December 12: Isaiah 53:3 / Mark 14:32-42

As we prepare for Christmas we may be putting up our beautiful trees, lights and decorations. We may sing happy songs and think of the good gifts and family joining us. We may also be heavy with concern, or disappointment or even despair.

We might be tempted to think of the Nativity and baby Jesus and maybe want to ignore the challenges or difficulties we face. We are reminded in today’s texts that the life Jesus was born into wasn’t all roses.

Jesus, the Christ child, was born into HUMAN life, which includes the magnificent and beautiful, but also the tragic and the difficult.

In Isaiah 53:3, it was said of Jesus: He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity. In Mark 14: My soul is grieved; and the hour has come, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Jesus was born into this sinful world and lived a full life of a human, with all its hurt and betrayal and suffering just as we were, but unlike us, he was born to conquer it.

Romans 6:5: For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

The message of Christ is that we shall overcome. The trials and tribulations of this life are not the end. This much we hold to be true.

Blessings of Advent and every good to you,

Pastor Peter Mannoja

Tanum Forest Lutheran (ELCA) – Sturgeon Bay



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction to Advent Devotional 2025

  Introduction Advent ( from the Latin  adventus , meaning   "coming")  begins on the 4th Sunday before Christmas Day, and is often considered a season of anticipation and hope. For many Christians it is not just about waiting for a Savior to be born, but also looking to a time when the Christ will come again, in power and with authority. The traditional emphases for this season are on both the First and Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and our accountability for faithfulness. Are you looking ahead to the return of Christ? Think about those who were eager for Messiah to come into the world the first time around! The Scriptures are filled with words like “watch”, “observe”, “guard”, and “keep.” They speak of faithful vigilance to the fulfillment of Divine promises. This is a season that calls us to lean into our waiting, excited for the Word of God to speak to our hearts once again. The theme:  In Days of Old, In Various Ways...God Spoke Each devotion will focus on...
Read more

November 30: Isaiah 6:1-5 / John 12:39-41

Image
In life sometimes we don’t see things by no fault of our own. Sometimes we don’t see things because we don’t want to. And being human, sometimes we see things and yet we do not respond or act the way we should. In John 12 we are told that even though Jesus had performed many miracles people continued to not believe in him. The Gospel writer attributes this to a prophecy of Isaiah long ago. He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts. Isaiah, in his calling to be a prophet, was shown things by God that he really didn’t want to see. Isaiah went on to do what God asked of him but in his initial reaction to this revelation he declared, “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty. The Gospel writer John references the prophecy of Isaiah as why pe...
Read more