I don’t know anything more about it than what the Wikipedia article has to say.  I linked to it, above, so you should check it out–then you’ll know what I know.

This holiday commemorates St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr.  For those of you who don’t remember, Stephen was a first century Jewish Christian who refused to recant when ordered to do so by the Jewish authorities.  So they decided to put him to death–by stoning.  (Historical note: Christianity at this time was considered a sect of Judaism, the religion of the Jews.  The Jews were part of the Roman Empire.  The Romans at this time still believed in religious freedom which meant local peoples got to manage their own religions including imposing the death penalty–the manner of execution was limited though.  For the Jews this meant they could stone someone for being a heretic or blasphemer.  This is what happened to Stephen.)  An interesting part of the story is the account of a young man who “held the coats” of those doing the stoning.  This man’s name was Saul.  He later converted to Christianity, changed his name to Paul, and went on to become a great evangelist and missionary and wrote many of the books of the New Testament.  He was also an incredible intellectual–read some of his epistles–you’ll see what I mean.  The story of Stephen can be found in Acts 6:8-8:2. (Click here for Acts 6, Acts 7, and Acts 8.)  The story of Saul’s conversion can be found in Acts 9:1-22.

I also found it interesting that the Christmas Carol “Good King Wenceslas” takes place on this day (actually December 26).  (Scroll down to the bottom of the above link for the lyrics.)  This is intersting to me, personally, because in my family it became a tradition to watch a low budget movie called Good King Wenceslas.  In it Wenceslas is a prince, not a king yet, and he has to save his kingdom from the machinations of his evil step-mother, or he never will be king.  And along the way he helps the poor.  As I said, the movie is low-budget, so it does leave a lot to be desired, but we liked it.  (At first we liked to make fun of it, but then it became a tradition to watch it.)  The humor in it appeals to us and there’s some good lines of dialogue in it.  My personal favorite is, “You’re right, Sire, the horse is prettier.”  And Nathan’s is “‘Fortunate wolves.”  If you haven’t seen it, you won’t know what that means.  Sorry about that–I’d give you some context, but it’s been some time since I watched it.  I can at least give you context for the first; my brother will have to leave the context for the second in comments.

The context: The stepmother arranges a marriage for Prince Wenceslas.  She has no intention of letting either him or the girl live after the wedding–but the girl’s father is rich and she wants the dowry.  Wenceslas wants no part of the marriage.  When the girl first meets Wenceslas, he pretends to be a stableboy.  She asks him questions about the prince, including what he looks like.  Wenceslas replies, “The horse is prettier.”  Later, when she finds out who he is and that he lied to her about his identity, she is angry and tells him, “You’re right, Sire, the horse is prettier.”

We saw it on TV and taped it off the TV back in the days of VHS.  I highly doubt it was ever released on DVD or that it’s available for sale anywhere.  (Here is the Amazon.com link for it.  It is currently unavailable.)  It was of too poor quality for any of that, although there is some good acting and dialogue in it and several reviewers on the aforementioned site did like it.  However, if I’m to ever have a copy of it, to carry on the family tradition, or if you were curious about it, we’d need our own copy.  Personally, I think somebody (maybe one of my brothers–Timothy or Nathan) should put it on the Internet and give it away free.  (I don’t think anyone would actually pay money for it.)  There’s a lot said and done these days concerning Internet piracy and copyright infringement, but whatever the lawyers might say, I don’t believe there’d be anything wrong with putting this movie on the Internet.  It’s not like whoever produced it is getting paid for it or would be getting paid for it or is expecting to get any kind of payment for it.  So no one’s lost anything.  And if they think they have–well, that’s the same as saying there’s no market for a product, so you won’t produce it or offer it for sale, and then when someone else proves you wrong complain that they’re smarter than you and demand they compensate you for marketing a product you didn’t think you could market.  Sorry, folks.  Life doesn’t work that way, or at least it shouldn’t.

But enough about Internet piracy and copyright.  That’s a post–probably several–for another time.

Today is the Third Day of Christmas.  And since somehow I skipped it yesterday, we’ll do both today:

On the Second Day of Christmas my true love gave to me
Two turtledoves
(And a partridge in a pear tree.)

On the Third day of Christmas my true love gave to me
Three French hens
(Two turtledoves
And a partridge in a pear tree.)

I hope you all are enjoying this holiday season!

We’re finally there!  The day we’ve been waiting for has finally arrived!  It’s Christmas Day!  Our Savior and our king is here!  The One we’ve been waiting for is here!  Rejoice!  We have Hope and Peace with God!  Rejoice, in His love!  Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! (Psalm 100:1)  Rejoice!

Galatians 4:4-5

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

(You can listen to it here.  The original French is here.  And a more literal English translation is here.  Do check it out.)

He is Born

He is born, the holy Child,
Play the oboe and bagpipes merrily!
He is born, the holy Child,
Sing we all of the Savior mild.

Through long ages of the past,
Prophets have foretold His coming;
Through long ages of the past,
Now the time has come at last!

He is born, the holy Child,
Play the oboe and bagpipes merrily!
He is born, the holy Child,
Sing we all of the Savior mild.

O how lovely, O how pure
Is this perfect Child of heaven;
O how lovely, O how pure
Gracious gift of God to man!

He is born, the holy Child,
Play the oboe and bagpipes merrily!
He is born, the holy Child,
Sing we all of the Savior mild.

Jesus, Lord of all the world,
Coming as a Child among us,
Jesus, Lord of all the world,
Grant to us Thy heavenly peace.

He is born, the holy Child,
Play the oboe and bagpipes merrily!
He is born, the holy Child,
Sing we all of the Savior mild.

Merry Christmas!

I really like this song.  It’s solemn but beautiful.  I think it’s very appropriate for this Christmas Eve.  And as it’s about night and this is Christmas Eve, I decided to wait until evening to post it.  This song reminds us that while we are waiting for Christmas and it’s almost over, in the midst of our joy and celebrating, we should take the time to be solemn and worship the One whom this holiday was created to honor.

Thank you, Jesus, for your redeeming grace.  Thank you for being that baby in the manger.  Thank you for Christmas.

Luke 2:15-16

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.”  And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.

Silent Night

We’re almost there.  Christmas is almost here.  This has always been a favorite of mine, perhaps because it’s in a minor key, and I love songs in minor keys.

Luke 2:11-12

For there is born to you this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.

(You can hear it here.)

What Child Is This?

This is traditionally a children’s carol and a sweet one.  It seems real fitting to include it here during the last few days before Christmas.

Luke 2:7

And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

(You can hear it here.)

Away in a Manger

And then the second week we continued with Peace.  We reviewed how Jesus is the one who brought us peace and reconciliation with God, and how He will come again to bring peace on earth as the angels sang.  We have already waited long centuries for that and may have to wait long centuries yet, but we can be assured that just as the prophecies were fulfilled the first time when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, even though some thought it would never happen, that the rest of the prophecies will yet be fulfilled.  Jesus is our Hope, and He is our Peace.

And then the third week we celebrated with Joy!  Christmas is almost here.  The time of waiting is almost at an end.  God’s word fulfilled!  What glory!  Jesus, here, among us.  The Desire of all Nations has come and He deigns to walk the land as one of us, as the poorest of us.  And Jesus came for one reason–as the angel told Joseph:  to save His people from their sins.

And so we come to the fourth week.  The theme of this week is Love.  This week we examine a love that goes two ways.  The first way is from God to us.  As it says in the verses below it was the love of God that prompted Him to think of this solution for our sin and rebellion and outright hatred of Him: to come among us and to suffer the punishment for that sin Himself.  It was love.  It was love that caused Jesus to be born in that manger. It was love that let Him walk among us and heal us and listen to us and care about us and suffer our hurts and griefs (Isaiah 53).  It was love that put Jesus on the cross.  It was love that caused Him to rise from the dead.  It was love.

And as we reflect on His great love, it is only natural that the joy we felt in week three should turn to love.  That is the second direction of love mentioned above: from us to God.  We love Him because He first loved us.  How great is that love!  And how paltry sometimes our love in return.  But this week as we reflect on Jesus’ birth, our Hope and Peace, and as we rejoice that our sins have been forgiven, and we have been reconciled to God, we do love Him.  And as is only natural, our love turns to worship.  We fall on our faces in front of One whose love is of such magnitude.  There is none greater.

Come and worship.  O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.

LOVE

The fourth and last purple candle is lit.

I John 4:9-10

In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

I John 3:16a

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.

Ephesians 2:4

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

Colossians 1:13

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.

I John 3:1a

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

I Peter 1:8-9

Whom having not seen you love.  Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith–the salvation of your souls.

I John 4:19

We love Him because He first loved us.

Psalm 99:8-9

You answered them, O LORD our God;
You were to them God-Who-Forgives,
Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
Exalt the LORD our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For the LORD our God is holy.

(You can hear the following hymn here.)

O Come, All Ye Faithful

As we leave this week and enter the last and final week of Advent, our feelings of joy at Jesus’ birth turn to worship of Him, the promised one.

Matthew 2:11a

And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped Him.

(You can hear it here.)

Angels From the Realms of Glory

For some reason this sounds like a modern song, but it’s not. It was written in 1890.  I especially like the second verse.  God did give much to us that day.  From the manger to the cross–indeed, what a perfect, holy way.

Jeremiah 23:5

“Behold the days are coming,” says the LORD,
“That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and prosper,
And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

(You can hear it here.)

The Birthday of a King

Matthew 2:1b-2

Wise men from the East came…saying, “Where is He who is born king of the Jews?  For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

(You can hear it here.)

There’s a Song in the Air

Luke 2:13-14a

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest.”

(You can hear it here.)

Angels We Have Heard on High