It was very moving to watch the Bondi gathering on Sunday night, and hear the courage, the distress, and the very careful message to Australians that the concerns and experiences of the Jewish people here have not been listened to since October 2023. There was the strong call for right (righteous) actions, so that Jewish children do not need security around them to enter their schools, Jewish students can walk around uni campuses without being abused and Jewish synagogues don’t have to be worried about spray paint attacks or fire bombings.
The Gospel of Matthew is a very Jewish gospel, written to Jewish Christians and Jewish peoples, explaining why Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. In Ch 1 Joseph is persuaded in a dream that it is the absolute right thing to do, to marry the pregnant Mary, for this child will save his people from their sins.
Dreams and Joseph -Jewish hearers would have immediately through of Joseph in Egypt, sold by his brothers in slavery, then ending up in prison. Through interpreting dreams, and by holding on to his integrity, rather than descending into bitterness and revenge, Jospeph becomes the saviour of the people in the whole region, by preparing them to withstand a 7-year drought. That also saves his own brothers, with whom he makes peace. The brothers continued to doubt that (guilty consciences?) and after their father dies, Joseph reinforces that by saying, ‘You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.’
The Christmas message for all people is that (as Jewish speakers at Bondi also powerfully reaffirmed), darkness does not overcome light. The Christian message is that God does turn evil around to good, nothing is wasted in God’s economy, and that every life matters.
So pray and work for good things to come out of the Bondi shootings. Continue to be people of integrity and love. Pray for and support our political and community leaders as they plan approaches that make a change for good. And for yourself, choose not to be cynical, choose to keep trusting in hope, peace, joy and love (the 4 Advent candles) and choose to entrust yourself to the faithfulness of our God.
