Saturday 01 January 2022

Psalm 8

Background

A new baby is a fitting way to mark a new year. The new baby was named Jesus and a new way of entering into a relationship with God was marked. This was special and the news had to be shared. The birth of Jesus kept the angels busy. The angel Gabriel spoke to Mary and Joseph, the wise men saw an angel, Mary and Joseph had a second visitation from an angel and the shepherds saw a host of angels.

Angels are used as a way of describing how we hear messages from God; they are a way in which people describe their sense of God speaking to them. They also provide an understanding of how people can hear from God the Holy One without themselves being destroyed by the holiness of God.

The shepherds were told good news – that the Saviour, the Christ child has been born and they will find him in a stable. As anyone would do when told they would see a wonder, they went off and looked for the wonder, and they found it just as they had been told.

The baby was named Jesus, and to ensure that we all understand that he is rooted in time and place we are told that after eight days had passed, he was circumcised, in accordance with tradition, custom and teaching. This new baby, a gift from God, this child, who is worshipped is placed firmly into a historical and cultural context. We need to do this to confirm our orthodox Christian faith. The witness of the angels that caused the shepherds to go and see; and the witness of the shepherds that confirmed the truth of the angel’s message make the affirmation of the incarnation more reliable.

We may be 2,000 years away from the events we are recalling, but the placing of birth of Jesus firmly in history allows us to explore and encounter God in new ways as we exercise the gift of faith.

To Ponder:

• Angels may not be white beings with wings, but many people claim that God has spoken with them. Is that an experience you have had; or have you ever had an insight into something that you can’t explain?
• What are the things that help you to believe? Are there things that you believe in which you find hard to explain to other people?
• Whose words do we trust when we know something to be true but struggle to understand it or explain it?