On the final podcast of Advent, we again look back, and with John we look back to a time of beginnings in order to understand the present and the future. Echoing the words of Genesis, John declare that the Word has become flesh. But what does this mean? And what does it tell us about who Jesus is and how we should live? As we reflect on Advent, we are asked to stop, to reflect, and to give our hearts and lives to the Light of the World - the Word who became flesh. What will be our response this Christmas?

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Learned men travel hundreds of miles across the desert to greet the Promised One, chasing a prophecy that had been passed down through generations. They are Gentiles, and another sign that the promise to Abraham was about to be fulfilled. Their gifts also speak great truths, revealing who this child is and who He will be, forecasting a time when the curtain between God and humanity that had fallen at Eden, would be utterly torn in two. Their visit also reminds us of the truth that following God will not lead to easy paths, but we will never be alone, and will walk the paths that lead us home. After the visit of these learned men, Mary and Joseph fled death, carrying the Saviour. As we walk the roads of sunny green pastures and dark valleys of the very shadow of death, the Saviour offers to carry us.

A night like any other in the fields around Bethlehem. Shepherds, watching their flocks by night, shivering in the cold, gathering around a campfire to keep warm. The long hours trickled slowly by as their breath clouded around them. This dark night was no different to any before it. Until the darkness was cracked in two. Why was this message brought to lowly shepherds? These lowly shepherds were given a glimpse of a deep truth: they were loved despite the fact they were a mere breath in the winds of time – gone like dew evaporating in the rising sun. Despite their fragility, they were loved absolutely. In love, their Creator sent angels to them, to invite them to come and see the event on which history would pivot. How did the shepherds respond to this message? In the only way they could. What will be our answer?

Mary and Joseph searched Bethlehem desperately to find a place to stay, eventually giving birth to the long-promised one in the lowliest of places. The Light of the World had finally, finally arrived. For centuries people had feared to look upon the face of God, knowing it could mean death due to their sin. Now everything had changed, for a young peasant couple held a baby. They looked directly into the face of God, and they held him close. They wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in the only bed available – a feeding trough for animals. Humanity could now see the face of God – Jesus. Now, if we desire, we can look upon the face of God and find not death, but glorious life.

Joseph had just had his world turned on its head. Devastated and broken-hearted, he prepares to break off his engagement with the woman he had expected to spend the rest of his life with. Until a dream changes everything. A simple man, with a simple faith, the next day he chooses obedience, knowing the incredulous reactions of those around him. God still calls us to do things that seem crazy in the eyes of the world. Will we ignore him and cling to the comfortable and familiar? Or will we be like Joseph, doing what defies comprehension and stepping into the unknown, trusting in the one who has called us?

Having been struck dumb for nine months due to his doubt, Zechariah holds his baby son, and having transcribed his name on a writing tablet as John, he speaks anew, speaking words of praise over the boy, drawing deeply from the well of his knowledge of the promises given to his people in the past. These words were no longer mere words on a page, but were now life to him. Listening to his words, we should reflect if we have allowed the truths of who God is to become dulled by familiarity, and if we have, to come again before Him this Christmas and be reminded of the God who saves, who intervenes and who is alive.

Upon hearing the message that would split history in two, Mary goes to visit her relative Elizabeth. There she finds both confirmation, and a woman transformed. From Mary's lips, burst forth words that came to be known as the Magnificat. Her song of praise tell us of the people God chooses, who are not who the world would choose, and calls us to be transformed and live lives that resonate to the values of this new Kingdom, rejecting as empty much this world counts as success and being a voice for those robbed of their own voices. Above all of this, Mary's song calls us to walk in faith, stepping out even when we don't know what lies ahead, because we trust the One who walks beside us.

The time had finally come: the Creator steps into the creation to walk alongside and save the created. All the millennia of yearning, of waiting, of anticipating, have led to this. But the invasion of this world does not start as anyone would have expected. It begins with a whisper to an ordinary peasant girl. A young girl who knows what this could mean for her, for the risks involved, yet shows remarkable faith, and presents a stark challenge to us today.

The final prophecy anticipating Christmas and the first coming of Christ. And then we turn in our Bibles to a blank page. A blank page representing 400 years of yearning, of anticipating, of expectant hope. Until the moment when everything changes.

In a land that felt like a desert, parched for the Word of God, when things seemed darkest, God spoke. And He described how He would send one to clear a way in the wilderness for the Promised One. Generations later an old man stood in the Temple. The last prophet had been sent 400 years ago, and he expected this day to be like any other. Until it wasn't. God spoke to the old priest, telling him that the promise to Abraham of salvation for all humanity was finally, finally about to be fulfilled. Slavery had not crushed the dream. Rebellion had not crushed it. Exile had not crushed it. Years of silence had not crushed it. The Enemy had failed to curse humanity for eternity, and his defeat approached. The message of hope must again be declared. The old man faces the same choice we do - faith or doubt? Today, how do we respond to the call on our lives?