On the 4th Day of Christmas...

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, four calling birds.
Can you guess what the four calling birds might symbolize?
The four calling birds are to signify the four Gospels and their writers, the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The first three books are called the Synoptic Gospels, as they look to be the same.
The first book in the New Testament is the book of Matthew. It is believed that the author is Matthew, who is also named as Levi in the other Gospels and, this being true, he came to faith in Jesus after being a tax collector and was one of the apostles.
Each of the Gospels have different “angles”, due to their own personal experience with Jesus, just as if different people were writing about a football game, each would write according to their own interests and prior understandings. Also we each write differently depending on our intended audience and the Gospel writers were no different.
Matthew seems to be concerned about the Messiah and the fulfillment of the Jewish scriptures and his intended audience is primarily the Jewish people, though written in Greek, and so possibly Greek speaking Jews. It includes a kingly line of the genealogy of Christ going back to Abraham.

The Gospel of Mark was originally thought to be written by a companion of Peter, and the second Gospel to be written, which is why it is placed after the Gospel of Matthew. Mark’s Gospel is now believed to be the first written Gospel and it is the most straightforward and succinct telling of the events of Jesus life. It is now believed that Mark’s Gospel was used as a source for both the Gospel of Luke and also Matthew as many of the stories match exactly, but this is not a full gone conclusion.
Mark uses Aramaic words in his story telling and he also explains some of the Jewish traditions. There is also no mention of the Samaritans. This would indicate that he has a broad audience in mind as he strives to make his Gospel factual and inclusive.

The Gospel of Luke is most courteous in not leaving us guessing about his audience, as it is written with a prologue that tells us clearly:
Luke 1:1-4 “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

From this prologue we know its intended audience is a new convert, Theophilus and we also know that others had already written, yet Luke thought it necessary to draw up an account so that Theophilus could be certain about the things that he had been taught. This tells me that this account is going to be researched and reliable.

I wrote briefly about the Gospel of John previously, but I’ll add that John was that close apostle of Jesus, self-described as the apostle that Jesus loved. He was the son of Zebedee and along with his brother James, called the “Sons of Thunder”, probably a nick-name due to the pair’s personalities. Being part of Jesus’ close inner circle, he was privileged to witness some events that others were not, such as the transfiguration.
The Gospel of John is believed to be written for new believers and he gives more than just an account of the events. He tells the events that are prophetic in nature, signifying the kingdom of God and the clearly emphasizing the depth of Christ’s nature, purpose and ministry.
It is the Gospel of John that emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit in bringing us to God, teaching and comforting.

All of the Gospels tell of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
His message was that the Kingdom of God was near and that all should repent and turn to God. The word repent means, to change your mind, and therefore this call was one to realize the purpose and heart of God as revealed through Jesus. The first step of faith is, instead of following our own way, is to change our mind, and decide that in our own efforts we could not meet the perfect standard of God.
The Gospel of Matthew makes it clear that we cannot attain Godliness when he reports Jesus saying, Matt 5:22 “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 'Raca,' is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
At this time, there were many who felt justified by keeping the commandments and thought that this would be acceptable as God’s perfect standard. But Jesus makes it clear that the perfection of God is deeper than any of us can reach and also that at the heart is where we needed to be dealing with things. Our outer lives can look incredibly righteous, but our hearts are seen and judged by God.
Who then can be saved?
John’s Gospel makes it very clear from the beginning of his Gospel, that those who believe in his Name, he gives the power to be children of God. Then just a little later in John’s Gospel is the famous verse John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Two very simple points of our Gospel – the Good News of our Christian faith:
1 – We cannot meet the perfect standard of being good enough for God in our own efforts.
2 – God gave us his Son, who is his own being, so that by believing in him we can have eternal life.
Why is this good news? Because it is inclusive for all, the only condition being that of believing.
Throughout the Gospels there are constant interactions with people who wanted to condemn others. Each time, instead of condemnation, Jesus healed, forgave and set them free. This is the heart of God! It is about acknowledging the truth of our condition and believing in Jesus who brings peace between us and God.
We state in our creed our fourth article of faith: Who for us men and for our salvation came down from the heavens, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man; And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;
This is the fact about Jesus Christ; he was crucified for us. The death of Christ was underserved as he who knew no sin, became sin for us. He took the sin of the world and made that sacrifice so that there can be no enmity between us and God…. Peace to all on Earth…

That Peace to all on Earth which the Angels proclaimed over the birth of Christ was because of the ministry of Jesus, bringing us into an un-inhibited relationship with God.
Peace among those inhabitants on Earth is rare. Even just a little while after Jesus was born, just after that statement of Peace was made, there was major upheaval. King Herod realized that the Magi were not coming back to tell him where this new king was born and so he killed all the babies in the area. Jesus escaped this first attempt on his life because an Angel had warned Joseph, and so they made their escape to Egypt.

This day, the 28th of December marks the feast of the Holy Innocents, those who were killed by Herod.
This day, the 28th of December in 2015 we still have holy innocents being killed. It is far away from us and so we are not so confronted, but there are Christian men, woman and children being murdered. They live knowing that their faith in Christ puts them in physical danger…. Yet their faith persists.

Peace with God, but no peace with those who do not know God’s peace. Today as we reflect on the Good News of the Gospel and on God’s amazing love, lets pray for those holy people who are in those danger zones and lets be inspired to live our lives more boldly in the honour of those who’ve given the ultimate sacrifice for our faith, and in honour of Jesus who has brought us this peace with God though his life, death and resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:1-8 “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me “

Link to song, Coventry Carol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltVWs4jDYsw song about the Holy Innocents.