Tag: Jesus

Good News that will Cause Great Joy for All the People

Shortly after Jesus was born an angel of the Lord appeared to some shepherds who were nearby and said:

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12)

That is a very familiar passage of scripture to many of us and perhaps we gloss over it quickly without paying it much attention. There are some amazing truths in these words from the angel. I especially like the fact that we are told that this good news will cause great joy for all the people.

Currently there does not appear to be much good news or great joy around. Last Saturday many people’s Christmas plans were ruined following the announcement of tighter restrictions to combat the spread of the new variant of Covid-19. Sadly, due to the late change of government policy concerning Christmas, many of us will be facing a very different celebration this week then we had planned a few days ago.

However, whilst the government may have cancelled our planned Christmas celebrations, you cannot cancel Christmas itself. Why you might ask? Well because at Christmas we are remembering the birth of Jesus and that has already happened!

As we have seen in the verses from Luke, Jesus has already been born. And it is: “good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”

Maybe you are feeling fed up about your Christmas being ruined? Maybe you feel totally devastated at the end of a dreadful year? Maybe you have lost all hope?

Whatever your personal circumstances remember these three things:

  • The birth of Jesus was and is still in 2020 good news.
  • The birth of Jesus did cause great joy and will still in 2020 cause great joy.
  • The birth of Jesus was and still is in 2020 for all the people.

This Christmas put your hope and trust in Jesus and know He is the “good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”

Who is Jesus?

Our church is currently doing a course called “Christianity Explored” which is based on the gospel of Mark. During this course we have discovered that Mark is really asking a question in the first half of his gospel: Who is Jesus?

Jesus himself asked his disciples: “Who do you say I am?” and Peter responded to this question by saying “You are the Messiah” (Mark 8:29).

One of the things that has struck me as we have read through Mark is the number of miraculous signs and healings that Jesus did. The following are all recorded in Mark’s gospel before Jesus asked his disciples the “Who do you say I am?” question:

  • Driving out an impure spirit (Mark 1: 21-28)
  • Healing Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31)
  • Healings and driving out of demons (Mark 1:32-33)
  • Healing a man with leprosy (Mark 1:40 – 45)
  • Forgiving and healing a paralysed man (Mark 2:1-12)
  • Healing a man with a shrivelled hand (Mark 3:1-6)
  • Healings and driving out of demons (Mark 3:10-11)
  • Calming of the storm (Mark 4:35-41)
  • Healing and restoring a demon possessed man (Mark 5:1-18)
  • Raising a dead girl and healing a sick woman (Mark 5:21-43)
  • Healings (Mark 6:5)
  • Feeding the five thousand (Mark 6:30-44)
  • Walking on water (Mark 6:45-52)
  • Healings (Mark 6:55-56)
  • Driving out of a demon (Mark 7: 24-30)
  • Healing a deaf and mute man (Mark 7:31-37)
  • Feeding the four thousand (Mark 8:1-9)
  • Healing a blind man (Mark 8:22-26)

It’s amazing when you consider all those wonderful miraculous acts that Jesus performed in the first half of Mark’s gospel. For Peter there was no other way to respond to the question: “Who do you say I am?” than to declare that Jesus was the Messiah.

I wonder if we perhaps are sometimes guilty of losing the amazement of what Jesus did due to the familiarity of the gospel readings to us? When we ponder the wonderful works that Jesus did let us allow ourselves to be amazed at what he did.

Also, like Peter let us answer confidently and boldly the question: Who is Jesus?