Joy

Introduction

New Seasons of TV Shows

You’re left on a cliff hanger and just anxiously waiting to find out how the show is going to finish

Stranger Things

Malachi concludes the Old Testament and the Lord falls silent

Not just silent for a small period of time, but for 400 years

Between 1600-1615-

Jamestown is the first American colony

Isaac Newton had not even been born yet

We were just discovering that the Earth wasn’t at the center of the universe

Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts

This anticipated hope that a Conquering Messiah would come to the Earth was something that had begun to grow to almost feel mythical

To some average and ordinary men out in the field, an angel appears

Luke 2:8-14

Shepards were in the field watching their flock, just like any other night

Temple Sheppards. In charge of watching the animals who were anticipated to be used for sacrifices at the temple

These were ordinary men. While they weren’t necessarily outcasts, they just weren’t considered special

This moment is a moment that you’d expect to accompany the arrival of the Messiah

Grandiose visions that encapsulate something that many had expected

Conquering messiah that had come to overthrow the Roman rule and place Israel

Except that this experience is the announcement that the Lord has come. And he’s a baby. In a stable. In a manger.

The Angel comes to them with “good news of great joy”

Earth Shattering news is about to spread

“He’s Here”

The Angel says this, then a whole host of Angels

Host= Heavenly Army of Angels

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

This baby, this messiah that has come, he has brought the joy of the armies of heaven alongside him

History will never be the same.

Luke 2:15-21

Out of the joy that the Shepards had discovered, they rush to Bethlehem and see if this is true

It is. They find exactly what they were told

So much so, that people don’t believe what they tell them is real

The shepherds then left, but they were not the same

they left with shouts of joy and adoration for what the Lord had done

They had literally no idea what Christ’s life would amount to. No one did. They just knew about the fact that the messiah was here

400 years of silence and it was time to finally break it

Does our Joy echo the joy of the shepherds? Especially since we have seen the full scope of the life of Christ?

We stand on this side of the resurrection knowing full well that what we celebrate is a savior who is the embodied God, who lived and fully experienced humanity, and who died to rise again for our sins.

Christmas is the celebration of one of the first dominos in the person of christ. Our salvation starts at the incarnation

We have all reason to be joyful this Christmas season. We worship a resurrected savior who knows what he is doing

400 years they waited. The joy must have been an incredible thing to behold for those who witnessed it

Emmanuel

The Lord is not only over his people, but he is now among them

He delivered. He’s done exactly what he said he would

His promises always come true. We are not left to our own devices. Hallelujah