As we enter 2022, Chris Cartwright reminds us Jesus also heralded a new beginning.,,,
Most of our understanding of the Christmas story comes from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. That’s where we find all the details that have shaped centuries of worship and wonder.
Mark’s Gospel begins with Jesus fully grown, commencing his ministry in Galilee. But John’s Gospel starts in a very different place: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Those words and the 16 verses that follow have been called the most beautiful and profound words ever written.
Anyone who was a child in Britain through the 1960s, 70s and 80s may remember the words “Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.” On radio and television those words were a signal for millions of children to stop what they were doing to sit in expectation of a story to be read. But there’s nothing comfortable about John’s words. They are bold and breathtaking.
Written by John, with the God-breathed inspiration of the Holy Spirit, these verses take us out of what we know and where we are comfortable right back to the beginnings of time and pre-time. They take us, in fact, to the first words of Genesis 1, ‘In the beginning’, but adding the startling, mind-stretching revelation of the ‘Word’ who was there at the beginning and through whom ‘all things were made’.
The next verses pull back layer upon layer of revelation concerning the Word until, in verse 14, John declares, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory, as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Suddenly we know that this is Jesus. Suddenly the Christmas stories of Matthew and Luke are framed in the bigger story of God’s eternal and redeeming love in sending his Son Jesus into flesh and blood humanity to be the Saviour of the world.
This is the new beginning, not just for the Jews to whom he came, but for the whole world. And, John makes clear, this cosmic and eternal new beginning brings the promise of new beginnings for everyone who would receive Jesus as Saviour and Lord.
This double issue of Direction brings together December, the closing of one year, and January, the start of another. The overarching message from the opening of John’s Gospel of Jesus, who was at the beginning, bringing new beginnings into our world, our communities and our lives is a message of hope both to end this year and begin 2022 with his promised presence and peace.
As we think about the ending of this year, I’m sure that we are all flooded with thoughts, memories and emotions. The regular rhythms of reflection on a year perhaps seem even more difficult in a full year of global pandemic. Where every year will inevitably bring thoughts of some things we’re glad to leave behind, for so many even just starting to take in and process what we’ve been through may feel overwhelming. As the year ends, the struggles, the sorrow, the loss, the trauma, anxiety and uncertainty may feel like it will never end.
The very notion of endings can be challenging. If you’re a sports fan you might think of the breathless excitement at the end of the game when your team is winning and the final whistle blows. The crowd roars in celebration as it’s over and the game is won. Or perhaps you might think of studying hard for exams or writing that thesis and the relief when – finally – it’s all finished.
PASSIONATE FOLLOWER
Years ago, I watched the movie ‘God’s Outlaw’, an adaptation of the life of William Tyndale. Tyndale lived from 1494 to 1536 during a time of great religious persecution. He was a committed and passionate follower of Christ who believed that the Bible – which at the time was available only in Latin for the scholars and priests – should be accessible to everyone in their native English language. That belief alone branded him a heretic to the religious authorities of the day and made him an outcast and an exile. Yet Tyndale, in exile, produced his English translation of the New Testament in 1526 and later the whole Bible.
Tyndale’s translation would be hugely influential in bringing the gospel to the English population and would form the basis for the King James Bible of 1611. Almost 90 per cent of the King James Bible New Testament closely mirrors Tyndale’s words.
There’s a scene in the movie where we see Tyndale sitting at his desk, wrestling over the meaning of the opening words of Hebrews 12. We get the impression as he sits that he is not only practically but also prayerfully writing. Suddenly the words come to him, and he writes ‘looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith’. The moment in the movie seems to capture perfectly that partnership between the human writer and the Holy Spirit. And what words they are. They give us renewed hope for our endings and for new beginnings.
Like John, Tyndale declares that Jesus is the author of life. Yet, as Hebrews 12 declares, he is also the finisher, the completer and the perfecter. What he’s begun, he will finish – both in the world and in us.
And so we can pray with confidence in the light of that promise that, whatever our circumstances, he will wrap the end of the year in his grace and peace and take us forward into a new year:
“Lord Jesus Christ, my Saviour and Lord of my life. In the closing season of the year, be with me in the circumstances, chapters and moments of my life. Lead my thoughts, my heart and my emotions so that I can lay down and leave with you the work and the weight of the year.
“Take all the unresolved and incomplete things, and the things I still don’t understand, and release me into the New Year with fresh hope. Give me a new heart of worship and wonder, fresh encounters of your love and goodness and renewed faith and vision to live with you and for you.
“May my new beginnings bring life, healing and hope to those around me. In your mighty name I pray. Amen.”
From Direction Magazine issue 232
