2014 IMMANUEL

Now as we actively are waiting and preparing a new picture of God  - ADVENT -
midst in our activities we are called to the scene Bethlehem - to remember: Jesus von Nazareth was born overthere. The one - born overthere - is today the famous Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is famous because people of his time have started to see in him IMMANUEL (God with us).
Before his time, the believers have known the Great-Jahwe-God, the God of Abraham, of Jacob, of Isaak; the God of Moses, of the Exodus and of the 10 commandments; the God of Israel and the God of the temple of Jerusalem.
He was God of all-high, the allmighty one, God our Father, who are in Heaven !

But now Markus says: in Jesus we see a Son of God, and finally Johannes proclaims (as fast as only 100 years after Jesus was born): In Jesus, we see total unity of God and man - we see HIM as IMMANUEL (God with us).
That sounds totally new. We see God not any more in Heaven but in Jesus. We gaze at him and we discover: in HIM - God became HUMAN. In HIM the Word became flesh, lived among us and we saw his glory; full of grace and truth.

Looking after a new picture of God the Evv guide our view to Jesus, the profet of Nazareth. HE - as a real human, one of us - is now discovered as the human realization of God. The time of the pictures of God is now over - God became a real man. Once our ears got the call: lift up your hearts - and we directed our hearts towards Heaven! But now - as we hear the call again, our hearts go towards Jesus. Now as Heaven disappeares and the Earth goes by - the Word of God is a human man.

2000 years after Jesus was born in Bethlehem - we still are used to see God in Heaven and we care about many wonderfull picture of God like: Our Father who are in Heaven. We are as Church not able to pray: "God who starts as Immanuel in Jesus" We as Christians like to go finally to God in Heaven - after a good life -
but we don't like to go to Jesus and realize his life as IMMANUEL in our situation.
I feel as Church we celebrate Christmas - but do we understand the message ?