Though the world system corrupts the message of the birth of Messiah for the sake of avarice and greed, take a moment to reflect on its ongoing spiritual significance, namely, that God emptied Himself (κένωσις) of His regal glory and power to become your Savior and High Priest, able to fully sympathize with your weakness, frailty, shame, and chronic sinfulness (Heb. 4:15-16; Phil 2:7-8). Almighty God, the Presence of Love, the Heart of Reality, clothed himself in human flesh and bone to become Immanu’el (עִמָּנוּ אֵל) – “God with us” – so that we could be touched by Him, healed by Him, and redeemed by Him… In light of this, it is only fitting we should join the refrain of heavenly host: “Glory to God in the highest, and upon earth peace, good will among all people!” (Luke 2:14). Amen! Yeshua is the Eternal Sign and Wonder of the LORD God Almighty…
- Luke 2:14 Hebrew page (pdf)
Consider the majestic humility of God as He chose to enter into this world as “baby Jesus.” Meditate on the glory and sheer paradox of God’s love! “Baby Jesus” is the perfect disguise to hide the truth from the proud eyes of the flesh, though the humble of heart can see… “For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching” (1 Cor. 1:21). For “who comprehends the mind of the LORD, or gives him instruction as his counselor?” Through his great plan to redeem people from the dominion of Satan and his agents in this evil world, God emptied Himself to become clothed in the frailty human flesh, born in a manger as the great Lamb of God, and born to die as the ransom for all who will believe. Ah, what would we do without the gift of God, friends? What hope would we have? Regardless of the exact date of his birth of His birth, let’s thank God that our Moshia (Savior) was willing to be born into this dark world to offer Himself as our sacrificial Redeemer! “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom. 11:36).
- Psalm 8:2a Hebrew page (pdf)
But what to do, then, if you sincerely want to follow the Torah’s calendar in light of entrenched Christian customs? Well, we certainly may commemorate the birth of Messiah during the holiday of Sukkot (or Shavuot, etc.), though we must be careful to show charity and use the “good eye” toward those who may adhere to the traditional date for “Christmas.” Likewise we commemorate the death and resurrection of Messiah during Passover and Firstfruits, respectively, though we do not begrudge those of good faith who honor these great events of salvation during what they call the “Pascha” or even the “Easter” season. Often we are tested in exactly this way, chaverim! We must not miss the “weightier matters” of extending grace to others, as Yeshua clearly taught (Matt. 23:23). As it is written, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Rom. 14:5; Col. 2:16).
Friends, we must test the spirits — and that particularly includes our own! How do we treat the “stranger” among us? How do we regard the “weaker brother?” Do we demand that our doctrine be esteemed, or do we allow room for others to seek the Lord and his wisdom? Ask yourself: Does this person (or group) honor Yeshua as God the Son, the Redeemer of Humanity who died for our sins and rose from the dead? If so, then keep your heart warm and soft toward him or her, even if he or she has yet to discover the Jewish roots of their faith. “Strive for peace with everyone” (Heb. 12:14). “Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you” (Phil. 3:15). Though we desire unity with one another (John 17:11), we cannot reasonably insist on doctrinal uniformity, especially in light of the frailty of our shared human condition… The truth of God is known in humility and love.
Surely our great need is to have heart, to find strength, resolution, and steadfast determination to walk boldly during these heartless and depraved days (2 Tim. 3:1-5). We are not without God’s help, of course. Yeshua told us that the Ruach HaKodesh (רוּחַ הַקּדֶשׁ) would be “called alongside” (παράκλητος) to comfort us on the journey. The English verb “comfort” literally means “to give strength” (from com- [“with”] and fortis [“strong”]), an idea similarly expressed by the verb “encourage,” that is, to “put heart [i.e., ‘core’] within the soul.” In Hebrew, the word courage is expressed by the phrase ometz lev (אמֶץ לֵב), meaning “strong of heart,” denoting an inner quality of the will rather than of the intellect. Ometz lev means having an inner resolve, a passion, and a direction. The sages say “the mind is the eye, whereas the heart is the feet.” May God be our Light and Salvation as we walk through the surrounding darkness…
According to midrash (i.e., ancient Jewish commentary), just before 
An honest person is a humble person, since honesty compels the soul to confess the truth that it is profoundly ignorant, incapable of understanding even the simplest matters of life, and entirely powerless to heal itself… People argue over words, concepts, and abstractions, inflating their opinions above even the Reality they purport to define, but the humble soul acknowledges that he doesn’t really know much about anything… And if “all the efforts of the human mind cannot exhaust the essence of a single fly,” then how is it that people get puffed up and proud regarding their supposed knowledge of God Himself? Far better to approach God in deep reverence, wonder, love, and childlike trust than to profess a theology based on pride and illusions…
God’s Name is “I-AM-with-you-always,” imanu-El (עִמָּנוּ אֵל) – always in the midst of you, your heart, your Center (Matt. 28:20; Isa. 41:10, Psalm 23:4, etc)…. The LORD is so named because he is never without his own, and we are who we are in relation to his presence in our lives. Yeshua is not simply the Lord of the past or the Lord of the future, but the Lord of this moment, this “here” and this “now.” He is the same yesterday, today, and forever – the breath of life, our sustaining hope, the Shepherd of our souls… Whatever else may come of this day, this is the day that the LORD has made, and we find peace in God’s Presence… Let us look to Him in this hour!
(Originally published Dec. 20, 2020)
The message of 
Yeshua forewarned that just before the End of Days, “many shall be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another” (Matt. 24:10). What dreadful people, you might imagine… what terrible depravity will mark that time! And yet here we are today, with so many crusading for their own personal sense of victimhood, demanding special treatment, and threatening retaliation for being treated unfairly… It must be remembered, however, that whenever we find offence in others, we are reflecting the evil within ourselves (Matt. 7:1-5). What is this evil within you ask? How about being intolerant toward those who differ from us? How about be impatient – refusing to allow others to share their perspectives? Indeed, how many of us make the demand that others be “perfect” but turn a blind eye to our own imperfections? And what about the sin of unforgiveness? What about our attitude of suspicion — using the “evil eye” regarding others’ motives – looking for something impure – rather than extending to them the benefit of the doubt? Do you carry resentment with your heart? Do you hold on to a grudge over a real (or imagined) insult from the past? Do you harbor the desire to seek revenge? All of these evil attitudes are symptomatic of hardhearted unforgiveness, and failing to remember that all that is good in your life you owe exclusively to the mercy of God alone… When you feel offended, look within and carefully consider the assumptions at work in your thinking. Ask whether your indignation is based on the truth of God or something else. Are you demanding: “My will be done, in heaven as it is on earth?” Are you seeking your own vision, or surrendering to the truth of Reality?
You’ve likely have heard the saying, “hate the sin, love the sinner,” and while it is true that we should hate sin (most of all, our own sin), it is contrary to the gospel to hate the sinner. After all, Christ died for the ungodly; he came to seek and to save those who are lost (Luke 19:10). “God demonstrates his love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Yeshua died for us – the just for the unjust – that we may reconciled with him (Rom. 5:8; 1 Pet. 3:8; 2 Cor. 5:21). Indeed Yeshua was maligned by the self-righteous of his day by being called “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34, 15:2). So it is a spiritual misstep to hate the sinner because we hate their sin.
Some people make it the business of theology to know God’s Name, but God begins by first asking for our name instead. Recall that Jacob had disguised who he really was in the hope of obtaining the blessing (Gen. 27), though his duplicity forced him into an exile that lasted until he was finally willing to be honest with himself. And like Jacob, each of us must answer God’s question: “What is your name?” (Gen. 32:27). When we “wrestle through” this question to face who we really are, we encounter God and find our blessing, that is, our true identity. Each of us has to go through the process of being renamed from “manipulator” (i.e., Ya’akov) to “one in whom God rules” (i.e., Israel). But note the order: it is only when we “tell God our name,” that is, own who we really are, that He meets with us “face to face” (Gen. 32:30). You will not be able to say, “I will not let you go unless you bless me,” until you are willing tell God your name (Gen. 32:26-27).