f the two groups most inimical to Christ, the second, Jewish Leadership, proved far more lethal to Israel's history than Herod's effort to kill the king. The Sanhedrin, the 70 man-ruling body in Israel, represented the Religious Bureaucracy response to Jesus that has historically been the enemy of Biblical Christianity. Note that Matthew 2:3 said that "all Jerusalem" accompanied Herod in "being disturbed". Consider two reasons why.
First, their knowledge of Messiah's birthplace, and Israel's longing for Emmanuel, theoretically pitted the leadership against Herod. Who but they would he consider likely to embrace such a king? Given his suspicious nature, Herod could very easily accuse the priests of harboring the secret the foreigners revealed, if for no other reason than "guilt by association.". Second, he need not worry, though his unpredictable nature would anyway. For the leadership had for decades bound its future to politics, and would be equally troubled as Herod by a rival king. The STAR as the source of the Wise Men's information would negatively affect the leaders, though Herod's suspicious nature might not appreciate it. Understand that such a star existed, whether in Copernicus' theory of a conjunction of planets or God's specially-chosen heavenly body. But in first-century Judaism, the priests abhorred astrology, and would consider such a birth a false alarm. Since Herod embraced astrology, he considered it an alarming truth. The leaders may have felt compelled to avoid going to Bethlehem, not only to protect their positions but by thinking it fruitless. The truth stands as an indictment against both groups, however. Neither wanted a king born to the Jews since they already had one! Herod malevolently opposed Jesus by trying to kill him. The religious bureaucracy malevolently disputed Christ's every teaching, claim, miracle and exorcism. Now, it's ancient history that the two groups had no room for Jesus. While Jesus IS as well as WAS, as well as WILL BE—the EVER PRESENT God Almighty. He won't have any of us escaping personal responsibility by studying historical figures. He demands personal introspection from us. He always gets uncomfortably personal in coming Face to Face with us, looking us in the eye and asking, "How much of you is Committed to ME? Into how much room in your life am I welcomed and regnant?" Good question: do we have room for Jesus when he demands something hard of us? Or costly? Or time-consuming? Or out of our comfort level? Fini. Back to blogging January 3, 2022! Hope to have you as a reader.
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Since Jesus came as Savior; and since humanity's primary need is forgiveness, whatever our sin, or how many, Jesus should have been universally honored in his generation, and
Still, Jesus understood, not only the sins of humanity, but the sin-nature in humanity that never failed to sin in new ways. His teaching left no doubt: perhaps ¾ of those hearing his word would fail in some degree to produce full-fledged discipleship Matthew 13:3-9, 18-23. Two groups in Israel symbolized the visceral hostility Satan feels for God in Christ and uses willing mortals to express it. The First is Herod the Great He represented the political opposition that Christianity confronted in the last 30 years of the first century, through the second century and the first decade of the third. A political and societal opposition renewed in western culture in 1859 with the publication of Darwin's Origin of the Species. An opposition revealed the Humanist Manifestoes of the 20th century, and embodied in the unapologetic humanism of the 21st. Intemperately jealous of his throne, Herod systematically executed anyone he suspected of intriguing against hm. That included the execution of Mariamne, his favorite wife. That he spent many nights pacing his bedroom grieving over her loss didn't erase his blood-guilt. How violently his anxiety antennas rattled when foreigners for the Tigris-Euphrates Valley appeared at his Court:
How terrified his Intelligence Chief felt as angry looks flew from the King to him:
Now suddenly...foreigners...FOREIGNERS...knew more than his own intelligence service:
Likely muttering to himself that if he wanted anything done right he'd have to do it himself, Herod called the Wise Men to his private quarters. There his pointed questions left no doubt: the danger to his throne seemed minimal since the so-called King of the Jews had hardly passed two years of age. While the information gleaned relieved his anxiety, it didn't pacify his rage. Read Matthew 2:16 how he placated his rage. End Part I (BLOGS will be continued next week.)
God has given his people the privilege of possessing and expressing the sole meaning of Christ's birth: he came as Savior. Indeed, God has granted his people the privilege of:
And only as his very own believers in Christ remain true to him will we successfully divest the season of its rampant:
II Corinthians 5:19. That meaning keeps on happening:
Christ-centered Blessings to you in this season! To get the Biblical Meaning of Christmas—the ONLY Meaning—read as starter scriptures Matthew 1:21, Luke 2:8-11, 21, 30, II Corinthians 5:16-21. For while the Results of Christmas are multiple, its Meaning is SINGULAR: God sent Jesus as Savior—his name synonymous with his mission. He came to:
• forgive • release • save • redeem believers in his Mission. And it also has Results, among the most splendid: God finds no fault in us; God grants daily blessings to us; God lives in us now through the Holy Spirit; and God promises our life continues forever in his New City. That all means we are now in Christ, and unafraid; in Christ and bold; in Christ and confident; in Christ and "more than conquerors" Romans 8:37-39. We can lift up our hearts and sing, and our voice and shout Parise to Him who rescues us from sin and our human frailties. We have a present JOY in Christ that will turn into a GLORY when history ends and eternity begins. Now...rest assured...the difference between Meaning and Result isn't merely a matter of semantics: each singing the same song, with different lyrics; saying the same truth in different words; looking at the same event from different angles, one word or lyric or angle equal to any other. Not at all. God sent Jesus as Savior of mankind. If we make any Result equal to its Meaning, we diminish the Purpose for which Jesus came. The longer we mistake the Results for the Meaning, the less obvious the Meaning will be and the more celebrated its Results will be, minus its Meaning. Surely we can see that in our society today! Through a series of illustrations, see the many ways people mistake Christmas as many things when it's really a Singular OTHER.
MOVIES, featuring Miracle on 34th Street. A little girl, played by Natalie Wood, met a bearded man, played by Edmund Gwenn, in Macy's Department store. He claimed to be Santa Claus. The movie saw Santa as the REASON people have hope and joy at Christmas time. San Diego U/T, 12/11/21. That was the Result of, not the Meaning of, Christmas. STORIES, highlighted by Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. A miser turns philanthropist by receiving a delay in his death. While it's a feel-good story about the Season, people wrongly consider it the Meaning of Christmas when it's only the Result. OCCUPATIONS, as in the first Department store Santa. (Reminisce Magazine, Dec/Jan 2022, p. 20.) The owner of a dry goods' store loved dressing as Santa each Christmas season to greet kids in his store. They came from miles around to visit him. It didn't take long before other merchants hired their own store Santa. It didn't take cities long to welcome Santa to their town in every conceivable conveyance. All that represented the Result, not the Meaning, of Christmas. Skipping other illustrations, consider the story of a policeman. (Reminisce Dec. 2015/Jan. 2016, p. 11.) Responding to a Christmas Eve domestic violence call, he heard shouts as he approached the house. Entering, he saw items strewn over the floor, likely thrown by the parents at each other. What shocked him was the five-year old boy on a sofa: in a body cast from waist down, crying hard. The officer warned the parents that one would be jailed if any further fighting occurred. He also told them he would return to monitor them. As he drove away, anger at the parents dissolved in sympathy for the boy. He conscience demanded that he MUST do something for that little boy. He stopped at a nearby toy store, just as the owner was leaving. The officer explained the situation and said he wanted to buy a gift for the boy. In the store he saw a big Teddy Bear—just the thing, but obviously too expensive. He told the owner that he wanted that bear, but had only $4—not nearly enough. The man listened, smiled and replied that he had priced the bear for sale at $4, tax included. Each had something in his eyes as they completed the transaction. Returning to the house, he handed Teddy to the five-year old, who hugged it as a living thing. Because very likely, in their mutual rage, the parents had failed to hug him as a living person. The policeman concluded that the experience proved how the meaning of Christmas could change people's lives. Good as that feeling was, important as it was to the officer and store owner, it proved the Result, not the Meaning, of Christmas. Given these, and the many other examples, of the Result of Christmas, how can we be sure to KNOW the Meaning? The word CAUSALITY embodies the principle of CAUSE and EFFECT: every effect having a cause. Since nothing comes from nothing, and nothing ever could:
A Cause and Effect event occurred in Allied capitals in May and September, 1945. The end of WWII the Cause, wild partying the Effect. Traffic stopped flowing as thousands used the streets as impromptu stages, indiscriminately hugging, kissing, dancing and drinking:
One picture summarized all that emotional delirium: a sailor seized a nurse and bent her backwards in his arms while planting a kiss on her lips. That iconic picture became a celebrated iconic statuary in a downtown San Diego Park, along Harbor Drive, South of Broadway and the USS Carrier Midway. All of that ecstasy resulted from VICTORY in WWII. Which has a lesson for all Christians as we celebrate Christ's Birth December 25. Several principles from the Lord's temptations in Matthew 4:1-11 can strengthen our discipleship.
First, God's priority in life. Sooner or later, every believer will find himself facing an I versus GOD choice. It can be something we want, but God doesn't. Or something we don't want, but God does for us. The choice we make determines whether he, or we, rules. We'll then be either like citizens of Decapolis, who:
May it never be said that a Christian refused to surrender a sin Jesus demanded we abandon; or refused to carry a load he wanted us to bear. Second, belief and behavior exist in tension. Living apart from God's will as a habit-pattern can't claim to be in God's will when only a habit-pattern of obedience, despite periodic deviations from it, proves the worth of pledged faith. James 2:24 still flays any faith-only position in Christianity. The only place in scripture where "faith only" appears is, "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone". Christianity's beliefs power all benevolent, idealistic and practical actions. Third, the eternality of truth. Culture continues through phases that warmly embraces or coldly rejects that fact. Christians can be so intimidated by what society believes at any period, and so quietly defend God's truth, that we can't even convince ourselves of its permanence. Christians must believe and defend as FACT that no decision ratified in Heaven can ever be annulled by any decision made on earth. The present cultural alienation from God offers Christians opportunities equal to difficulties. First century Roman society differed little from 21st century American. The Christ didn't order his people into every pest-hole then to allow us now to take refuge in our worship and small-group meetings. Let both services continue, but not as refuges to keep us spiritually safe, but as preparation centers to witness with confident, bold testimonies for Jesus to the lost—and to the saved, but unsure disciple. Fini A 30 year old woman in Argentina seems to be one of two people whose body banished HIV before it could become AIDS. After scanning a BILLION of her cells, medical personnel found no trace of the virus. Only two of billions to self-banish HIV! But they can't tell anyone else how to replicate their success. The rest depend on medication.
In 1941 Ted Williams hit .406 for the year. Two others before him achieved that success. Since then, no one has. Obviously he could and did achieve a landmark in professional baseball. But his example hasn't inspired repetition 80 years later. The 30 year old Argentian proves that doing something great can be an individual achievement without setting an example for others to follow. That's why Jesus is our MODEL when facing temptation. He not only overcame it, but shows us how we can. Hebrews 4:15 notes that Christ endured every temptation known to humanity, "yet was without sin". That proved him the only Person in history to both:
Jesus resisted temptation until it yielded to him, making him the Overcomer of Satan and Satan his Victim. And he did it in the same way we can make Satan our floormat, preventing him from making us his. Satan surfaced repeated temptations throughout the 40 day ordeal Jesus experienced in the Wilderness. Jesus overcame all. Under the Holy Spirit's guidance, Matthew and Luke skillfully summarized the 40 day period in one colossal collision between God's spiritual truth and Satan's venomous lies. End Part I Please read one of two Mark McCormack stories about golf great Arnold Palmer's compassion. In a tournament playoff round Palmer stood just off the green. He heard a little boy chatter to his mother. He turned and scowled, then, seeing the lad, laughed. The tension of playoff golf vanished with the laughter.
As Palmer re-took his stance, the boy started to cry. Palmer again looked and laughed. But when he heard a muffled sound, he looked and saw the boy turning blue by having his mother's hand over his mouth. He put his club down, went to the lad and took him in his arms. Turning to the mother, urged her not to hurt the child. It was only a golf tournament, after all, and not that important. Arnie, p. 91. Palmer then handily won the playoff. A man covered with leprosy approached Jesus, fell before him and begged in faith for healing. Jesus "reached out his hand and TOUCHED the man"—TOUCHED—though touching a dreaded, unclean disease. The man's new flesh instantly appeared all over and through his body Luke 5:12-13. Another time "a man with a shriveled hand was there". Jesus ordered him to "stretch" it out—a shriveled hand that he kept close to his side. But by power in the WORD of the MAN with POWER, the man DID stretch it into a "completely restored" limb Matthew 12:13. Still another, "Many followed him, and he healed all their sick" Matthew 12:15. Jesus, God's chosen servant, the Master of Compassion compassionately caring, delighting his Father, giving all the nations hope Matthew 12:21, including ours, including now. Had Jesus been but a compassionate healer he would still be universally applauded everywhere, in every age. And how much physically-healthier would all be. However...still left in our sins, still offering animal sacrifices in a vain effort to find forgiveness, still seeking the personal peace we'd never find, the personal cleansing from sin we'd never have. By age twelve Jesus knew why he came, fixed his mind on it, never deviated from it and went to the Cross, from the Cross to a 3-day tomb; from the tomb to Glorious Resurrection, from a Resurrected Body to an ever-more Glorious eternal Exaltation as the Living God as Glorified Human Body. So that, in our new eternal bodies we could SEE the Invisible Father in His Visible Son. Any number of New Testament passages stress the singularity of Jesus. This blog uses two from Christ's nativity, with a corollary from his ministry. First, in the very presence of his mother. Matthew 2:11 says, "On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him...HIM, do we understand? HIM alone. Not Mary and HIM. "Then, they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and incense and of myrrh". Again, presented HIM alone those precious gifts. She didn't even get an acknowledgement, let alone a thank-you gift for being a mother, in the fashion of our day.
Second, when both parents brought the 40 day old Jesus to Jerusalem, dedicating him to God. Old "Simeon took him in his arms", Luke 2:28, symbolically separating the baby from his parents for the work he would later do. Neither parent shared in any of his ministry. He proved that as an adult, active in ministry. Christ's family, led by Mary, tried to STOP him from preaching and healing. His response chilled their ardor for control since he refused to obey them and even refused to consider them as his friends, his brothers and his sisters Mark 3:20-21, 31-35. This writer has four volumes of Their Own Best Defense that affirm this truth. Revelation 5 further and finally stills all opposing views. The glory, adoration, submission he received from every creature in creation verifies God's Imprimatur on his Only Begotten Son. Christians, HOLD ON to this precious, essential truth. |
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