St. James Lectionary Bible Study for 12 28 2025 the First Sunday After Christmas Year (A)

 BIBLE STUDY COMPANION GUIDE
First Sunday of Christmas I Year (A) — December 28, 2025
St. James Presbyterian Church, Harlem
 
LIGHT THAT DWELLS IN THE DARK
 
Framing the Study
This Bible study continues St. James’ Advent reclamation of darkness—not as danger, but as habitable holy ground. Christmas does not erase the night. Instead, the birth of Christ reveals what the night has been holding all along: praise, presence, protection, and promise.
Across these texts, notice how God’s work unfolds by night, in distress, through vulnerability, and within creation itself. This is Christmas light that does not dominate—it accompanies.


Psalm Study
Psalm 148 — Cosmic Praise in the Dark
Orientation
Psalm 148 is a summons to everything—visible and invisible—to praise: stars, sea monsters, storms, elders, children. Nothing is excluded. Not even the deep.
Key Insight
Praise here is not sentimental joy. It is alignment. Creation praises simply by being what it is—even when that being includes darkness, chaos, frost, or deep waters.
Notice
Stars shine because it is night
Sea monsters and storms are not corrected—they are commissioned
Young and old praise together, without hierarchy
Christmas Connection
The night sky above Bethlehem does not retreat when Christ is born. It becomes the choir loft. Christmas light calls forth what was already shimmering.
Discussion Questions
What parts of creation named in this psalm feel “unsafe” or “unsettling”? Why might they still be called to praise?
Where have you seen beauty sharpened—not softened—by darkness?
How does this psalm challenge narrow ideas of “joy” during Christmas?
Spiritual Practice
Invite participants to name one place—internal or external—that feels like “the deep.” Speak it aloud as a place capable of praise.

First Reading
Isaiah 63:7–9 — God’s Presence, Not Distance
Orientation
Isaiah recalls God’s saving work not through spectacle, but through presence. “It was no messenger or angel… but his presence that saved them.”
Key Insight
God does not send help from afar. God enters distress and carries the people through it.
Notice
Salvation is remembered, not rushed
God’s love is described as carrying and lifting
Distress is named honestly, not erased
Christmas Connection
This text reframes the incarnation: God does not solve suffering from above but moves into it. The manger is not a strategy—it is proximity.
Discussion Questions
Why is remembering past mercy important in seasons that feel unresolved?
How does “presence” differ from rescue?
Where might God be carrying you rather than removing you?
Spiritual Practice
Invite participants to write one sentence beginning with: “I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord when…”

Second Reading
Hebrews 2:10–18 — God Chooses Vulnerability
Orientation
Hebrews proclaims a startling truth: God does not help angels—God helps flesh and blood.
Key Insight
Christ’s solidarity with humanity is not symbolic. It is embodied. Fear, suffering, and death are confronted from inside human experience.
Notice
Jesus is not ashamed to call us siblings
Liberation is described as freedom from the fear of death
Suffering becomes a site of mercy, not abandonment
Christmas Connection
The incarnation is God’s refusal to remain untouched. Christmas light is not invulnerable—it is shared.
Discussion Questions
What fears still hold people in quiet forms of bondage?
How does shared suffering create trust?
What does it mean that Jesus learned compassion through testing?
Spiritual Practice
Hold silence and ask: What fear loosens when we remember we are not alone in it?

Gospel
Matthew 2:13–23 — The Child of Night Journeys
Orientation
This is a Christmas story rarely placed on greeting cards. The Holy Family flees by night. Children are killed. Safety is uncertain. Home is delayed.
Key Insight
God’s saving work unfolds through displacement, migration, and risk. The Christ child survives not through power, but through movement, listening, and night wisdom.
Notice
God speaks through dreams, not decrees
Protection happens in exile
Darkness is not failure—it is strategy
Christmas Connection
This is moonlight theology. Guidance is real but partial. Safety comes step by step. God trusts the night enough to work within it.
Discussion Questions
Why might Matthew insist on telling this story at Christmas?
How does this text speak to displaced and vulnerable communities today?
Where are we being asked to move—not forward boldly, but carefully?
Spiritual Practice
Invite participants to imagine Joseph walking at night. What does he hear? What does he trust when he cannot see far ahead?


Integrating the Texts
Across all four readings, Christmas light:
Summons creation without erasing darkness (Psalm)
Moves through presence, not distance (Isaiah)
Shares vulnerability to free from fear (Hebrews)
Guides through night journeys toward life (Matthew)
This is not the light of certainty.
It is the light of companionship.


Closing Question for the Group
What if Christmas is not about making everything bright—but about learning how to see?