Friday, December 7, 2012

Bethlehem and Jesus 121209

Luke 2:1-7, In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
About 1000 years before the birth of Jesus, a King was born in a small village called Bethlehem! He didn't look like a King and did not come from a royal family but he was destined to be the greatest king of Israel. He was the youngest son of a farming family and his name was David. 300 years later the prophet Micah would give this prophecy, "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is born to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." Bethlehem means, "house of bread" and was the location for the tomb of Jacob's beloved wife, Rachel. This same Bethlehem was the place that Jesus, the Christ, was born.
In John's Gospel we are told that Jesus came to his own and his own people did not receive him. Further, we are told that Jesus came to be "bread". How appropriate it is for the "bread of life" to be brought into this world in the "house of bread". Just like today, the people of Jesus' day hardly regarded him as important. An obscure family, with no reservations at the inn, bringing one more Jewish boy into the world hardly seemed to be worth noting.
Usually, in our society, announcements are mailed out (or emailed) when a child is born noting the important information about the child. Well, Joseph and Mary had no access to mail, or email, and besides that Joseph wasn't the father! So the real Father sent out his announcement! Today the announcement would go to family members and friends. Perhaps there would even be an announcement put in the paper or posted on Facebook or Twitter. Certainly, if the birth was important, the rich and powerful would be notified. When this Father sent his announcement it went to a selected group of people! Shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night. An angel appeared to them and the glory of God flooded the area with light. The angel said, "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." The shepherds were urged to go into the city and see a baby laid in a manger. Then, suddenly, the angel was joined by a heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men." What an awesome announcement! A little while later the King of Judea would be notified by visiting wisemen that a new king had been born.
When Jesus was born…
He came to his own.
His own property, as creator. Listen while I read what Paul wrote to the church of the Colossians. Colossians 1:15-20, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Many times you hear someone say, "He looks just like his dad! (Or mom)". Well, Jesus certainly looks just like his Dad! He is the "image" of the invisible God. And we need to remember he is the creator of all things. He holds the original patent on everything in heaven and on earth. No matter what it is, it was created by him and he is therefore the owner of all things. Legally, he should receive a royalty on everything on earth. Ten percent of everything is His and should be given to him readily by everyone benefiting from his property. He came to his own property, clearly identified as the heir of all things, to claim that which was his own. And yet, he was rejected by…
His own people. Listen while I read three passages from John's Gospel. John 1:11, He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.; 5:43, I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. & 12:37, Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,
The King James Version says he came unto his own, and his own received him not. That translation misses the clear difference in the Greek language. The first "own" refers to property, or country, while the second refers to people. It is very sad that even today his own people do not receive him in large numbers. Jesus made note of that when he said to the Jews that he came in the name of the Father but they didn't receive him. That was true even though they received many others who came in their own name. And then, in 12:37, John sadly points out that even though he had done so many signs, or miracles, before them they still did not believe in him.
The people of Jesus' day placed a great deal of stock in genealogy. Yet they seem to ignore the fact that Mary, and Joseph, clearly descended from David. On both sides of his legal family Jesus was the Son of David. He was…
Descended from the King. Luke 1:26-37, In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Without a doubt, Jesus was…
Of the family of David. The Lord God promised David that he would always have a descendent to sit on his throne and rule in righteousness. Isaiah, inspired by God, spoke of a righteous branch from the stump of Jesse. Jesse was David's father and it was from his lineage this righteous ruler would come. Jeremiah spoke of the house of David and referred to the covenant he made with David as being unbreakable. In Jeremiah 33 the Lord God said, "If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne…"
Nothing could be stronger than that! If you can break the cycle of day and night you could have stopped the son of David, Jesus, from being born. The angel Gabriel told Mary that he would be the son of the most high, that he would rule over the house of Jacob on the throne of David.
This baby would be of the family of David and would be called the…
Son of man, born of Mary. Jesus was not to be the son of "a man" he was to be the son of mankind. The very first prophecy of Jesus' coming is found in Genesis 3:15. In that passage Satan was told that the seed of the woman would bruise his head. Not the descendent of a man but the descendent of a woman. A virgin birth was prophesied in Isaiah 7:14, Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Salvation could never come through human effort. Man cannot save himself. The virgin birth shows that salvation comes from the Lord! The virgin birth unites the Godhead with humanity. And, without a human father, the virgin birth allows for Jesus to have no inherited sin, he was in all points like we are yet without sin. As such, he could bear the sins of the world. Pay the price for all mankind. Jesus was of the family of David, the son of man born of Mary and also…
Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit. When Mary was first confronted by the angel Gabriel she was afraid and confused. There is no doubt that she understood what caused the conception of a baby. She knew that was not possible because as she said herself she had never been with a man in that way. Furthermore, she had no intentions of being with a man in that way until she was united with her husband, Joseph. Gabriel responded by telling her that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and her child would be holy — the Son of God!
To encourage her acceptance of the possibility of this happening the angel told her that her relative Elizabeth had conceived a child in her old age, thus, showing that nothing is impossible to God.
Jesus was of the family of David, the Son of Man and the Son of God and he came into the world…
To be bread. This seems to be a strange statement to make. And I wasn't sure I wanted to go this way but I felt impressed to take this route considering what John had to say about…
Bread from heaven. Listen while I read from John 6:32-33, Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Of course, the bread given by Moses was manna from heaven. Moses himself had no idea how to produce it or exactly where it came from. But this "bread" sustained the people Israel for 40 years in the wilderness. And it was a type of Christ. I haven't time to go into all the possibilities related to this idea but suffice it to say that Jesus came into the world as the true bread from heaven. Not just something to sustain our physical life but something to supply and sustain our spiritual life. Jesus himself said that he was…
The bread of life. Listen while I read a little further down in Jesus' discourse John 6:35-40, Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Verse 35 is a key to understanding this whole passage. Here Jesus compares hunger and thirst to coming to him and believing him. Come to him and you will not hunger. Of course, he's not talking about physical hunger. He is talking about spiritual hunger. Believe in him and you will never thirst. Again, he is talking about spiritual thirst. A thirst that every person on earth is born with! There's a song that speaks of this thirst: There Is a River
There came a thirsty woman, who was drawing from a well. Her life was ruined and wasted, her soul was bound for Hell. But then she met the Master, who told of her great sin And if you’ll drink this water, you’ll never thirst again. 
There is a river that flows from God above. There is a fountain, that’s filled with His great love. Come to the water, there is a vast supply. 
There is a river, that never shall run dry.
He told the woman at the well that the water he had to offer — spiritual truth — would take away her thirst!
Jesus said that he was the bread of life and that whoever came to him would not hunger. Whoever the Father gives to Jesus will come to him. And whoever comes to him will never be cast out. What a wonderful promise!
Jesus came into the world to be the bread of life. Whoever believes in him does so because the Father has called them and they are kept by the power the Father. It is the Father's will that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life!
Christmas is all about the Lord God sending his son, the creator of the universe and therefore the owner of all things to become the bread of life. We exchange gifts at Christmas in honor the greatest gift of all — the Lord Jesus Christ! The son of David, The Son of Man, The Son of God, born of Mary is…
A gift from God. Listen as I read from John's first letter 1 John 5:10-11, Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
Believing in the son of God is the same as believing God! Anyone who believes what God says will believe in Jesus because the Father testifies to the Son. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. In the gospel of John chapter 17, Jesus is recorded as saying that eternal life consists of knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he had sent.
Eternal life is an amazing concept. "Eternal" means without beginning or end. Now my life had a beginning. In the early morning hours of November 1, 1938, I came into the world and breathed Earth air for the first time. Actually, my life began about nine months before then. Like the Lord God told Jeremiah, I was formed by God in my mother's womb. So even in my life extended out forever and ever it would not be eternal because it had a beginning. "Eternal life" has no beginning and has no end. "Eternal life" is the life of God himself and we are saved, or born again, our Earth life is replaced by "eternal life" that is nothing less than the life of God himself! This is part of God's eternal plan for mankind. This is what Jesus meant when he said, "The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they might have life and have it abundantly". God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his son.
During this month people all over the world, by the millions, will celebrate the birth of Jesus! Christmas is the most commonly observed holiday in the world. Sadly, the majority of observers seem to emphasize Santa Claus rather than Jesus and getting not giving rather than celebrating the birth of God's Son. We should not let the misuse of the day affect our worship of the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is Lord of heaven and Lord of Earth but what's really important is how you answer the question, "Is Jesus your Lord?". If you feel him tugging at your heart now he will not turn you away. Come to him, confess him as Lord, and celebrate Christmas!
All scripture quotes from:The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

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