Summarized from Luke 2:8-20, Part III
Shepherds DID Watch Their Flocks By Night Sheep were:
God as the Message’s Origin No shepherd could have divined the truth God revealed to them. As the Wise Men needed an exterior sign to make the journey to Bethlehem, shepherds couldn’t have come to the stable without a GOD-given inspiration. Angels as Messengers Shepherds may have glanced upwards to see twinkling sequins stitched to the black shroud of the sky. As blinding light suddenly appeared, they instantly fell on their faces, terrified. A mighty being stood in the light, announcing Christ’s birth to them. The last people priests and Pharisees expected:
Content of the Angelic Message It revealed the fact of Christ’s birth, but not his conception in a virgin. Forecasting the Master’s own refusal to mention his conception. He stirred enough animosity in the leadership without revealing his earthly origin. It revealed the HOPE Christ’s birth brought to humanity:
It personalized PEACE. While available to all people, God’s peace is promised only to those “on whom his favor rests” Luke 2;14. If we wonder why peace on earth isn’t a reality, and hasn’t been since God expelled Adam and Eve from Eden, understand: God’s peace:
If we look for peace in another source:
If we wonder why even Christians often precipitate church fights:
Note: Thanks for reading these blogs. Hope they increase your appreciation of the Lord Jesus. The blogs will resume the first full week of January, 2024. V
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Summarized from Matthew 1:18-25, 2:9-11, Part II
Jesus Conceived In and Born of a Virgin Those who deny Christ’s virgin birth, Thomas Jefferson among them, being conceived in a virgin girl, by the Holy Spirit, remains a sine qua non doctrine of Christianity. God could have freed Christ’s birth from controversy by enlisting a married couple as parents. Unconcerned with appearances, God daringly used a virgin to give Israel 7:14 its deepest possible meaning. Mary’s Virginity Had a Definite End Matthew’s insistence of her virgin state in 1:18c, and the couple’s sexual union in 1:25, complement each other. A virgin UNTIL giving birth to Jesus, Mary and Joseph began marital relations after the child’s dedication to God 40 days later Luke 2:22-34—the time-line parental sexual relations can re-start today after a 24622birth. Given that clear timeline, we can as clearly understand Christ’s siblings in Mark 6:1-3 as his biological half-brothers and sisters. Mary Had No Role in Christ’s Ministry Matthew explicitly proved the Master’s Singularity even as an 18-24 month-old child. He didn’t seize the Wise Men’s entrance into Joseph’s house to show Mary’s importance. Instead, in two acts, the foreigners proved that Jesus alone, all by himself, even as a toddler, would be the ENTIRE kingdom of God in human form. First, when they entered, off came their turbans, down came their knees AS they worshipped HIM, not him and Mary. Second, out came the gifts their servants carried, presented to Jesus alone. Every scripture text in the Four Gospels agrees with this text: the Kingdom of God on earth found its embodiment in the life of Jesus Christ Alone! End Part II Summarized from Luke 1:5-17, Part I
John the Baptist Promised in the Temple God raised the curtain on redemption by sending Gabriel to the:
Because the temple embodied God’s:
Zechariah’s Response Authentic The ceremonies in which Zechariah majored created:
Given that nature, his doubt when promised a son:
Zechariah’s career-strengths carried:
Leading him to be a believer:
Gabriel’s Response to Zechariah Authentic Since he:
To reveal:
NOTE: Blogs will resume January 2, 2023. Thanks for reading. May your tribe increase. Virg
Simeon and Anna certainly encourage us to remember:
Of course, our upside-world has arrogantly and mistakenly identified advanced knowledge with wisdom. They rightly claim information denied previous generations, but mistakenly extrapolate that with, “the more you know, the wiser you are”. The perspective has left us technically advanced beyond any age AND abysmally ignorant of God’s Word, living farther than ever from his Grace. WHERE is the WISDOM of THAT? In fact, age surpasses youth in appreciating spiritual values, as playing musical instruments tempers and deepens their tone, pitch and sound. Extended experiences in life alone explore, exploit and energize the Holy Spirit’s use of them. Seniors, of whom the writer is one, should:
If reduced to being a prayer warrior, please understand:
John the Baptist’s doubt about Jesus left a warning to all believers. None is so strong in faith we cannot fall from grace by doubting God.
A simple reason exists for John’s unease. (The full study is in the writer’s book Face to Face With Jesus.) Jesus conducted his ministry in ways foreign to John’s bellicose expectation. Jesus:
In a sentence, where John flung lightning bolts against, Jesus blew kisses at Israel. Therefore, as a “man sent from God”, John 1:16, the Baptist faithfully fulfilled his role and thought Jesus had misread his. As a man sent from God, John forgot the limitations of his humanity. As the Son of Man sent from God, Jesus had only unlimited horizons in his life. So…when the messengers came with John’s question, Jesus kept doing what he personally had been. He didn’t, as lesser men would have, offered just enough negative to pacify John’s doubt. Instead, after providing evidence that he wouldn’t change his emphasis, Jesus issued a challenge to John: blessed is the one who doesn’t find fault with me! Which is always God’s robust challenge to humanity, especially to his people. We KNOW, by previous answers and God’s nature, that he can help us: overcome the problem; remove the obstacle; restore the ill to health; prevent the death of a loved one, etc. Our KNOWLEDGE of God can fail to TRUST God in adversity. Major League pitcher Sam Jones had a curve ball that had batters seeing illusions. We can wonder, when life throws unwelcome curve balls at us, if faith in God is an illusion. No it isn’t. We may say life misbehaves, life throws a tantrum, life takes advantage of our mistakes and sins. But we must never think that God in Christ fails us. That’s the positive lesson Jesus taught John, and teaches us. Always cultivate faith in God—especially in good times, so faith in God can expand in challenging times. We mortals will: make mistakes; develop faulty assumptions; draw wrong conclusions; and allow circumstances to grow questions in our discipleship. We’re always in danger of deserting FAITH for DOUBT. Only if we let the Holy Spirit declare God’s faithfulness in every situation will we be victorious over life. End Part II Jesus remains the Central Figure in history; and the ESSENTIAL person in the Christmas story. And, as evidence of Personality exists in its Influence on other personalities, Christ’s birth outclassed every other historical person. He has positively influenced billions throughout time—and shall throughout eternity.
Consider a few examples, not in chronological order. John the Baptist. Six months the Master’s senior, and a relative through Mary, John clearly understood, and as joyfully accepted, his subordinate role John 3:27-30. God sent him to identify the One who was to come. Two of his disciples heard him call Jesus the “Lamb of God.” They spent the day with him at his invitation and left convinced of his Messianic calling 1:35-41. That interview prompted Andrew’s testimony to his brother Simon John 1:40-42. The next day Jesus recruited Philip, who witnessed to Nathaniel, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law…Jesus of Nazareth….John 1:43-45. Note: the initial impression Jesus made on the first five disciples—John’s brother James must have been an unmentioned believer Acts 1:21—focused on his Messianic identity, far less than John’s insight, “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” John 1:29. Further, Philip’s faith in Jesus remained anchored in his Messianic calling—which never demanded Deity in Jewish theology. For when Jesus spoke of his ONENESS with God, John 14:1-4, neither pessimist Thomas nor “black spiritual hole” Philip understood. Thomas with, “We can’t know where you’re going”…and Philip with, “Show us the Father, and that will be enough for us” John 14:5-8. Only Nathaniel, the original skeptic of Jesus as a Nazarene, leaped in one step beyond Christ’s Messianic calling to Oneness with God John 1:49. None of them understood when Jesus said he alone had opened renewed communication with God that Jacob’s experience had only symbolized Genesis 28:10-22. To this day Christian discipleship usually proves patiently incremental, not wildly full-blown. Patiently incremental being the best kind. However, and the point of the blog, how could John the Baptist have gone so far beyond all five original disciples, then relapsed into a conundrum, asking, “Are you the One who was to come, or should we expect someone else? Luke 7:19. End Part I For example, consider Matthew 2:13-15. Wanting his Son removed from imminent danger, God ordered Joseph to Egypt until told to leave. He knew Herod’s rage would blaze into revenge when it became obvious the Wise Men didn’t return to Jerusalem.
Note: Herod felt outflanked by MEN. It never occurred to him that GOD had already defeated his murderous intent. Revelation 12 tells the same story in apocalyptic language. To this day, many people think God is ABSENT from daily life. WRONG. He holds unrepentant humanity accountable for all the wickedness now flourishing in society in the name of tolerance. “Morality be damned, but be sure to be tolerant” is society’s motto. Christians aren’t impressed or intimidated. All opposition to God, whether individual or societal; whether congressional or corporate, will be punished by God. The affliction imposed on the guilty will be appropriate to the sinfulness involved AND to any stubborn refusal to repent when ordered. Consider Luke 2:41-52. Joseph and Mary found 12 year Jesus in the temple. Mary burst into an anguished emotional tirade when she approached him, wondering why he treated them so shabbily. Didn’t he know they would be frantic with worry while searching for him? Unruffled by the outburst, Jesus simply asked, why did they search for him? They should have known he would be in God’s House. Cut the parents some slack. Twelve years of daily life, with seven kids in the household, will buff the shine from any experience. However, understand that parental understanding of Jesus never figured into his plans. FOR, from at least 12 years of age…AT LEAST…the boy had a MAN’S LOVE of GOD. He had already spiritually outgrown his parents. He had already become an interrogator of Jewish scholars. He had already understood his earthly mission. ALL as a 12 year old. Who could calculate what he would BE WHEN A MAN? All of which occurred logically since Jesus already understood that he and God were ONE, in an indivisible unity NO ONE could enter or break. All the references in this series have one theme: Jesus Alone, By Himself, In Company with NO ONE ELSE AT ALL, embodied the meaning and purpose of Christmas as the Only Begotten Son of God! Indeed, all HISTORY is but HIS STORY. Fini For example, consider Matthew 2:7-12—some two years beyond the dedication of Jesus. Wise Men--WISE because they sought Jesus. Remember that as a theme in life. They came first to Jerusalem, as we would expect: don’t we think experts in any field have answers to our questions? To everyone’s surprise, they heard the answer to their query, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?”, would be found in Bethlehem, Judea—not in Jerusalem or Bethlehem, Galilee, a much closer place.
As they began their journey, the star seen by them at home, leading them on through pursuit and mystery, once again led them. Led them on their way five miles directly south. Led them through village houses until it STOPPED above the house of Joseph, previously of Nazareth in Galilee, now a resident in the House of Bread. Knocking on the door, they found a young woman answering. On inquiring where they could find her son, she wordlessly turned and pointed to a lad amusing himself with toys. Past her to him they went, every eye riveted on him, his eyes bigger as they approached. When before him, they in their silks and linens bowed with faces on the floor before him in his peasant robe. While the infant watched, and Mary in amazement stared, the men began to open gifts they had carried through the months from their homeland to this strange land, this plain, working man’s house, and offered him gifts fit for a noble, a prophet, a priest, a KING. Though Mary received nothing, she knew her son merited all given to him. The men thanked her as they slowly and reluctantly moved away from the lad to the door, through it one by one, to the street, where they once again climbed their recumbent camels. All of them nodded in agreement when their leader said he had heard a voice that told them to leave immediately for home without returning to Jerusalem. As they left Mary turned and ran to the workshop where Joseph labored. They both returned and gazed in wonder at what God had done for his Son. Leaving us with a powerful spiritual truth. Wise men NOT ONLY seek Jesus, but FIND, and once finding, always worship him and take new direction in life. They find him the ONLY ESSENTIAL PERSON in the Christmas story. They find they never need seek another way to God for finding Jesus IS the only way to God. End Part III For example, consider Luke 2:25-32. Appreciate the symbolism of Simeon removing the 40-day-old Jesus from his mother’s arms into his own. It meant the spiritual separation of the baby from all human influence. Every Gospels’ text underscores that truth.
Jesus quoted Moses. Referred to Moses. Insisted that people obey what teachers taught from Moses. But never looked to him as his spiritual source. And felt free to submit his own teaching in the Great lawgiver’s place Matthew 5:21-48. Instead, numerous texts proved Christ’s complete dependence on God for all he said and did. He never felt alone, even when he knew the disciples would to a man desert him on his arrest John 16:32. John 5:17, 19-23 is one of many texts that affirm Christ’s reliance on his Father—and he didn’t mean Joseph. And, by the way, Christ’s dependence on God came…not from feelings of insecurity or inferiority…but from an INTENSE, ETERNAL INTIMACY with God no human relationship can ever imitate, let alone, duplicate. A disclaimer. This blog teaches what the Gospels say about the: birth, person and purpose of Jesus Christ. He’s:
He’s the SOLE STAR of God’s Redemptive Story:
Once we know HE ALONE remains in the Spotlight of God’s attention, we immediately know WHO DOESN’T—which means everyone else, including Mary. For example, consider Matthew 1:24-25—the overlooked proof that her virginity had an END. God ordered Joseph to take her into his home to:
Celebrate the word UNTIL. For it serves three purposes in clarifying questions about Mary. First, the couple had no sexual relations UNTIL she gave birth. UNTIL means just that…UNTIL—the time element ending her virginity. It likely occurred after their visit to the temple for Mary’s purification. To this day, sexual relations after birth re-start at six weeks. Second, UNTIL also explains Mark 6:1-3:
Third, UNTIL explains what “blessed are you among women” means Luke 1:42. For in Judges 5:24 Deborah declared Jael the “most blessed among women”. Therefore, the term means honored, respected, appreciated. It does not mean WORSHIPPED. As scripture from beginning to end demands, only GOD is worshipped. Church tradition always wars against Bible truth. Jesus contended constantly against human tradition. The Pharisees kept clamoring, “Our traditions say!” Jesus kept hammering, “I don’t care. I’m you telling what God says.” For their tradition nullified the Word of God Matthew 15:6. Bible-centered believers only care what God’s Word says. End Part I |
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