See this is our God
5 December 2018
Are you already preparing for a Christmas feast? A banquet with rich food, fine wines and no tears is the prophet Isaiah’s image of God’s ultimate plans for us. Many families find a peaceful celebration together difficult to achieve at Christmas time, yet Jesus came into our chaotic world to bring peace.
The Gospel today shows Jesus in the hills above the sea of Galilee healing the lame, the crippled, the blind and the dumb and feeding the hungry crowd. This happened in a place you could visit, perhaps you have been there, or plan to go there one day. In that place our God was sitting among his people healing them and eating with them.
This is what we are preparing to celebrate, that God became human, one of us and is with us still. Did those people realise who was in their midst, or were they too focused on the details of their lives? Are we aware that Jesus is in this place? Wherever we are right now, God is with us, wanting to bring healing, nourishment and life. In our preparations for Christmas we could make time to sit with Jesus, and to receive his healing love. Then in our celebrations, we will be able to say, as Isaiah prophesied, “See this is our God…”
Lord help us to recognise you in our midst and let your love be obvious in the way we live.