Jan. 1, 2017 Is. 63:7-9, Mt. 2:13, Heb. 2:1-18
New Year’s Eve has party written on it as we say goodbye to the old year. New Year’s day may have the aftereffects of New Year’s Eve. the big college football games are not centered on this day, and parades don't seem to have the appeal they once did. We have worship in a slightly different manner, in a different locale, with a meal reminiscent of the earliest days of the church meeting in homes.We had some traditional foods in the hope that they would bring good luck.
Is. 63 no angel (but anguish) who did this but the very presence ( in their distress God was distressed) saved- love and mercy redeemed them and carried them like an infant who symbolizes New Year’s- Elisabeth Johnson uses the following powerful metaphor in her book She Who Is that captures this desire well: She says that if you found yourself at the bottom of a deep dark pit with a broken arm, you desperately yearn for a Savior God who can come with a long ladder and a strong flashlight to haul you to safety
Ps 148 brings the psalter closes in a spate of praise. Psalm of creation, fio the utter novelty of creation and God's work, new every morning.No work is permitted on Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year.. Much of the day is spent in synagogue In fact, there is a special prayerbook called the machzor used for Rosh Hashanah. Another popular observance during this holiday is eating apples dipped in honey, a symbol of our wish for a sweet new year. We also dip bread in honey at this time of year for the same reason. Another popular practice of the holiday is Tashlikh ("casting off"). We walk to flowing water, such as a creek or river, on the afternoon of the first day and empty our pockets into the river, symbolically casting off our sins. Small pieces of bread are commonly put in the pocket to cast off. The common greeting at this time is L'shanah tovah ("for a good year"). You may notice that the Bible speaks of Rosh Hashanah as occurring on the first day of the seventh month. The first month of the Jewish calendar is Nissan, occurring in March and April
Heb 2.10- who is Jesus Christ brothers and sisters in suffering all God’s offspring- death and the new year- high priest who understands tested/tempted/tried It may be saying that jesus is a pioneer as he points the way through suffering What was the child jesus like with childhood illnesses-how did his folks respond? pásxō – to feel heavy emotion, especially suffering; affected by and experiencing feeling -any part of us that feels strong emotion especially "the capacity to feel suffering" (J. Thayer). The Lord has privileged us to have great capacity for feeling . Indeed, this is inherent because all people are created in the divine image. Note for example how Jesus in His perfect (sinless) humanity keenly felt we have paschal candle upstairs.
Mt 2:13-New Year’s can be bittersweet.Trouble often accompanies any new year. Here the Holy Family is on the run, refugees from Herod. In a way, it is a replay of the experience of Israel move into and escape from Egypt. Suffering of the innocents and the new year Open a newspaper and we will easily find the suffering of innocents.Evil does not respect holidays. The very early life of Jesus is shadowed by the threat of death.Rachel weeping for her children. Grief and the holidays does get heightened. Still, the New Year expects the goodness of God to persist. We will leave here with a blessing as we always do.
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