The nativity story around the wise men is something we are familiar with. We see images of three kings in so many nativity scenes. We hear in the carol “We Three Kings” about three kings who follow the star. But what does Matthew actually tell us about this part of the story?

When we get into it, the story is really about an undetermined number of wise, learned, knowledgeable scientific astrologers who travel a long distance to worship a child from another nation. But why? Why do that? Because they know this child is special. He is important to them, as outsiders. He is important to His own nation. He is important for the whole world. And their response is to worship Him. Their story points us to who it is that is worthy of worship, and how to express that worship.

Have you ever considered that Christmas is a moment about reactions?

When you read the accounts of the birth of Jesus, everyone on our side (the human side) is reacting – Mary to Gabriel’s news, Joseph to Mary’s condition and Gabriel’s news, the shepherds to the angels, the wise men to the star, and Herod and Jerusalem to the wise men. Put simply, Christmas is about a series of snapshots of reactions – kind of like everything that everyone will upload onto Tik-Tok as they film each other’s reactions.

But reactions are only possible if there is something to react to – and, from God’s side, that is exactly the truth: He has sent an event, news, a moment, of global proportions into our world. And this is His grace. And He calls us to consider this moment, and work out what we are doing with it!

‘Silent Night’. It is one of the most beloved Christmas carols ever written, translated into over 300 languages.

It also captures a theme many long for during the hustle and bustle of the busy season of Christmas… Peace. Written by Joseph Mohr in 1816 while he overlooked the sleepy town of Mariapfarr, it would later be put to music and performed for the first time in 1818.

It has been sung by countless voices over the past two hundred years. Most notably on Christmas Eve 1914 when German, French and British troops along the Western Front had a Christmas truce. Amongst the conflict and chaos of war, all was calm and peace was found.

But is that the peace that we celebrate at Christmas time? Or is there a deeper peace that Jesus’ advent brings?

Over the next few weeks (in ‘Advent’, the period in the church calendar of ‘waiting’, as we prepare to remember the Incarnation), we will be looking at four Christmas carols. We are doing this for two reasons: first, to get in the bait of running all we do through the word of God; and, second, reminding ourselves of what we are remembering as we wait.

Our first carol –

‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ – deals with our ‘hopes and dreams’. It has its roots deep in the words of the prophet Micah, who had many hopes and dreams holed up in Jerusalem, with the wolf of Assyria surrounding the city. It has its answer in the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, as God promised. And it has a warning, as the wise men turn up and the locals reveal that they know the truth of God’s answer to their ‘hopes and dreams’, but they just cannot be bothered.

As we finish Genesis, there are so many threads and ideas that are wrapped up – and so many hopes and trusts that are laid out. Here are a few of my observations…

First, the book starts with blessing and promise – and it closes with blessing and promise.

Second, the whole of the account relies on the God who promises, and the promises of God.

Third, the book ends with the promise of God only being able to be fulfilled by the God who promises – will Joseph get back to the land? Will God come to take his people to be with him?

Fourth, the ending of the book is corporate – there is so much about what we do today that is individual.

Fifth, the truth that God works for the good of his desires for his people runs as a thread throughout God’s word – and it is both a description of his character and nature, and our inability.

Sixth, the good news of Jesus is the culmination of all of these.

Death has a remarkably clarifying effect on life. At the moment of end, life is brought into focus, and the key truths – the things that matter – are sharpened. Jacob is at the end of his life. He has been reunited with Joseph. He has seen the promises of God fulfilled. The word of God has sustained him. As he approaches the end of life, what is sharply in his mind and action?

The writer of the Hebrews describes Jacob’s clarity as ‘worship’ – as he dies, he gives God what He deserves – and that is the truth of the covenant and promises of God passed onto the next generation. As Jacob approaches death, the grace of God, the promise of God, the commitment of God – all these are sharpened in his actions, and passed onto the next generation.

Put simply, Jacob passes on the good news of God, through grace and promise fulfilled. Are we doing the same?

The bible is full of God making promises and fulfilling them. Genesis 46 and 47 is a key example of God demonstrating His faithfulness and keeping His promises. Knowing these promises first is really helpful!

At last we reach the pinnacle of the Joseph-Judah narrative, and perhaps the climax of Genesis as a whole! The dysfunctional nature of Jacob’s family we saw two weeks ago is coming to a head.

The Brothers are faced with one final test. Benjamin is found in possession of “stolen” silver. Will they abandon their half-brother Benjamin as they did Joseph all those long years ago? More importantly, how will they respond to Joseph’s accusation “what is this you have done?”. Will they shift the blame… deny the accusations… or rationalise their actions.? Will they, like so many before them, dodge the question?

The confrontation of the uncovering of guilt and sin has two paths. One of denial, blame shifting and mitigating. This path only leads to fractured and damaged relationships. The other, more difficult, path opens the possibility for repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation. We see this played out between Joseph and his brothers but also on a much larger scale between humans and God.

Today is Reformation Sunday – the day we remember when the great truths of God’s word – salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, revealed in Scripture alone – were rediscovered during a period called the Reformation.

Attributed to the work of Martin Luther, the Reformation began with him, but was often solidified and cemented by the second generation of reformers, men like John Calvin.

Calvin is often connected, and often in a pejorative way, with Calvinism, his great writing called ‘The Institutes’, and the straw-man theology that is often mis-labelled ‘predestination’. But, at the heart of Calvin’s life work is the ‘glory of God’ – the unavoidable and eternal significance of God for all life and truth and reality, revealed in Jesus Christ and spoken in God’s word. For Calvin, this was the heart of all things.

Genesis recounts three great truths: how this world began, how this world was broken, and how this world will be fixed. At the heart of each truth is God. And at the heart of what God does is His commitment to His image-bearers.

Throughout Genesis, God is unavoidably and unmistakably in charge. His actions to restore His creation are by His initiative (grace), received by trusting in what He does (faith), and completely undeserved by humanity (there is grace again).

Committing through the family of Abraham, in covenant (a binding agreement between two parties), God commits to each subsequent generation to restore His world – His people, in His place, under His rule by His word. None of Abraham’s family – or Isaac’s – or Jacob’s – recommend themselves. And yet, as we reach Joseph, in Egypt, God displays (yet again) that His initiative brings repentance and restoration. This news never gets old!