December 16th, 2022

Hello friends, it has been too long since I've made an entry-please forgive my absence. I had some very difficult finals this semester. Thankfully, I am done with school for about a month-my next class starts up on January 11. Anyway, here at OFA we are in a series titled "The Light Has Come." We are looking at the Christmas story according to the gospel of John chapter 1. My last entry was a bit off topic, but nonetheless important. Today, let's get back on track and look at one of the passages I'll be speaking on this upcoming Sunday (Dec. 18).
John 1: 14
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of [l]the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 
Throughout the O.T. only a very select number of people had the opportunity to approach God the Father in a personal manner. Men like Abraham, Moses, King David, etc.... For most of humanity, God was a rather distant, mysterious figure that was more feared than anything else. Then, all of a sudden, on one morning, Christ was born; God incarnate; Emmanuel, God with us. Not only was God approachable, He was vulnerable (sort of). He had to rely on His own creation to care for Him while in His earthly form. While it would be goofy not to assume that Christ (as a baby and teen) did not have some divine protection around Him (protecting Him from a premature death), other than that though, Christ experienced all of the things you and I experience. During His childhood, He relied on His earthly mom and dad, no different than you or I. Christ's immaculate conception is one of the most important things that separates Him from all other religious leaders. 
Imagine the responsibility that Mary and Joseph felt while raising Jesus to be a fully grown man. All parents like to think that their children are special, but in this instance, Jesus was truly special. Did they treat Jesus the same as their other children? My mind has a hard time comprehending just how remarkable it must have been for Mary and Joseph, knowing they were caring for the savior of all mankind. These are some great question to reflect on during this Christmas season. I'm hoping to have another entry before Sunday, in which we will look at Luke Ch. 2 (my other text for Sunday). God Bless.