Anticipating His Advent #30

The only account Luke chose to go into detail about from Jesus' childhood was when He was twelve years old.  By that point he would have been old enough to develop relationships with peers and adults, and there would have been a number of witnesses from Galilee and Jerusalem Luke could interview about it.

41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

We find recorded here the devotion of both Jesus and His parents to please God. Just as they had taken Him as an infant to the temple, they continued on to observe the Passover and train their son in the faith. Jesus was also devoted to obeying His Father, and as a part of that, He was devoted to obeying His earthly parents, in obedience to the fifth commandment. As we all know, keeping a balance in relationship responsibilities is never easy, especially if we believe there is a conflict between obeying God and obeying parents.  Jesus handles this masterfully, and respectfully of both, and Mary knows it. Luke has chosen the one extreme event which would reveal any sin on Jesus' part which could be witnessed to by numerous people, and found no sin. Jesus has a lot to teach us about how to handle interpersonal relationships.

Anticipating His Advent #29

In Luke 2, after Mary and Joseph had taken Jesus to be dedicated and presented themselves to be purified, Luke simply says this about the next twelve years:

39 And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

Something we can almost miss is the very first phrase: that Jesus was raised to obey God's commands. This is important, as Luke makes it perfectly clear that Jesus did exactly that: perfectly obeyed His Father - He did everything God had said. It also is relevant that Jesus grew up exactly where God had said He would in the Old Testament prophesies - in Galilee, small-town Israel, satisfied with the simple life God has for most of us. And He grew up strong and wise and blessed by God.  This of course parallels other statements to the effect that He increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. (52) He matured in every way: physically, mentally and spiritually, without all the sins that mar our lives.  As we continue on through the Gospel of Luke, keep watching for how important Jesus felt obedience was. It is as important to us as it is to Him? 

Anticipating His Advent #28

Today we look at Luke's second example of someone who truly was watching and waiting and ready for Christ's Advent:

36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Here is a woman who was more devoted than a priest. They only served at the temple for a week twice a year, but she lived there. At that time, even the high priest had his own home, but Anna was there all the time. There was no way she was going to miss meeting the Messiah.  She was in such close fellowship with Father God from fasting and praying that she knew when she saw Simeon with the family that this was the promised One. Such truth was something she could not keep to her self, and she too proclaimed it to other sincere seekers of the Savior.  What have we missed this Advent because we were too distracted and not devoted enough to be tuned into what God is doing? 

Anticipating His Advent #27

Most of those who first heard of Christ's advent to earth were surprised, caught off guard. But Luke presents us with examples of those who were not:

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 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. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
    according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31     that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and for glory to your people Israel.”
33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Just a couple of quick thoughts here: Simeon never gave up watching and waiting. We live in an impatient world; let's not allow that to keep us from watching for Christ to come again. Secondly, Simeon was content: he did not have to see how it all played out. God had kept His promise and that was enough. Like patience, contentment is in short supply in our society. But the fact that Christ has come should be able to create within us a great contentment and joy sufficent to sustain us and keep us going and trusting in Him. 

Anticipating His Advent #26

We return in our study today to Luke 2. Jesus is now several weeks old.

22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

When we look back to Leviticus we find that Jesus' parents were faithfully following the instructions God had given to the people of Israel centuries before.  Due to the birth process, the mother was considered ceremonially unclean, and was to bring a special sacrifice to the temple to acknowledge that. Also, since Jesus was a firstborn son, there was a special offering to be brought in memorial of the Passover when the death angel "passed over" the Israelites' homes and did not take their firstborn sons like he did to Egypt. The firstborn son, in a special way, belonged to God.  When we add to that Who Jesus was - He was doubly God's Son, who came to live out obedience to God perfectly; He had no sin from which He needed to be purified.  Over the next few days, we will see how that was confirmed. 

Anticipating His Advent #25

The last two days we have seen in Matthew's account the response of the Magi to Christ's coming was to do something - to worship Him.  Not everyone responded that way.

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
    weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
    she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

Whenever we see God doing something glorious, we will also see the enemy fight back.  This is not the kind of story we want to think about on a day like today, but we must.  Whenever and however God is doing something to reach out and bring people back to Himself, Satan is doing something to drive them away from God.  This Christmas account is a powerful pro-life statement that we should never forget. So as we worship and celebrate and rejoice over Christ's birth, may we also weep over those hurt by His enemy. 

Anticipating Advent #24

Yesterday we saw in Matthew 2 that for these Magi, Anticipation meant more than mental consideration or conversation; it meant motion: doing something.  They came and they tracked down this newborn King.  When they met with the ignorance of Herod and the passivity of the supposed experts in Israel, they kept on persistently pursuing the King until they found Him. 

 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 

Their anticipation increased when they saw the star, and when they found Him, they did exactly what  they set out to do: worship Him.  As a demonstration of their worship, they laid before Him expensive gifts that were indeed worthy of a king.  This year, is your anticipation building? Are you preparing to worship Him? What are you going to offer Him of value? Return resources? Consistently spend time with Him? Regularly consult Him for wisdom?  How are you going to treat Him like your King?