Anticipating the Messiah

It’s almost Christmas. The thing about Christmas is, during most of the year it seems forever away. But then it comes. Every year that day finally comes.

Some of our small to tiny nativities, surrounding a favorite
verse of scripture from the Book of Mormon: 2 Nephi 25:26

I’ve been thinking about that anticipation. The Old Testament points us to what to look for at His coming. The sacrifices. The lamb without blemish. So many verses that, when we hear them, we hear the music of Handel’s Messiah using those words as lyrics.

·        Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

·        Job 19:25-26  25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:  26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.

·        Isaiah 7:14 Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

·        Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

·        Isaiah 35:5-6   5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.  6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.

·        Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

·        Isaiah 53:4-5  4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

·        Isaiah 53: 6  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Somewhere to the east of Jerusalem were the wise men, educated, possibly royal, who were looking up at the skies to see the star indicating He would be born. They knew it when they saw it, knew its meaning. And they went into action to travel, so that they could witness that they had seen Him, the prophesied Messiah. They must have been watching, maybe much of their lives, recognizing that the time was nigh for the star to appear.

The grandkids (2020) portraying the wise men looking to the follow the star.

In another part of the world, a story we get from the Book of Mormon, we have a prophecy around 5 BC that in five years’ time the Messiah would be born; the sign would be a night of no darkness. The population was a mix of believers and unbelievers. The unbelievers did not believe in religious freedom. What would it have hurt them to have people among them who were believers? Yet, as the five years drew to a close, they started saying the prophecy was proven false. They mocked. And worse, they proclaimed that, on a certain day, if the sign did not come, the believers would be put to death.

Five years could be an exact time frame, a set number of days. Or it could be an approximation—anywhere from within a couple of months before five years up to maybe five and a half years or so. The believers weren’t ready to say, “You’re right; it didn’t happen.” They saw it as still in the range of five years or so. “They did watch steadfastly for that day and that night and that day which should be as one day as if there were no night” (3 Nephi 1:8). They were faithful believers. But they were also fearful that the designated execution day might arrive before the sign was given.

Their prophet, Nephi (one of several prophets by that name whose stories are recounted in the 1,000-year history of the Book of Mormon peoples) went to the Lord. And he was told, “Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world” (3 Nephi 1:13). The prophecy was indeed fulfilled: “At the going down of the sun there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came” (3 Nephi 1:15).

By the way, when the dark of night came the next day, sure enough, “a new star did appear, according to the word” (3 Nephi 1:21).

Some people were convinced of the reality of their Lord and Savior because of the sign given; others were convinced that those prophesies had come true, yet they found ways to convince themselves and others that they could go on living their lives of sin unchanged. That’s a thing about miracles; they increase the faith of the faithful, but they don’t convince those who refuse to be convinced.

If you’ve been watching The Chosen, you’ll see that. Many people want to follow the Savior—because they have seen the miracles and recognized the source. Others try to stop Him, try to stop those who follow Him, try to frame what He does as blasphemy or some other crime, rather than seeing what ought to be clear, right in front of them, because of the scriptures they are familiar with from all their study.

I’d like to go back to that idea of anticipation. We can look at those times, and imagine what it must have felt like to anticipate His first coming. Those people of Nephi, waiting, watching, day after day, knowing the Great Day would come soon. And be fearful that it might not come soon enough. But they would watch faithfully anyway.

What we know, from the testimonies of the New Testament—and the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Christ—is that He did come. Jesus of Nazareth was born, according to prophecy, ministered and taught and established His Church. And he was crucified, as prophesied. And He rose from the dead, a glorified, resurrected being, on the third day, as prophesied.

First page of a quick search for
"in that day" in the Old Testament.

So much of the Old Testament looks toward Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection. But the next most common reference in the Old Testament—and added to in the New Testament—is the day of His Second Coming. “In that day…” the scriptures will say, or possibly “in the last days.” One thing we ought to know from His First Coming is that the prophesies come to pass, every detail. They may not look the way anticipating people imagine—in those times, people expected a military conqueror who would free them from political oppression, yet He told them, “My kingdom is not of this world.”

So some—much—of what we picture for our times we might not recognize, or understand. But the prophesies will be fulfilled. But there are enough things happening that we can see clearly, such as “calling evil good and good evil,” that we ought to be paying attention.

So we’re anticipating, again, these two millennia later, the imminent coming of our Messiah. The annual anticipation of the Christmas celebration of His birth is a metaphor for that waiting that we’re doing. It seems the day will never come. Then it seems imminent, and we scramble to make ready—to get and wrap the presents, prepare the special foods, learn the music, make plans for gathering together; or, in a spiritual sense, to make sure we have oil in our lamps in time for Him to come.

Oil lamp, as in the parable of the ten virgins,
image found here

Then, following the hurry of the imminent arrival, the day comes. For us, annually, it comes. And in a coming day, that Great Day of His Second Coming will come. For now, may our annual Christmas celebration be always a reminder that our anticipation is not in vain. He will come. May that day come quickly.

Hosanna! and Hallelujah!

We’re just days now before Christmas day—which is more than a day, but a whole season that we celebrate. I want to celebrate here as part of that.

The lowly manger was probably not wood, but stone, similar to 
a sacrificial altar. This is a screenshot from near the end of this video, shown
in full below. The video ends with words over this image:
"Jesus of Nazareth... went about doing good. (Acts 10:38) This Christmas season, so can you."

I have a pretty good collection of nativities, many tiny ones that can hang on the tree, a slightly larger olivewood one imported from Israel, a paper one, and many others. I have the other kinds of Christmas decorations as well, but the nativity scene has always been the underlying theme of my Christmas decorating and celebrating. For 30+ years we celebrated Christmas Eve by acting out a nativity play that I wrote, using mostly scriptures, back when middle son, referred to here as Economic Sphere, played the newborn baby and son Political Sphere was a shepherd. The birth of Jesus Christ is the part of Christmas that gives us “reason for the season.”

We've been using grandkids to depict the nativity for our Christmas cards
ever since the first of them was born. This year we included our dogs to help
keep watch over the flocks by night.

But this is more than a birthday celebration. We celebrate this birthday because of the life this baby grew up to live. He became the greatest teacher the world has ever known, without writing those teachings down himself—no books, no lectures. We have other people’s records of what He taught. And in translation, because he spoke Aramaic, a language that wasn’t widely spoken around the world even in His day. His Sermon on the Mount is pivotal, containing the Beatitudes, the Lord’s Prayer, guidance about controlling our thoughts and being a light to others. His words lead us to thriving civilization—a happy life.

But He was more than a great teacher. In fact, if He was merely a great teacher and not more, then much of His teaching would not even be true. No, He was much more than a person who taught helpful words. He also taught us by the way He lived—loving everyone, every sinner, but never condoning the sin. Rather, He loved by inviting every person to become better, following in His way, which was completely without sin.

And then there were the miracles. So many miracles, with so many people testifying of them. Regular people, who were astonished and amazed—and blessed by these miracles personally.

And there was more. There was the suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross. He died, the sacrificial unblemished lamb, to atone for our sins, to rescue us from this fallen world.

Depiction of Mary and new baby Jesus from the video
"The Christ Child: A Nativity Story." Screenshot from here.

Still, we honor Him for more than His death on the cross. Even the thieves did that. It was what happened on the third day—the resurrection. He conquered death! He conquered the physical death that separated the body from the spirit, leading the way for us to be resurrected as well, to live again as He lives. And He conquered our separation from God that happened with the fall, which we as sinful mortals can’t overcome on our own, because no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God. He makes it possible for us to become clean before God.

It is because of Easter Sunday that we celebrate Christmas Eve in the manger.

There are some beautiful depictions of the story.

There is this one presented by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “The Christ Child: A Nativity Story.” In full length it’s about 17 minutes long. If you stay to the last part, you get to see a beautiful depiction of the wise men coming to see a growing baby Jesus, a toddler by that point. The awe on the face of the main wise man is an image for the season.

 

I have loved watching The Chosen the last couple of seasons. I love seeing the people come to life for us, possibly in the way they actually were, or maybe not, but at least we can see they were human beings who really lived and breathed. It’s been beautifully engaging, and I think it is helping to spread Christ’s message to the world. This past week we went to the theater to see The Chosen Christmas special, which is now available streaming online on various platforms, including YouTube.

Embedded within the special is a new episode of The Chosen. Some fifteen years after the death and resurrection of Christ, Mother Mary is recalling her memories and collecting them to pass along to Luke, who is in the process of writing them. We see the two time periods. One of the things she adds is her psalm that starts, “My soul doth magnify my Lord.” [As an aside, there’s a depiction of this in song, as part of The Redeemer, an oratorio by Tabernacle organist Robert Cundick, sung as a solo depicting Mary. I was in the choir for the original performance of The Redeemer, in college, back in 1978. I’ve always loved this song, although I find it impossible to sing. You can see the Tabernacle Choir performance here.] 

The Chosen’s depiction of the nativity uses the same film set as the one above. The Chosen borrows the Jerusalem/Bethlehem set, built in rural Utah by the Church for videos about Christ’s life. You may not be aware of some similarities between Utah and Israel. They are both somewhat mountainous and also desert, with many areas of grassland, brush, and not much thick vegetation. There’s a freshwater lake (Galilee in Israel, Utah Lake in Utah) that flows by way of a river (the River Jordan in Israel, the purposely named Jordan River in Utah) into a landlocked dead saltwater sea (the Dead Sea in Israel, the Great Salt Lake in Utah). Utah is, of course, larger by far than Israel and has a larger variety of features, including high mountains with snow and pines and granite—or even more barren areas with red rock formations. But this central area is a pretty good stand-in for Israel in films. 

Depiction of Mary and new baby Jesus from "The Messengers,"
and episode of The Chosen, within their Christmas special. 
Screenshot from here.

There is another important part of the Christmas story, the part that fulfills prophecy from ancient times—from Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Malachi, Micah, and even words among the Psalms and other ancient scriptures. It is the news that He will come again. And many of us are wondering if this long-foretold event will happen in our day. I hope so. I would like to believe that the evils we are seeing in our day are not just a run-of-the-mill evil, but the evils we’re told to expect before His rescue of us.

I learned recently that one meaning of the word Hosanna is a call to come and rescue, to deliver us. So, as I read the news, I frequently say, aloud to the Lord, “Hosanna!” Come! Rescue us! And let it be soon!

If it is not in my lifetime, then still that day will come. And by then I will have seen Him again.

As you take time this Christmas season to celebrate the birth of our Savior, take time to call Hosannah, to call Him to save us all, and sing Hallelujah—praise and give thanks to the Lord. He is so very worth celebrating. And the best way, beyond food and decorations and even family gathering, is to follow Him every day.

I Love the Nativity Story

About 32 years ago, we started a tradition for Christmas Eve. We act out the nativity story, with kids and whoever is there. That first year, son Economic Sphere played the baby Jesus, and Political Sphere was a shepherd. I wrote a script based on the scriptures that tell the story, and, with just a few adjustments, that’s the script we’ve used over the years. We’ve accumulated costumes and props over time. Some years we've invited friends to join us.

Last year was the first year we didn’t do it. It had come time for the kids and grandkids to do their own traditions in their own homes. And then we get together later in the day. It was a little sad for me to retire that tradition, but it was time.

However, the nativity story fits practically everywhere else during this season too. I have made our Christmas card every year for even more years, and always it’s related to a nativity theme. The year our first grandchild was born, I started using photos for the card, with grandkids in costumes. All four of them have started out as the baby (the last baby is two now), and then as shepherds and other parts. Facebook has been bringing these photos up as memories every day or two all month, which has been a delight for me.

This past summer I prepared for the card by taking the costumes along when we visited the out-of-state grandkids. We found a place with sheep and took photos. It didn’t exactly go smoothly, but we got enough images that we could piece the shepherd scene together, thanks to Mr. Spherical Model, who has both a better photo editing program on his computer and better skills to use it than I have.

My two youngest grandchildren, being shepherds, abiding in the fields,
keeping watch over their flocks by night.
Special thanks to the family who let us come and feed their sheep.

Inside the card, besides the message to the recipient, I usually have a scripture or the verse of a Christmas carol. This year it was this:

While shepherds watched their flocks by night,

All seated on the ground,

The angel of the Lord came down,

And glory shown around.

Live animals are a challenge. As are live kids. Last year we involved a camel. The photo was actually several years old, from a visit Mr. Spherical Model made to Saudi Arabia. So we used a green screen and had him sit on a chair as he’d been on the kneeling camel, and stood the kids beside him—all bearing gifts. Again, this did not go smoothly. But we were able to accomplish the task with photo editing. I showed some behind the scenes here. 

Most other years have been more straightforward photography—even the year we had “Mary” and “Joseph” arriving in “Bethlehem” with their live donkey—which happened to be feral but open to standing still for a carrot.

Who knows what will come next year! I am already planning—just warning all the kids.

But I do love the nativity story.

If you’d like to share a special moment during a quiet family time (if you have any quiet time) on Christmas Eve, I suggest watching together the video below, new this year from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I’ve seen many film portrayals of the story, even many beautiful ones (including this short one, also done by my Church, in 2012). But this new one reached my heart this year.

There are three main parts to this telling of the story: the parents arriving at the inn with no room, the shepherds who come to see the baby that the angels told them to seek, and the wise men who arrive much later bearing gifts.

I learned something interesting this week. Bible scholars believe the shepherds out in the fields that night were tending the lambs meant for temple sacrifice. It was probably during lambing season, so they had to be on hand, out in the fields. What they would do, when a lamb was born, was inspect it. A lamb needed to be a first-born male without spot or blemish to qualify. When they found such a lamb, they wrapped it in swaddling cloth and laid it in a manger, for special protection. When the angel told them to find the baby—who was to be the Savior of the world—they would have immediately understood the symbolism.

I hope this story helps you feel the love of God, who gave us the ultimate gift—His Son as our Savior.

One more little thing. Music is one of my favorite parts of the season. There’s this video of 7-year-old Claire Crosby singing “Silent Night” with our 95-year-old prophet Russell M. Nelson at the piano, and then having a conversation that just shows the love. As we say here in the South, "Oh, my heart!"

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Wise Men Seek the Light

Two thousand years ago, wise, learned men searched the skies until they saw the long-awaited star. And then they followed it to the source of all light and wisdom. Wise men today still seek the light and follow the star.

That was the theme of this year’s Christmas card. Since my first grandbaby was born, I have been using the grandkids as part of a nativity scene for the Christmas card. Some years are more challenging than others. For example, the year I wanted Mary and Joseph to have a real donkey. The donkey we were able to use was feral; he held still only with bribes of many carrots. To be honest, Mary nor anyone else could have ridden that donkey to Bethlehem.

This year I wanted wise men and a camel, but I had no idea how to accomplish that.Then, a few months ago Mr. Spherical model obtained a green screen for some videos he’s making for the business. And that opened up possibilities.

Mr. Spherical model had traveled to Saudi Arabia about five years ago for business, and had done the tourist thing of riding a camel. There was a good snapshot of him with the camel kneeling down to let him off. I thought if we staged him, in thobe (Saudi clothing he got while there) and added the grandkids visiting at Thanksgiving in kingly outfits bearing gifts, in such a way that it would look like PaPa was still on the camel, and the children were in front of it, we could use the green screen and photo editing.

Mr. Spherical Model on camel in Saudi Arabia

I don’t really know how to do photo editing, beyond a few very basics. But I figured I could learn. I had planned to use Mr. Spherical Model’s lighting set up and my camera. But he insisted his camera was high resolution and would work—and would have the advantage of showing us pretty immediately afterward on his computer if we had everyone placed the right way.

I took just a few photos with my camera, from right next to his, just to say I did it. Because the project is supposed to be my effort, and it turned out I wasn’t doing anything but dressing the kids and trying (a very big job) to get them to focus on the task long enough to get it done. Son Economic Sphere was manning the computer, so they could take multiple shots one after another as Mr. Spherical Model came to sit on the chair that was a bit too low. That way they could choose the shot that turned out to be just the right height.

Unfortunately, since he had used that camera mainly for video, and wasn’t very experienced with still photos, he made a mistake in setting the resolution. It had plenty of pixels, but the final looked pixelated to me. And the royal wise men didn't look very happy about reaching their destination.

This was now a week after Thanksgiving, with no chance to re-shoot. I wondered if the resolution would be good enough when printed as a small snapshot for the card, but I didn’t like it.

So I took a look at what was on my camera. There was a single photo in which no one had a tongue sticking out. I thought I’d give it a try. 

This is the best we had to start with.

I used various online tutorials to learn how to turn the background into an even green screen, separate the image I wanted, and combine that image with another photo—and then get them to be sized to match. I’m sure it’s pretty basic stuff for someone who does this all the time, but I’m a novice.

Anyway, despite the panic I felt about all my plans going awry, we got something acceptable. The original snapshot isn’t quite as clear as the three wise men I added to the scene. But it will do for our very amateur purposes.

The thing about life is, there are a lot of things beyond our control, no matter how well we plan. I’m learning, maybe more this season than ever, to just do what I can and then trust. God smiles on me when I am trying to do something good and giving.

The other message with this card is, “May you find the light you seek.” And I send that message to you this Christmas as well.

The Holy Day

This year's Christmas card photo,
featuring two of my grandchildren

Merry Christmas!

We’re celebrating a holy day, to honor our Savior Jesus Christ. We’re asked to become more like Him.

So, what does that mean? What does a life look like, when following His example? We can get some of these qualities from scriptures, among them the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, and in I Corinthians 13, which defines His love:

·         Loving

·         Kind

·         Meek

·         Humble

·         Seeking righteousness

·         Merciful

·         Pure in heart (honest, integrity, without guile)

·         Peacemaker

·         Longsuffering

·         Without envy

·         Not easily provoked

·         Seeks truth

·         Avoids iniquity

·         Gentle

·         Self-sacrificing

And we could add a few extras that don’t come up as often:

·        He sees a person’s heart, always knowing what a person really means or intends, and works with that person, as a friend would, to encourage living better.

·        He always knows God’s will and makes that His own will.

·        He combines truth and kindness, but He doesn’t modify the truth to avoid offending.

·        He doesn’t mollify. He doesn’t accept evil, even when He deeply loves the person doing the evil.

Imagine if all the people on earth lived the way Jesus did—or at least were earnestly striving to. On the Spherical Model, Jesus Christ leads to way to Civilization. He moves us ever northward, toward Him.

One of my favorite speakers, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, says, 

Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now. When He says to the poor in spirit, “Come unto me,” He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way.[i]

Above all other lives, His birth, life, death, and resurrection, are most worth celebrating.

His birth story shows us beauty in humble circumstances. Many of my favorite Christmas carols tell the story. I’ll share just a few verses.

This is the final verse of the Alfred Burt carol, “We’ll Dress the House with Holly Bright”:

And ye who would the Christ Child greet,

    Your heart also adorn,

That it may be a dwelling meet

   For Him who now is born.

Let all unlovely things give place

To souls bedecked with heavenly grace,

That ye may view His holy face,

   With joy on Christmas morn.

Here’s another Alfred Burt carol, the ending of “Some Children See Him”:

O lay aside each earthly thing,

And with thy heart as offering,

Come worship now the infant King,

‘Tis love that’s born tonight!

I’m noticing endings of a lot of songs. This is the final verse of the Christina Rosetti poem, “In the Bleak Midwinter”:

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am? —
If I were a Shepherd
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part, —
Yet what I can I give Him, —
Give my heart.

As a family, we’ve been retelling the nativity story as part of our Christmas Eve tradition for thirty years. We have a script. We dress up in costumes, and we all take part. Every time there’s a new baby, we use a real baby instead of a doll to be the baby Jesus.

My Christmas card is always a depiction of some part of the nativity story. This year we had my new granddaughter and her big brother play the parts of the baby Jesus and a shepherd (above).

Many of my Christmas decorations are depictions of the nativity. I like the goodies and presents and fun as much as the next person, but the real celebration is what is at the core of this holy day, and that is Christ.

If you want a beautiful visual retelling of the Christmas story, spend eight minutes on this video, produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

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[i] Jeffry R. Holland, “Broken Things to Mend,” Ensign, May 2006, p. 71.