really good news for you, and good news for everyone in the world, too.
MEDITATION
The True Meaning of Christmas | A Charlie Brown Christmas
REFLECTION
There were golden places where the light of Jesus’s way illuminated a path of love and peace.
According to the biblical text and legend, his footprint began in Nazareth in the belly of Mary until his family fled to Bethlehem, and then to Egypt. He’d been “there and back again,” from Egypt to Nazareth, where Nathaniel asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
We’ve so misinterpreted Nathaniel’s earnest and honest question. We’ve assumed he meant that Jesus’s hometown was dangerous, lowdown and dirty. We assumed he was giving shade. But we’ve forgotten that just about everywhere in Judea was occupied by Rome, and therefore, for a Jew, every place was dangerous, seemingly lowdown and dirty. There’s no shade in Nathaniel’s question because it’s not about the kind of place Nazareth was, but that Nazareth wasn’t what was prophesied.