Saturday before the Nativity of Christ; The Holy Martyr Boniface (230)
Galatians 3:8-12; Luke 13:18-29
Nativity Fast.
Read Galatians 3:8-12
This upcoming season of the Nativity of Our Lord gives us an opportunity to consider yet again Jesus not simply as the babe in the manger but as the promised Messiah. Our Lord came into the world as a man, as a Jew, born under the Law. The genealogies that we encounter in the Gospel of Matthew and also in Gospel of Luke recognize this explicitly and establish Jesus as the Son of David who is to be the promised Messiah. Yet these lists of ancestors go back to Abraham as Our Lord’s ultimate ancestor (in Matthew) and to Adam (in Luke). This presents us with two important theological realities. Firstly, Our Lord comes as the ultimate fulfilment of God’s covenant with Abraham; He is the Gospel that will be preached to the Gentiles. Secondly, Jesus is the New Adam who will conquer the sin and death that Adam’s fall brought to humanity, men and women alike. So, brothers and sisters, let us recall that Our Lord, who lies helplessly in the manager upon His birth, is the One who fulfils, the restorer, and ultimately our Saviour.