Tag: Messiah

Christmas Caroling

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Christmas carols are among the most beloved parts of Christmas. Silent Night, Away in a Manger, and many other carols teach Christian truths and amplify the Advent spirit. Past generations learned carols in their families, but present generations do not. Music ministers sometimes add carols to Sunday morning worship. One venue where you can learn carols is Christmas Caroling. This article describes how churches can add caroling to their Christmas calendar.

By Mark D. Harris

Webster defines caroling as “to go about outdoors in a group singing Christmas carols”.[1] Caroling is a wonderful tradition in the Christian faith, though it seems to be declining in recent years. Growing up in Southern California, we never had a white Christmas, but we caroled. Now in West Virginia, we have many white Christmases, and we still carol. Annual caroling has become an important and consistent part of our holiday season.

History

Many of the origins of Christmas caroling lie in pagan singing and dancing around the winter solstice, usually December 21, the day with the least daylight in the year. However, as Christianity grew in Europe, followers of Christ kept many heathen traditions but transformed their meanings. For example, songs and dances to the Roman god Jupiter or the Norse god Odin become songs and dances to the real God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

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The Messiah, Who Did the Jews Expect Him to Be?

The Messiah, preview with Samuel anointing David
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The Messiah was supposed to deliver Israel from all oppressors and lead them into a new golden age. A rabbi from Galilee was not what they had in mind. Who did the Jews expect the Messiah to be?

By Mark D. Harris

“Messiah”, “Anointed One,” and “Christ” are some of the most common names used by Christians (“Christ followers”).  We understand that Jesus (the) Christ is the anointed Son of God, Creator, and Lord of the Universe who came to earth once to suffer, die, and be raised again to save us from our sins. One day He will come again to establish His perfect kingdom in the universe. We see Him as a suffering servant, and a conquering hero. Given the full text of the Bible and our knowledge of what Jesus actually did, this is entirely reasonable. But the picture of the Messiah was far different to Jews in the first century.

Like America in 2011, Palestine in the first century AD was a diverse place, with Jews, Romans, Greeks, Persians, Arabs, Egyptians, and Africans..  Religions were aplenty, especially in Galilee, Samaria, and Perea, and political intrigue and violence was the norm.  Many Jews longed for a return to the glorious days of King David, when Israel was the greatest power in the Near East.  They also chafed under Roman domination, oppressive taxes, and the rule of an outsider, Herod.  Spiritually, the Jews had been bereft of the prophetic voice of God for 400 years, and they hoped for another prophet to show the way.

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