Advent 4 - This Christmas Eve

Luke 1:46-55 /

1st Christmas Eve (Luke 2:1-7)

I love the Nativity because it is in many ways, the beginning of the Gospel

What must Joseph and Mary been experiencing the very first Christmas Eve? Given what they knew:

God told Abraham that he and Sarah would have an heir

Eli comforted Hannah, telling her that God would indeed giver her a son.

Zechariah was told by an Angel that Elizabeth would bear John to go before the Lord and prepare the way

Given what they could not have known (the experience of Jesus being born and raising him.

They longed for Jesus’ arrival

Perhaps they were (as most parents) quite anxious, both about Jesus, and their role in what was to come.

They certainly could not have known they would be visited by the shepherds, and later by the Magi.

They couldn’t have known for sure it was the Eve of the Savior’s Birrth!

Jacob (Gen 32:22-32)

Jacob was anxious and afraid

Genesis 32:11 “11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children.”

Jacob sent gifts ahead, , sent servants ahead, sent women and children ahead

HE WAS ALONE, and then a strange thing happened

Genesis 32:24 “24 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.”

Jacob was changed

Genesis 32:28 “28 Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.””

Jacob - (Liar) his identity was that of a sinner.

Israel - (God will struggle) this new identity was that He was (and his descendants were) God’s chosen people for whom God would fight.

Jacob recognized the event for what it was

Genesis 32:30 “30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.””

Jacob, on the eve of his anxieties, was visited by The Lord, and was changed by Him.

Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10)

Luke 19:1–3 “1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.”

We don’t know exactly what he was expecting / seeking for

We only know he did not give up easily

Luke 19:4 “4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way.”

And we know it led to soul salvation for Zacchaeus, and maybe other members of his household

Luke 19:9–10 “9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.””

How amazing is it to know that The Lord is seeks us out even if we’re not sure how to seek for Him!

This Christmas Eve

What are you waiting for?

Santa and presents?

Time with loved ones?

Healing for yourself or others?

What are you anxious for?

Like Mary and Joseph, Your children?

Maybe like Jacob How to navigate relationships?

Maybe like Zacchaeus you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for; just that you are seeking.

This Christmas Eve, my prayer for us, everyone is that regardless what we think we are looking for we will be visited by The Lord. That we will be changed. That we will see our Identity in Christ Jesus. That it may be true in each of our houses that the Lord’s Salvation has come.