Advent: Blind Courage

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This week, we’re invited to reflect on where we are stuck, weary, or struggling to keep going by returning to the birth of Jesus and the very different responses it provoked. 

Drawing from Isaiah 49 and Matthew 2, we’ll explore how Jesus’ birth fulfills God’s promise of a servant who would reveal God’s glory, bring salvation to the nations, and draw even kings to attention. The Magi respond to the birth of Jesus with courage and movement, leaving everything familiar to worship the true king, while Herod responds with fear and violence, desperate to protect his throne. Together, their reactions reveal that Jesus’ arrival is not neutral—it demands a response.

This challenges the common assumption that Jesus simply wants to improve our lives. Like Herod, we often sense—rightly—that Jesus’ kingship threatens our control. Jesus does not want to merely reside in our lives; he wants to reign over them, claiming authority over our decisions, relationships, finances, work, and future. This is not bad news but good news, because Jesus is far more fit to be king than we are. 

Jesus is coming for our crowns, and giving them to him is the way out of being stuck and leads to true life.