During Advent we read the different accounts of the arrival of Jesus from Old Testament prophecy to his birth in the Gospels. Do you ever wonder as you read the Gospels why each writer focuses on different aspects of the story? I am sure that we’ve all been at events with friends or family, celebrations like weddings or birthdays or a Christmas party. If we were to gather photos taken at the event by the attendees, in the same setting and with the same people, they each show a different perspective depending on the photographer. Well, that’s the same as the Gospels: they cover the same time frame, the same events, the same people, but they each bring a different perspective to the story.

Matthew writes from a strong Jewish position encouraging the reader to understand that Jesus is the Messiah promised long ago in the Old Testament writings. Mark is keen for us to understand the fullness of Jesus’ ministry and mission and the effect that it had on the people. Luke reveals the life of Jesus from a gentile angle and pays particular attention to how he goes against the grain of the social norms. John, whom we will look at in more depth today, brings a rich and deep theology to point us to the foundational truth that Jesus is divine, fully God and fully man.

So, when we read the accounts of the Nativity in Matthew and Luke (Mark skips the manger and goes straight to the ministry of Jesus) they create a beautiful backdrop for John chapter 1 verses 1 to 14.

We understand the setting, a time in history that was incredibly difficult for the people of God. It was a time of darkness, oppression under Roman occupation, hope was scarce, the enemy was winning, and it felt like God had forgotten them. It is into this scene that Matthew reminds the people that they have not been forgotten and the Christ that was promised long ago, the one that was foretold, has turned up just as God had promised, because God keeps his promises. It is into that background that Luke also brings his perspective of the Christ child born into humble beginnings, yet he is the King of kings and Lord of lords. The beautiful announcement is brought first to the lowly shepherds reminding us that this is good news for all people.

Are you ever surprised by the fact that God’s answer to the world was a baby? Matthew and Luke tell us that God’s answer to the world, was a vulnerable, totally dependent, fragile baby born in poverty and placed in a manger. This is the Bethlehem scene that we hold in our hearts and minds as we approach John’s account.

It is in the book of John that we realise who this fragile baby really is. He is God, the one who existed before creation and spoke all things into being, the one who was with God and who is God. This fragile baby is the one who entered the darkness of a broken world and brought light that the darkness cannot overcome because he is light itself. This baby, vulnerable in the manger, is the one who will change our destiny and bring glorious hope to our future, for those who believe in him will become the children of God. This baby, dependent for all things, cradled in his mother’s arms is God made flesh and dwelling among us.

The people of God living under Roman occupation wanted a warrior to set them free, but Matthew persuades them this is exactly whom you have been waiting for. They wanted a king to regain their authority, and Luke reminds them of the upside-down Kingdom of God. And if we’re honest we can relate to that: we want the big miracles, where God changes our circumstances; we want the interventions, where everything goes our way. In John 1 we are beautifully reminded that the glory of God is revealed to us not in the changing of every situation, but that God himself took on flesh and turns up where we are and dwells with us and walks with us in every circumstance.

Perhaps this Christmas the gift that God is revealing to us is not a change of circumstance but a change of perspective, one where we realise that God (Immanuel) is with us.