Jonah is a timeless story of God’s Unrelenting Grace. Jonah is not a typical prophetic book, and that’s why Jonah’s story is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible… at least the storybook version of Jonah and the Whale. Jonah is less about prophetic words and more about story, and it’s a story that draws us in and acts like a mirror for us. We’re going to spend 6 weeks going through the short book of Jonah, and it all begins with a word from the Lord to Jonah – a word which Jonah very dramatically rejects. As we look in the Jonah mirror, we’ll start by looking at what a word from the Lord sounds like when God speaks to us.
Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords, but do we know what that means for us? Is that how we actually worship Jesus? King of kings and Lord of lords is a title for Jesus that highlights his power and might over everything, especially in his final victory over every powerful enemy of the kingdom of God. In this Advent season of anticipation, may our hearts be kindled with eager expectation for the coming King of kings and Lord of lords!
“Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” This is what Isaiah prophesied Jesus would be, and it is all true. Sometimes, though, even as we call Jesus our Prince of Peace, our lives (or world!) don’t’ look like a kingdom of peace. What kind of peace does Jesus bring, and how can we experience it?
This week we continue our Advent worship theme of the names of Jesus with Jesus, the Good Shepherd. The crowd around Jesus understood shepherds – good and bad – and they would have a good picture of what Jesus meant when he called himself the Good Shepherd. Even more, Jesus’ shepherd imagery evokes images of God’s promises through the prophet Ezekiel: that one day God himself would search for and look after his scattered sheep. Jesus is Immanuel – God with us to shepherd us and save us by laying down his own life for us.
Who is Jesus? This morning we hear him say, “I AM the Light of the World.” From God’s first words of creation (“Let there be light”) to God’s provision and protection in the wilderness wanderings (as “a pillar of fire to give them light”) to God’s promise of a Messiah through the prophet Isaiah (“I will make you… a light for the Gentiles”), God’s light shines as a true life-giving gift. Jesus is the fulfillment of every one of God’s promises that shines away the haunting and binding darkness of our lives. “Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.”