On Christmas Eve the angel told the shepherds, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Luke 2:10). One wonders if those words struck those Jewish shepherds as odd. For centuries, God had given special attention to one nation—Israel. There were Jewish religious leaders who taught that only members of that special people would be saved. Not according to the Christmas angel! The birth of the Savior was good news for all people.

Today we celebrate the Festival of the Epiphany. Epiphany comes from a Greek word meaning “reveal.” When the Savior was born, he was first revealed to Israelites: the shepherds, Simeon, Anna. But today, we see the Lord miraculously guides foreigners across countless miles so the Savior could be revealed to them as well. How did the magi respond? “They were overjoyed” (Matthew 2:10). The Festival of Epiphany is sometimes known as “The Gentiles’ Christmas.” We Gentiles (non-Jews) rejoice in the good news that this Jewish baby is not just a gift for the Jews. He is a gift for all people—the Savior of the world.

Advent marks the start of a new Church Year and helps us prepare for the coming our Savior. With family gatherings and shopping for presents, delicious food and Christmas songs, we feel the Christmas season is knocking at the door. The time to celebrate and remember the birth of the Savior is right around the corner. Let us come together this Advent and remember what His coming is really all about. A real Christmas results in knowing the real Jesus.

Perhaps you have heard the axiom, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” In other words, while you still can, use what you have in order to enjoy life to the fullest. If this life is all there is, St. Paul agrees that would be a good philosophy. Paul wrote, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’” (1 Corinthians 15:32). However, note the “if.” Paul was saying that the epicurean approach to life makes sense only if this life is all we have. But it isn’t. Jesus will raise us from the dead and take us to live in His home, a place of perfect comfort and beauty. Knowing that, we are set free from the need to live a self-indulgent life now. Instead, we can be generous people, using the wealth that God has given us to serve both Him and others. We can live a life of startling generosity.

Love can cause harm. Consider the wife whose husband wants little to do with church. She loves him and does not want to upset him. So, when her husband wants her and the children to stay home Sunday morning, she complies without protest. That wife’s love for her husband hurts him, her children, and herself. Or consider the father who loves his child so much that he gives the child everything that child asks for. That father’s love is toxic. It is shaping that child to be a selfish, entitled adult.

In our families, it is not enough that there is love. We need to rightly love, to love in a way that leads to blessings for those we claim to love. This illustrates the need for followership. In Jesus we see perfect, self-sacrificial love. Jesus loves us as we are. He also loved us too much to leave us as we are. So, in love he gave his life up so that we might be holy and blameless. His love for us shapes the way we love our spouse, our children, our parents. Today we see that followers of Christ know how to love their family.

When a child asks a sibling to do something, there isn’t much certainty as to the results. The sibling might simply ignore the request. However, if that same child goes to a brother or sister with “Dad said so,” it’s a very different story! Now the father’s authority is behind the child’s request.

As believers carry out gospel ministry, encouraging others to turn to Christ in repentance, people might push back. “What gives you the right?” Maybe we ask that question ourselves. “I’m far from perfect. So, what gives me the right to talk about things like sin?” This week we are given the answer to that question. “Dad said so.” When our God calls us to do ministry, he also gives us authority. In calling us to ministry, God isn’t asking us to share our advice or our opinion or even our values. We are sharing God’s own authoritative Word. Gospel ministry is conducted by believers but with God’s own authority behind the effort.

Most religions believe in a powerful God. It is assumed that God will use that strength for the benefit of His followers. That is a reasonable assumption, but it begs the question. What is real strength? It is easy to assume that real strength means exerting your will over another by using any means necessary, including force. But this week we see Jesus Christ demonstrate a different kind of strength.

We have come to Holy Week. It begins with Jesus humbly riding a donkey colt straight into the hands of His enemies. As the week progresses, it will appear that Christ’s adversaries are the ones in a position of power and Jesus is in a position of weakness. Yet what Christ does this Holy Week—setting His divine strength aside, being passive in the face of death—would change the world. To do what Christ did for us and our salvation took real strength.

Most religions believe in a powerful God. It is assumed that God will use that strength for the benefit of His followers. That is a reasonable assumption, but it begs the question. What is real strength? It is easy to assume that real strength means exerting your will over another by using any means necessary, including force. But this week we see Jesus Christ demonstrate a different kind of strength.

We have come to Holy Week. It begins with Jesus humbly riding a donkey colt straight into the hands of His enemies. As the week progresses, it will appear that Christ’s adversaries are the ones in a position of power and Jesus is in a position of weakness. Yet what Christ does this Holy Week—setting His divine strength aside, being passive in the face of death—would change the world. To do what Christ did for us and our salvation took real strength.

When we feel that the world is against us, it is easy to feel self-pity. We make ourselves the victims and wallow in our trouble. Jesus refused to do that, though. Rather, He felt compassion for those He knew would suffer after Him and even forgave those crucifying Him. Likewise, rather than pitying ourselves, we feel pity for those who have no idea of the destruction that awaits them and want them to know the Father’s forgiveness.

On Christmas Eve a choir of angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” So, where is this peace on earth? Between nations? There are always wars going on somewhere. In our country? True eternal peace comes through Christ. Because of what Christ did as our Savior, there is no hostility between us and God, only peace and love. We have the peace of salvation in our hearts, as we turn from one year to another.