A young out-of-town couple in a whirl, an old couple, part of the furniture in the Temple, easily overlooked. And a baby.

Luke loves these sorts of people, because he knows that Jesus loves to spend time with them. And it’s the way the salvation story unfolds.

It did then, it still does now. As another uncertain new year begins for us.

Jesus the Nazarene comes to bring us hope. He comes from a nowhere town and lives a life that knows about loss and pain and brokenness. 

Jesus, the hope of the nations and the hope of us all, has come that we may know freedom when all seems lost.

The ‘title’ that Matthew uses most often in his first 2 chapters to describe Jesus is ‘the child’.

When you see it, it’s striking.

Jesus was a toddler whose family had to escape violence. Immanuel came to earth and one of the first things that he did was to join the long line of refugees.

What does that say to us today?

They came looking for a king. But they had no idea what sort of king he would be – or indeed the type of leadership/service he would ask of his followers.

If you’re going to live well, you need to be able to understand Jesus profoundly.

Matthew wrote his gospel so that you wouldn’t have to guess, and this week we explored the two titles he introduces in his story of Jesus – Saviour and Immanuel.

If we can get to grips with these, they will change how we see life, those around us and ourselves.

Another Remembrance Sunday when we are reminded of the catastrophe of war, the effects it has on those directly involved, as well as those bystanders who get dragged into it all.

Jesus told his disciples to expect war, but that in the midst of it all there would be reasons to retain hope for the future.

We need to hear it again this week as Russian troops advance on the borders of Ukraine.

What’s Jesus being the Messiah got to do with COP26, your own very personal life and our life together as a church?

Much more than we might imagine…

Jesus was regularly invited to meals. Some wanted to argue with him, others just wanted to get close to him.

Some folks were socially at ease with him. But some seemed to make a fuss – to such an extent that it could be embarrassing.

But Jesus didn’t seem fazed by it, In fact he seemed to enjoy it. Maybe it was because he knew that this is how grace feels to those starved of hope.

That’s still how it feels.