Christmas Playlist. 2: Zechariah's Song - Why do you need God?

Four songs that bring you to the heart of Christmas

2: Zechariah's Song – Why do you need God?

This Advent in our weekly sheets we're going to be looking at the four songs of the first Christmas, which were heard before, during and after the birth of the baby who lies at the heart of the real Christmas. The reflection will be adapted from Alistair Begg's book, 'Christmas Playlist' (buy it here). This week we're looking at Zechariah's song - Why do you need God?

While Mary's is the first song recorded in Luke's gospel, hers was not the first miraculous pregnancy to be described by Luke. That belonged to her elderly relative Elizabeth, whose husband, Zechariah, sang abut his son, John, as he held him in his arms (Luke 1:68-79). The song has come to be known as the Benedictus. The first line of the song (“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them”) contains two words that lie at the heart of the Christmas message - “come” and “redeemed”. God has come to visit. If you want to understand the first Christmas – if you want to grasp the purpose of God's visit – you need to understand redemption.

Redemption is the act of providing a payment to free someone. And Zechariah is explaining God's work in his present situation by referencing God's work in the past – in the time of the Exodus a millenium and a half before. This was when God rescued the Israelites who had been enslaved in Egypt by Pharaoh. Now, God is redeeming his people all over again. Not form enslavement to an Egyptian king, but from enslavement to their sin – to our own sin. We need, he says “forgiveness of [our] sins.”

Sin is an unpopular word, but it is a word the Bible unashamedly uses, and it is a word which explains both what we see within us and what we see around us. Sin is essentially me putting myself where God deserves to be – in the place of authority and majesty, running my own life, charting my own course. It is saying to God, whether very politely or extremely angrily, I don't want you, I won't obey your commands, I will not listen to your word. I will call the shots.

Sin is our greatest problem because it separates us from the God whom we are made to know and designed to enjoy. But in another sense the truth about sin is also our greatest insight because it explains life as we experience it. There is a mighty, loving God who made us – and so we are capable of acts of greatness and kindness. But we reject that God's authority – and so we are capable of selfishness and evil. We were made to enjoy life with God eternally but we all choose to live in defiance of him. Hence the flatness, the 'blues' that come after Christmas as once again we get beyond the busyness and distraction of the festivities and think deep down, I don't have the answer. None of the gifts, books, music, family or friends can fill the hole in our lives. So, we're really asking God to redeem us from the sin we have chosen – from the slavery we cannot escape and the debt we cannot repay.

At the heart of understanding the first Christmas and why it is such good news is an understanding of the nature of your predicament. And that involves accepting the nature and seriousness of sinfulness – your sinfulness. God did not come down to provide a little religious Energizer battery that would make us nicer people. He came because you were drowning, pulled down by the weight of your sin and miles from the shore. If you're drowning it doesn't help for someone to come along in a boat and say Come on now, thrash a little bit more. Try a little harder. Swim a bit better. You'll be able to get yourself out of that mess. No, you need someone to reach down their hand, grasp yours, and pull you up to safety and take you to shore. And if you know you are drowning, you don't refuse the person whose hand is offered to you. You grab it, and you splutter your gratitude.

And that is what Zechariah is doing. He knows that John will spend his life saying, Hold on. God is coming. And God will rescue you. And so Zechariah sings, just as everyone who grasps what God was doing at the first Christmas sings: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.”

Christmas songs: Merry Xmas everybody

A couple of years ago during Advent we had a series on the four songs of the first Christmas.  This year we're going to look at four popular Christmas songs.  This week it's "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade.

No Christmas playlist is complete without this song, so it had to be included in these reflections, and as Noddy says



Before we look at the song itself, there should perhaps be a comment on the use of the word 'Xmas' in the title.  The use of 'Xmas' is sometimes decried as a secular way of taking 'Christ' out of 'Christmas', however its use (or versions of it) go back almost as far as the English language itself.  'X' is a common abbreviation for Christ, and comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Christos and is usually rendered as the English letter “X”.  There is no doubt that there is a worrying increase in the amount of people who don't know that Christmas is to do with the birth of Jesus, but using 'Xmas' is not necessarily part of a campaign to secularise the festivities!

Holder wrote the lyrics to reflect a British family Christmas, but also to bring hope to a country that was suffering economically.  Looking forward to the arrival of Santa (if the fairies have managed to keep him sober!) or the arrival of family, and all the fun to be had excites in us the optimism of “Look to the future now, it's only just begun”.  No wonder people also love to sing “I wish it could be Christmas everyday” (which incidentally was beaten to the 1973 Christmas Number 1 by Slade). Celebration and hope are two of the emotions often associated with Christmas and for good reason.

The beginning of Luke's gospel, in which the four songs of the first Christmas are found, is full of celebration and hope.  John the Baptist's father, Zechariah, says “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them...[and will] shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”  Children often find it hard to wait for Christmas, but the Jewish people had been waiting for Jesus for about 1000 years, since God's promise to King David of the everlasting reign of one of his descendants (2 Samuel 7), and for around 430 years since the last of the Old Testament prophets spoke of the coming of the Lord (Malachi 3-4). So Jesus' birth was the cause of great celebration as the longing for the coming Messiah was now at an end, which meant it was now the beginning of a better future.

Just as Slade looked for salvation from poor economic circumstances, the people of Israel looked for salvation from their political enemies, which at the time of Jesus' birth were their Roman occupiers.  But Jesus would bring salvation from the root cause of poverty, war and all humanity's ills – the darkness of sin and the shadow of death: he would “give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins” (Luke 1:77).

However you're celebrating this Christmas, whatever hopes you have for the future, don't miss out on the chance to join in the real cause for celebration and the only hope that will not be disappointed.  As the angel said to the shepherds “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).  If you do you will have yourself a merry little Christmas!

Christmas Playlist. 1: Mary's Song – What is God like?

Four songs that bring you to the heart of Christmas

1: Mary's Song – What is God like?

This Advent in our weekly sheets we're going to be looking at the four songs of the first Christmas, which were heard before, during and after the birth of the baby who lies at the heart of the real Christmas. The reflection will be adapted from Alistair Begg's book, 'Christmas Playlist' (buy it here. This week we're looking at Mary's Song – What is God like?

After discovering she is pregnant, Mary goes to the home of Zechariah and her relative, Elizabeth. While she is there, Mary breaks out into song, the first Christmas song in history (Luke 1:46-55), also known as the Magnificat. This is a song not about herself but about God and she describes God using two words: mindful (nothing to do with the Buddhist-based practice of mindfulness) and mighty.

Mary sings that God has been mindful of her even though she seems to be insignificant (v48). She glorifies – focuses on the greatness of – the Lord because although she may be very little in the eyes of the world, she is valuable in the eyes of the One who made the world. Mary also rejoices that God has been mindful of his people, Israel. Around 2,000 years before Mary sang, the God about whom she sang had made great promises to Abraham saying that his descendants would become a great nation who would be a blessing to all nations. Throughout the Old Testament, God reminded Abraham's descendants again and again that he remembered them and would keep his promises. He said he would do this through a son and Mary recognised that it was her son that was the sign that God had remembered his people and would fulfil his promises to them. Here is the God of Christmas, of history. He is a God who knows you, and he cares about you, and he makes promises to you, and he acts to help you.

Secondly, Mary sings that God is mighty, mightier than all the rulers of the earth. But he sometimes also uses his power to take away from us the things that make us think that we are mightier than we truly are, and that make us forget the God who is mightier than we are. He scatters the proud so that they can become humble. And then he lifts them up. He helps those who are humble enough to say I don't actually have it all together. I don't have all my questions answered. I have struggles that I need help with.

So what do you think about when you think about God? Mary might well have answered that question God is mindful of us and more mighty than us. And the truth that God is both all-caring and all-powerful made her heart “rejoice” - and it's a truth that causes hearts to rejoice still today.

Christmas Playlist. 3: The angels' song – How did God come?

Four songs that bring you to the heart of Christmas

3: The angels' song – How did God come?

This Advent in our weekly sheets we're going to be looking at the four songs of the first Christmas, which were heard before, during and after the birth of the baby who lies at the heart of the real Christmas. The reflection will be adapted from Alistair Begg's book, 'Christmas Playlist' (buy it here). This week we're looking at the angels' song – How did God come?

There are many ways to announce the birth of a child and these days social media seems to be the most popular. The birth of Mary's baby, however, was announced by an angel to shepherds (Luke 2:8-14)! The angel described the baby's job - “Saviour”: Redeemer. He announced the baby's title - “Messiah”: God's King promised for centuries to his people, promises recorded for us in the Old Testament. And he revealed the baby's identity - “the Lord”.

And that word, “Lord,” is making a staggering claim, because it is the word that was used by Greek-speaking Jews to translate the Hebrew word “Yahweh” - the personal name of God. God's name is Yahweh, and it's what he told his friends, his people, to call him. In other words, here's the deal: good news, great joy for all the people, has come because a Redeemer, the Ultimate Ruler, has been born. And he is God Almighty.

On the first Christmas night – and this is the heart of the Christmas story, and the heart of the Christian faith – God took on flesh. The voice that made the cosmos could be heard crying in the cradle. The hands that placed each star in its place grabbed hold of Mary's fingers. Her son was fully human, and fully God. In this man, divinity met humanity.

Perhaps this is where you struggle with the Christian faith. You are prepared to accept Jesus as a great teacher, a religious leader, or a brilliant philosopher. You are prepared to accept that he spoke for God, perhaps. But you struggle to accept that he is God – that as Mary and Joseph peered into the manger, they were looking at the eternal Son of God. You struggle with the idea of a virgin birth and a miraculous incarnation.

God the Son taking flesh is a mystery we will never understand. But not being able to understand how God became one of us is not proof that he did not become one of us. Here is the answer to the human predicament, the solution to our slavery to sin and our separation from God. God bridged the gap by coming from heaven to earth. This is how much the mighty God cares about us.

Then a choir of angels declares what this baby will achieve: “on earth peace”. The peace of God that invades a life is based on the discovery of peace with God. No matter how well we do at trying to establish peace with each other, until we discover what it is to have peace with God, we're not going to discover the peace of God. And since we are separated from God – since we have declared our independence and rebelled against our rightful Ruler – this is a peace that can only be brought about by the intervention of God himself. We may try to find peace without God in our own way – peace through power, possessions or popularity. We may try to find peace with God through our own strength – peace through obeying religious rules or through being “good people”. But the truth is that only God can give us peace with himself.

But it's a peace that so many miss out on because they fail to make room for the one who brings it. Remember why the God of heaven was in a feeding trough? Because there was no room for him anywhere else. He made the entire universe. He came into his universe. And there wasn't a place for him.

Let's be honest; in the lives of many of us, it's no different. We have no room for him either – not if it makes life uncomfortable for us, not if his presence brings any inconvenience to us, not when his actions and words surprise us. But our response does not change the truth. God has visited this world. He has come as one of us, to bring peace to us by redeeming us from our sins. Will you say to him, “No room”?

Christmas Playlist. 4: Simeon's song – How did God do it?

Four songs that bring you to the heart of Christmas

4: Simeon's song – How did God do it?

This Advent in our weekly sheets we're going to be looking at the four songs of the first Christmas, which were heard before, during and after the birth of the baby who lies at the heart of the real Christmas. The reflection will be adapted from Alistair Begg's book, 'Christmas Playlist' (buy it here). This week we're looking at the final song, Simeon's song – How did God do it?

Sometimes we're not sure what to say when we hold a little baby, but our fourth and final 'singer' was in no doubt about what he would say when he held the infant Jesus when he was brought to the Temple in Jerusalem for the first time. His name was Simeon and his song is known as the 'Nunc Dimittis' (Luke 2:27-32). He was a devout believer in God. He was patiently waiting for the promises God had made to be fulfilled. Not only that but God's Holy Spirit had told him that he wouldn't die until he saw these promises begin to unfold on the pages of history.

The angels had brought the news that a Saviour had been born. Likewise, Simeon announces the truth that he is looking at God's salvation, lying in his arms. And Simeon understands that this Saviour has come to save not only “your people Israel” - the ancient people of God, the descendants of Abraham – but he has also come “to the Gentile” - everyone else. If you carry on reading Luke's Gospel, you find the adult Jesus living this out. As the angels promised this child would be good news of great joy for all people. There is no-one who does not need Jesus to offer them salvation, and no one to whom Jesus does not offer that salvation.

So this old man is now content to die. He has been waiting his whole life for this one sight, and now he has seen it – the Sovereign Lord's salvation, in the shape of a human, lying in his arms.

But Simeon did not only speak of salvation. He spoke of suffering too (Luke 2:34-35), not just announcing that this child would bring salvation, but hinting at what it would cost him to bring it. He was the child who would cause many to fall, and others to rise. He would reveal the deep secrets, and the true attitude towards God, that lies in every human heart. He would be opposed verbally; and one day, his mother's soul would be torn apart emotionally.

My guess is that Mary never forgot Simeon's words, nor that she really understood them, until the other end of her child's life. Because unless you understand the events of Easter, you'll never grasp the heart of Christmas. Simeon understood that – which is why he pointed forwards to Good Friday even as he welcomed the baby at the centre of Christmas.

In describing the events of Good Friday (Luke 23:32-47), Luke doesn't want you to feel only sympathy for Jesus as a sufferer – because he wants you to put your faith in Jesus as your Saviour. He wants you and me to grasp not only what Jesus suffered but how he saves.

At the crucifixion, Luke describes darkness during the day, which in the Bible is a signal of God's displeasure and God's judgement. Here we see God's Son, punished as a sinner by his Father, even though he had never, ever sinned – never failed to love his Father and his neighbour. Why? Because Jesus was bearing the the burden of the world's sin. He was paying the price to redeem people. He was going through hell so that he could save people from hell. It is what some people call the great exchange. God the Son took on the penalty due to sinful people and so God the Father declares guilty sinners who trust in Jesus as forgiven, guilt-free. I deserve to be on the cross; Jesus hung on it. My sin deserved punishment; Jesus took it.

Luke also describes the 80 foot high curtain in the Temple being torn by God from top to bottom. This curtain was a huge visible reminder of the truth that there is a separation between sinful man and the perfect God. But God tore it to show that Jesus' death opened the way to him so that we need not be stuck with our sin and separated from him.

And this is why the wooden food trough led to the wooden cross, and why you will never get to the heart of Christmas if you don't grasp the meaning of Easter. Christianity is not good advice about what we should do. It is the good news of what Christ has done. Christianity does not proclaim that you are worth saving or able to save yourself. It announces that God is mighty to save.

Luke's Gospel finishes in a very similar place to where it began. We began with angels appearing and we finish in the same way. We began with an angel announcing the presence of life where it is, humanly-speaking, impossible – in the wombs of a woman who was infertile and a woman who was a virgin. We finish with the angels announcing the presence of life in a tomb (Luke 24:1-7)- the resurrection of a crucified criminal to eternal glory.

And between the events of the first Christmas Eve and the first Easter Sunday, simeon's words had come true. Jesus had reached out to those who were outsiders, excluded. He had been opposed. He had revealed what people really believed. Physical nails had pierced his hands as an emotional sword pierced the soul of his watching mother. And, as he hung on the cross, he had redeemed his people – he died the death that tore the curtain and he paid the price that brought the salvation that Simeon had spoken of all those years before.

He died on the cross because Simeon, Mary, Zechariah, the shepherds, you and I are sinners – and because he loves them, and us, anyway.