No baby, no manger, no shepherds, no wise men, no guiding star, not even a virgin! This is John’s nativity – he omits them all. For John Christmas is simply: the Word became flesh. Not as cute as the baby, not the stuff that inspires awesome snow scenes, but it has the same conclusion: Jesus is Emmanuel – God with us. Or put John’s way – the Word become flesh.

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” With such wisdom Jesus silenced the religious leaders. People were amazed, but his words were not his own. Jesus received wisdom from heaven, and you and I can too.

If God promised you a child would you expect it to happen through your maid? No! You would expect your wife to conceive. Abraham’s decision to have a child through Hagar the maid was an act of unbelief. Even in a culture where barren women occasionally resorted to having children through servants, you would not expect a promise of God to be fulfilled that way. And Abraham knew this!

People love prophecy; even those who are not religious like to discuss predictions of the future. But it gets much more interesting when the predictions come true. At times it may be coincidence, but at other times the predictions can be weirdly accurate. But when we get to Jesus and the way in which he…

God said to Moses “I AM WHO I AM.” Jesus said to the Jews “Before Abraham was born, I AM.” Father, Son and Spirit are I AM (Yahweh). So what then does it mean to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

There were two kings: Saul and David. God rejected Saul and elected David. Why? The answer is simple: God saw their hearts – Saul’s heart was bad and David’s heart was good. This teaches us a lot about electing leaders. We need to see their hearts – but how?Imagine steering an aircraft with your mind….

Jesus often got angry with the religious leaders of his day. One of the things that angered him most was their traditions. Their traditions were their rules and practices that they imposed on everyone based on their interpretation of scripture. On one occasion Jesus said to them, “You nullify the word of God for the sake of your traditions.” This was when the Pharisees accused him and his disciples of not washing their hands before eating. There is no command in scripture telling ordinary Jews to do this.

Mary had washed Jesus’ feet; all they required was a dab of perfume. It had been an opportune moment. She and Martha were so grateful for what Jesus had done for Lazarus and the dinner was a big ‘thank you’. Mary told the servants to take a break as it would be an honour for her to cleanse Jesus’ feet, and it would give her the perfect opportunity to sit where the men normally did and ask a few questions.

The news was out. The Galilean teacher had fed 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. There were many poor in the area. They had found the teacher in another town and wanted him to do it again. But he knew their motives, they wanted food and didn’t care who provided it. Jesus said “Do not work (strive) for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life” (27).  I know this situation well.

Did you ever sneak into a church hoping to go unnoticed? You sit at the back closest to the door while those who are regulars march confidently to the front. This is how the tax-collector in Jesus’ parable may have felt when he crept into the temple area to confess he was a sinner. I…