The Fourth Week of December

Isaiah 63:7-9

⁷ I will recount the Lord’s faithful acts;

I will sing the Lord’s praises,

because of all the Lord did for us,

for God’s great favor toward the house of Israel.

God treated them compassionately

and with deep affection.

⁸ God said, “Truly, they are my people,

children who won’t do what is wrong.”

God became their savior.

⁹ During all their distress, God also was distressed,

so a messenger who served him saved them.

In love and mercy God redeemed them,

lifting and carrying them throughout earlier times.

Psalm 148

1 Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from heaven!    

Praise God on the heights!

² Praise God, all of you who are his messengers!    

Praise God, all of you who comprise his heavenly forces!

³ Sun and moon, praise God!    

All of you bright stars, praise God!

⁴ You highest heaven, praise God!    

Do the same, you waters that are above the sky!

⁵ Let all of these praise the Lord’s name    

because God gave the command and they were created!

⁶ God set them in place always and forever.    

God made a law that will not be broken.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,    

you sea monsters and all you ocean depths!

⁸ Do the same, fire and hail, snow and smoke,    

stormy wind that does what God says!

⁹ Do the same, you mountains, every single hill,    

fruit trees, and every single cedar!

¹⁰ Do the same, you animals—wild or tame—    

you creatures that creep along and you birds that fly!

¹¹ Do the same, you kings of the earth and every single person,    

you princes and every single ruler on earth!

¹² Do the same, you young men—young women too!—    

you who are old together with you who are young!

¹³ Let all of these praise the Lord’s name    

because only God’s name is high over all.    

Only God’s majesty is over earth and heaven.

¹⁴ God raised the strength of his people,    

the praise of all his faithful ones—        

that’s the Israelites,        

the people who are close to him.

Praise the Lord!

Hebrews 2:10-18

¹⁰ It was appropriate for God, for whom and through whom everything exists, to use experiences of suffering to make perfect the pioneer of salvation. This salvation belongs to many sons and daughters whom he’s leading to glory. ¹¹ This is because the one who makes people holy and the people who are being made holy all come from one source. That is why Jesus isn’t ashamed to call them brothers and sisters when he says,

¹² I will publicly announce your name to my brothers and sisters.        I will praise you in the middle of the assembly.

¹³ He also says,

I will rely on him.

And also,

Here I am with the children whom God has given to me.

¹⁴ Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he also shared the same things in the same way. He did this to destroy the one who holds the power over death—the devil—by dying. ¹⁵ He set free those who were held in slavery their entire lives by their fear of death. ¹⁶ Of course, he isn’t trying to help angels, but rather he’s helping Abraham’s descendants. ¹⁷ Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way. This was so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, in order to wipe away the sins of the people. ¹⁸ He’s able to help those who are being tempted, since he himself experienced suffering when he was tempted.

Matthew 2:13-23

¹³ When the magi had departed, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon search for the child in order to kill him.” ¹⁴ Joseph got up and, during the night, took the child and his mother to Egypt. ¹⁵ He stayed there until Herod died. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I have called my son out of Egypt.

¹⁶ When Herod knew the magi had fooled him, he grew very angry. He sent soldiers to kill all the children in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding territory who were two years old and younger, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. ¹⁷ This fulfilled the word spoken through Jeremiah the prophet:

¹⁸ A voice was heard in Ramah,    

weeping and much grieving.        

Rachel weeping for her children,            

and she did not want to be comforted,                

because they were no more.

¹⁹ After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. ²⁰ “Get up,” the angel said, “and take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel. Those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” ²¹ Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus ruled over Judea in place of his father Herod, Joseph was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he went to the area of Galilee. ²³ He settled in a city called Nazareth so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.

We read…

Praise and suffering are both themes we see throughout these four passages. At first, this may feel confusing. How can praise and suffering exist at the same time? Is that even possible? 

Psalm 148 talks about God as a Creator and Sustainer. Everything is invited to praise the Lord- from the “sun and moon” to “kings of the earth and all nations.” Nature itself is something that points to God as Creator. How awesome is that?! Creation itself becomes a reminder of who God is. 

Isaiah 63 adds another layer to this picture of praise, highlighting “all the generous bounties of GOD… Compassion lavished, love extravagant (MSG vv. 7-8).” This reminds us that God’s mercy extends even when we do not deserve it. God sees and understands human suffering and responds with love. Isaiah points forward to this incredible truth that God would one day become human, to redeem and rescue humanity. 

The scripture we read in Matthew demonstrates this struggle through Jesus. Jesus has just been born, and already his family is forced to flee because King Herod wants to kill him. Mary and Joseph were told that Jesus would be the Son of God, that His Kingdom would never end, yet here they are, afraid and displaced, living as refugees. God’s plan is unfolding, but it is not easy or comfortable. This is the world into which Jesus was born. Jesus enters a world of fear, injustice, and suffering.  

Our passage in Hebrews does not hide this reality. Rather, it boldly proclaims that Jesus is a suffering Savior. Hebrews 2 says that it was fitting for God to make “the pioneer of their salvation through His suffering” (NIV vs. 10). God sent his son to open this line of communication between God and humanity- that through Jesus’s suffering, death, and resurrection, salvation can happen. 

Because of Jesus’s suffering on earth, we are not alone in our suffering. Verse 18 tells us that since Jesus suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help us when we are tempted too. This is such good news for us today; we can trust God with our whole lives, our doubts, struggles, and fears (because God chose to enter into suffering with us). This passage calls on us to sing his praises for this very reason: we can trust in God, a God who took on suffering so that we too may experience life to the full.

We think…

• What stands out to you in these verses?
  

• Does anything confuse you or not make sense?
  

• How do these verses compare to your own experience in life or in the church?
  

• What questions come to mind?

• How might praise and suffering work together?
  

• What does this incarnation (God becoming human through Jesus) mean for us today?
  

• What is revealed to us about the heart and character of God?
  

• How does knowing that Jesus too suffered change the way you might approach God in prayer?

We feel…

• What emotions are you experiencing today? How are you making space for these feelings?

  
  

• Where have you seen God today or this week?

  
  

• What is pointing you to God (maybe it is something in creation, maybe a friend or adult that cares for you)?

  
  

• What has God made new in your life? In your heart? 

  
  

• What might suffering look like in your life? How can you invite God into this? Perhaps even offer praise through this? 

  
  

• Knowing that God comes down in human form and suffers with humanity provides a deep sense of being deeply known and deeply loved. How might this change how you see yourself? How might this impact the way you show up for others?

  
  

• How does knowing that God loves humanity this intimately change the way you orient yourself in the world?

We believe…

Isaiah makes reference to the prophecy, which is then seen fulfilled in our Matthew and Hebrews passages of an Incarnate God. Incarnation is a fancy biblical term that means God became human in the person of Jesus.

Jesus is God WITH us. Through Jesus, we see the full revelation of God’s love and care for humanity. Isaiah's passage is written before this even happened, hundreds of years before Christ was born. Yet, in the birth of Jesus, everything changes.

Jesus was 100% human and 100% God, meaning that Jesus understood pain, temptation, and struggle. He also performs miracles, heals the sick, and speaks with divine authority. This duality allows us to relate to Jesus personally while still maintaining awe for who God is.

We practice…

Author Henri Nouwen says that “Our death can become a sign of glory. Jesus showed how precious our life really is: he cried, he mourned. And out of that mourning, new life was born.”

Can you list ways in which you have seen new life emerge throughout trials in your own life? This could be  through a failed test, broken friendships or relationships, family struggles, or another kind of hardship.

Take time to write your own psalm of gratitude. Notice where you see God actively at work in and through these situations. You can be honest with God, expressing lament, grief, and doubt. Gratitude embraces all aspects of life (both the good and bad, the beautiful and the ugly). God can handle all of your thoughts and feelings!