节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-12-26
难易度:Medium
关键字:numb, virgin, the Divine, dazzle, mute, descend, the Magi
Welcome back, everybody.
Friends, let me remind you quickly about a fairly new video feature called Quick
Bytes.
On our Studio Classroom website, you'll find two short videos for each lesson.
One gives a quick summary, and the other some extra information related to the
article.
Again, they're quick and they're easy to digest, hence the name "Quick Bytes."
OK.
Let's wrap up reading the lesson When the Gift Meets the Need down on line 12.
When the Gift Meets the Need.
The Divine descended to earth.
The invisible became visible.
Angels lit up the skies over Bethlehem, rugged shepherds shook with terror, and
the Magi changed course to follow the star.
No video game can compete with that drama.
No holiday table setting can hold a fraction of that dazzle.
When a gift like apples and oranges fits a need, there is a cheerful
contentment.
When the gift of the manger fits a need, there is the joy of Christmas.
Friends, we are discussing the true gift of Christmas, Jesus Christ, and how He
fills all of our needs.
It says our next sentence telling us the story of Christmas is "The Divine
descended to earth." This is complicated.
Let's look at this term "the Divine" as a proper noun.
OK.
As a proper noun, "the Divine" is referring to God.
But what about just the noun "divine"?
OK. Just the noun "divine," if we do not capitalize it, it means something that
is supernatural.
Exactly. It's actually, I think, it's an adjective.
Something that is divine is an adjective.
And it is supernatural, which means it is beyond nature.
It is like God.
OK. So the capital "D" makes it Jesus.
And then we know He descended to earth.
Well, where does... where does God live?
God lives in heaven.
So you have to descend.
Exactly.
When you "descend," that means you move downward.
So if heaven is above, or in this case, better than earth, then he descended or
moved down to earth.
That's right.
He came down.
And the invisible became visible.
Now invisible means you cannot see it, therefore visible means you can see it.
So what does this sentence mean?
Well, this says the invisible, and it doesn't give us a noun, right?
It just says the invisible.
OK. Well, here it's really a very artistic way of saying that Jesus, who is God,
and you really can't see God becomes visible by becoming a human.
So we're saying he just went from being a supernatural being to being human.
It's kind of the same thing.
Exactly.
God was invisible; and He became visible.
He became human.
Well, also part of the story was angels.
Angels lit up the skies over Bethlehem.
And angels are supernatural beings that live in heaven.
Exactly.
And if you light up something, that means that you create a lot of light, but it
can also be a lot of activity and energy.
Now if an angel lit up the sky, you'd probably do what these rugged shepherds
did, and they shook with terror.
All right. These shepherds were rugged.
Something that is rugged as a person means that they lived in the wilderness and
they understand how to fight for themselves.
But even if they're fighting for themselves, if you saw the whole heaven's lit
up, you'd probably shake with terror.
What does that mean?
If someone... well, first of all, the word "terror" means you are extremely
afraid.
And so if you shake with terror, that means you're so afraid that your body is
actually shaking.
Well, that's true.
It was incredible, though.
But the shepherds aren't the only part.
There's the Magi.
The Magi changed course to follow the star.
OK. Now we remember from the Bible story, there is a star in the heavens that
guided the Magi.
And "the Magi" is a group of men, usually thought to be three men, who came to
give gifts to Jesus.
And they are thought to be wise men who are really well-educated, or even
possibly kings.
OK. So oftentimes we refer to these people as the Three Wise Men.
Now we're not really sure if it was exactly three or more.
There is a lot of discussion on that.
But we simply call them the Magi.
That's right.
So they changed their course, which means they changed the direction they were
going in order to follow the star to find the Baby.
Now this is a lot of drama that happens in the story.
And really no video game can compete with that drama.
That's right.
No video game is that impressive.
It's incredible.
But no holiday table setting can hold a fraction of that dazzle.
Oh, now this is a descriptive sentence.
A holiday setting on a table is referring to the decorations and the beauty of
Christmas.
That's right. We set the table really pretty on Christmas for dinner.
So it's beautiful.
But there's not... it can't even hold a fraction of that dazzle, even hold a
small piece of that dazzle.
All right.
Now "dazzle" means that something is very exciting.
It holds your attention, and it's often extremely beautiful.
Now a holiday table is extremely beautiful and extremely exciting because you
know the foods are going to be delicious.
But even that table can't hold a small piece of how amazing the true story of
Christmas is.
Right. Even all the decorations and the presents of Christmas are not as... even
close to as exciting as the drama of the story of Jesus.
Now we're referencing back to the story of the paper bags.
We say when a gift like apples and oranges fits a need, there's a cheerful
contentment.
Now we say "fits the need" because these kids, remember in the Depression,
didn't get food and candy... fresh fruit and candy, so it fit a need.
Exactly. And when it does, then there is cheerful contentment.
Uh, contentment means that you are happy with what you have, and you don't want
more.
That's right.
So when there... when this fits the need, it's cheerful, it's happy... fill the
need.
And when the gift of the manger fits a need, there is the joy of Christmas.
OK, so we're comparing these.
If you have cheerful and happy contentment because of apples and oranges, then
when you look at the gift of the manger, there's a lot of joy.
And the manger is where Jesus was laid to sleep as a baby.
So the story of Christmas.
Now Ryan, we've talked a lot about gifts over the last couple of days.
And Christmas is definitely the time of the year to give gifts.
So I thought holding with this article, I would get you a gift as well.
I have it right here in the studio.
I put it in a brown paper bag just like our story.
Oh, thank you.
And it's oranges!
Oh. Thank you, Kaylah.
Actually, I got you a gift too.
It's just a normal gift, though.
Wow! This box is so shiny.
Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
I hope my gift fits a need for you.
It does. Thank you. Thank you.
Friends, we hope you've enjoyed this holiday season.
We'll see you eventually later.
But for now, let's watch the skit.
(Music).
You know what?
What?
I'm missing our brown bags from Grandma and Grandpa.
You mean the ones we left in the back of the refrigerator?
Yeah.
We didn't appreciate those gifts.
I feel bad about that.
Me too.
We should appreciate the gifts others give us.
Yeah. Christmas is more than just special, expensive gifts.
Yeah. We should especially appreciate the gift God gave us.
Yeah. That's the real meaning of Christmas.
It's the true gift of the season.
It's a perfect gift that fits all our needs.
Yeah, like patience and love and self-control and...
Strength and courage, faithfulness.
Yeah!
Oh! And forgiveness.
Forgiveness is important.
Forgiveness is the real gift of Christmas.
Remember what the Bible says?
Uh...
John 3:16.
I forgot.
For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son.
Oh, yeah... that whoever believes in Him will not die but have... ever-lasting
life.
That's right.
God's Son, that's the real gift of Christmas.
Right. And it's better than videos and dramas.
Better than holiday table settings and food.
Yeah, and better than apples and oranges.
Yeah. Those other things are just a fraction of the dazzle.
Celebrating Jesus is the joy of Christmas.
Yeah.
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
(Music).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And that's it for today's Language Tips.
Goodbye and take care.
Thank you, Michelle.
We appreciate that.
Now this month's CHRISTMAS feature opened with a story of how a family Christmas
tradition began.
However, that fun tradition of giving a bag of fruit,
nuts and chocolates for Christmas was never fully appreciated by the grandkids
because they never experienced the need the gift was meant to fill.
Our author then applied this lesson to the Christmas gift of Jesus when God sent
the Divine to earth to meet our need of love, hope, peace and so much more.
Friends, please make the rest of your Wednesday great.
And then join us tomorrow for a new lesson right here at Studio Classroom.
Take care.