Because God wants us to know spiritual truths, He gives us physical, material pictures to illustrate these things.
The first picture He gave was covering Adam and Eve's nakedness with animal skins. These physical skins showed the covering that the animal blood provided for their sin. God showed them right away that,
Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22).
Adam and Eve's first children, Cain and Abel, knew this, and they both brought their sacrifices to the Lord (Genesis 4: 3-5). We see here the difference between Cain's offering of his agricultural products, and Abel's of one of his lambs.
There is no blood in fruits and vegetables, as there is in an animal that must die by shedding its blood. In offering an animal, Abel admitted that he deserved to die, letting the animal be his substitute. So Cain wanted God to accept his own work, instead of admitting that he deserved death.
Later God gave the Law to Moses, codifying the sacrifices. The first sacrifice he wanted His teachers, the Levites, to teach the people was the personal sacrifice, in the very first chapter of Leviticus.
This had the individual person bringing his own animal to the priest. He placed his hand on the head of the lamb or calf, identifying with it, then the priest sacrificed it on the altar, dying in the place of the person. Then its blood was splattered on the sides of the altar, covering the person's sins so he could be forgiven. But animal blood can only cover, never take away the sin.
This is all a physical picture that they acted out, so we could understand the spiritual truth of our deserving death.
God made it possible that if Mankind sinned, then he would need to die in order for a substitute to die for him so he could still live. Adam wasn't subject to death until he disobeyed God's only rule for him. If he had obeyed God, and eaten from the Tree of Life instead, then he would live forever. As created, Adam had both possibilities, and when his DNA was settled toward death, then God had to keep him from also eating of the Tree of Life, which would forfeit the benefit of Salvation.
God told Eve that the Savior would come from her "seed" because Adam would be the one to transmit that damaged DNA that would be called the "sin-nature." He had disobeyed willfully, but Eve had been deceived and bore personal sin.
That's how a virgin could bear God's Child, giving Him a genuine human nature without the sin-part.
Jesus came to fulfill that personal sacrifice for each of us. We are all born to live; He was born to die. He is the sacrificial Lamb of God, who is our perfect Sacrifice. He had to be God to be the eternal Person who could pay our eternal debt in time; and He is a genuine human being, qualified to die the human death we all deserve, in our place.
The sacrifice in Leviticus was a picture of what Jesus would accomplish for us, given so we would recognize His work. And His physical body and blood are another picture of the spiritual work He finished there; not just covering the sin, but washing us in His precious Blood completely clean, as though we'd never sinned.
Now we can be perfectly pure, fit for God to place His Presence in us, putting His Spirit into our spirit, making it alive with eternal life. He had to wash us perfectly clean of every shadow of a trace of sin, so that His very Presence in us would not destroy us. We cannot even look into the Sun without destroying our eyes, and it holds only a small portion of His glory. This is a miracle, as all God's spiritual works seem to be miraculous, not being possible by us in our flesh.
God has planned it all out ahead of time. He planned for Adam to be able to die if he sinned, but also able to live forever. And He gave us all the pictures of the material stuff of this Earth so we would be able to "see" His spiritual Truths.
O my Father, You are so good to us, to have planned out beforehand just how You would send Your own Son for us, and how we would be able to recognize Him when He came. And how to realize how He finished all the work He came to do, to fulfill everything that was written about Him.
We as Your children are in our school of life, learning who You are, who we are, and how to cooperate with Your ways. This is the only way we can enjoy all the benefits You placed in the Earth for us to use. And Your written Word is our nourishment to grow up in Your family as royalty to one Day help You rule Your future creation.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, our Redeemer, the Lord God Almighty, King of all Creation, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
God has given us pictures, things we can see, to show us who He is, and what He has done for us. He is Spirit, and we are flesh. So for us to understand these spiritual things, we need to relate them to the material things we can see. Hence, the pictures He gives us.
Jesus said that He is the Bread of Life, the Living Bread that came out of Heaven. And He said that,
Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him (John 6: 53-56).
Bread and flesh and blood are all physical things, material things. So they are a picture of what is spiritual.
When Jesus talked like this, many of the people who had been following Him couldn't fathom how they could eat Jesus' flesh and drink His blood, but He wasn't talking about anything physical. He explained to them that,
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life (John 6: 63).
Life itself is spiritual. When the spiritual portions of a man leave his body, the body is dead. But we can't see the spiritual with our fleshly eyes.
Jesus is the Word of God who became a human Man (John 1: 1-5, 14). So His words are also spiritual. When He says to "eat" His flesh and "drink" His blood, He's not referring to His physical, human body; but that is what we can see and touch and understand.
So He is using the physical as a picture of the spiritual we cannot see. Our spiritual nourishment is His Word, the Word of God. His flesh is the "meat" of the Word, and His blood is the "milk" of the Word. Hebrews 6: 12-14 says,
The elementary principles of the oracles of God, ... [which are] milk, and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature.
The "milk" of the Word of God, the blood Jesus was talking about, would be the basic Gospel that Jesus took our place in death as the Lamb of God and rose from the dead. Even a child can comprehend that.
The "solid food," the "meat" of the Word is His flesh. As we grow in our spiritual lives, we are learning how to love God and love one another. This takes more understanding and discernment.
This also relates to the Last Supper, when Jesus pronounced that the bread was His body and the cup of wine was His blood. He was saying that this solid food and drink that they would partake of regularly was to remind them that Jesus gave His body to be broken in death for them, and that His blood splattered the sides of His altar, the Cross, to wash them clean of all sin.
And it was also the blood of the New Covenant, that God would write His Law in our hearts instead of on tablets of stone or parchment (Jeremiah 31: 31-33). And this would require for us to be mature in our walk of faith, understanding the "meat" of the Word of God.
When Jesus offered to the Twelve the bread and wine, He said to them to do this to remember (I Corinthians 11: 23-26). It's a picture. When we don't understand the seriousness of this picture, then we will suffer consequences, as those in Corinth experienced, with some being weak and sick and some of them had even died (I Corinthians 11: 27-32).
Father, please open our eyes to see the imagery clearly, to obtain an accurate understanding of the spiritual Truths You are teaching us. Show us how serious You are about these things, so we will respond to You in the most appropriate way, in honesty and purity, giving You all the glory for everything You are doing.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, our Redeemer, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King over all Creation, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
God has given us His "Manufacturer's Instructions" to show us who He is and what He has done for us. So He is very serious about the pictures He gives us to illustrate His Character and His program for us.
Baptism is a picture of our dying with Christ and rising with Him with a new life to live.
This picture is laid out in Romans 6: 3-10:
Or
have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ in baptism, we
joined Him in His death? For we died and were buried with Christ by
baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious
power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been
united with Him in His death, we will also be raised to life as He was.
We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that
sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And
since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with Him. We are
sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and He will never
die again. Death no longer has any power over Him. When He died, He died
once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the
glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the
power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. (NLT)
And Colossians 2: 12 says:
For you were buried with Christ
when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life
because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the
dead. (NLT)
The word we use for baptism is not a translation, but is the Greek word itself brought into our language, a transliteration. The Greek word is baptizo, which is derived from the verb bapto, which means, "to whelm, to cover wholly with a fluid." So the way we administer this ordinance of the church is to completely submerge the person. And we only invite one to do this after they have realized that Jesus Christ has saved them, as a picture we act out in demonstrating what God has done for us.
God has immersed us into the body of Christ, making us His own children, in giving us His Holy Spirit in our human spirit, making it alive, hence called a "new birth" or "birth from above." This is what Peter is talking about when he says:
Water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. (I Peter 3: 21, NLT).
The baptism that saves us is not the physical picture we act out, but the act of God in putting us into Christ's body, as He is the Head:
Connected to Christ, the Head of the body. For He holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it (Colossians 2: 19, NLT).
We
are buried under the water like a grave as Christ was buried in the
tomb, and we rise up out of the water as Christ rose from the dead. It
is as though we died when Jesus took our place on the Cross. So as He
was also raised from the dead with a new quality of life, Resurrection
Life, so we also rise up out of the water to demonstrate that we have
New Life now, and will be Resurrected like Christ when He returns. This
is our public witness, and makes us accountable to live our lives
differently now.
When we submit to baptism, this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing when done properly, as Christ died once and rose from the dead. And when He calls us to faith, to trust Him to have taken our place in death on the Cross, then His Blood cleanses us so thoroughly and permanently that it is like we've never sinned, and His Holy Spirit can come into our spirit, making it alive, without His very Presence destroying us.
That's why we are to make a public show of this happening in our lives, to tell the world that we are different, and that we will live our lives differently than we have in the past. And this public display can help to keep us accountable to not slip back into any of our previous sinful habits.
Water baptism has no power in itself, other than the accountability factor. And to baptize a baby has no effect on the baby, and cannot be administered in proper form without nearly drowning the infant. Its only effect would be on the adults to take on the responsibility of training the child up in the faith. So it's not really baptism, but more of a dedication of the parents and sponsors on behalf of the child.
If you were baptized as a baby, or if you submitted to baptism in an effort to be religious, but didn't yet realize Christ's death for you, then you did not partake of the Biblical ordinance yet.
Jesus commissioned the disciples to go into the world to gather students, then to baptize them, then to teach them how to live this new life, in Matthew 28: 18-20
Jesus came and told His disciples, "I have been given all authority in Heaven and on Earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the Age." (NLT)
So we are to preach the Gospel that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again with Resurrection Life, and those who believe are to be baptized; then we are to instruct them in the ways God designed us and this Earth to operate, and to cooperate with His ways.
We are to know Scripture: what it says, what God meant when He said it, and to apply its principles of life to our daily lives. It's as simple as that. But it is not easy; it takes the power of God's Holy Spirit living in us to give us understanding of God's Word, and to give us the power and ability to follow it.
This is the picture God gave us to act out. And we need to understand this picture in order to obey His commands. Because God is very serious about His pictures He gives us.
O my Father, please help us to see as You see, to understand what You are telling us, and to obey Your ways in our walk of life.
You have told us everything we need to know, in order to know You, cooperate with You, and enjoy You. Help us to understand and obey concerning this ordinance of baptism You have given us, so we can be encouraged to follow You in Your plan for each of us, to fit into Your great Plan of the Ages.
And Jesus is coming soon, and we need to be ready to welcome Him.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, King of all Creation, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Luke 2: 41-52
Today we will look at the only glimpse we have been given of Jesus's childhood. He had grown from a Child into a Boy, but not yet matured into a Man.
Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.
Passover was one of the three feasts that God had invited His people to come to His house for a week-long party: Passover, the Fifty Days (Pentecost), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16). We're not told if they made the trip for all three every year, but I would suspect that they did.
And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast;
This tells us of one particular year they went for this feast, when Jesus was twelve years old. This was a year before the traditional age of responsibility when a Jewish boy is considered mature enough to take part in the official Hebrew religion, and boys often accompanied their parents to the ceremonies a year or two before this in order to learn of them.
and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days,
They had spent the full week there for the feast.
the Boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it,
but supposed Him to be in the caravan,
The caravans could be quite large, with the men and women traveling in different groups, the children with the women, and the older boys with the men. So it was not neglectful or unusual for them to not miss Him that first day of traveling.
and went a day's journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances.
So when they stopped for the night, and Jesus was not with either Joseph or Mary's group, they searched among the other groups of people Jesus knew and might be with. They would not think that He wouldn't be somewhere there.
When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him.
So they took another day to return to the city, and a second day looking among all the people and places they had just frequented the past week, where He might have been.
Then, after three days they found Him in the Temple,
Where would a normal twelve year old boy want to hang out? By the third day they finally went back to the Temple.
At church? This would not be expected, no wonder it took them a while to find Him. And why would He hang out there? What was He doing?
sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.
And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.
Jesus was hanging out with the teachers, increasing His education in the Scriptures, and asking such insightful questions that seemed beyond a twelve year old's understanding. And He was even giving them some answers.
J. W. Doeve suggests that Jesus engaged in a midrashic discussion of biblical texts: "Their amazement must relate to His deducting things from Scripture which they had never found before" (Jewish Hermeneutics in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts [Assen: Van Gorcum, 1954], p. 105). (The Expositors Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, General Editor; Vol. 8, p. 852.)
I don't think I would go that far, He was still just a 12 year old Boy, and still learning; even though He was probably more highly intelligent than others, and certainly more aware of spiritual connections (see Isaiah 11: 1-3, "...of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord...").
When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.
Here we see that those who should have known Him best are still surprised when He went to the teachers to hang out instead of leaving town with the rest of the family. He always was such a good Boy, why would He not be cooperating with their program now?
And they'd looked everywhere a normal twelve year old would be, and were really worried about Him. She says, "Why did You do this to us?" as though He was being mischievous, or even disobedient.
The word she used, anxiously, is unusually strong, often indicating pain or suffering. She apparently took His delay personally! Very human of her.
And He said to them, "Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house?"
But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them.
He, in effect, said, "Don't you realize yet who I am? I'm just getting a better understanding of Myself, but you should already know!"
We can forget so much over the years. They hadn't let His personality and character remind them of His divinity, and He was still growing in His awareness and understanding.
And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them;
So He continued to obey their authority over Him, and went back home then.
and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
Another item in the treasury of her heart. All these things were always there, but since they were not needed in the day-to-day of family life, they may have been buried pretty deep. That's why she "forgot" to remember them at the times she needed to, to understand, like here.
(And in Mark 3: 21, 31-32, "His kinsmen (family) went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, He has lost His senses;" and "His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. A crowd was sitting around Him and they said to Him, 'Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.'"
I'm sure He took a moment to go out to them & remind His mother of all the "things she treasured in her heart" about His deity.)
And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
So Jesus continued to grow up just like we all do, increasing in His learning and understanding, and in His physical and personal development into maturity, and in His good reputation among people and with His Father in Heaven.
O my Father, thank You for every word in Your Word. Thank You for showing us the humanity of even the most godly of Your saints, which is so encouraging to us. Thank You for Loving us just as we are, but You don't leave us there. We all are "growing up" just as even Jesus needed to grow up from an Infant to a Child to a Boy to the Man He became to be our Redeemer.
May You strengthen us and help us to gain the victory over all the problems and tests and detours that are thrown into our path. Keep our hand in Yours, every step on this journey we are traveling toward that Eternal Day.
Teach us, Father, all Your ways, that we might shine Your Light into the darkness of this world, to the end that all Your lost ones can find their way to You through Your children.
And every created being will comprise Your Heavenly Choir, praising Your Holy Name; that Christ Jesus, born in Bethlehem, brought up in Nazareth, crucified in Jerusalem, and risen from the dead, is Lord God Almighty, King of the Universe, to the glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Luke 2: 21-40
And when eight days had passed for His circumcision, His Name was then called Jesus, the Name given by the Angel before He was conceived in the womb.
This was just a week after He was born, probably before Herod realized that the Magi had tricked him. So He was still circumcised on the eighth day, as Moses had given God's command in Leviticus 12: 3.
And when the days for their purification according to the Law of Moses were completed,
This was later, the 40 days after the birth, counting the seven and the thirty-three as proscribed in Leviticus 12: 2-4.
they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
(as it is written in the Law of the Lord,
"Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") (Exodus 13: 2),
and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord,
"A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons" (see Leviticus 12: 6-8).
Jesus, being the firstborn son, would be presented to the Lord in the Temple, at this same time when Mary would need to offer a sacrifice of cleansing from the issue of blood from the birth.
Their offering of the birds shows their poverty, as they could not afford a lamb. And all the stipulations of the Law were meticulously done.
And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law,
then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,
"Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word;
"For my eyes have seen Your Salvation,
"Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
"A light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel."
And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.
And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed--
"and a sword will pierce even your own soul--to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."
Simeon was led by the Spirit there, just in time to meet Jesus. And Joseph and Mary were amazed by what he said about "their" Son.
Then he also said something to Mary, that her very soul would be pierced by a "sword;" which happened thirty-three years later, when she witnessed this dear Son being executed as a criminal by the most gruesome and excruciatingly painful death ever devised by Mankind.
And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,
and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.
At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the Redemption of Jerusalem.
Anna also was there, she just happened upon them, and she also spoke about Him to everyone who wanted to hear about how God was now fulfilling His Promise to send a Redeemer.
When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.
This must have been after their brief trip to Egypt, returning back home to their own city again, to bring up this Boy in in Nazareth, in the trade of His legal father, Joseph.
The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him.
Jesus had a normal childhood, just like all the rest of us, growing up healthy, learning and being educated, and training in a trade. The only difference was that He never made a mistake, never did anything wrong, and everything He did worked out well.
O my Father, You were careful to have both Matthew and Luke to tell us what we need to know happened with the first coming of Your Son. That everything was orchestrated to all work out perfectly, with all the characters and places performing their parts in Your Plan. Every detail of the Law was fulfilled, and all the prophesies that were fulfilled that we learn here, are totally amazing!
With all the traveling and all the timing of the Law to be done, You had everything worked out ahead of time, to make sure it would all be accomplished without a hitch.
Thank You for Joseph's instant obedience, and for his and Mary's strong, unwavering faith to trust You implicitly. Thank You for this little family showing us how to love one another as You have Loved us; and to trust and honor one another, in healthy family relationships.
Father, I pray that relationships in our families would show that trust and honor that You intend for us. Mend the rifts and heal the wounds we have endured in our families, and draw to Yourself those loved ones who don't know You yet.
Use this holy holiday season to grow and enhance the manifestation of Your Kingdom right here on this Earth, as we wait for our King to return.
Even so, come swiftly, Lord Jesus!
Matthew 2: 13-23
Now when they had gone, behold, and Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him."
Now that the Magi had left, God again sent His Angel to Joseph, a dreamer, to warn him to leave before Herod would realize that he had been tricked.
So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.
So Joseph got up, right then, in the middle of the night, and quickly packed a few things, and took off immediately to take Mary and the Child out of town.
He remained there until the death of Herod.
The year of the death of Herod has been researched and debated extensively, but no proof of either 4 B.C. or 1 A.D. has been settled. (You may want to read the discussion in BAR here.)
In any case, Herod did not live long after this, so the year of his death has been determined to be the year of Christ's birth.
This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the Prophet:
"Out of Egypt I called My Son" (Hosea 11: 1).
Joseph did not have to stay long in Egypt. Only long enough to fulfill the prophesy.
Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the Magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the Magi.
Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the Prophet was fulfilled:
"A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be comforted, because they were no more" (Jeremiah 31: 15).
As we saw before, Bethlehem was just a small village of about 300 residents, so there would not have been more than about 6 or 7 babies there, all together, and some of them were girls; so this massacre is not as massive as I previously thought.
But whenever any child is murdered, it is a great wrenching of the hearts of the parents, and this great mourning happened just as predicted.
But when Herod died, behold, an Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said,
"Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel: for those who sought the Child's life are dead."
Again the Angel came in another dream to let Joseph know that it was now safe to return to Israel again. It seems that Joseph is much like the long-ago Joseph who also was called "the dreamer."
So Joseph got up, took the child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
Joseph didn't have to leave in the middle of the night this time, there was no urgency like last time.
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee,
and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the Prophets: "He shall be called a Nazarene."
Joseph didn't trust the son of the murderer Herod, and had another dream, to go back home to Nazareth, from where he and Mary had started out.
But this prophesy here is a problem. We find that no such prophesy is found in the Old Testament, or any other extant source.
However, Matthew is apparently not quoting a particular prophet, but uses the plural of the term, prophets, possibly taking up the idea that this One would be from Nazareth, an obscure city, causing the term "Nazarene" to be understood as an insulting epithet (see John 1:46), an unflattering reference to Jesus' humble and obscure origins that was used by anti-Christians at the time.
The word is used in just such a way at Matthew 26:71.
Also the wordplay with the Hebrew, netzer, in Isaiah 11:1, from which the name Nazareth may have come,
conveys the same message by depicting the Messiah as a shoot from a
cut-down stump to be a symbol of lowly origin, as so understood by the
Jewish people at that time.
Thus the meaning of the verse could be that Jesus fulfilled multiple prophecies that the
Messiah will be abused and neglected (see Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Zechariah 11:4-14). (Read about this at Wikipedia.)
Every time Joseph dreams of an Angel of God, he has never doubted that the dream was real, and immediately obeyed every time.
Do you know when you are dreaming? Or does every dream seem real at the time? Joseph must have been able to distinguish when a dream was real and when it was just a dream.
And I admire his faith in instant obedience to what God tells him. I still need to work on that "instant obedience" in my own life, as I tend to be a procrastinator.
Both Mary and Joseph had unswerving confidence in their trust in God. They are good examples for all of us of how trustworthy God is, even when we don't understand. When we know the path we are to walk, and we have clear direction from the Lord to take each step, then may we not hesitate to do whatever it is He is telling us to do.
Mary risked her whole reputation, her pending marriage, and even her life itself, when she consented to be impregnated by God's Spirit.
And Joseph risked marrying what appeared to be an unfaithful woman, and he got up in the middle of the night to take a long, uncomfortable journey to a foreign country, without hesitation.
May all of God's children trust Him with such unwavering faith! May we listen to His direction and follow through, even when confronted with difficulties and unfavorable prospects.
O my Father, strengthen me, help me to be certain when You speak to me, that it really is Your leading; and to persevere to follow through and not give up under the problems and possible unfavorable consequences.
Teach me to continue to carry on, even when I grow weary. Support me with Your hand in mine, to draw me along Your way, to not give up before payday.
Use me, Father, in Your great Plan of the Ages, that I might perform my little part that You have prepared me for, to further Your Kingdom each day. Help me to not hesitate to do what You have set before me to do, and to distinguish between Your leading and my own fleshly desires.
Help me to not give up when my momentum has waned, to keep on keeping on anyway. O Father, I know how weak I am in my flesh, and that everything I do that will enhance Your ways in this world is You working through me. Continue to work through me, Father, to not succumb to my humanity, but to live each day in the strength of Your Spirit in me.
Father, You have led me so far, and nourished me so abundantly with Your Word. Continue to hold me up, Daddy, so I can stand, clad in Your Armor of God (Ephesians 6: 11-17), and producing Your fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23). Let Christ shine through me, and draw others to Your wonderful gracious Love!
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
Matthew 2: 1-12
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, Magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem,
These "wise men" were magos, Oriental scientists, who were astronomers who studied the skies, among other disciplines.
saying,
"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the East and have come to worship Him."
They had seen a particularly specific "star" that was different from the other stars, and were so impressed by it that they embarked on an extensive journey to find this One. How these far-away professors even knew about a Jewish King is beyond me! God does work in mysterious ways!
When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
These Wise Men made their query in the full court of King Herod, which would have included all the entrenched leaders of the Jewish people who were working with/for King Herod. So the established government were upset at the possibility that their little apple cart would be overturned by some new King of the Jews!
Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
So of course Herod consulted all the lawyers who were familiar with the Scriptures.
They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the Prophet:
"And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel" (Micah 5: 2).
These scholars knew even the obscure Minor Prophets, and understood the prophesies. But did they believe them? Even as they came true before their eyes?
Then Herod secretly called the Magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared.
Secretly means privately, without all the other members of his court. This meeting was behind closed doors.
And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him."
We know that he was lying, that he wanted to cut off this interloper before He would have a chance to have any effect on his power.
After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the East, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.
This is a most amazing and unusual "star," that moved and guided them, and then stopped moving to shine on just the right place. Very curious.
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
They were so glad to have their "guide" back, they'd come so far, now they'd be able to finish their journey.
After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother;
So they weren't in a cave or barn or stable, they were in a house. And Joseph was probably at work, so he wasn't there with Mary.
and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
They worshiped Him first. Then they got into their baggage and got out the gifts they brought for this Child: Gold, because He is a King; Frankincense, to denote His priesthood; and Myrrh, to signify the importance of His death for us all.
And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the Magi left for their own country by another way.
These Magi were wise enough to recognize the Truth, that this "star" would lead them to the Messiah, and they also listened to God's message in the dream, and obeyed it, too.
These Oriental men were Gentiles, so far away from the life of God's people Israel, yet even as they were searching with honest and sincere hearts, God called them to be an important part of this Christmas story.
God can use any part of His creation to do whatever He wants it to do to accomplish His purposes. Like this "star." I have no idea what this is; I have read several theories, but none of them really hold up, none of them can explain all the things this heavenly being did. So that's one thing I'll find out about when I "get to Heaven."
And these astronomers from the Far East--they're like, out of left field! Where did they come from? How did they get involved in this story at all? What's their connection?
God Loves all of His creation, and has chosen the human race to be His children. So why would He not show His power and authority to call out these foreigners from across the globe, to worship and honor His Son? He's God, He does whatever He wants!
And whoever you are, where ever you live on this whole Earth, you also are one whom God can call to faith. You also are part of History (His story) of Mankind. God will use each and every one of us in His weaving of the Tapestry of Time, as either dark or light threads, deep velvet or bright colors and shining highlights.
God gave us the power of choice, and whoever chooses to seek Him with their whole heart, will find Him; because He will be found by all who want Him.
But He will not interfere with our free will. Those who choose to reject the light that is given to them will only get more darkness. We find what we're looking for. And if you're looking for only what promotes your own ideas, your own finances, your own popularity; then you will find only that, and never be satisfied.
But if you humble yourself, recognizing the weaknesses and sinfulness your own humanity, and look for Redemption in the Lord, then God will come to you, as He came to me. We are all different, and God knows each of us. Your experience of Salvation will be different from mine, and I enjoy hearing all the stories.
If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, then you know a lot of my story. Share with me how God called you into faith.
And every created thing and being will fall down in worship of our God: we cannot but bow and kneel to our Sovereign Potentate, and glorify our Almighty God!
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
Luke 2: 8-20
In the same region
The region surrounding the village of Bethlehem.
there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.
It must not have been too cold for the shepherds to be outside in the fields with their sheep, instead of in a warm sheepcote.
In any case, shepherds were considered the lowest rung of the society of the day, as their work kept them outside and dirty, and unclean by Temple standards.
Shepherds symbolize those who care for God's people, like the Lord Himself; they are the common, ordinary folk, like many Christians today, who joyfully receive the Word of the Lord and proceed to pastor God's flock.
And an Angel of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
Angels are very impressive beings, and always frighten those they come to. The shepherds' terror reminds us of Zechariah. It was not only the Angel that terrified them, but also the manifestation of the Glory of God--something neither Zechariah nor Mary had seen. So the Angel spoke reassuringly.
but the Angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
The Angel announces "good news," the Gospel, that brings "great joy" to not just one group, but for "all people" everywhere. The whole human race.
"for today in the City of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
This is the most startlingly direct pronouncement possible. Christ the Lord has been born as a Baby this very night.
"This will be a sign for you: you will find a Baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
The sign, what they will be looking for, is a newborn Baby that has been specially cared for, being wrapped in the swaddling clothes, but laying in an animal food trough, denoting poverty.
And suddenly there appeared with the Angel a multitude of the Heavenly host
"Suddenly" denotes the unexpected nature of God's acts, especially of eschatological events. What appeared here was a throng of Angelic Armies from Heaven. This sounds like wave after wave of armies upon armies of Heavenly Angels.
praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
This reflects both Heaven and Earth. When God in Heaven receives the glory, then His peace is upon the Earth among those of Mankind with whom He is pleased.
When the Angels had gone away from them into Heaven,
The Angels didn't disappear, they went "away from them into Heaven," an expression that reveals Luke's awareness of spacial relationships. They went somewhere, they didn't just, "poof!" disappear!
the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."
When the shepherds finally closed their gaping mouths, they started to say, "What are we doing still here? Let's go see this thing they just told us about, it sounds fantastic!"
So they came in a hurry
They didn't dally or waste any time.
and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the Baby as He lay in the manger.
Bethlehem was a small village with a population of only about 300, so it was not difficult to find the Newborn who had been laid in a manger.
When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.
Then they saw everything just as the Angel had told them, and they were so excited that they were telling everyone all the way back to the fields where they'd left the sheep.
And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.
Everybody who heard them were scratching their heads, trying to figure out what these "liars" were talking about.
But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
And Mary just quietly watched everybody and how they reacted and responded to this Baby, and just thought about it all and treasured every moment in her heart. This precious Baby had a huge effect on everyone who came by, and He was still just an Infant.
The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.
And the shepherds were giving God all the praise and glory for telling them, and they found everything just as they'd been told.
How often have I marveled at seeing what God said would happen, just the way He said it would? Or was surprised by the exact answer I had asked for? That's why I like to journal, so I can go back and see how faithful He is.
So why am I surprised? Don't I expect God to answer? Don't I trust Him to do what He said he would do? I say that I do. But do I really?
O my Father, You are so faithful to me, and I let You down so often. Please strengthen me, keep my eyes on You and Your ways; don't let the World pull me down to its level of chaos. Keep my feet securely planted on Your Rock of Salvation. Keep my hand in Yours as I follow Your every step on the road You set before me. Give me good success in accomplishing Your will for me, Father, and You will receive all the glory, because You are doing it all, not me.
Help me to keep my focus on Your eternal spiritual realities, instead of the temporary material World around me. Teach me to think Your thoughts, not mine; that I might be Christ to those around me who don't know You yet.
Let this Christmas season bring Your healing into our relationships and wounds. And draw to Yourself our loved ones who are yet to turn to You.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Luke 2: 1-7
Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited Earth.
This was the first census taken while Quirinius was Governor of Syria.
Apparently Luke wanted to convey the exact time when Jesus was born, noting the census ordered by Caesar. But the records are unclear concerning when "Quirinius was Governor of Syria," having apparently held the office twice.
We know that Luke was very careful with his research, so he may be noting here what could have been common knowledge at the time; but we only have a partial, incomplete manuscript to hint at a previous governorship of Quirinius in Syria at the time of the Birth. More complete records have him holding this office six years later.
And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
People needed to travel, if they didn't still live in the same district as their ancestors, to register with the government.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the City of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to register
Joseph lived farther North from where his family had begun in the Promised Land, he lived on the other side of Samaria, in Galilee. He and Mary both lived in Nazareth, so he had to travel.
along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.
Even if they weren't married yet, Joseph was still responsible for Mary, as a betrothal was considered as binding as marriage. But since he would not have marital relations with Mary until after the birth and her ritual cleansing, they were still considered engaged.
Mary had gone out-of-town and returned pregnant, and it took Gabriel appearing to Joseph to convince him that the pregnancy was of the Holy Spirit, and that Mary was not unfaithful to him. But the rest of the town was probably abuzz with gossip.
I think this is why Joseph took Mary with him to Bethlehem.
While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.
The Christmas Carols all sing about His being born that very night they arrived, but that's not what Luke says. They may have been there several months, we're not told.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son: and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The word for "inn" here is not the usual word that would be used for a public lodging-place, pandocheion. Luke uses the word, kataluma, which means "a room" like a guest-room. So they may have been staying with friends or relatives in a room too small to birth a baby, so they went to the area where the animals were kept, which was often in the same house with the people. And the manger was just right for a cradle for the Baby.
Mary took good care of Him, wrapping Him in the long cloth to swaddle him. And the swaddling clothes and manger were also a sign.
God had planned everything out in detail for all of this to take place exactly as He planned.
So God used the government leaders and officials to do what He wanted to move Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem for the Birth, and He moved Mary out of the guest-room into the barn for the actual Birth.
(And we'll see that when the Wise Men came, they were in the "house.")
O my Father, thank You for Your Word! Thank You for using the precise words for what You want us to know. So Joseph didn't try to get Mary into a public lodging-place that could have been dangerous; he cared enough for her to find a friend or relative to stay with, instead. Joseph really did love Mary, and was a good husband to her, and father to Your Son.
You are so wise and good, Father; of course You would see that the family You placed Your Son into would be a good family, with healthy, loving relationships.
Just as You want for all of us.
Father, I pray for families this Christmas season, that You would help us all to forge closer relationships with each family member, mending riffs and healing wounds. Teach us to love one another as You have Loved us. Show us how to be Christ to those relatives who don't know You yet. Draw to Yourself all of our loved ones this holy season when we are focused on that little family that night.
Even so, come again quickly, Lord Jesus!
Matthew 1: 18-25
We continue the Christmas Story:
Now Mary has returned from her visit with Elizabeth and she's three months pregnant, and may be beginning to show.
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.
This is a real problem; she tries to
explain to her fiancee, but it's just too incredible. Here she's been
out of town, and now this!
And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned
to send her away secretly.
Joseph loved Mary, and thought she was a godly woman, but now this is really a shock, what a story she made up to cover! How can he believe this?
He is in a quandary, how can he marry this girl, does he really want to still make her his wife, pregnant with someone else's baby? But he doesn't want her stoned or ridiculed. He'll just divorce her quietly and send her back to her father to deal with her.
He'll have to sleep on this, and do it in the morning.
But when he had considered this, behold an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
Woah, is this just a dream, or is this really God's messenger, actually talking to me? What? You mean she was telling me the truth?
"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His Name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
This must be real, God must be answering all of our prayers, and fulfilling the promises He made to send us His Messiah! Wow! And using my Mary!
Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
Behold the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His Name Immanuel (Isaiah 7: 14),
which translated means "God with us."
So this Child growing in Mary's womb is to be named "Savior" because He is "God who is with us." This is so unbelievable, God had to send His Angel to Joseph to convince him.
And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the Angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife,
So that next morning, all their arguments were ended, Joseph could support her now, and go ahead and marry this girl he was in love with, and take care of her and this precious Child God was giving them. He would be His legal father, and be a dad to Him.
but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son;
But he didn't have marital relations with her until after the birth and cleansing that the Law proscribed. He wanted to make sure to do everything right. He was a righteous man. A simple carpenter, who only wanted to live a good life.
and he called His Name Jesus.
Both Mary and Joseph agreed that the child would have the Name the Angel had told them to give Him, when they named Him Jesus at His circumcision when He was eight days old, according to the Law.
God really does do everything, possible and impossible, for us. This miracle of a virgin girl being pregnant with God's child is a story that sounds like a fairy tale, not believable in real life. But God is God, and His intent was to give His Son a human body that could die. That's the only way He could save us. So the virgin girl would give Him genuine humanity, and God the Father would insure that the Son is still the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.
The promised Messiah, in order to be our Savior, had to be God, to be the eternal Person who could pay our eternal debt in Time. And He also had to be a genuine human, to die Man's death for each of us, fulfilling the Personal Sacrifice as the Lamb of God. He alone qualified to accomplish that feat.
But it took God's Angel to convince both Mary and Joseph of the Truth of the reality of how God was doing this through them.
O my Father, please help me to believe what You have for me, to really trust You like Mary and Joseph did, to do what You promised You would do. Give me an accurate understanding of what You have promised me in Your Word, so that I will look for Your answers, and recognize them when they come.
Father, let me not look at the circumstances surrounding me, as Mary's and Joseph's focus was taken off of the obvious reality and onto Your promise. Help me to trust You as they did, and proceed to do what I need to do, in response to Your leading and guiding me in the path You put my feet on, even when I face the fears of the unknown.
I know that they are not unknown to You, You see the end of my path, and I am still in the midst of it somewhere. I can only see the next step, but I place my hand in Yours, Father; to keep me straight, not going back to my own understanding, but Your thoughts for me.
And help me in serving You to help Your children understand who You are and Your ways for them, also. Use me, use my ministry, to grow them to maturity, and to introduce You to those who don't know You yet.
Send me and my words out into the World, to draw many to You, Father. To find Your lost sheep, and draw them into experiencing Your great Love for them, as You have for me. Strengthen me against the onslaught of the evil in the World that comes against all those who are faithful to You. Keep me steadfast in Your Truth, my feet firmly planted on the Rock of my Salvation.
Father, send out all Your workers into Your fields for sowing and reaping, and bring all of Your sheep into the shelter and safety of Your One Fold with One Shepherd.
Fill Your great house to overflowing, Father, with all of Your uncountable children, around Your grand Banquet Table to feast and fellowship with You forevermore.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, every tongue will proclaim that Jesus, the Son of Mary, is the Son of God, our Messiah and Redeemer, the Lord God Almighty, King of Israel and of the whole Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, for ever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
