“God has done this. God will manifest his power. That is what Christmas is about. Not what men are going to do, nor what they should do. No, no—what God has done. We are asked to stand back and to look and listen.”
—David Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Living Within Bethlehem (Genesis 35:16-29)
“What kings and leaders of nations, philosophers and artists, founders of religions and teachers of morals have tried in vain to do—that now happens through a newborn child. Putting to shame the most powerful human efforts and accomplishments, a child is placed here at the midpoint of world history—a child born of human beings, a son given by God (Isa. 9:6). That is the mystery of the redemption of the world; everything past and everything future is encompassed here. The infinite mercy of the almighty God comes to us, descends to us in the form of a child, his Son. That this child is born for us, this son is given to us, that this human child and Son of God belongs to me, that I know him, have him, love him, that I am his and he is mine—on this alone my life now depends. A child has our life in his hands….”
—Dietrich Bonhoeffer
A New Comprehension of God's Love (Job 42, Jeremiah 32:36-41)
“[L]ove is a vital principle uniting, or seeking to unite two together, the lover, to wit, and the beloved."
— Augustine
I Am Your Redeemer Who Brings You Peace (Job 41:1-11, Isaiah 11:1-9)
“He will come, will come,
will come like crying in the night,
like blood, like breaking,
as the earth writhes to toss him free.
He will come like child.”
—Rowan Williams, Advent Calendar
I Am Your Savior Who Saves You (Job 40:1-14, Isaiah 50:10-11)
“When uprightness is joined to superabundant prosperity, the motivation for the uprightness is murky. At best, the source of the uprightness is uncertain; and, because it is untested, to that extent the commitment to righteousness is comparatively shallow. There is, therefore, something less than optimal about virtues developed and preserved in great affluence. So, until prosperity and goodness are pulled apart, it may not be a determinate matter whether Job loves the good for its own sake, or whether what he loves is mingled good and wealth.”
—Eleonore Stump, Wandering in Darkness
A Rebuke and an Invitation (Job 38:1-11)
“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again’; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”
—G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy