By the Way: Year of our lord

By Roland Weisbrot on December 30, 2023.

2024. Earth and all of us on it have successfully made another trip around the Sun.

I used to think a year was a very long time, but the older I get the faster years seem to pass. As we celebrate the coming of another year however, we Christians also proclaim a great truth.

You see we measure our years around the most significant event in human history: the birth of Christ. The abbreviations which precede or follow the year are B.C. and A.D., respectively.

B.C. stands for “before Christ” and accounts for all the time prior to the birth of Jesus. Whereas, A.D. is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase Anno Domini, which roughly translates to “year of Our Lord” and accounts for all the time since His birth.

Before Jesus ascended into heaven to take His place at the right hand of God the Father, He told His disciples that ‘”all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me'” (Matthew 28:18, NIV).

Therefore, whenever we make mention of the year, we are also proclaiming the continued reign of Jesus as the King of kings and Lord of lords. So, as we head into 2024 A.D., let us be reminded that New Year’s celebrations are more than just a time to change out calendars and make resolutions, but for Christians it is the acknowledgement of Jesus’ continued reign.

And, because Jesus reigns, we need not look to the future with fear and trepidation, but instead with faithful confidence that we are in the gracious palms of the hands of our Saviour and King.

We do not know what 2024 will bring, but we do know Who is on the throne, and we know His plans for us are good and gracious (cf. Jeremiah 29:11). Happy New Year!

Pastor Roland Weisbrot is lead pastor of Victory Lutheran Church

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