12 Days of Christmas

For those not from a liturgical background, the 12 Days of Christmas may be a misunderstood time of year because so many think it ends with Christmas Day, when actually it's just beginning. It's a short period of time between Advent where we prepare for the coming of our Lord (with the three-fold anticipation of the remembrance of Jesus Christ's birth, Jesus Christ's coming to us now in Word, wine and bread, and in His return to us) and Epiphany (which begins with the wise men's visit to Jesus and ends with the beginning of Lent (a penitential season where we remember Christ's last 40 days on earth).

For those with questions about the 12 Days of Christmas, I high recommend this site for your edification about this special time of the church calendar.

Today we remember the feast of Saint Stephen, the first martyr, whose death is told in Acts 7:54-60. In Matthew 23:24, Jesus said, "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city.” Jesus tells us this in His last week on earth. After His triumphant arrival in Jerusalem. He knows what is to be His outcome. He knows what is to be the disciples' outcome. His prophetic words first take hold when Stephen is stoned to death.

This reminds me of Psalm 3, where David laments his distress when his son, Absalom, has expelled him from the city. Stephen, too has been expelled...from the synagogue by the Sanhedrin. Unlike David, Stephen is not afraid, and he faces his death with courage provided by the sight of the King of Kings with His Son, our Savior, by His side.

And so this verse seemed appropriate to today, Psalm 3:3 "But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head."

God is our shield, just as He was Stephen's especially on that day he was tortured to death.