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Adoration of the Magi, Art, Bible, Caravaggio, christianity, Christmas, Corrado Giaquinto, Jesus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Peter Paul Rubens, religion
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel [God with us].
~ Isaiah 7:14
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
~ Isaiah 9:6-7
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ [Messiah, the Anointed One] the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests.
~ Luke 2:8-14
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
~ 1 John 5:11
Thank you, Lord, for your infinite mercy and grace. Not one of us is deserving of the gift you gave to the world. You gave your own life that we might live, and each of us fails miserably time and time again to be worthy of your gracious love. We are all worthless sinners, deserving of nothing but condemnation and punishment for our stubbornness, pride and cruelty. We are disobedient and petulant, and far too often we lose the battle that rages inside of every man. Not because you failed to provide us with adequate weapons to fight, but because we doubt and refuse to listen when you speak.
But in spite of our wretchedness, you still saw fit to love us. You protect us constantly from the evil one, and if we were all better at just listening, I know that we’d discover the innumerable times you were protecting us from ourselves, but we suffered because we ignored the call of your redeeming voice. But we are obstinate, ungrateful people and in desperate need of your salvation.
As we all gather today on this most precious of holidays, my Lord, I beg your continued forgiveness and compassion. Please have mercy on me, a sinner, and on all your creation. Would that we were better children. Children worthy of your precious gift 2000 years ago.
But make no mistake, today we celebrate CHRISTmas. Christ’s mass. The birth of our Lord and Saviour. And we will all strive to do better. To love one another, and to love you above all else. We will never allow your name to be forgotten. Today we say “Merry Christmas” in reverence and remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, Jesus, for every breath we take.
Amen.
Images: Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Annunciation” (1472-75), Caravaggio’s “Nativity with Saint Francis and Saint Lawrence” (1609), Corrado Giaquinto’s “The Adoration of the Magi” and a second “The Adoration of the Magi” (1725), and Peter Paul Rubens “The Adoration of the Magi” (1619).
Amen, my friend. I’m even more impressed reading this post again, and I thought it was wonderful when you first showed it to me the other day.
I came across this quote by St. Augustine earlier today: “Christ came on Earth that men might know how much God loves them.” Through timely reminders like your beautiful post here, I pray that we might come to appreciate this priceless gift.
Merry Christmas, GF. :)
Merry Christmas to you too, Boss. :)
That’s a lovely quote, thank you for sharing it here. This was an important post for me to do, and I very much appreciated your positive feedback when I sent it a few days ago. Here’s to hoping that everyone can and will in some way or another thank the Lord for His gift today.
May we be the change that we desire to see in the world – Mahatma ( Mohandas K. ) Gandhi.
Merry Christmas Wendy. Thanks for sharing things to remind us of the true meaning of this day.
Merry Christmas to you too, Dan! (Sorry, belated now. :P)
What a beautiful message to the eye and to the heart.
That’s what do throughout the year.
Previous should read.
That’s what YOU do throughout the year.
It’s wonderful that you use your talent and faith
and share it with others.
I’m sure this will continue into the 2015 and we’ll
all benefit and be blessed by it.
Thank you, Barney. I’ll certainly try to live up to this. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you!
Ditto to all the above/previous accolades so well deserved–it’s incredible great art, excellent sense thereto, great illustration, magnificent pictures, and generally outstanding written expo too, it all going together so well. Keep it all up, by all means.
Thanks very much!
That reminds me – After Christmas I stumbled across Ted Neeley singing ” O Holy Night “, his arrangement. It was amazing ! You may recall, Mr. Neeley played Jesus in the stage & film versions of ” Jesus Christ, Superstar “, which was very controversial during the 70’s.
He is actually a religious / spiritual person who believes in the teachings of Jesus. So many in the ” establishment ” think he’s not Christian, religious or spiritual because of his affiliation with one musical which had been deemed ” sacreligious “. Look it up ! He still has a great singing voice. For some reason he reminds me of a Caucasian Mr. Miyagi ( From the original ” Karate Kid ” movies ).
Zathra, I’m very sorry that I neglected to answer your comment until now. It certainly was not intentional!
I actually have a vintage record of “Jesus Christ, Superstar” that belonged to my mom. That is such a pity that he’s been ostracized because of the film. Makes me sad to hear things like that. Especially when a lot of churches teach things that make me question whether or not THEY are actually Christians.
Thank you for mentioning Neeley’s “O, Holy Night”. I hadn’t heard it before, but you’re right, what an incredible rendition. In fact, I’m going to share it here for anyone who would like to hear it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sheugc7IWmg
And you’re right! He does have a little Mr. Miyagi thing going on!
It’s all good. It’s hard to believe that Ted Neeley is old enough to be a granddad. I’ve seen at least one interview with him, & he comes across a genuine nice guy.
Yeah, people who are not conventionally ” religious “, ” respectable “, etc., are looked down, even ostracized. I’ve been….. Well….. blessed, in that I don’t fit neatly into the religious mold, & my relatives here haven’t ostracized me or made me out to be an oddball, although they probably wonder about me ! :)
Yes, when an actor’s most famous role is when he’s a young man, it’s difficult not to still see him at that age for the rest of his life!
And glad to hear that your family are at least tolerant of whatever your choices are. Lots of people are surprised to learn that I don’t go to church, but they forget that it’s not about some brick and mortar building at all. And how many people see “church” as a social outing rather than a time and place to read God’s Word and learn? Yeah, I did that for years and I disagreed with much of what was being taught from the pulpit. Not saying there’s anything wrong at all with going to church! But until I find one that believes what I believe? Well, I have my Bible and the Lord. I don’t need a minister or a priest. Seeking to know Jesus and loving Him is what’s important to me. :)
& I’m actually becoming more of a student of the teachings of Buddhism. Ironically, I started studying about the many schools of Buddhism AND the teachings of Sufi’ Islam ( Sufi’ism ) & others after joining my family’s Baptist church back East. My mother, of all people, aided & abetted my search with books from the church’s own library. I took classes in philosophy & religion at University of TN.
If a LOT of so – called “Christians ” started seriously taking a deeper look at the actual TEACHINGS of Jesus, instead of buying ” WWJD ? ” stuff & going to ” Christian Music ” concerts, etc., the world COULD BE a better place.