‘“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

‘“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”’

Matthew 5:13-16 (ESV)

These days, salt is simply used to enhance the flavour of food, but in the time in which Jesus spoke, salt had a far more important purpose – it was rubbed into meat in order to slow decay. Perhaps this is the use of salt that Jesus had in mind when he described his followers as “the salt of the earth.” After all, the world we live in is full of decay. All around us, we see a world that falls short of God’s standards. People are far too concerned with self-gratification at the expense of selfless service towards others. Morally, our society is in a total mess. Sex has become just another hobby, and this gift from God is abused all the time. When we look at the world, we see a world that is in desperate need of its Creator God; violence, war, greed, and famine are in the news every day. It is easy to blame the mess the world is in on those who do not know Christ. Yet why should we blame them? They know no different. What if, in this passage in his sermon, Jesus is telling us that we should seek to slow the decay of the world? When we look at the problems in the world like that, perhaps it is us to blame. Perhaps we have lost our saltiness and are not impacting on the world as Jesus would have us do. Perhaps all we are good for is “to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.”

So how can we slow the decay of the godless world around us? As one theologian said, we need to be “a moral disinfectant in a world where moral standards are low, constantly changing, or non-existent.” If you’ve ever applied antiseptic disinfectant to a cut on your body, you will know that whilst the disinfectant is against the cut, it can really hurt, yet you keep the disinfectant against the cut because you know it is cleansing the wound, and removing all the germs which could cause infection. In the same way, putting salt on the wounds of the world can be painful for the patient. The patient will usually fail to realise that the short term pain is in its own interests, as it will ensure a brighter future. As Christians, we are called to be the salt applied to the wounds of the world. The world may kick against us, but we need to have the courage of our convictions that what we are doing is correct, and ultimately in the world’s best interests. We need to speak out against things we know to be wrong. If we catch someone stealing, we must attempt to stop the offender. If we see our boss being dishonest, we must challenge him. If we know a friend is being unfaithful to his husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend, we need to speak to the friend concerned. Only by speaking out against what we know to be wrong can we be the “salt of the earth.” If we fail to take this responsibility seriously, Jesus is perfectly clear – we are “no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.” We must be willing to speak the painful message to the world around us, no matter what the cost.

In the second part of this passage, Jesus uses a slightly different tack to convey a similar message. The idea of the world being in darkness as a result of the evil within it is a common theme in the Bible. In John 8:12, Jesus declares, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” As the light of the world, Jesus will penetrate the darkness of the world, revealing the sinfulness of all people, and serving as a positive example of how it is possible to live. As Christians, we have the “light of life” within us, and so we too will illuminate the evil around us. To do so, we must not hide the light that Jesus has given us, but must ensure that it is visible to all those around us. We must live according to God’s rules, and ensure that we demonstrate his love for all people. We must stand out from the rest of the world. This could be by reading the Bible, praying, and going to church. It could also be by taking the conscious decision not to get drunk when we go out with friends, and ensuring that we live a moral life. Furthermore, the “light of life” could shine out from us by supporting our friends and colleagues when they are feeling low, by helping to feed the homeless, or by tidying our neighbourhood and trying to build a sense of community where we live. The possibilities are endless! Jesus tells us that it is important that people can see our good works, as they can serve as an example to those around us. Who knows, if your friends see what it really means to be a Christian, they may themselves “give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” What better incentive to act as a light in the darkness than bringing our friends to know Jesus for themselves!

There is so much to think about in just these few verses, and I would urge you to consider reflecting on them in the days ahead. Let’s all strive to be salt and light in the world. Let’s stand up for what is right, speak out against what we know to be wrong, and be willing to be a moral disinfectant in the world, no matter what the level of the short term pain. Let’s strive also to be a role model of what it is to be a Christian. Let’s ensure that we do not hide the “light of life” that Jesus has put within us, but ensure it is visible to everyone around us. Let’s live our lives according to God’s rules, and seek to bless those around us by serving them in a selfless way. If every Christian strived to live like this, we really could change the world.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Matthew 5:4

In Christian terms, the world can be divided into two – those who love, and seek to follow Christ, and those who don’t. In view of this verse, the world can be divided into two – those who mourn and those who don’t. Mourning here does not refer to the expression of sadness following the death of an individual, but the death of mankind’s innocence.

As Christians, we know that we are sinners; we are aware of the sin and the wickedness of the world around us. As a result, we plead for forgiveness from God. Those who do not know Christ do not share these feelings. Whilst they may accept that there is a level of wickedness in the world, they will probably feel that they themselves are basically alright.

This is, I believe, what Jesus is getting at here in the second of the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. The previous beatitude, “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” suggested that a Christian will know of their own inadequacy before God. This verse takes that idea one step further – not only will a Christian know that they are “poor in spirit,” but this will provoke a reaction. How can a follower of Christ fail to feel despondent when looking at the world around us? God made us a beautiful, perfect world, but all around us we see the effects of sin – murder, slander, rape, violence, the list goes on. Yet because we feel this way, because we are aware of the Godlessness of the world, we will find comfort. We know that we have sinned, and have turned to Christ in repentance. The rest of the world, who do not know Christ, have not done so – because they do not mourn the state of the world.

Is it simply enough to mourn the sins of the world around us, though, when we ourselves are sinners? No, it is not. We have played our part in making the world what it is today, and need to fall on our knees before Christ and ask for forgiveness.

Genuine repentance brings with it a genuine sorrow. We all have our own weaknesses, and sins that we are very aware of committing regularly. Every time we commit a sin we have repented of, we feel very strongly our own weakness and inadequacy. This is an element of the mourning that Jesus refers to here.

By mourning the death of innocence, we share in God’s pain. The Psalmist clearly demonstrated what our response to sin should be when he wrote, “streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed” (Psalm 119: 136). How many of us have actually wept, though, when we have seen mankind rebelling against God? Or, indeed, at our own rebellion? It doesn’t seem a very common thing to do. Yet there are many examples of God’s people throughout the Old and New Testaments who do just this. In Ezekiel chapter nine, God issues instructions to “go throughout the city of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it. … Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark” (Ezekiel 9: 4, 6). Mourning the evil in the city is here a sign that someone loves God. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians we are told that sin should grieve us – “And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this?” (1 Corinthians 5:2). In Romans, we see Paul mourning his own sinfulness – “what a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7: 24). Paul goes on to answer this question, however – “Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Paul clearly knows the answer to this question – Jesus Christ will rescue him from his “body of death.” When we recognise that we, too, have bodies of death, Jesus will rescue us too! This is, in fact, the second part of our verse – the verse doesn’t just say “blessed are those who mourn,” but goes on to say why – “for they will be comforted.” What an amazing promise!

By looking back at the Old Testament prophecies, we learn that Jesus came to comfort those who mourn. Isaiah 61 states that the messiah would come “to comfort all those who mourn, and provide for all those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Isaiah 61: 2-3). Jesus is the fulfilment of this prophecy – through his death and resurrection, we can be free from our sin, and reconciled to God our Father. We can enjoy eternal life in his company, where there will be no sin or mourning, only rejoicing!

So what have we learnt from this verse, the second beatitude of the Sermon on the Mount? We’ve learnt that mourning will be an aspect of the Christian’s character much in evidence. Christians will mourn the state of the world, because they know that a godless world is not pleasing to God. Christians will also mourn their own sinfulness, because they know that when they sin, they are displeasing God. But we’ve also been reassured by this verse. Through Jesus Christ, we can be reconciled to God, and can have eternal life in his presence, where there will be no mourning.

So, look around the world and mourn at how far removed it is from God, but give thanks that we, as Christians, can be comforted.

It seems that one of the most common doubts Christians have about the identity of Jesus is over his birth – was he really born of a virgin? This question has been a bone of contention for many years now, but hit the headlines again recently when a survey of five hundred Church of England clergy by the Sunday Telegraph revealed that twenty-seven percent did not believe in the virgin birth (Sunday Telegraph, 22nd December 2002). Does it really matter whether Jesus was born of a virgin or not? After all, as one of the clerics who took part in the survey said, ‘it was [Jesus’] adult life that was extraordinary.’

This article will look at our sources of information on Jesus’ birth, and will then look at what happens if you take away the virgin birth from the doctrines of Christianity.

Two Gospels tell of Jesus’ birth. Luke’s Gospel has more detail, and so we shall start there.

The first we hear of Jesus’ birth in Luke’s Gospel is in 1:31, when the angel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her, ‘you will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.’ Mary is understandably quite confused, as she is a virgin, as she tells the angel, ‘How will this be… since I am a virgin?’ Gabriel tells her that ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you and overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.’

Matthew’s Gospel account of the birth of Jesus agrees exactly with that of Luke, although he provides less detail. Matthew tells us in 1:18 that, ‘This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.’ Right from the start, Matthew makes it clear that Jesus was born of God. He confirms this when he reports what Gabriel told Joseph – ‘do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit’ (Matthew 1:20). He then reports that, ‘All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” – which means, “God with us.”’ (Matthew 1:22-23). This quote is taken from the book of Isaiah, to which we shall return shortly.

The question of whether Jesus was born of a virgin, then, is simply not debateable on the basis of this evidence. Both Matthew and Luke make it absolutely clear that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth.

Most Christians take the Bible as their authority when it comes to their belief. We are right to do so, since 2 Timothy states that, “all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Yet, despite the fact that God is the source of the Bible, many feel perfectly at liberty to question this particular piece of Scripture. Why? It seems to me that people, when questioning the virgin birth, are questioning God’s ability to produce a child without humans performing a sexual act. Surely this is not outside the power of God, though, since he is the sovereign creator of the universe. He created everything, so why not one baby?!? He created human life in the first place. He created Adam from mud! To question this particular piece of scripture leaves the rest of the book, and indeed, the whole Bible, open to question. After all, if Matthew and Luke invented this particular story, their scripture obviously wasn’t “God-breathed,” which rips apart the statement made by Paul to Timothy mentioned above. And if Matthew and Luke, writing on their own, without God’s influence, chose to lie to us in this instance, how can we believe what they’ve said in the rest of their gospels? We might as well bin the whole lot. And without scripture, there is no Christian faith, so we might as well find something more worthwhile to do on our Sunday mornings, squander all our money, and give in to our evil human desires.

In addition to this, if you were writing the biography of, say, Tony Blair, and you couldn’t find anything out about his birth, would you really be likely to invent something as ridiculous as a virgin birth? After all, a virgin birth is totally unbelievable. No-one in their right mind would believe you, since it is a well-known fact that virgins do not give birth. Even in first century Palestine, people knew this. So if you were going to try and invent a story about Jesus’ origins, would you pick something as ridiculous a virgin birth, leaving your story open to mockery? I think not!

As mentioned previously, Matthew quotes from the book of Isaiah when he writes of the birth of Jesus. The verse, in context, reads, ‘Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”’ (Isaiah 7:13-14).

Isaiah is a very difficult book to read, and there is much debate regarding these particular verses. In fact, the Reverend Dr. Keith Archer, who took part in the Sunday Telegraph survey, stated that the virgin birth “is not particularly important because it is a debateable translation of a Hebrew prophecy which first appeared in Isaiah.”

I decided to seek out what other interpretations of this verse there are, and found the following suggestions in Gaebelein’s “Expositor’s Bible Commentary:”

The mother is royal, perhaps the queen, and so the child is a royal prince, perhaps Hezekiah;

The mother is Isaiah’s wife, and so the child is one of his sons;

The prophecy does not refer to a specific mother and child, but to mothers in Judah generally, who will give their offspring names symbolising hope in God;

The mother is the Virgin Mary and the child Jesus Christ;

The mother is a royal contemporary of the prophet, whose child’s name would symbolize the presence of God with his people and who would foreshadow the Messiah in whom God would be incarnate.

Grogan, who authored the section on Isaiah weighs up the evidence, and decides that suggestion five is the most likely – the passage refers to someone known by Isaiah, who was currently a virgin, but would not be when she gave birth, who would foreshadow the coming of Jesus.

The fact that Jesus was born of a virgin, therefore, is foretold in the Old Testament, in the same way as the coming of Jesus, and so many other aspects of his life were. To question the virgin birth is to question all of these prophecies. Since these prophecies, according to main-stream, Bible-believing Christians, come from God, as does the rest of the Bible, we once again find ourselves saying that the Bible cannot be trusted, which leads us to exactly the same position we found ourselves in when questioning the New Testament – preparing to throw our Bibles into the nearest bin, and declaring Christianity to be a load of nonsense.

The virgin birth is one of the central tenets of Christianity. Whilst it is sensible to question one’s faith, questioning the Bible, and its authority as the word of God, leads to problems which serve to undermine the whole of the Christian faith.

Maybe I’m naive, but if both the Old and New Testaments tell me that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, I believe them. I don’t see the virgin birth as something which Christians can choose to accept or reject, but as a fundamental cornerstone of our faith.

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod,Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.“Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”

Matthew 2:1-18

Christmas presents us all with a great opportunity to think about our response to Jesus. For those of us who are Christians, it’s great to be able to refocus our thoughts and to consider how we stand with Christ. For those who do not know Jesus, it is an opportunity to consider anew the identity of Jesus.

Large numbers of people attend church over the Christmas period – last year over 2.6 million, compared with an average Sunday attendance of one million. That’s 1.6 million people who we, as Christians, can directly challenge with the Gospel. Add to this the countless millions of people with whom Christians have regular contact, and the number of people we can share the Gospel with at this time of year is staggering. Christmas presents us, the church, with an amazing opportunity to tell people about Jesus.

People who don’t normally go to church respond to the Christmas message in many ways. Most don’t even stop to give Jesus any thought – they sing the carols and listen to the readings in the same way they have for many years, but that’s as far as they go. Their attitude is “Christianity is not for me.”

This article looks at the reactions of different people in Matthew’s Gospel to the birth of Jesus. It is interesting to note the similarities to the way people can respond to Jesus in the twenty-first century. There is much we can learn concerning witnessing to non-Christians, and also about how we respond to Jesus ourselves.

The first reaction to comment on is that of King Herod when he hears the news of Jesus’ birth. When he hears of the birth of the king of the Jews, we learn that he reacts angrily to the news. We learn that he was initially “disturbed” by the news (verse three), and urges the Magi to report back to him when they find the Messiah, so that he “may go and worship him.” It is Herod’s reaction when the Magi fail to return that is most worrying, however – he “gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under” (verse 16). We know that Herod was a ruthless character, since he had already murdered many of his family, including his wife and his three sons. He clearly believed that Jesus, the “one born king of the Jews,” presented a considerable threat to his rule.

Whilst there are thankfully not an enormous number of murderers around today, there are many people who feel threatened by Jesus. Many people prefer to build their own kingdoms, and devote their lives to the pursuit of power and wealth, just as Herod did. Many people believe that to honour or accept Jesus is to restrict themselves to a poor and subservient life, which they are not willing to adopt. They would much rather place their trust in the here and now, their jobs, their homes and their money, rather than gambling it all away in the hope that Jesus might be speaking the truth.

The reaction of the chief priests and teachers of the law is perhaps surprising. They were intelligent men, who had devoted their lives to learning the scriptures. They knew that the Bible foretold the birth of a Messiah, and knew that he was to be born “in Bethlehem, in the land of Judah.” Yet how did they respond to the news that their anointed one, their Christ, may well have been born? They were unfathomably apathetic, and did nothing. They could have got excited at the prospect of the coming of the Messiah, but no; they appear to do absolutely nothing. There’s a stark lesson here for all of us; no matter how much we may know about the scriptures, no matter how deep our knowledge of the Bible, being a Christian is more than this. Being a Christian is about personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as our saviour. Following Christ is not merely an intellectual exercise; it demands commitment at the highest level. We must give ourselves completely to Jesus. We must love him, and obey his commands. I wonder how many of those people who attend church at Christmas, but not at any other time, believe themselves to be Christians, simply because they believe in God? People in this category need to be taught what it means to be saved. Christmas is an ideal opportunity to do this.

The reaction of the Magi could not have been more different to the responses of Herod and the chief priests and teachers of the law. We can see their commitment straight away – they had travelled a not inconsiderable distance in order to seek out the child “born king of the Jews.” Why would they do so? It is possible to make two observations about the Magi just from this one statement. The Magi believed that Jesus’ status as king of the Jews was not something that he would acquire later in life. They knew that, though he was still an infant, he was already a very important person, whose status already demanded praise and worship from the travellers. We can also see from this statement that the Magi were not Jews; they chose to talk of Jesus not as “our king,” but as “king of the Jews.” Despite this, they still feel the need to honour the king of the Jews. They clearly recognised the importance of Jesus to the whole world – not simply the Jewish community.

How did the Magi react when they met Jesus? We’re told that they “bowed down and worshipped him.” They also presented the baby with gifts, which, at the time, was a custom generally performed by people who recognised the superiority of the recipient.

There must have been something about this baby to make the Magi respond in this way. Intelligent, learned and well travelled men, they felt the need to travel a great distance to honour the birth of a baby, who they regarded as superior to themselves, who they recognised as “king of the Jews,” and chose to bow down and worship him even though they were Gentiles. They even presented him with highly valuable gifts – no expense spared!

The adoration shown by these travellers from an eastern land is a marked contrast to the reactions of others mentioned in this passage. Whilst the birth of Jesus was met with adoration by the Magi, Herod responded with anger – so much anger that he felt the need to massacre innocent baby boys – and the teachers and chief priests responded with apathy. They knew the scriptures inside out, but failed to realise that the arrival of the Messiah demanded a response on their part.

How will you respond to Jesus this Christmas? Will you be like Herod, and try to shut him out of your life, to pretend he doesn’t exist, because of the threat he poses to your way of life? Or will you listen to the stories, and maybe even read them, yet fail to respond to the call Jesus makes on your life? Or will you respond with adoration to the birth of the Son of God, the one who is God, who ultimately gave himself for you on the cross at Calvary?

Christmas is a great time to think about what you believe, and to share your beliefs with others. Do take the advantage of the break to reflect upon your faith and where you stand with God. Don’t let this Christmas pass you by.

Anger? Apathy? Adoration? How will you respond to the birth of Jesus Christ this year?