"It matters a great deal who is going to win, but not at all who won"

Willie John McBride, Irish Rugby player

Christmas is your story

We are so familiar with the Christmas story: Mary and Joseph, travelling to Bethlehem, no room in the inn, the baby in the manger, the angels, the shepherds and the wise men. Matthew puts it in context referring four times to the Old Testament. For example in Matthew 1:22 “all this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet”. The songs of Mary and Zechariah in Luke, give the same message with references to Israel, Abraham, David and the past glories.

This is to make clear that what happened in Bethlehem was not just something new but the fulfilment of all that had gone before. As the carol, O little town of Bethlehem puts it: “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in you tonight”. Thus the Christmas story “completes and fulfils all the stories of the Bible.”

But it is more than that: “This is the story that makes sense of my story and your story. We were made to know God. All our longings only truly find their fulfilment in him and through him. The plotlines of our lives are meant to find their resolution in the enjoyment of God. Through the Christmas story God is rewriting the story of human history, bringing it to a glorious climax. In all the busyness of Christmas, don’t miss the opportunity to discover or rediscover how you can be part of the one true story”. (The one true story, Tim Chester, The Good Book Company, 2016

Prayer: Lord, help us this Christmas to get beyond the Christmas food, the presents, the parties and see Jesus.

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