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Advent Meditation: Zechariah
[Zechariah said to baby John] “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1: 76-79) For years I vaguely thought that this passage was Simeon talking to the baby Jesus. Wrong. It was Zechariah speaking…
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The Shepherd’s Story: 5th Meditation
Verses 13 and 14 from Luke 2:8-20 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Now the flames on the hillside and in the sky grew clearer and they were granted true sight: what looked like fire was thousands of angels glowing with the light of God; the angel army told in Joshua, in 2 Kings, in Psalms – and now witnessed by the poor rough men. That great army praised God in never-ending chants of praise, in the Great Song that…
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The Shepherd’s Story: 4th Meditation
Verse 12 from Luke 2:8-20 “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” The angel didn’t leave it at that. He gave them a sign: that a newborn is wrapped in the swaddling cloths of the newly born and is lying in an animal’s feeding trough. Every one of those poor men could picture this since their own poor children may well have been born so. Already they knew the Lord, the Messiah, the glory of God; had not been born into a palace but was like one of them! Put yourself in the story. If God is…