The Joy of Advent

Luke 2: 1 – 18 (NIV): In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

The people in this story are celebrities today, but not at the time. They were witness to the most joyful event in history, but it wasn't easy. Mary had the privilege of holding the infant Jesus in her arms. Think of the joy he brought. But she had to suffer through the pains of childbirth to receive that joy. Often the suffering we experience today is preparing us for a future blessing. And she would not have been chosen as the mother of the Christ if she had not been righteous. May we never forget that God seeks clean vessels to use for his most blessed purposes.

Joseph also received the joyful gift, but only after showing tremendous faith. He believed the angel's report about Mary and her miraculous pregnancy. It is impossible to receive God's full blessings if we do not trust and obey him. Joseph is a great example of that.

The shepherds received the joy of seeing Jesus, but only after being terribly afraid. Often we are frightened when God intervenes in our lives, but God always brings good news and great joy. The shepherds were the first to hear the good news, yet they were in such a low class of society, they were not allowed in church. God's good news is for all people.

This passage ends with the people of Bethlehem hearing the good news and being amazed. Yes, they received the joy too, but only because the shepherds told them what happened. The only way our community is going to hear the good news is if we share it.

The Suffering Messiah

Isaiah 53: 1 – 6 (NIV): Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Reading this today, it is easy to forget that it was written more than 700 years before Christ was born. Isaiah even writes it as if it had already happened. It is an amazing prophecy. The idea of a suffering Messiah had always run counter to people's expectations of the Christ. They expected him to rule with power and authority, conquering enemies and setting the captive free, but Isaiah states that, instead, he would be rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. This can't be!

Didn't Isaiah himself state in chapter 9 that the Messiah would rule on David's throne forever? But that's just it, a mortal man cannot rule forever. Only a god can do that. Yes, the Messiah will rule forever and will conquer his enemies, but first he conquered mankind's biggest enemy: separation from God. The only way he could do this was to suffer and die. Sin cannot go unpunished. Not if God is Holy. Someone has to pay for our sins. That's what the Messiah did for all who believe. That's what Isaiah said he would do in this passage.

I'll never forget the day it dawned on me that if I am to be like Christ, I will be familiar with suffering. The Bible teaches that “all things work together for the good” for those who are in Christ, but the next verse tells us how. They make us more like Christ, which is God's goal for us. We want to skip that part and go straight to the “reigning forever with Christ” part, but just as Christ had a job to do first, so do we. We have the job of becoming like Christ – and that will involve some suffering.

We can take such joy in knowing that the Promised Land is awaiting us; we have been set free and are on our way. But we have a desert to cross to get there.

Wise Men Still Seek Him

Matthew 2: 1 – 12 (NIV): After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: " 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' " Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

So many people are looking to see what they can get from God, the Magi sought out Jesus for the express purpose of giving gifts to him and worshiping him. They came hundreds of miles to bow before him and present their gifts to him. They were overjoyed when they found him.

The Magi may have been Jews who stayed in Babylon after the 538 exile return. They saw his “star” and knew the Messiah had been born. They would have continued the Jewish tradition of staying out in tents during The Feast of Tabernacles (or Feast of Booths – tents). The tents had a hole in the top so they could watch for the star of the Messiah. They saw the star and began their journey.

The Magi apparently came to Bethlehem two years after Jesus' birth. Verse sixteen implies this. Notice they went to the house where Jesus was. Joseph and Mary apparently stayed in Bethlehem for two years after Jesus was born, then made the journey to Egypt. Joseph undoubtedly used the gifts to finance the trip to Egypt.

Consider the gifts they brought: Gold is a gift fit for a king. Incense is a gift for a God. Myrrh is a gift for a person who is going to die – a savior. Gold has always been associated with royalty. Incense is a gift for God because it is a pleasant smelling smoke that rises toward heaven. Myrrh is an expensive perfume that people in Jesus' day used to anoint the body of a dead person.
Did the Magi know that this child would grow up to be a suffering savior? Did they realize that this child was God in the flesh or the King of Kings? We can only wonder. But we can know that wise men still seek him. And wise men come to worship.

Advent: To Us a Child is Born

Isaiah 9: 1- 7 (NIV): Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan-- The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Every time I read this amazing passage, I'm reminded of why we can trust that the Bible is true. This incredible prophecy was fulfilled more than 700 years after it was written. In fact, Jesus fulfilled more than 350 direct prophecies from the Old Testament.

Isaiah wrote this during a scary time in Israel's history. Galilee had already fallen to the Assyrians. King Hezekiah had made an alliance with Egypt, and the fall of Jerusalem was eminent. So Galilee was “in darkness”. But a time would come when a light would dawn there. Light bringing hope and peace and salvation. Galilee has been a humble place in all of History, except for one thing: a Messiah grew up and ministered there.

Isaiah prophesied that a child would be born who would bring peace to people who have been burdened by a yoke of oppression and slavery. The victory he would bring would cause people to rejoice as they do after a major victory or successful harvest. They would rejoice as they did when Gideon's army defeated the Midianites. He would offer freedom, and he would rule an eternal Kingdom where peace and justice never ends.

This child would be from David's royal line. He would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Did I read that right? The Messiah would be God Himself, born a human child. Only a Messiah who is God in the flesh could fulfill this Advent prophecy. In Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah writes that a virgin will have a son and will call him Immanuel. Immanuel means “God with us”.

A Lifestyle of Thanksgiving

Luke 17: 11 – 19 (NIV): Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

Leprosy was a dreaded, terrible disease in New Testament times. We call it Hansen's Disease today and it is treatable, but there was no treatment back then. People feared that it was contagious, so victims were forbidden from ever making human contact again – except with other people with the disease.There was one cure, however. A person could be healed by God himself. The Bible made provision for this. In Leviticus 14, God instructed that if a person was cured, a priest must declare that he had been healed. I suspect this was a rare event, but the Bible tells of several instances when it did. This is why Jesus told the ten lepers to go present themselves to a priest, so they could be declared healed. They could have never moved back in with their families unless a priest said they were clean. Notice that in the act of obeying Jesus, they were healed. They were still lepers when they started toward town, then as they went, they were healed. How wonderful that must have felt. Jesus said it was their faith that healed them. Our faith is the delivery truck that God uses to deliver his goodness to us. We can't be healed without it and we cannot be saved without it. Now, the story takes an interesting twist. Nine of the lepers just kept going, but one, who happened to be a Samaritan, ran back and fell at Jesus' feet. He was the one who showed true thanksgiving. He made the effort to turn back. He humbled himself by falling at Jesus' feet, and he worshiped Jesus for what he had done for him.Jesus has given us so much more than a temporary healing. He has given us eternal salvation. Let us follow this leper's example and make the effort to thank him. How do we do this? By living a lifestyle of thanksgiving every day. We show our thanks by humbling ourselves before him and by worshiping him for his goodness to us. Yes, let us take time to say “thanks” this Thanksgiving, but may that just be the beginning. May we continue to give thanks by our lifestyles every day of our lives.