WE know the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke. John’s Gospel teaches us that Jesus has always existed as part of the Trinity.

Jesus is the Logos, both the mind and the reason of God. The fourth Gospel, writer Mark, makes no reference at all.

Let’s look through the mist of tinsel and consider the awful circumstances of Christ’s birth.

• The Roman Census – a stark reminder of Roman oppression and dictation.

• Herod as King, yet Roman not Jewish.

• The Hebrew traditions of his family and Jerusalem being their religion’s heart.

• The humble place, a smelly, dirty stable, a cold cave or a kind person’s spare room?

• A young unmarried mother, likely to have been stoned to death, certainly shunned by that society. Joseph was kind towards her.

• The shepherds as viewed by society in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago. Yet chosen as the first to see Jesus.

• The young family quickly becoming refugees and escaping to Egypt

Oppression. Dictatorship. Poverty. Homelessness. Inequality. Discrimination. Ethnic cleansing.

All these are happening in the world today. The Christian Christmas story challenges us all to have eyes that fully see, ears to attend and enough love in our hearts to be activists for change whatever our faith or none.

With Love in Jesus.

Rev Alison Richardson

Crediton Methodist Church