Luke 22:47-53 Jesus arrested

“While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of man with a kiss?” When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour – when darkness reigns.”

Jesus was surrounded by his enemies, where as he said, darkness reigned. Yet still his compassion was evident, he didn’t miss a beat, while others, his followers, wanted to strike back with vengeance. And they did, they struck a servant, someone who had no influence to stop what was happening, someone who served the high priest. They cut off his ear. Who would care for this person, this servant, who nobody else probably thought was important, but Jesus did. Jesus’ compassion remained the same, he reached out and touched the man, and healed him.

Jesus, the light of the world, who is, who was, and who is to come, today continues to reach out, when we still think, the darkness reigns. And touches people with his love, with his compassion. He calls us to follow him, in reaching out, with his love to others. In times when we feel discouraged, watching the news, when it seems like there’s no light anywhere, we do see answers to prayers, and the Lord’s presence in the midst of trouble.

I pray that your relationship with the One who gave himself for us all will be deepened this Easter, and that you may know the Lord Jesus as your Saviour. My prayers are with you for a blessed Easter!

On 3 February 2018 our Church Council held a Strategy Away Day to share, learn and discern the will of God for Bulimba Uniting Church in 2018 and beyond.

Matthew 1:16 “And Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”

John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Matthew talked about the generations from Abraham to David to Jesus, how God was preparing the way with remarkable people. Reflecting on this, this line of descendants, the identity of Christ, is also part of who we are. John talked about God becoming flesh, and between the two Scriptures we see God in Christ, God incarnate, God becomes flesh without disconnecting from our DNA. There is a connection between God and God becoming one of us, that is humankind. It’s almost like we are grafted into God and God is grafted into us. The way that Paul talked about the Olive Tree and the branches, and the Israelites were the branches, and the Gentiles being grafted into the Olive Tree. That’s us. God became one of us so that we might become a new creation in Christ. Matthew is talking about Joseph and Mary, mother of the Christ. Christ is God the Son, and in this Matthew shows Christ’s divinity, but also his humanity. He came as a baby, fragile, almost a fugitive, the way he started.

What God is telling us is that there is room for everyone in His Heart. This baby that brings so much joy, peace, love, and hope to us, is the same baby that went to the cross to die for our sins. How wonderful it would be if we could think every day about this baby who brings all those attributes, all that love, hope, peace and joy but we get so distracted. Not just today, but in every generation. How do we influence our children, and our children’s children, so that we too can see the Christ child, they too can know Jesus, that they can be connected with the real meaning of Christmas. When sometimes children don’t know what a Manger means, then how do we get the story across? How do we connect our children with Christmas, with the baby Jesus?

My prayer is that in the New Year we’ll be able to share the real reason for Christmas, and know together the Lord as our Saviour, our teacher, our friend.

I wish you a very blessed Christmas and may 2018 be filled with happiness and peace.

Beatriz

Rev.Beatriz Skippen

Minister of Bulimba Uniting Church