Let’s talk Christmas…..
It’s where Pete starts the chapter so blame him for a start of May look at all things Christmas. Christmas comes with traditions like what you eat, when you open presents, what you watch on tv and many more. These traditions are part of your life and are given to you by your family. But when you get married or join in with another families traditions everything changes. Traditions collide and when they collide you have to work out what is right and good in this new context. Some traditions fall by the way side and new ones are formed.
If we jump back over to the Bible and to the New Testament it is what we see happening in its pages, particularly the Gospels. Before Jesus showed up the people had an understanding of what traditions they should follow and what they meant. They also knew the things they should expect and what they would look like. Then Jesus turned up and he was nothing like people expected.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written by people who took on the task of taking the ideas, expectations and traditions of the past and reimagining them for the present context. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection had challenged everything. The writers now wanted to show how Jesus was actually instep with the past but in a new way that hadn’t been fully realised. Matthew did this by writing a gospel aimed at people that understood Jewish tradition, ideas and images. Who were looking for a particular kind of saviour and Matthew showed them how Jesus although different was who they were looking for. John on the other hand went in a very different direction with stories, images and ideas we find nowhere else in the other gospels. It’s not that one is wrong and the other right but that they both saw in Jesus a new way of being. In fact all the gospel writers saw Jesus as God in the flesh and wanted to share that new understanding with others.
What they did was a reimagining for their context with the new information they had in Jesus. And we are called to do something similar as Jesus leads us on. We are called to connect the past with what we see Jesus doing now in our lives and the lives of other. As we have seen this is an act of wisdom and discernment that we do together but it sits in the ancient tradition of the people of God.
Questions
What is you favourite family tradition?
Which if your traditions have changed as families/friends have joined together?
Which gospel writer do you prefer and why?
How would you reimagine the gospels of Jesus for different audiences today? Working class, rich, disabled etc?
See you at the Cullercoats Crescent Club at 7:30pm if you are joining our gathering. Looking forward to seeing you all there.
Photo by Jonathan Borba: https://www.pexels.com/…/family-decorating-their…/
Has been a part of BeachcomberFX since his arrival in the North East in 2014. He is well travelled (at least in the UK) having lived in Manchester, Nottingham, Derbyshire, Southport, Doncaster, Berwick and Edinburgh. Supporter of Newcastle United, will watch any sport.