Hope against Oppression

Well Santa had to close up his workshop Sometime after Christmas '09

'Cause sadly the economy's a mess and jobs are hard to find

It's sad to see our holiday heroes Struggling to just make a dime

But it's sink or swim, 'cause the times are grim It's like a Christmas Special in the unemployment line...

Frosty got a job in a kitchen And his boss is in a terrible mood

He said, "I swear I'm tossing you in the oven If you keep sweating in the food!"

Santa went to work in a coal mine And the irony is perfectly clear

He's got zero toys for the girls and boys I guess we've all been bad this year.

There's nothing but coal in Santa's sack Cause he's workin' in the mines now and breakin' his back

"I don't know what I'm doing and I feel like a hack And all I want for Christmas is my old job back All I want for Christmas is my old job back!”

Tiny Tim got laid off in August And he couldn't pay his rent anymore

So he bounced around from town to town And now he's selling clothes at the Big & Tall store

Little Drummer Boy had a hard time Just deciding what he wanted to be

He's a fat and lazy dirty wreck, just cashing unemployment checks

And now I hear he's working at the library… But hey It's a job, as they say

A lot of work, for a little pay And I only have one wish this Christmas day...

Workin' in the coal mine, Santa Claus Got a great big belly gettin' stuck in the wall

Got a dirty beard and a nasty cough, from Workin' in the coal mine, Santa Claus

St. Nick Where'd ya go? This Christmastime we're all so low

We need to know St Nick Where'd ya go?

Santa Claus is workin' as a coal miner Mrs. Claus is livin' off of tips at a diner

The elves are in a sweatshop making jacket liners, oh no!!

Rudolph's whole career took a nosedive Hanging out in seedy places at night

Now he spends his days making minimum wage As the world's first Living Traffic Light

Scrooge is bumming change off of shoppers With a bucket and a donation bell

And in the finest twist of Whoville theater The Grinch got a job as a Wal-Mart greeter

There's nothing but coal in Santa's sack But he's tightening up his belt and has a plan of attack

"I'm no good at this job, and my lungs are black I swear this time next year I'll have my workshop back

Next year I'll be opening my workshop back'Cause all I want for Christmas is my old job..."

anxieties and fear are a part of our lives. Especially with dependants.

Isaiah 40:3 ESV

A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

It’s been the custom for centuries for Eastern monarchs who are traveling through their domain to send men before them to prepare their way by removing stones (see Isaiah 62:10), leveling rough places, filling up hollows, cleaning up trash and litter, and generally making the road pleasant and easy for the distinguished travelers and their guests. One of the stories told about the semilegendary Queen Sammu-ramat (Semiramis of Greek legend, and mother of king Adad-nirari III, who reigned from 810 to 783), is that on one of her journeys she came to a rough, mountainous, region, and ordered the hills leveled and the hollows filled, which was done at enormous cost. Her object was not only to shorten her way, but to leave to posterity a lasting monument to herself. Since her time there have been other instances of similar character, but none involving so much labor and expense.

New Living Translation Chapter 3

The Coming Day of Judgment

“Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

2 “But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes.

In Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4, and John 1:23, this passage is applied to John the Baptist who, as a herald, preceded the Messiah to announce His coming and prepare the way for Him

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 3:1a

Jesus explicitly identified this person as John the Baptist (Matt. 11:7–10). The fact that this messenger will prepare His way harmonizes with Isaiah 40:3 (cf. John 1:23). The coming of this messenger was to be the first of a twofold eschatological event. The second step would be the coming of the Lord in His day.

matthew 11 When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

2 Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

Hahahah yep. WE do that same deal. Culture changes but the natural in linations of man do not. So....ah....JEsus you are doing some pretty amzing things. and we have heard about even more than this....but are you the one.

Are you the one? Ask yourself that. Is he? Is HE theone who is to come after? Is he? because if he is then that has epic meaning for all of us. HE would be the messiah He would be the one. I have asked that Question both intentionally and at times not so directly.

Are you really the MEssiah can you really help me? Like Johns Disciples are you the one we are waiting for? I am enthralled with Nicodemus from the Chosen series on you tueb. I find his battle with the religious notions and theology being at odds with what is happening around him fascinating. He is periopherially attached to some of the miraculous. HE sees praalells and even is realising the fullfillment of the scriptures. some of these prophecies we have just read in fat. the character in the show puts a human feel on these historical written ideas. Its helping me to wrestle in real time with the idea of JEsus and wether he is as real as what I am witnessing in real life.

Genuine financial issues. - I have not the money I want. I have not he money I need to survive. that a real issue right now. inflation is killer. do you feel that oppression. that pain as of late.

Physical issues - diease and disability. I feel inadecuate to point it out in some ways and yet in the eyes of loss in the past number of years I feel the gravity of that. Jesus are you really the one? WE say what John is feeling here all the time.

English Standard Version Chapter 11

4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

To me its a clint eastwood stare down. do you really wanna know? Tell him - Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

Oh and one more things John. Jesus Quotes from

Malachi 3:1 written hundreds of years earlier. Behold, I send my messenger before your face,who will prepare your way before you.’ your apart of this. You are apart of this confirmation to the world. the fullfillment of the prophecy. your the one who confirms That the messiah is here.

New Living Translation Chapter 11

16 “To what can I compare this generation? It is like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends,

17 ‘We played wedding songs,

and you didn’t dance,

so we played funeral songs,

and you didn’t mourn.’

There is hope. Always has been. But do you recognise it?

Malachi 3 talks about these events happening. a messenger that comes before and JEsus showing up after and here he is saying first real negative things about the general polulation. They are like little kids in the market. Its doesnt matter what happens. Kids play wedding songs and you dont dance. play a funeral dire and you dont play along and wail. If you keep reading Jesus goes further and high lights the way that we as a people assess things.

New Living Translation Chapter 11

18 For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.”

It doesnt seem to matter what happens people complain and are appathetic to all that you see and hear. Wisdom is shown to be true by its results. And results he has in spades.

If things are tno that great for you I would ask why. Jesus continues he lament about the Generation that is not perciving what is right in front of them and then we gives out freely the Hope we all need

New Living Translation Chapter 11

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

He has acess to all the resources of the father.

The Gospel according to Matthew 3. Jesus’ Invitation, 11:25–30

But Jesus is not here speaking about work but about need. It seems that we should understand the term to mean the weary. The present tense points to a continuing state. With them are joined the heavily burdened, where there is no qualification added to indicate the nature of the burden. Jesus is calling anyone who is wearied with life’s burdens. To all such he says, “I will refresh you.” The verb seems not to imply the rest that is the complete cessation from labor, which is made clear when Jesus goes on to speak of his “yoke,” of learning, and of his “burden.” The rest in mind is the rest that enables the worker to go back to the task with renewed vigor

Even in Jeremiah where Jesus is also speaking from Judah had its on ideas about what they wanted and they had been recieveing a difficult time

New Living Translation Chapter 6

16 This is what the LORD says:

“Stop at the crossroads and look around.

Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it.

Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.

But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’

So I stop and Ask before the totality of life and this season decends on your unprepared. ask for the Godly Way and Walk in it. and you will find rest. you will find REst for your very soul.

Maybe the Joy of getting your old Job back.