5 verses. This seems like a very short section today. And... quite frankly, it is. Just wait until we get into the minor prophets and the whole book is a blink of an eye. You will find that many things in the gospels are told numerous times because it is the same story written by 4 different men. That doesn't mean that you should just read one and move on. Each man had their own perspective and insight and thoughts about the same event. This story is also found in Matthew 3:13 to 4:11 and Luke 3:21 to 4:13. Personally, I like the Luke version better because it contains the genealogy of Jesus and the dialogue between Jesus and Satan when he was tempted. It gives you more of an understanding. But I'll stay here in Mark and know that we'll get to that section in Luke another day.
At the time, when John was baptizing people in the Jordan for purposes of preparing their hearts for Jesus, Jesus himself came to John to be baptized.
What a glorious picture this would've been to witness. Mind you, Jesus did not have his disciples yet, or any other followers. There might have been a group getting baptized all together that day. We don't know. It could've been just Jesus and John. But what a great thing for John to have witnessed.
When Jesus came out of the water, the clouds parted and the Holy Spirit descended on them.
In the Old Testament, when God wanted people to visibly see Him, the Holy Spirit came as a cloud of smoke (I.E. in Exodus 14) or as fire (I.E. in Exodus 3). So when the bible says that the Holy Spirit descended, picture either smoke or fire or both. But it also says descending on him "like a dove". So a dove on fire? A smoking dove? A dove flying through smoke and fire? I don't know. Doves are used all over the Bible for various symbolism. Noah used doves to see if/when it was safe to look for land when the rains had stopped during the flood and a dove holding an olive branch has come to symbolize peace because the bird finding the branch meant God's punishment was over. The cooing sound of a dove is what what described as the mournful sound of the Israelites during their various hard-times. Doves were used for sacrifice, maybe God's way of foreshadowing Jesus as a sacrifice. Doves have come to represent the Holy Spirit, whether it is descending upon someone, or the imagery of it being there.
So the Holy Spirit is descending on Jesus and a voice came from heaven (voice of an angel? I think it was the voice of God. Because of the dove and because if it was an angel, the angel usually is actually mentioned). The voice says, "You are my Son." God is declaring to the people that this is the Son of God. "whom I love." He is showing that He is a loving God. "with you I am well pleased." We know that Jesus didn't sin, but God is saying this because by being baptized, Jesus is ticking another box on his check-list as the Messiah.
The Spirit sent Him out into the desert (notice the "at once" there, signature of Mark). Jesus is following this dove into the desert. Jesus knew what to do, but I think the dove was there to show the people that this was God's will to lead Him there.
Jesus was in the desert 40 days. It isn't said in this version, but it was 40 days of fasting. No food. Little to no water. Jesus is God, He can do anything, but Jesus was also man and he was hungry. This fasting made Him tired and weak. So, naturally, Satan comes along to tempt him. We'll get into the temptations later.
He was surrounded by wild animals who could've eaten Him at any moment, but He wasn't killed because He is God. He probably talked to the animals. And angels were at His side. Know that when you are in your period of hardships, you don't have to be the Messiah for angels and the Holy Spirit to be at your side. Both come to comfort you and to give you strength to get to the end of your hardship.
I hope today didn't feel rushed. I'll be back tomorrow with the next section.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Day 11 - Mark 1:1-8
Today's section is very short, with only 8 verses. But it continues with how Luke set up his book. Luke began with the birth of John the Baptist, and so Mark begins with John the Baptist preparing the way. This story can also be found in Matthew 3:1-11, and Luke 3:2-16. The same story under 3 different author's flair.
Before we get into this, we haven't done anything on Mark before. The same way that I introduced you to the book of Luke, I'll introduce you to Mark. Luke read like a broadway musical, remember? With all the song and dance. Well, Mark reads like an action movie. Event, event, event, event, event. Mark's words are like camera directions, which is awesome to think that he had that type of brain even before cameras were invented. He pans over crowds and then zooms in on the "main character", Jesus. Mark doesn't focus on dialogue and personal narrative the way the other writers of the bible do. mark doesn't reflect on Old Testament or Jewish law much. This leads scholars to believe his "target audience" was the Roman Empire who were new to not only the Christian faith, but to Judaism also. Mark wrote to the Gentiles, the "non-Jews".
The New Testament was written in either Greek or Latin, because the Roman Empire controlled Israel. Mark's book is written in Greek. He uses the Greek "hurry-up" adverb 42 times, it was recorded into English with a variety of synonyms: at once, immediately, etc. He wanted to captivate his audience and entice the reader who would be bored by dialogue and personal narrative. He tells mostly the same stories as the other Gospels, he just has his own way of saying things. So without further ado...
...a bit of knowledge. The first sentence just talks about the name of Jesus. Jesus has countless names, but here, we already have 3.
Jesus - this is actually the Latin translation of the name Joshua, which means "God saves". And it's really cool. The other famous biblical Joshua was the one who lead the Israelites through the desert after Moses had died. He's the one who actually got God's people back to their land. Being the leader, he represented the fact that God saved them from slavery. Now with Jesus, He is the savior. He is the flesh image on earth and proof that God saves. Through Jesus, God saved His people from sin. Now, I don't feel so bad about the hispanic families who name their child Jesús. It's "the same" as naming your kid Joshua, I guess.
Christ - this word is actually the Greek translation for the Hebrew word Messiah. (You'll see this mentioned in the footnotes of the biblegateway link above) I should've mentioned this when we were going through Luke, but whenever you see the word Christ, think of Messiah. Both mean "Anointed One", but with Messiah, you remember that the Israelites waited 400 years for their Messiah. You remember the prophesies and the promises they desperately waited for. Or at least that word makes me think of those things.
Son of God - some translations don't say this here, they stop at "Jesus Christ", but this being in here is important. It is telling/reminding the reader that this man was not only a savior and the anointed and long-awaited Messiah, but He was also the Son of God. He is not separate from God. He does God's will because He is part of God/He is God.
Also, the term "gospel" means: 1) the life/teachings/revelations of Jesus, 2) a thing that is absolutely true, and 3) a set of beliefs.
So this first sentence, Mark quickly said, "This is the true story of the life, teaching, and revelations of Jesus; the long-awaited savior and Anointed One who is God."
First He quotes Isaiah in Malachi 3:1, and then in Isaiah 40:3. Isaiah spent his life just telling people what God told him. in these two particular prophesies, he talks about a man who will "prepare the way for the Lord." Every time I read those words or type them, I think of the song, "Did you feel the Mountains Tremble?" during the chorus. Don't mind me as songs keep going through my head. But the term "prepare the way" refers to preparing the people. Make the people ready to see and believe the Messiah. Get them ready to understand His words. They were already waiting for their King, so John's job was to get them hyped up about it. 400 years is a long time to wait, and John had to light the fire under them again.
As I was reading though verse 4, I came upon some questions: What is a baptism of repentance and how is it different from the baptism we practice today (Christ's commandment to publicly baptize to proclaim your faith). Why were the disciples and Jesus baptized before Christ gave the commandment and before His death and resurrection? Luckily enough, other people out there had the exact same question. And here is a well-written out answer. If you don't have time to read it, here's a quick sum-up. John's baptism of repentance was in accordance with his call to prepare the way for Christ. John had to not only light a fire, but soften a heart to accept Jesus. He called people to ask for forgiveness of their sins and by baptizing, they would wash it away. It allowed the people to understand and accept when Jesus offered forgiveness of all sins and ended up being a sacrifice for their sins. (He couldn't give away that spoiler to the people)
So the people went to him and confessed their sins and were baptized. John was fulfilling his purpose.
But John, was a little bit of a weirdo. And this is the neat thing. You find scattered all throughout the bible are weirdos and cast outs and cowards and people that are not your typical hero stereotypes. But God uses the weirdos. He takes their inadequacies and makes them stronger and uses them as his vessels.
John wore clothing made from camel hair. The "common man" had clothing made of goat hair. Camel hair was expensive. But John lived in the desert and spent his time wading in the Jordan River. It'd be like wearing cashmere while you're living in the slums or painting a house. People probably thought he was a crazy idiot for wearing camel hair clothes.
With a leather belt around his waist. Why is this important and why was the previous statement about the camel hair important? It ties John the Baptist to Elijah, the prophet. In 2 Kings 1:8, Elijah is described to wear a hairy garment (or be a hairy man, we aren't sure) and wear a leather belt. It signified that both of these men were Jesus' preparers, set in different times to aid in Israel's waiting process.
He ate locusts. Firstly, ew. For some reason, as a child, I dint know what a locust looked like, so I just imagined various bugs I don't like when Sunday school taught about the 10 plagues. But locusts are the swarming phase of certain short-horned species of grasshopper. So a grasshopper. So we don't forget what we're talking about, I'll just call them grasshoppers from now on and gross myself out a little bit more. Grass hoppers are actually very nutritious. Grasshoppers are still commonly eaten in Arabia. But in Jesus' time, eating grasshoppers meant you were a hermit and you couldn't afford "real food".
And wild honey. Wild bee honey was a common thing to eat back then, but some people think that the sweet substance he ate was the gum from the tamarisk tree. It is tasteless, yet nutritious. Either way, his diet literally only consisted of grasshoppers and liquid. Feels like Timon and Pumbaa's diet.
If you haven't already got the word "weirdo" plastered all over John the Baptist, check out this really famous song by dcTalk. If you've already heard it, you might not have caught the straight-from-the-bible rhymes.
BUT(!) God used this weirdo. Mark and Matthew both point out John's weirdness because despite all of his quirks, people still came to this out cast and listened to what he had to say. And this is what he told the people:
After me will come one more powerful than I. He's telling the people that somebody way better is coming soon. Jesus was already born, but John was saying that He will soon be public.
The thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. What an interesting image. I am not worthy to get close enough to get down on my knees to touch his shoe. Which is interesting because later, Jesus values when Mary of Bethany sits at His feet to listen and later when that same Mary pours expensive perfume on His feet, He says she did the right thing.
I baptize you with(in) water, but He will baptize you with(in) the Holy Spirit. Being baptized by water can only clean your skin and your outward appearance. And later baptism becomes an outward display of faith. But Jesus uses the Holy Spirit to cleanse you thoroughly; your insides, your spirit, your mind.
I'm glad I only did 8 verses today. Who knows if that is what analyzing the short writing of Mark will always be like.
Before we get into this, we haven't done anything on Mark before. The same way that I introduced you to the book of Luke, I'll introduce you to Mark. Luke read like a broadway musical, remember? With all the song and dance. Well, Mark reads like an action movie. Event, event, event, event, event. Mark's words are like camera directions, which is awesome to think that he had that type of brain even before cameras were invented. He pans over crowds and then zooms in on the "main character", Jesus. Mark doesn't focus on dialogue and personal narrative the way the other writers of the bible do. mark doesn't reflect on Old Testament or Jewish law much. This leads scholars to believe his "target audience" was the Roman Empire who were new to not only the Christian faith, but to Judaism also. Mark wrote to the Gentiles, the "non-Jews".
The New Testament was written in either Greek or Latin, because the Roman Empire controlled Israel. Mark's book is written in Greek. He uses the Greek "hurry-up" adverb 42 times, it was recorded into English with a variety of synonyms: at once, immediately, etc. He wanted to captivate his audience and entice the reader who would be bored by dialogue and personal narrative. He tells mostly the same stories as the other Gospels, he just has his own way of saying things. So without further ado...
...a bit of knowledge. The first sentence just talks about the name of Jesus. Jesus has countless names, but here, we already have 3.
Jesus - this is actually the Latin translation of the name Joshua, which means "God saves". And it's really cool. The other famous biblical Joshua was the one who lead the Israelites through the desert after Moses had died. He's the one who actually got God's people back to their land. Being the leader, he represented the fact that God saved them from slavery. Now with Jesus, He is the savior. He is the flesh image on earth and proof that God saves. Through Jesus, God saved His people from sin. Now, I don't feel so bad about the hispanic families who name their child Jesús. It's "the same" as naming your kid Joshua, I guess.
Christ - this word is actually the Greek translation for the Hebrew word Messiah. (You'll see this mentioned in the footnotes of the biblegateway link above) I should've mentioned this when we were going through Luke, but whenever you see the word Christ, think of Messiah. Both mean "Anointed One", but with Messiah, you remember that the Israelites waited 400 years for their Messiah. You remember the prophesies and the promises they desperately waited for. Or at least that word makes me think of those things.
Son of God - some translations don't say this here, they stop at "Jesus Christ", but this being in here is important. It is telling/reminding the reader that this man was not only a savior and the anointed and long-awaited Messiah, but He was also the Son of God. He is not separate from God. He does God's will because He is part of God/He is God.
Also, the term "gospel" means: 1) the life/teachings/revelations of Jesus, 2) a thing that is absolutely true, and 3) a set of beliefs.
So this first sentence, Mark quickly said, "This is the true story of the life, teaching, and revelations of Jesus; the long-awaited savior and Anointed One who is God."
First He quotes Isaiah in Malachi 3:1, and then in Isaiah 40:3. Isaiah spent his life just telling people what God told him. in these two particular prophesies, he talks about a man who will "prepare the way for the Lord." Every time I read those words or type them, I think of the song, "Did you feel the Mountains Tremble?" during the chorus. Don't mind me as songs keep going through my head. But the term "prepare the way" refers to preparing the people. Make the people ready to see and believe the Messiah. Get them ready to understand His words. They were already waiting for their King, so John's job was to get them hyped up about it. 400 years is a long time to wait, and John had to light the fire under them again.
As I was reading though verse 4, I came upon some questions: What is a baptism of repentance and how is it different from the baptism we practice today (Christ's commandment to publicly baptize to proclaim your faith). Why were the disciples and Jesus baptized before Christ gave the commandment and before His death and resurrection? Luckily enough, other people out there had the exact same question. And here is a well-written out answer. If you don't have time to read it, here's a quick sum-up. John's baptism of repentance was in accordance with his call to prepare the way for Christ. John had to not only light a fire, but soften a heart to accept Jesus. He called people to ask for forgiveness of their sins and by baptizing, they would wash it away. It allowed the people to understand and accept when Jesus offered forgiveness of all sins and ended up being a sacrifice for their sins. (He couldn't give away that spoiler to the people)
So the people went to him and confessed their sins and were baptized. John was fulfilling his purpose.
But John, was a little bit of a weirdo. And this is the neat thing. You find scattered all throughout the bible are weirdos and cast outs and cowards and people that are not your typical hero stereotypes. But God uses the weirdos. He takes their inadequacies and makes them stronger and uses them as his vessels.
John wore clothing made from camel hair. The "common man" had clothing made of goat hair. Camel hair was expensive. But John lived in the desert and spent his time wading in the Jordan River. It'd be like wearing cashmere while you're living in the slums or painting a house. People probably thought he was a crazy idiot for wearing camel hair clothes.
With a leather belt around his waist. Why is this important and why was the previous statement about the camel hair important? It ties John the Baptist to Elijah, the prophet. In 2 Kings 1:8, Elijah is described to wear a hairy garment (or be a hairy man, we aren't sure) and wear a leather belt. It signified that both of these men were Jesus' preparers, set in different times to aid in Israel's waiting process.
He ate locusts. Firstly, ew. For some reason, as a child, I dint know what a locust looked like, so I just imagined various bugs I don't like when Sunday school taught about the 10 plagues. But locusts are the swarming phase of certain short-horned species of grasshopper. So a grasshopper. So we don't forget what we're talking about, I'll just call them grasshoppers from now on and gross myself out a little bit more. Grass hoppers are actually very nutritious. Grasshoppers are still commonly eaten in Arabia. But in Jesus' time, eating grasshoppers meant you were a hermit and you couldn't afford "real food".
And wild honey. Wild bee honey was a common thing to eat back then, but some people think that the sweet substance he ate was the gum from the tamarisk tree. It is tasteless, yet nutritious. Either way, his diet literally only consisted of grasshoppers and liquid. Feels like Timon and Pumbaa's diet.
If you haven't already got the word "weirdo" plastered all over John the Baptist, check out this really famous song by dcTalk. If you've already heard it, you might not have caught the straight-from-the-bible rhymes.
BUT(!) God used this weirdo. Mark and Matthew both point out John's weirdness because despite all of his quirks, people still came to this out cast and listened to what he had to say. And this is what he told the people:
After me will come one more powerful than I. He's telling the people that somebody way better is coming soon. Jesus was already born, but John was saying that He will soon be public.
The thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. What an interesting image. I am not worthy to get close enough to get down on my knees to touch his shoe. Which is interesting because later, Jesus values when Mary of Bethany sits at His feet to listen and later when that same Mary pours expensive perfume on His feet, He says she did the right thing.
I baptize you with(in) water, but He will baptize you with(in) the Holy Spirit. Being baptized by water can only clean your skin and your outward appearance. And later baptism becomes an outward display of faith. But Jesus uses the Holy Spirit to cleanse you thoroughly; your insides, your spirit, your mind.
I'm glad I only did 8 verses today. Who knows if that is what analyzing the short writing of Mark will always be like.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Day 10 - Luke 2:41-52
Hopefully you find this story in Luke 2:41-52 as funny as I do.
So, Jesus and his family always travelled to Jerusalem for Passover. We all have heard of the holiday and maybe know a bit about it.
Passover was established in Exodus 12, when God passed over the Hebrew homes during the 10th plague that killed the first born of every family and consequentially freed the people of Israel from slavery.
In biblical times, It was one of the three pilgrimage festivals that all the nation of Israel and tribes of Judah travelled to Jerusalem for. You know those family reunions you go to every year? My family has a reunion every year. Always just after Christmas and always either in Riverside or the outskirts of LA. Either way, its only about a 30 minute drive for us, and we find reasons to get parts of the family together during other parts of the year. I know some people have an annual family reunion where they have to drive 6 hours to get there and you might as well stay the weekend because you have to drive another 6 hours back home. Other people have a family reunion where they have to take a 12 hour flight to get there. And you might as well stay a week or two because it was expensive getting there. But these six hour drives and twelve hour flights mean that it is really difficult to get back to your family at any time during the rest of the year, right? I don't know which category you fall in with the distances you travel to your families. But think about that when you think about the biblical observance of passover. Because it was all the Jews who travelled to Jerusalem for the festival, each town travelled by foot or donkey in a group for days. Of course, each group's travel distance was different, and I'm sure each city had it planned out what time they had to leave. Maybe the furthest town would start at a certain time and when they got to a city, all the Jews joined them and added to their numbers traveling. I don't know how they did it then, but they travelled for days. By the time they got there, it was like the 12 hour flyers, you might as well stay for the whole week. I know why Hanukkah is celebrated for 8 days, but I don't know why other Jewish holidays are celebrated for 8 days also. Personally, I think it was because they travelled so far and figured they should stay there for a bit before going home. But not only did they make this immense journey, by Jewish law, they did it three times a year!! They travelled for Passover (which was in March or April), Pentecost (which was in May or June and only lasted 1 day, not 8), and for the Feast of the Tabelnacles (which was another 8 days in September or October). Literally, the Jews of the Bible, and some modern Jews, spent their whole lives either worshipping God, praising God, celebrating what God had done, or planning out how to do one of the 3 previous things. I have full repeat for that. They had their priorities straight.
This is how Jewish people currently celebrate it.
But this is the Christian perspective on this. This is why Christians do not celebrate Jewish holidays. I fully respect Jews who celebrate their holidays with full knowledge of the history and meaning of the holiday, with full understanding (which leads to the emotional connection to it), and with full application to their life. But we, as Christians, are called to not celebrate those days because Jesus is the Lamb of God, He is the ultimate sacrifice, and we no longer need to sacrifice or remember the sacrifices of the past because of what He has done. Jewish holidays were only a glimmer of the greatness, glory, and celebration that is due for Jesus.
Ok, so back to how they celebrated Passover in the Bible. With the big long journeys for the week-long feast. The year that this Passover took place, Jesus was 12 years old. The festival ends and Mary and Joseph start their journey home with the mass going to Nazareth. A full day later(!) Mom and Dad realize that Jesus is not with them, He had stayed behind in Jerusalem. So they turned around to go back to Jerusalem. I don't know if Mary and Joseph had turned around alone, or if the other Nazarenes had gone with them. But they went back. It says they found Jesus after three days. I don't know if this means 3 days total from when they had left the first time, or three days after they got back to Jerusalem, which would be 5 days. Total. Either way, panicked parents.
Have you ever lost your child? I'm sure everyone has had that 5 minutes of panic. When I was little, maybe 3 years old, I wandered off in a Ralph's. Pretty much a blink of an eye situation. Mom turned for three seconds and I was gone. She panicked. She left her shopping cart where it was, she ran through the aisles, she ran into the parking lot looking for me, or a van with a screaming child, or a van speeding off. She didn't know what to think. She was freaking out.
Finally, after 3 or 5 days, Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple courtyard with the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Naturally, the teachers didn't know He was God in human flesh and were amazed at how much Jesus understood at His age. Mary comes us and gently scolds him. "Why have you treated us this way. Why did you run away? We were so worried about you!" And Jesus replies, "Why did you have to look for me? Didn't you know I would be in my Father's house (or in some translations "doing my Father's work")? Didn't you realize I would be in the temple, doing my job on earth?" But Mary and Joseph were confused. He used the word "Father" referring to "Heavenly Father" right after Mary uses the term "Father" referring to Joseph. And with parent panic mode fully engaged, I think they forgot that their little boy was, in fact, the Messiah.
So, Mom takes another look through the Ralph's and finds me Right in the front. I haven't seen them in a long time, and my mom still swears this is why, but do you remember those giant metal cages that had big plastic/rubber balls inside? I was there. Playing with the bouncy balls. My mom ran up, spanked me and after a few quick scolds to never do that again, she asked why I was there. I simply responded, "I like the balls, Mommy. I just wanted to play with the balls." She then had to give me a quick lessen that there are bad men in the world who like to steal little girls so I had to never leave her side in public. Especially since the ball cage was by the front door and someone could pop in, grab a kid, and run off.
So all was well, both Jesus and I were found during our panicked parent situations.
Jesus went home with His parents. He had to learn to be obedient to both His earthly parents and His Heavenly Father. I still struggle with this.
His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And I love that. She took what she saw in her son and she learned from them.
Jesus grew in wisdom and stature (in body and mind). I think this is mentioned because we don't hear anymore childhood stories of Jesus. That's Luke's way of saying, "Jesus grew up".
In favor with God and man, which I take to mean, He was loved by the people as He was loved by God.
All done with Luke 2, and done with Luke for a bit. Tomorrow, we'll continue our "Life and the Teachings of Jesus" route with Mark 1.
So, Jesus and his family always travelled to Jerusalem for Passover. We all have heard of the holiday and maybe know a bit about it.
Passover was established in Exodus 12, when God passed over the Hebrew homes during the 10th plague that killed the first born of every family and consequentially freed the people of Israel from slavery.
In biblical times, It was one of the three pilgrimage festivals that all the nation of Israel and tribes of Judah travelled to Jerusalem for. You know those family reunions you go to every year? My family has a reunion every year. Always just after Christmas and always either in Riverside or the outskirts of LA. Either way, its only about a 30 minute drive for us, and we find reasons to get parts of the family together during other parts of the year. I know some people have an annual family reunion where they have to drive 6 hours to get there and you might as well stay the weekend because you have to drive another 6 hours back home. Other people have a family reunion where they have to take a 12 hour flight to get there. And you might as well stay a week or two because it was expensive getting there. But these six hour drives and twelve hour flights mean that it is really difficult to get back to your family at any time during the rest of the year, right? I don't know which category you fall in with the distances you travel to your families. But think about that when you think about the biblical observance of passover. Because it was all the Jews who travelled to Jerusalem for the festival, each town travelled by foot or donkey in a group for days. Of course, each group's travel distance was different, and I'm sure each city had it planned out what time they had to leave. Maybe the furthest town would start at a certain time and when they got to a city, all the Jews joined them and added to their numbers traveling. I don't know how they did it then, but they travelled for days. By the time they got there, it was like the 12 hour flyers, you might as well stay for the whole week. I know why Hanukkah is celebrated for 8 days, but I don't know why other Jewish holidays are celebrated for 8 days also. Personally, I think it was because they travelled so far and figured they should stay there for a bit before going home. But not only did they make this immense journey, by Jewish law, they did it three times a year!! They travelled for Passover (which was in March or April), Pentecost (which was in May or June and only lasted 1 day, not 8), and for the Feast of the Tabelnacles (which was another 8 days in September or October). Literally, the Jews of the Bible, and some modern Jews, spent their whole lives either worshipping God, praising God, celebrating what God had done, or planning out how to do one of the 3 previous things. I have full repeat for that. They had their priorities straight.
This is how Jewish people currently celebrate it.
But this is the Christian perspective on this. This is why Christians do not celebrate Jewish holidays. I fully respect Jews who celebrate their holidays with full knowledge of the history and meaning of the holiday, with full understanding (which leads to the emotional connection to it), and with full application to their life. But we, as Christians, are called to not celebrate those days because Jesus is the Lamb of God, He is the ultimate sacrifice, and we no longer need to sacrifice or remember the sacrifices of the past because of what He has done. Jewish holidays were only a glimmer of the greatness, glory, and celebration that is due for Jesus.
Ok, so back to how they celebrated Passover in the Bible. With the big long journeys for the week-long feast. The year that this Passover took place, Jesus was 12 years old. The festival ends and Mary and Joseph start their journey home with the mass going to Nazareth. A full day later(!) Mom and Dad realize that Jesus is not with them, He had stayed behind in Jerusalem. So they turned around to go back to Jerusalem. I don't know if Mary and Joseph had turned around alone, or if the other Nazarenes had gone with them. But they went back. It says they found Jesus after three days. I don't know if this means 3 days total from when they had left the first time, or three days after they got back to Jerusalem, which would be 5 days. Total. Either way, panicked parents.
Have you ever lost your child? I'm sure everyone has had that 5 minutes of panic. When I was little, maybe 3 years old, I wandered off in a Ralph's. Pretty much a blink of an eye situation. Mom turned for three seconds and I was gone. She panicked. She left her shopping cart where it was, she ran through the aisles, she ran into the parking lot looking for me, or a van with a screaming child, or a van speeding off. She didn't know what to think. She was freaking out.
Finally, after 3 or 5 days, Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple courtyard with the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Naturally, the teachers didn't know He was God in human flesh and were amazed at how much Jesus understood at His age. Mary comes us and gently scolds him. "Why have you treated us this way. Why did you run away? We were so worried about you!" And Jesus replies, "Why did you have to look for me? Didn't you know I would be in my Father's house (or in some translations "doing my Father's work")? Didn't you realize I would be in the temple, doing my job on earth?" But Mary and Joseph were confused. He used the word "Father" referring to "Heavenly Father" right after Mary uses the term "Father" referring to Joseph. And with parent panic mode fully engaged, I think they forgot that their little boy was, in fact, the Messiah.
So, Mom takes another look through the Ralph's and finds me Right in the front. I haven't seen them in a long time, and my mom still swears this is why, but do you remember those giant metal cages that had big plastic/rubber balls inside? I was there. Playing with the bouncy balls. My mom ran up, spanked me and after a few quick scolds to never do that again, she asked why I was there. I simply responded, "I like the balls, Mommy. I just wanted to play with the balls." She then had to give me a quick lessen that there are bad men in the world who like to steal little girls so I had to never leave her side in public. Especially since the ball cage was by the front door and someone could pop in, grab a kid, and run off.
So all was well, both Jesus and I were found during our panicked parent situations.
Jesus went home with His parents. He had to learn to be obedient to both His earthly parents and His Heavenly Father. I still struggle with this.
His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And I love that. She took what she saw in her son and she learned from them.
Jesus grew in wisdom and stature (in body and mind). I think this is mentioned because we don't hear anymore childhood stories of Jesus. That's Luke's way of saying, "Jesus grew up".
In favor with God and man, which I take to mean, He was loved by the people as He was loved by God.
All done with Luke 2, and done with Luke for a bit. Tomorrow, we'll continue our "Life and the Teachings of Jesus" route with Mark 1.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Day 9 - Luke 2:21-40
Today we are in Luke 2:21-40, When Jesus is presented in the temple.
We already talked about circumcision when John the Baptist was born. If you haven't already read that, go here.
If you are curious, this is the passage that God established circumcision.
In Luke 2, it says that Mary and Joseph had to take two doves or two young pigeons with them to be sacrificed when Jesus was named and circumcised. Man, I hate typing that word. but in that passage I just linked to you, it talks about nothing to do with sacrifice while you snip. So I looked up where in the bible it talks about sacrificing birds.
I came up with Leviticus 1, and Leviticus 14.
The hard thing about reading Leviticus is that you can easily get bogged down with the detailed rules that the Israelites had. One could look at the rules and compare it to other religions saying, "Look! He's just like any other God who makes His people do the hokey pokey before gaining access to Heaven!" but that is absolutely not true.
In those days, back when He established the rules with Abraham and that era of time, He didn't mean for it to become a hokey pokey. He wanted the people to constantly be reminded of the promises He had fulfilled in their past, and the promises he would keep in the future. The rituals that consumed their time and energy were so that they wouldn't get distracted by other things or other gods. Also, when it came to circumcision and the other practices they had, it was God's way of setting his people apart from the others. It sounds bad, but it was his way of branding them, except you chose to be branded, as opposed to Him forcing you to follow. God never forced His people to believe in Him, to love Him, or to obey Him. He showed them how to believe, love and obey, and gave them the choice to follow.
These rules are what evolved into what Jesus hated about the temple, the priests, and the pharisees. They followed the rituals and practices of Judaism, but they did not have the love in their heart. They did not have the blind faith.
We need to look at these rules as a piece of history, not as something to do. Because of Jesus being the God-human sacrifice, the old rules are null and void.
That being said, let's move on.
In comes this man, Simeon. And I love Simeon's enthusiasm. He was a righteous and devout man, meaning he had followed all the laws and was pure of heart. But he was waiting for the Messiah and he was growing weary in heart waiting. So God spoke to Him and said, "Don't worry, you won't die until you see Christ." So Simeon went to the temple and behold(!) there was Jesus with his parents! So the man held Jesus and praised God thanking Him for fulfilling His promise to see the Messiah. Not many people at this time know exactly what to expect of the Messiah, as I've already said in previous posts. They expected a conquering king. They did not expect their savior to be a humble carpenter, able to die. They (the Israelites) know their savior would save them, they didn't know he would save the Gentiles (non-Jewish people) too. Mary and Joseph filled with wonder at what he said, and then he continued to talk to Mary about what Jesus would do, and that His salvation would even reach her. That just gives me chills, that Mary carried Jesus, gave birth to Him, raised Him, but His salvation was for her too.
Then there's Anna, a prophetess. It says she was of the tribe of Asher. As you can see in the picture, Asher was the northern-most tribe of Israel. (That green thing next to Nephtali) The tribe of Asher isn't really talked about much. Not because it is unimportant, but I think it is because it is so far north of our normal "setting". Jerusalem is in the tribe of Benjamin, near the border of the tribe of Judah.
We already talked about circumcision when John the Baptist was born. If you haven't already read that, go here.
If you are curious, this is the passage that God established circumcision.
In Luke 2, it says that Mary and Joseph had to take two doves or two young pigeons with them to be sacrificed when Jesus was named and circumcised. Man, I hate typing that word. but in that passage I just linked to you, it talks about nothing to do with sacrifice while you snip. So I looked up where in the bible it talks about sacrificing birds.
I came up with Leviticus 1, and Leviticus 14.
The hard thing about reading Leviticus is that you can easily get bogged down with the detailed rules that the Israelites had. One could look at the rules and compare it to other religions saying, "Look! He's just like any other God who makes His people do the hokey pokey before gaining access to Heaven!" but that is absolutely not true.
In those days, back when He established the rules with Abraham and that era of time, He didn't mean for it to become a hokey pokey. He wanted the people to constantly be reminded of the promises He had fulfilled in their past, and the promises he would keep in the future. The rituals that consumed their time and energy were so that they wouldn't get distracted by other things or other gods. Also, when it came to circumcision and the other practices they had, it was God's way of setting his people apart from the others. It sounds bad, but it was his way of branding them, except you chose to be branded, as opposed to Him forcing you to follow. God never forced His people to believe in Him, to love Him, or to obey Him. He showed them how to believe, love and obey, and gave them the choice to follow.
These rules are what evolved into what Jesus hated about the temple, the priests, and the pharisees. They followed the rituals and practices of Judaism, but they did not have the love in their heart. They did not have the blind faith.
We need to look at these rules as a piece of history, not as something to do. Because of Jesus being the God-human sacrifice, the old rules are null and void.
That being said, let's move on.
In comes this man, Simeon. And I love Simeon's enthusiasm. He was a righteous and devout man, meaning he had followed all the laws and was pure of heart. But he was waiting for the Messiah and he was growing weary in heart waiting. So God spoke to Him and said, "Don't worry, you won't die until you see Christ." So Simeon went to the temple and behold(!) there was Jesus with his parents! So the man held Jesus and praised God thanking Him for fulfilling His promise to see the Messiah. Not many people at this time know exactly what to expect of the Messiah, as I've already said in previous posts. They expected a conquering king. They did not expect their savior to be a humble carpenter, able to die. They (the Israelites) know their savior would save them, they didn't know he would save the Gentiles (non-Jewish people) too. Mary and Joseph filled with wonder at what he said, and then he continued to talk to Mary about what Jesus would do, and that His salvation would even reach her. That just gives me chills, that Mary carried Jesus, gave birth to Him, raised Him, but His salvation was for her too.
Then there's Anna, a prophetess. It says she was of the tribe of Asher. As you can see in the picture, Asher was the northern-most tribe of Israel. (That green thing next to Nephtali) The tribe of Asher isn't really talked about much. Not because it is unimportant, but I think it is because it is so far north of our normal "setting". Jerusalem is in the tribe of Benjamin, near the border of the tribe of Judah.
So Anna travelled far to be there. I don't know if she had always lived in Asher (it says she was 84 years old) or if she and her husband had moved south in her younger years. Either way, she has been a widow for decades and so she spends all of her time in the temple, worshipping God 24/7. (You go, Anna!)
In those days (yes, this will be a common phrase in this blog, get used to it) when a man died, his wife was given to his brother. Women had the purpose of bearing children, so if a man were to die and the woman was still of child-bearing age, the would be wed or given as a second wife to the brother. The fact that she has been a widow for decades means her husband probably had no brothers. Without a brother to marry, Anna was without a purpose. (Hey, hey! Guess what, her purpose was praising God)
So, Awesome Anna, who has been praising God 24/7 even though she has no purpose in society's eyes, she is able to see any Jesus, and from then until the day she died, she spoke with words of hope to fellow Israelites who had been looking forward to Christ.
Mary and Joseph return home to Nazareth with Jesus.
He grew and became strong. This can be both physical strength and strength in God. We know Joseph was a carpenter because it is told to us, but honestly, I hadn't read it in the bible so i had to look it up. In Matthew 13:55, it talks about Jesus' earthly family. A carpenter has to be strong to build. Joseph taught Jesus his skills before Jesus went on his evangelical travels.
He was filled with wisdom. Remember that Jesus is God in human form. Remember that God is omniscient, which means He is all-knowing. So the full knowledge of God was in the human brain of Jesus.
The grace of God was upon Him. We've talked about grace before. The favor of God. And let's be honest, Jesus is God's son/God's flesh. Of course He would be in good favor. God would do whatever he could to protect His son from harm before His purpose was fulfilled.
Tomorrow we will finish up chapter 2 and in my opinion, it is a funny story. I'm excited :)
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Day 8 - Luke 2:8-20
We pick up our nativity story with the Shepherds and the Angels.
Remember I said, Bethlehem was a sheepherder's town? So here are these shepherds with their sheep in the middle of a field. And by field, I mean it is the outskirts of town, because animals were disgusting and people didn't want to be near them, they just wanted to eat them and sacrifice them.
Speaking of, shepherds were disgusting. Not only by their society's view of them on the hierarchy, but because they actually stank. They spent all their time with their sheep, and maybe with a couple other shepherds, in the dirty fields, in any weather. They did not have time to take baths, and they probably couldn't afford even the public baths in the town square, that is to say if such a small town had a public bath. They jumped in the river if it wasn't too cold to freeze them. Shepherds were disgusting people, yet look at who God chooses to go greet baby Jesus and worship Him.
The angel appears to them. We do not know which angel this is. But thats not what is important. It doesn't even matter what "type" of angel it was (cherubim, seraphim, etc). But we do know that the glory of the Lord shone around them. And it freaked these shepherds out.
A shining glory. I'm going to take this two ways.
It could have been a shining light that displayed God's glory. K, so these shepherds are out side of town because they smell, which is a good thing because these angels are like a flood light to a world without electricity. (Then again, God could've shielded Bethlehem for noticing this magnificent light, the same way I believe he shielded historians and archaeologists from noticing Nazareth until 400 years later) God and His greatness created the sun and all of its brightness and heat-ness, so these angels could have had the blinding light of the sun in their eyes. That's scary!
Or, the glory that they are shining with is like an "aura" where it is unseen, but an emotion and goodness shines around them.
Either way, it was a scary experience for these poor shepherds and this clip from The Two Towers, is the way I think of it.
Also, shepherds were defenders. They protected their sheep, so I'm sure they knew how to wield a weapon. If they didn't immediately know that it was angels around them, yeah, they might've attacked.
But I love that after Legolas and Gimli realize that it is Gandalf and not Saruman before them, they bow down to him. Yes, they were scared at first. Yes, they tried attacking, but when the glory had dimmed down, they bowed down.
The angel has to tell them to not be afraid and that they are to tell them something awesome. They tell the shepherds that Christ has been born in the town they are near. And Christ translates to Messiah, so the angel it telling them that this Messiah they have waited 400 years for, now has come.
They give the shepherds a clue on how to find the Messiah. And I'm sure the shepherds weren't expecting the angels to say that the Messiah would be a baby lying in an animal trough.
Now the other angels join this one and start singing. HOLY COW! How awesome would that have been to hear a choir of angels? I know I will hear them in the future when I am in Heaven, but to hear it on earth with earthly ears, when you are used to the sound of bleating sheep. It would've brought me to tears.
One of the most famous lines in Christmas songs in here, and it in itself it the gospel: peace on earth to men on whom his favor rests.
peace is not just a time of no war, peace is that overwhelming comfort.
remember we went over favor a few days ago - grace, charm, acceptance, goodwill, desire, to stoop in kindness to an inferior, and to be shown consideration.
God gives an overwhelming comfort to mankind because He forgives you, He is attracted to you, He has good intentions for you, He desires you, and He comes down on our level.
Then the angels leave. The shepherds say, "Awesome! Let's go into Bethlehem and see the Messiah!" I'd be that shepherd still sitting on the ground like, "Guys! Did you see the angels?" It takes me time to get over such awesome stuff, then I'd be excited to see Jesus.
They get to the barn and when they realize it's all true, I can imagine them running and skipping through the streets saying, "Come to the barn!! The Messiah has come! He's a baby, but it's HIM!" They probably woke up all the neighbors and the travelers staying at the inn, but it says all were amazed at what they had said. Then they returned to praise God for the fulfillment of His promise.
I'd like to think that if these people were woken up and were amazed, that it was more than just the shepherds who returned to praise God. That barn was probably packed with the entire little town of Bethlehem to see their savior.
Here ends our nativity scene. We'll pick up tomorrow with verse 21.
Remember I said, Bethlehem was a sheepherder's town? So here are these shepherds with their sheep in the middle of a field. And by field, I mean it is the outskirts of town, because animals were disgusting and people didn't want to be near them, they just wanted to eat them and sacrifice them.
Speaking of, shepherds were disgusting. Not only by their society's view of them on the hierarchy, but because they actually stank. They spent all their time with their sheep, and maybe with a couple other shepherds, in the dirty fields, in any weather. They did not have time to take baths, and they probably couldn't afford even the public baths in the town square, that is to say if such a small town had a public bath. They jumped in the river if it wasn't too cold to freeze them. Shepherds were disgusting people, yet look at who God chooses to go greet baby Jesus and worship Him.
The angel appears to them. We do not know which angel this is. But thats not what is important. It doesn't even matter what "type" of angel it was (cherubim, seraphim, etc). But we do know that the glory of the Lord shone around them. And it freaked these shepherds out.
A shining glory. I'm going to take this two ways.
It could have been a shining light that displayed God's glory. K, so these shepherds are out side of town because they smell, which is a good thing because these angels are like a flood light to a world without electricity. (Then again, God could've shielded Bethlehem for noticing this magnificent light, the same way I believe he shielded historians and archaeologists from noticing Nazareth until 400 years later) God and His greatness created the sun and all of its brightness and heat-ness, so these angels could have had the blinding light of the sun in their eyes. That's scary!
Or, the glory that they are shining with is like an "aura" where it is unseen, but an emotion and goodness shines around them.
Either way, it was a scary experience for these poor shepherds and this clip from The Two Towers, is the way I think of it.
Also, shepherds were defenders. They protected their sheep, so I'm sure they knew how to wield a weapon. If they didn't immediately know that it was angels around them, yeah, they might've attacked.
But I love that after Legolas and Gimli realize that it is Gandalf and not Saruman before them, they bow down to him. Yes, they were scared at first. Yes, they tried attacking, but when the glory had dimmed down, they bowed down.
The angel has to tell them to not be afraid and that they are to tell them something awesome. They tell the shepherds that Christ has been born in the town they are near. And Christ translates to Messiah, so the angel it telling them that this Messiah they have waited 400 years for, now has come.
They give the shepherds a clue on how to find the Messiah. And I'm sure the shepherds weren't expecting the angels to say that the Messiah would be a baby lying in an animal trough.
Now the other angels join this one and start singing. HOLY COW! How awesome would that have been to hear a choir of angels? I know I will hear them in the future when I am in Heaven, but to hear it on earth with earthly ears, when you are used to the sound of bleating sheep. It would've brought me to tears.
One of the most famous lines in Christmas songs in here, and it in itself it the gospel: peace on earth to men on whom his favor rests.
peace is not just a time of no war, peace is that overwhelming comfort.
remember we went over favor a few days ago - grace, charm, acceptance, goodwill, desire, to stoop in kindness to an inferior, and to be shown consideration.
God gives an overwhelming comfort to mankind because He forgives you, He is attracted to you, He has good intentions for you, He desires you, and He comes down on our level.
Then the angels leave. The shepherds say, "Awesome! Let's go into Bethlehem and see the Messiah!" I'd be that shepherd still sitting on the ground like, "Guys! Did you see the angels?" It takes me time to get over such awesome stuff, then I'd be excited to see Jesus.
They get to the barn and when they realize it's all true, I can imagine them running and skipping through the streets saying, "Come to the barn!! The Messiah has come! He's a baby, but it's HIM!" They probably woke up all the neighbors and the travelers staying at the inn, but it says all were amazed at what they had said. Then they returned to praise God for the fulfillment of His promise.
I'd like to think that if these people were woken up and were amazed, that it was more than just the shepherds who returned to praise God. That barn was probably packed with the entire little town of Bethlehem to see their savior.
Here ends our nativity scene. We'll pick up tomorrow with verse 21.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Day 7 - Luke 2:1-7
Today we begin the second chapter of Luke. This chapter talks about the birth and childhood of Jesus.
This is the awesomeness of our God. We were just talking about this yesterday in bible study. We watched a DVD called "Indescribable", it's a sermon by Louie Giglio. If you can get your hands on a copy or can borrow it from someone, please do. It is well worth it.
Basic synopsis: it's a Christian view of astronomy. I loved this DVD because I do love astronomy. To me, it is proof of God. I won't get too much into it. We can look at it more when we go through the psalms. But it gives you perspective on how BIG God is. In the bible, God is explaining that the universe (not just the earth, not just the solar system, not even just the Milky Way Galaxy) is measured in the span of His hand. Just try to grasp that concept for a second...
I know. It's difficult. But the same God who measures the universe by the span of his hand, is the same God that made himself a mortal man for the purpose of dying to save us. And this God that I talked about, didn't come floating down on a cloud, majestic and glorious; he came as a baby through a normal labor into a barn.
This God screamed when he was hungry, he nursed, he had his diaper changed. He had to learn how to walk and talk. If that isn't humility, I don't know what is.
Today, we're just going to go through the first 7 verses.
In those days - meaning during the time that we just finished talking about; during the time Mary was pregnant.
Caesar Augustus - first Roman Emperor and the founder of the Roman Empire. Look at this map. Augustus was the one who conquered Israel.
Caesar called for the census because he had just conquered Israel and he needed to know how many people were now in his land (aka how many people he could tax)
his own town - men took their wives and children to the city of their ancestors. Jerusalem was in the tribe of Benjamin, so descendants of Benjamin's tribe went probably went to Jerusalem. The famous city of Jericho. Descendants of the tribe of Menasseh went to Jericho. Since both Joseph and Mary were descendants of David, they went to Bethlehem. Even though David was the king in Jerusalem, David's family came from Bethlehem.
"pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child" - to me this is really interesting in what it implies. I'll either get more into this when we go through Matthew, or I'll just say "read day 7 again". Remember how we talked about Mary being a virgin and that a woman was soiled if she wasn't a virgin when she was married? Well imagine how it would've looked in that day if your "virgin" fiancee was pregnant. Today, we say, "We're getting married because she's pregnant," or a similar reason. But back then, a betrothed woman who was pregnant was seen as an adulteress. Back then, a betrothal was more committed than an engagement, but could consummate the relationship. A couple was betrothed for about a year when they were pledged to each other, but were not yet married. Mary knew that it was the Holy Spirit inside of her, but Joseph didn't know. Joseph thought that she had cheated on him and was expecting him to raise her child. He thought she wasn't faithful or righteous. He considered divorcing her. Back then, you couldn't break a betrothal the way you break an engagement. It required signed papers and probably returning the woman's dowry. But an angel came to Joseph and told him what had happened. He told Joseph the child was of God, not of a man, and that the baby should be named Jesus. I think it still took a leap of faith to trust the strange words of the angel. But he did. He continued with the betrothal and married Mary. But he waited to have sex with her until after Jesus was born.
I don't think Mary and Joseph were expecting to give birth while they were in Bethlehem for the census. They didn't have a scientific predictability of 40 weeks, and each woman starts showing her pregnancy at different stages, and they didn't know enough about the menstrual cycle, they probably thought, "OK, we'll go do the census and be home in time to give birth in our home." But God's plans are not always our plans. It was God's plan to have them give birth in the city of their ancestors, even more enforcing the fact that the throne of Israel belongs to Jesus alone.
I'm going to do the last sentence backwards.
There was no room for them in the inn, so she wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger.
Bethlehem still was a little sheepherders' town as it was in David's time, but it now had more descendants who ALL flocked there during the census. It wasn't like Vegas with a different hotel every 100 meters. This was like Amish country with more animals than people and one hotel. They had travelled miles and miles to get there, I'm sure Joseph had pitched many tents so that Mary could sleep on the road
There's many times I absolutely admire Joseph and his love for Mary. He could've been like a typical guy and obeyed the angel but still had harsh feelings for her and not been able to trust her, but he took care of her, stayed by her side, and helped raise the Son of God.
But on this particular night, Joseph couldn't just pitch a tent. Mary was in labor and Jesus was coming NOW.
I'm not sure if the barn they went to was owned by the innkeeper, or if they snuck into a barn, but there they were, amongst the noisy, smelly, messy animals. Mary gave birth right there and his bassinet was a manger. A manger was the trough that pig slop was thrown in. It held hay for horses. It probably had poop on it. it was in this disgusting wooden container that the savior of the world slept his first night as a human on earth.
I'm going to stop here and we'll pick up tomorrow with the Angels. Buenos Noches!
Today, we're just going to go through the first 7 verses.
In those days - meaning during the time that we just finished talking about; during the time Mary was pregnant.
Caesar Augustus - first Roman Emperor and the founder of the Roman Empire. Look at this map. Augustus was the one who conquered Israel.
Caesar called for the census because he had just conquered Israel and he needed to know how many people were now in his land (aka how many people he could tax)
his own town - men took their wives and children to the city of their ancestors. Jerusalem was in the tribe of Benjamin, so descendants of Benjamin's tribe went probably went to Jerusalem. The famous city of Jericho. Descendants of the tribe of Menasseh went to Jericho. Since both Joseph and Mary were descendants of David, they went to Bethlehem. Even though David was the king in Jerusalem, David's family came from Bethlehem.
"pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child" - to me this is really interesting in what it implies. I'll either get more into this when we go through Matthew, or I'll just say "read day 7 again". Remember how we talked about Mary being a virgin and that a woman was soiled if she wasn't a virgin when she was married? Well imagine how it would've looked in that day if your "virgin" fiancee was pregnant. Today, we say, "We're getting married because she's pregnant," or a similar reason. But back then, a betrothed woman who was pregnant was seen as an adulteress. Back then, a betrothal was more committed than an engagement, but could consummate the relationship. A couple was betrothed for about a year when they were pledged to each other, but were not yet married. Mary knew that it was the Holy Spirit inside of her, but Joseph didn't know. Joseph thought that she had cheated on him and was expecting him to raise her child. He thought she wasn't faithful or righteous. He considered divorcing her. Back then, you couldn't break a betrothal the way you break an engagement. It required signed papers and probably returning the woman's dowry. But an angel came to Joseph and told him what had happened. He told Joseph the child was of God, not of a man, and that the baby should be named Jesus. I think it still took a leap of faith to trust the strange words of the angel. But he did. He continued with the betrothal and married Mary. But he waited to have sex with her until after Jesus was born.
I don't think Mary and Joseph were expecting to give birth while they were in Bethlehem for the census. They didn't have a scientific predictability of 40 weeks, and each woman starts showing her pregnancy at different stages, and they didn't know enough about the menstrual cycle, they probably thought, "OK, we'll go do the census and be home in time to give birth in our home." But God's plans are not always our plans. It was God's plan to have them give birth in the city of their ancestors, even more enforcing the fact that the throne of Israel belongs to Jesus alone.
I'm going to do the last sentence backwards.
There was no room for them in the inn, so she wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger.
Bethlehem still was a little sheepherders' town as it was in David's time, but it now had more descendants who ALL flocked there during the census. It wasn't like Vegas with a different hotel every 100 meters. This was like Amish country with more animals than people and one hotel. They had travelled miles and miles to get there, I'm sure Joseph had pitched many tents so that Mary could sleep on the road
There's many times I absolutely admire Joseph and his love for Mary. He could've been like a typical guy and obeyed the angel but still had harsh feelings for her and not been able to trust her, but he took care of her, stayed by her side, and helped raise the Son of God.
But on this particular night, Joseph couldn't just pitch a tent. Mary was in labor and Jesus was coming NOW.
I'm not sure if the barn they went to was owned by the innkeeper, or if they snuck into a barn, but there they were, amongst the noisy, smelly, messy animals. Mary gave birth right there and his bassinet was a manger. A manger was the trough that pig slop was thrown in. It held hay for horses. It probably had poop on it. it was in this disgusting wooden container that the savior of the world slept his first night as a human on earth.
I'm going to stop here and we'll pick up tomorrow with the Angels. Buenos Noches!
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Day 6 - Luke 1:57-80
Now it is time for Elizabeth to give birth to John. We're in verses 57-80.
There are some lines in the Bible that it is unknown why God chose for that to be written. We know that Luke likes to show the more emotional side of things. So perhaps verse 58 is his emotional writing showing how much people rejoiced over a baby, not even knowing the great purpose God had for John.
I think it's interesting that boy babies weren't named until they were circumcised, and girl babies probably weren't named until they were eight days old either. In that time, there was a lot of complications with childbearing and birth. It was only up until about 100 years ago that childbearing and birth became safe because of modern medicine. 33%-50% of children didn't make it through the process. Women could hemorrhage and bleed out, miscarriages, premature births, birth defects, and issues with nutrition are all factors that occurred then, and still do now, but we have NICU departments, transfusions, pills to help prevent miscarriages, and formula to provide nutrition. When a baby was born healthy and survived those first 8 days, it was cause of great celebration. I guess they felt that it would be pointless to name the baby at birth if they were going to die a couple days later.
All Jewish male babies were called to be circumcised. I'm sure you know what circumcision is, and I don't know if you've heard or read the debates as "to circumcise, or not to circumcise; that is the question". Read them on your own time. But it was originally created by God and was supposed to only be used from the time of Abraham to the time of Jesus. Jesus was supposed to be the last person circumcised. I'm getting really tired of typing that word, especially because I struggle spelling it. "The act" was to be a representative of shedding blood. It was part of the Old Covenant that God had established with his people. The way that it was described to the people of Israel was the relationship between a suzerain and his servants. A suzerain was a master, a land owner; and servants were the people that he owned. God commanded that the people be loyal and love Him the way a servant is loyal to and loves his suzerain because the suzerain provided for the servant. God required the sacrificing of livestock if you owned livestock. He required the best ox, the best cow, the best lamb. It was shameful to sacrifice the runt, or anything less than best. He also required farmers to sacrifice 10% of their harvest. Whatever it was that they grew, they had to sacrifice 10% of it. Baby boys were also called to shed blood. Women already shed blood in childbirth, so men had to "snip the tip" for the sacrifice of blood. It wasn't like, "Sacrifice to me and I will provide for you" or "sacrifice to me and I won't kill you" the way other religions see sacrifice, it was "sacrifice to me because I have in the past and I will in the future provide for you". It was meant as an act of love and worship, not an act of force.
Anyways, Zechariah still couldn't speak because the angel had made him mute from doubting God, so people assumed the baby was to be named after him. But Elizabeth spoke up. She didn't know what the angel had said to her husband, unless he had written it on a piece of papyrus during the 9 months, but she knew that the baby was supposed to be named John.
Everyone thought, "That's a silly name. It's not even a Hebrew name. No one else in your family is named John," So they handed some papyrus to Zechariah and he told them what the angel had told him. And when he wrote the words, the "prophesy of the birth of John" had been fulfilled and the curse was lifted from Zechariah. His lips were unsealed and he was able to talk again. Of course, everyone is amazed that he can speak again. Word spread far and wide that Zechariah the priest was verbal again. They could tell that only God could shut him up so quickly and only God could open his mouth again. Because of that, they knew God had great plans for this baby John.
The first thing Zechariah says when he can speak again, is he praised God and prophesied.
68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
There are some lines in the Bible that it is unknown why God chose for that to be written. We know that Luke likes to show the more emotional side of things. So perhaps verse 58 is his emotional writing showing how much people rejoiced over a baby, not even knowing the great purpose God had for John.
I think it's interesting that boy babies weren't named until they were circumcised, and girl babies probably weren't named until they were eight days old either. In that time, there was a lot of complications with childbearing and birth. It was only up until about 100 years ago that childbearing and birth became safe because of modern medicine. 33%-50% of children didn't make it through the process. Women could hemorrhage and bleed out, miscarriages, premature births, birth defects, and issues with nutrition are all factors that occurred then, and still do now, but we have NICU departments, transfusions, pills to help prevent miscarriages, and formula to provide nutrition. When a baby was born healthy and survived those first 8 days, it was cause of great celebration. I guess they felt that it would be pointless to name the baby at birth if they were going to die a couple days later.
All Jewish male babies were called to be circumcised. I'm sure you know what circumcision is, and I don't know if you've heard or read the debates as "to circumcise, or not to circumcise; that is the question". Read them on your own time. But it was originally created by God and was supposed to only be used from the time of Abraham to the time of Jesus. Jesus was supposed to be the last person circumcised. I'm getting really tired of typing that word, especially because I struggle spelling it. "The act" was to be a representative of shedding blood. It was part of the Old Covenant that God had established with his people. The way that it was described to the people of Israel was the relationship between a suzerain and his servants. A suzerain was a master, a land owner; and servants were the people that he owned. God commanded that the people be loyal and love Him the way a servant is loyal to and loves his suzerain because the suzerain provided for the servant. God required the sacrificing of livestock if you owned livestock. He required the best ox, the best cow, the best lamb. It was shameful to sacrifice the runt, or anything less than best. He also required farmers to sacrifice 10% of their harvest. Whatever it was that they grew, they had to sacrifice 10% of it. Baby boys were also called to shed blood. Women already shed blood in childbirth, so men had to "snip the tip" for the sacrifice of blood. It wasn't like, "Sacrifice to me and I will provide for you" or "sacrifice to me and I won't kill you" the way other religions see sacrifice, it was "sacrifice to me because I have in the past and I will in the future provide for you". It was meant as an act of love and worship, not an act of force.
Anyways, Zechariah still couldn't speak because the angel had made him mute from doubting God, so people assumed the baby was to be named after him. But Elizabeth spoke up. She didn't know what the angel had said to her husband, unless he had written it on a piece of papyrus during the 9 months, but she knew that the baby was supposed to be named John.
Everyone thought, "That's a silly name. It's not even a Hebrew name. No one else in your family is named John," So they handed some papyrus to Zechariah and he told them what the angel had told him. And when he wrote the words, the "prophesy of the birth of John" had been fulfilled and the curse was lifted from Zechariah. His lips were unsealed and he was able to talk again. Of course, everyone is amazed that he can speak again. Word spread far and wide that Zechariah the priest was verbal again. They could tell that only God could shut him up so quickly and only God could open his mouth again. Because of that, they knew God had great plans for this baby John.
The first thing Zechariah says when he can speak again, is he praised God and prophesied.
68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
He has come as living flesh, as the Messiah, as Jesus, to his people, to the nation of Israel, to those who believe in Him and saved them, set them free.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
in the house of his servant David
The symbol of a "horn" represented a mighty king. So He raised up a mighty king to save us. Notice the word king, and remember that the nation of Israel was expecting a mighty king as they know the word: a mighty ruler, someone with power who will conquer and defeat the enemy, not knowing Jesus would be a humble man in rags who would be defeated by humanity, but would defeat The Enemy. And the King would come from the family of David, who was the greatest king but also servant of God that the nation had known.
70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
The Messiah had been prophesied for centuries, especially by Isaiah, and then God was "quiet" for 200 years as Israel waited for their savior.
71 salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
and from the hand of all who hate us—
Enemy = those who hate you, right? I think the reason these two phrases are separate is because "the enemies" were pertaining to Satan and his demons. "The hand of those who hate us" was pertaining to people who didn't follow God, especially those who had conquered Israel. Remember that Israel was a consistently conquered nation. The Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Romans, and then even after Christ, Israel is constantly conquered. Example: The Holocaust. Why? Israel is God's chosen people and Satan is jealous of the nation. He wants to smite Israel because he wants all the attention and glory, so he is constantly attacking Israel.
72 to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
This is in reference to the Old Covenant I talked about earlier. Their ancestors had been faithful, so God is holding true to his promise of redemption. How many religions and foreign deities do you know of who make promises to their people and actually hold true? Most are like, "Obey me and I will bless you" and either nothing happens, or "Psyche! I've changed my mind. I'll smite you instead." Again, this is my proof of God's reality. No other God actually loves his people the way my God does. :)
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
to serve God in holiness and righteousness forever. We are not perfect, but we can strive to be perfect. We can strive to serve God perfectly. Even if we fail, God is King of "you get an A for effort".
76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
John will be called a prophet of God. He will be a segue from the Old Testament and the Old Covenant to the New Testament and the New Covenant. He his to prepare the way, and prepare the people for Jesus. Which is why John is included as such a main character in the story of Jesus' life.
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
through the forgiveness of their sins,
The disciples and apostles were to be givers of the good news. They were to travel and spread the gospel far and wide. Not for the Borg/European/Christian picketers way to "assimilate or die" purpose, but to be loving, share the love of God, and share the salvation of Christ, who forgave our sins and eliminated the need for sacrifice.
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
Again, the love of God. This is reinforcing God's perfect love. Mercy is so synonymous with love because only by God's perfect love for His creation would grace and mercy exist. There is an awesome analogy for grace that I heard. It's a child's analogy, but sometimes that's how you get an adult to understand. say you out playing on the playground, and a kid pushes you down and kicks sand in your face. The response you want to give is to hit them back and kick sand in their face, or worse. But grace is like turning to that mean kid and giving them a cookie. To an outsider, and to the mean kid, the cookie doesn't make sense. But it's what God does. We constantly question Him, curse Him, turn our back on Him, and all other sorts of things that are like kicking sand in God's face. But His unfathomable love allows for mercy and grace and he gives us cookies even though we are bad. Does that make sense? We are the ones who sinned, but He's the one who died to allow us into Heaven. How awesome!
79 to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
John (and indirectly, we) was called to be a light to those who were living or lost in darkness, or in the darkness of death and sickness. John (again, we also) was called to be leader and a guide; to show others how to walk in peace and therefore to walk in Jesus' path, because Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
And John grew up living in the wilderness (alone. with only God as his companion) and his spirit grew strong, as did His Spirit grow strong in John, and God prepared John in the wilderness until it was time to speak to the nations and ready them for Jesus.
HEY! We finished Luke 1! That's really exciting. Come back tomorrow for our next chapter.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Day 5 - Luke 1:39-56
Picking up where we left off yesterday in Luke 1
Verses 39-56.
So Mary has just been told that she will be pregnant with the Son of God. She has been told that her elderly cousin Elizabeth has become pregnant. Imagine if you were told that a 70-year-old cousin became pregnant. You'd want to see it for yourself! You wouldn't want to call her, you probably wouldn't even want to Skype her. You would want to see it and feel her baby bump! So Mary didn't send a letter to Elizabeth, she got up and she went to Elizabeth. I'm not sure how far Nazareth is from the town Zechariah lived in, but when you only have feet and donkeys as transportation, I'm sure it took a while. I'm sure back in those days, women got just as excited over a baby as we do now. I'm sure they had their own version of baby showers.
I love in verse 41 that the moment Elizabeth hears Mary's voice, the baby leaps inside of her and she is filled with the Holy Spirit. Remember back in verse 15, when the angel is telling Zechariah that Elizabeth will become pregnant, it says that even before he is born, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. You know how a baby tends to kick more when the father is near than when another person is near? Maybe the baby can hear it's daddy's voice. Maybe the baby can feel mama's heart race when daddy is near. Maybe the baby can "just feel" that its their daddy, the way a mama can "just feel" if its a boy or girl when the tests have been inconclusive. I don't know what it is. I haven't been pregnant before. But its as if all three baby radar methods went off as once and little Johnny Baptist was bouncing off the womb walls in excitement that the Messiah was in the room. (I apologize for my weird vivid wording. I've been hanging out with a weird friend today)
The word "bless" generally has 3 meanings: 1) As protection, which is commonly used in our society Sneeze then "bless you", or "bless her little heart!" 2) To bestow divine favor "or any good" upon; directionally from God to humans - "God bless America", "the Lord has blessed me", "I feel so blessed" 3) To pronounce and holy and to glorify; directionally from humans to God - Bless the Lord, Bless the name of the Lord.
Quick tangent - thinking about this, its funny that humans say "I will now bless the food" or "I will bless the house". They are either implying that they are God and have the ability to bestow divine favor upon something, or they are proclaiming that food or a house is holy. God is the only one who has the ability to provide protection upon something, since divine means godly, God is the only one able to bestow divine favor, and God is the only thing holy that we as human have the capability or should be blessing. So, any men out there reading this, if you go to ask your girlfriend's dad's blessing to get married, please understand that your future father-in-law is not God, and he doesn't have the power to bless. All you can do, all he can do, is ask that God would bless the marriage. Same goes for praying over food. You are not blessing the food, you are asking God to bless the food. It sound like a stupid tangent but sometimes its the little things we say that stick out in ridiculous ways.
Back on track... So we're back to this concept of Mary being highly favored. Elizabeth says "blessed are you among women", look back at my second definition, to bestow divine favor. Everyone knows and can see in the radiance of the Holy Spirit through her that Mary is blessed, favored, graced, shown consideration, and God has "stooped down" to her level. (I wish I could live my life that everyone, everyday, could see His Spirit emanating from me)
Elizabeth then says that the child within her is blessed, and this goes to the third definition. Elizabeth knew that the Messiah was in Mary's womb and she was proclaiming him as holy.
Elizabeth already knows (or should know, at this point) that God has blessed her with a child in her old age. Because Zechariah can't talk, she doesn't know what the angel said to him, but she still knows she's pregnant. But it's like when those celebrities to the surprise visits to fan's houses: "How am I so lucky that <insert your favorite celebrity name here> would come to visit me?" Elizabeth is Mary's cousin and it's like she's feeling star-struck. "How am I so lucky, so favored, or so worthy to have The Messiah in my living room?!" But I guess that's exactly the point of Jesus. He didn't come to save the wealthy and the "important people" he came for the common man, the broken man, and every man. We are not and never will be worthy of His redemption or even of His presence, but He comes to us despite that.
Mary then breaks out into song.
It is her song of victory, hope, praise. It is her praise of God's greatness, goodness, and faithfulness. Mary's song has a direct correlation to the song Hannah sings in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Read a bit of the chapter before she sings. Hannah was another barren woman, like many in the Old Testament, whom God blessed with children even when they had no hope for children.
This song reminds me of Mary's (and Hannah's) song. The verses are more for after Jesus was born, but the chorus is so very much her song as it was in the bible.
It says she stays for three months, and then went home. So if Elizabeth was in her sixth month when Mary arrived, then John was born very shortly after Mary left.
Tune in tomorrow for the last section of Luke 1!
Verses 39-56.
So Mary has just been told that she will be pregnant with the Son of God. She has been told that her elderly cousin Elizabeth has become pregnant. Imagine if you were told that a 70-year-old cousin became pregnant. You'd want to see it for yourself! You wouldn't want to call her, you probably wouldn't even want to Skype her. You would want to see it and feel her baby bump! So Mary didn't send a letter to Elizabeth, she got up and she went to Elizabeth. I'm not sure how far Nazareth is from the town Zechariah lived in, but when you only have feet and donkeys as transportation, I'm sure it took a while. I'm sure back in those days, women got just as excited over a baby as we do now. I'm sure they had their own version of baby showers.
I love in verse 41 that the moment Elizabeth hears Mary's voice, the baby leaps inside of her and she is filled with the Holy Spirit. Remember back in verse 15, when the angel is telling Zechariah that Elizabeth will become pregnant, it says that even before he is born, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. You know how a baby tends to kick more when the father is near than when another person is near? Maybe the baby can hear it's daddy's voice. Maybe the baby can feel mama's heart race when daddy is near. Maybe the baby can "just feel" that its their daddy, the way a mama can "just feel" if its a boy or girl when the tests have been inconclusive. I don't know what it is. I haven't been pregnant before. But its as if all three baby radar methods went off as once and little Johnny Baptist was bouncing off the womb walls in excitement that the Messiah was in the room. (I apologize for my weird vivid wording. I've been hanging out with a weird friend today)
The word "bless" generally has 3 meanings: 1) As protection, which is commonly used in our society Sneeze then "bless you", or "bless her little heart!" 2) To bestow divine favor "or any good" upon; directionally from God to humans - "God bless America", "the Lord has blessed me", "I feel so blessed" 3) To pronounce and holy and to glorify; directionally from humans to God - Bless the Lord, Bless the name of the Lord.
Quick tangent - thinking about this, its funny that humans say "I will now bless the food" or "I will bless the house". They are either implying that they are God and have the ability to bestow divine favor upon something, or they are proclaiming that food or a house is holy. God is the only one who has the ability to provide protection upon something, since divine means godly, God is the only one able to bestow divine favor, and God is the only thing holy that we as human have the capability or should be blessing. So, any men out there reading this, if you go to ask your girlfriend's dad's blessing to get married, please understand that your future father-in-law is not God, and he doesn't have the power to bless. All you can do, all he can do, is ask that God would bless the marriage. Same goes for praying over food. You are not blessing the food, you are asking God to bless the food. It sound like a stupid tangent but sometimes its the little things we say that stick out in ridiculous ways.
Back on track... So we're back to this concept of Mary being highly favored. Elizabeth says "blessed are you among women", look back at my second definition, to bestow divine favor. Everyone knows and can see in the radiance of the Holy Spirit through her that Mary is blessed, favored, graced, shown consideration, and God has "stooped down" to her level. (I wish I could live my life that everyone, everyday, could see His Spirit emanating from me)
Elizabeth then says that the child within her is blessed, and this goes to the third definition. Elizabeth knew that the Messiah was in Mary's womb and she was proclaiming him as holy.
Elizabeth already knows (or should know, at this point) that God has blessed her with a child in her old age. Because Zechariah can't talk, she doesn't know what the angel said to him, but she still knows she's pregnant. But it's like when those celebrities to the surprise visits to fan's houses: "How am I so lucky that <insert your favorite celebrity name here> would come to visit me?" Elizabeth is Mary's cousin and it's like she's feeling star-struck. "How am I so lucky, so favored, or so worthy to have The Messiah in my living room?!" But I guess that's exactly the point of Jesus. He didn't come to save the wealthy and the "important people" he came for the common man, the broken man, and every man. We are not and never will be worthy of His redemption or even of His presence, but He comes to us despite that.
Mary then breaks out into song.
It is her song of victory, hope, praise. It is her praise of God's greatness, goodness, and faithfulness. Mary's song has a direct correlation to the song Hannah sings in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Read a bit of the chapter before she sings. Hannah was another barren woman, like many in the Old Testament, whom God blessed with children even when they had no hope for children.
This song reminds me of Mary's (and Hannah's) song. The verses are more for after Jesus was born, but the chorus is so very much her song as it was in the bible.
It says she stays for three months, and then went home. So if Elizabeth was in her sixth month when Mary arrived, then John was born very shortly after Mary left.
Tune in tomorrow for the last section of Luke 1!
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Day 4 - Luke 1:29-38
OK, lets get back into this.
Luke 1:29-38. Gabriel is still talking to Mary.
"Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be." Read this, it shows examples of Angels appearing in the Old Testament, which is what Mary thought of when she was afraid and wondering. Angels were guardians and protectors, angels were warriors, angels were messengers, angels gave good news, angels were encouragers, angels were scary (they didn't always look like the perfect images we see as angels in art, and God gave them power. Yes, I would be in fear more than I would be in awe) Angels also appear as eternally singing to God. So Mary didn't really know what to expect when she saw an angel before her. "Why is he here? Why is this happening to me? What did I do?" is probably what ran through her mind as Gabriel is making his opening speech. Which might be why he had to repeat himself in verse 30.
In verse 31, Gabriel gets down to business and says what he came to say. Some of this is pretty straight forward and self explanatory. So lets skip to the "throne of his father David" part. We know that David was the King of Israel.
Let's start quick on Saul. Saul was the first King of Israel. He was the first because God had told his people to have no other gods (meaning focuses of worship) before Him and that God is their leader. But the people felt they were at a disadvantage to other nations who had kings. Then had been conquered before, they probably feared being conquered again, so they wanted a king and Saul was chosen. (fast forward in time and summarizing) Saul disobeyed God and so God regretting putting Saul on a throne.
God sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse (David's father, who lived in Bethlehem) and told him one of Jesse's son would be the king after Saul. Samuel goes there and interviews all 7 sons. David was the youngest and smallest, but he had a good heart. God does not look at outward appearance, He looks at the heart.
You know the scene from Cinderella (yesterday is actually the 64th anniversary of that movie being released. Funny that it should come up) when the shoe is being fitted on the stepsisters and they are fighting over the shoe trying to make it fit and the grand advisor just has this awful headache. He's done for the day. He's done searching for this maiden. He just wants to go home. Imagine Samuel as the grand advisor (because as prophet, he was like an advisor to King Saul. Thank you Disney for analogies) and Samuel is tired after his journey to this little town of Bethlehem and he just wants to sit down to dinner with this nice man, Jesse. He's probably thinking, "God are you sure one of these will be king? You told me not to look at appearance and all of these guys are just... built" and just like the grand advisor asks if there are any maidens in the house to try on the slipper, Samuel asks if Jesse has anymore sons. Lady Tremaine had Cinderella locked away because she knew she was the one they were looking for. But Jesse doubts his youngest son. He doubts the plan that God has for him. But he tells Samuel of his youngest and smallest son. Sure enough, Samuel brings David back to Jerusalem.
At this point, Saul begins to have bad dreams and is "tormented by an evil spirit". I feel this tormenting was done by God because it was how He knew He would reach the man who had rejected His instructions. one of the servants calls for David because he plays the lyre (similar to a harp) and David is able to calm the bad dreams with his music and Saul likes this boy. So he sends a letter to Jesse asking if David can stay with him and be an armor-bearer (though if you get a letter from the king, you better give him permission)
Years later, after defeating the giant and becoming best friends with Jonathan (Saul's brother), David marries the king's daughter, Michal. When Saul and all of his sons are killed in battle, David is named king. David's descendants ruled the throne of Israel until Zedekiah (about 420 years) is conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. From this point for the rest of the Old Testament, the line of David does not have the throne, they aren't celebrities, and they aren't even remotely popular. It's not like a pedigree that the descendants of David walked around with.
Man, do I ramble...
Ok. "Jacob's descendants". Jacob was also given the name of Israel and Jacob was the one who had the 12 sons, each son was the leader of a tribe, hence, the 12 tribes of Israel. Notice, it doesn't say the descendants of Abraham. Abraham was the father of all nations (Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac was the father of Jacob and Esau) it said that Jesus would be king of Jacob's descendants, not Esau's descendants. You find out Esau is the father of the arabs, and therefore the father of the Islamic faith. God fully knows that Muslims have a hard time accepting Christianity because Jesus was not supposed to be their king.
"his kingdom will never end" this goes to my first post about how we were originally intended to be eternal beings. Our lives are supposed to last forever. His reign is over us always.
So now Mary's questioning the angel. Before, when angels have spoken to people that they will have children in their old age, they at least had already been married and had sex with each other first. Mary is not yet married to Joseph so she doesn't understand how she can become pregnant.
Gabriel explains that the Holy Spirit will be upon her. Think of it as spiritual insemination. Being that it is God who creates the life inside her, Jesus is called the Son of God.
To prove the power of God, he tells her that her cousin Elizabeth is pregnant for the first time in her old age.
And this is what I love. Instead of doubting the angel or laughing at his face, or anything else that anyone could've done, Mary has a peace over her. She accepts the situation and turns it into a moment of worshipping God and allowing herself to be His servant.
Stopping here and we'll get into Mary visiting Elizabeth tomorrow.
Luke 1:29-38. Gabriel is still talking to Mary.
"Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be." Read this, it shows examples of Angels appearing in the Old Testament, which is what Mary thought of when she was afraid and wondering. Angels were guardians and protectors, angels were warriors, angels were messengers, angels gave good news, angels were encouragers, angels were scary (they didn't always look like the perfect images we see as angels in art, and God gave them power. Yes, I would be in fear more than I would be in awe) Angels also appear as eternally singing to God. So Mary didn't really know what to expect when she saw an angel before her. "Why is he here? Why is this happening to me? What did I do?" is probably what ran through her mind as Gabriel is making his opening speech. Which might be why he had to repeat himself in verse 30.
In verse 31, Gabriel gets down to business and says what he came to say. Some of this is pretty straight forward and self explanatory. So lets skip to the "throne of his father David" part. We know that David was the King of Israel.
Let's start quick on Saul. Saul was the first King of Israel. He was the first because God had told his people to have no other gods (meaning focuses of worship) before Him and that God is their leader. But the people felt they were at a disadvantage to other nations who had kings. Then had been conquered before, they probably feared being conquered again, so they wanted a king and Saul was chosen. (fast forward in time and summarizing) Saul disobeyed God and so God regretting putting Saul on a throne.
God sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse (David's father, who lived in Bethlehem) and told him one of Jesse's son would be the king after Saul. Samuel goes there and interviews all 7 sons. David was the youngest and smallest, but he had a good heart. God does not look at outward appearance, He looks at the heart.
You know the scene from Cinderella (yesterday is actually the 64th anniversary of that movie being released. Funny that it should come up) when the shoe is being fitted on the stepsisters and they are fighting over the shoe trying to make it fit and the grand advisor just has this awful headache. He's done for the day. He's done searching for this maiden. He just wants to go home. Imagine Samuel as the grand advisor (because as prophet, he was like an advisor to King Saul. Thank you Disney for analogies) and Samuel is tired after his journey to this little town of Bethlehem and he just wants to sit down to dinner with this nice man, Jesse. He's probably thinking, "God are you sure one of these will be king? You told me not to look at appearance and all of these guys are just... built" and just like the grand advisor asks if there are any maidens in the house to try on the slipper, Samuel asks if Jesse has anymore sons. Lady Tremaine had Cinderella locked away because she knew she was the one they were looking for. But Jesse doubts his youngest son. He doubts the plan that God has for him. But he tells Samuel of his youngest and smallest son. Sure enough, Samuel brings David back to Jerusalem.
At this point, Saul begins to have bad dreams and is "tormented by an evil spirit". I feel this tormenting was done by God because it was how He knew He would reach the man who had rejected His instructions. one of the servants calls for David because he plays the lyre (similar to a harp) and David is able to calm the bad dreams with his music and Saul likes this boy. So he sends a letter to Jesse asking if David can stay with him and be an armor-bearer (though if you get a letter from the king, you better give him permission)
Years later, after defeating the giant and becoming best friends with Jonathan (Saul's brother), David marries the king's daughter, Michal. When Saul and all of his sons are killed in battle, David is named king. David's descendants ruled the throne of Israel until Zedekiah (about 420 years) is conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. From this point for the rest of the Old Testament, the line of David does not have the throne, they aren't celebrities, and they aren't even remotely popular. It's not like a pedigree that the descendants of David walked around with.
Man, do I ramble...
Ok. "Jacob's descendants". Jacob was also given the name of Israel and Jacob was the one who had the 12 sons, each son was the leader of a tribe, hence, the 12 tribes of Israel. Notice, it doesn't say the descendants of Abraham. Abraham was the father of all nations (Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac was the father of Jacob and Esau) it said that Jesus would be king of Jacob's descendants, not Esau's descendants. You find out Esau is the father of the arabs, and therefore the father of the Islamic faith. God fully knows that Muslims have a hard time accepting Christianity because Jesus was not supposed to be their king.
"his kingdom will never end" this goes to my first post about how we were originally intended to be eternal beings. Our lives are supposed to last forever. His reign is over us always.
So now Mary's questioning the angel. Before, when angels have spoken to people that they will have children in their old age, they at least had already been married and had sex with each other first. Mary is not yet married to Joseph so she doesn't understand how she can become pregnant.
Gabriel explains that the Holy Spirit will be upon her. Think of it as spiritual insemination. Being that it is God who creates the life inside her, Jesus is called the Son of God.
To prove the power of God, he tells her that her cousin Elizabeth is pregnant for the first time in her old age.
And this is what I love. Instead of doubting the angel or laughing at his face, or anything else that anyone could've done, Mary has a peace over her. She accepts the situation and turns it into a moment of worshipping God and allowing herself to be His servant.
Stopping here and we'll get into Mary visiting Elizabeth tomorrow.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Day 3 - Luke 1:26-28
Here we are, back again. Sorry I was MIA for a few days. I have a habit of starting things late in the day, and then I get too tired to finish them. Also, I've been a little discouraged the past few days. It's hard to calm myself enough to get into the study, which is ironic because when I do pick up my bible, I become calm.
We left off at the end of verse 25 when Gabriel had visited Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth became pregnant. Today, we will focus on Gabriel visiting Mary, and see how far we get. This passage can be found in Luke 1:26-38.
Remember before, we talked about Elizabeth going into seclusion for 5 months. So this first part of the sentence in merely stating that Gabriel came to Mary during the 6th month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, just after being in seclusion. I'm not going to go heavily into this, but because it's a fascinating read, I'm going to leave this here and let you read it. Some people obsess over when Jesus was born. Jewish knowledge and biblical passages have pointed people to an exact date. The research makes sense, but it isn't something that is of dire importance.
Why Nazareth of Galilee? I just googled for a reason myself. Was Nazareth King David's kingdom? Was Galilee a significant place for Jews? Out of all of my years being a Christian, I don't think I've ever seen so much controversy over something. Many people think this passage proves the Bible is fake because archaeologists and historians don't find a record of Nazareth until 400 years after Jesus was born.
My take on that, since when did God use famous people to act out His will? He took the smallest shepherd son and made him the greatest king (David), He took a coward and made him the leader of an army (Gideon), He took somebody who was absolutely beaten to the core by Satan and used him to sing His praises (Job), and he used someone who constantly disobeyed Him and doubted Him to go and preach to others (Jonah). I could go on. Moses had a studder, yet God used Him to lead the Jews out of slavery and walk 40 years through the desert into the promised land. If God uses "nobodies" like these to do His will, why wouldn't He use a small and unknown town (some say Nazareth, if it had existed when Jesus was born, would've only had 100-200 people. That's a small village by anyone's standards) like Nazareth to enact His plan of redemption?
Also remember, that in that time, people had been expecting the Messiah's birth because of the many prophecies, including those in the book of Isaiah. The government expected a leader, a conquerer, and an administrative king to come to the aid of the Jews and take over the world. They went around killing baby boys, hoping to kill the Messiah. God knew that the government would seek him, so He did not let it be known where Jesus would be born or where he would grow up. Erasing historical evidence sounds like protection that only God Himself could provide.
But, I think He gave a clue. Nazareth is similar to the Hebrew word for branch. In Isaiah 11:1, it says that a shoot will sprout out from the stump of Jesse, meaning that from a great family tree that had been cut down or fallen, a new life would come forth. And the branch will bear fruit. Branch = Nazareth, fruit = Jesus. Remember that Jesse was the father of David. Remember that according to Luke, Mary was a descendant of King David from his son Nathan. and Remember that according to Matthew, Joseph was a descendant of King David through his son Solomon. Legalistically, Jesus had a right to the throne.
Now that the first verse is done... In that day, and throughout time up until about 60-ish years ago, women were considered soiled, impure, unrighteous, and unworthy if they were not virgins when they were married. And up until renaissance times, women were eligible to be wed when they were 13. They were usually betrothed to a man by their parents.
Marriage has always been viewed as means of procreation. By our standards of society and life, thats hard to accept because there are so many couples out there who are unable to have children, personally I think it is a result of the artificial foods and medicine we put into our body and it passes on to a child as a "hidden birth defect". It's also hard to accept because for the longest time, society viewed marriage as finding the best person to create the best children.
Biblical times, marriage was about procreation, but more importantly about servitude to God. Many famous biblical couples were barren, but they were mentioned because they loved God and they were faithful to Him even when they went through such hardships.
Now, marriage is all about finding that one special person who loves you no matter what. No matter gender, age, religion, or whether you both agree on having children. People get married for tax reasons. People get married knowing they will get divorced in a few years, they just want to not "feel guilty" about the sex they want now. People get married because they already have a baby, not knowing if they will grow to love each other.
Do you realize how difficult it is to find a spouse for godly and biblical reasons in today's society where people view marriage for a completely different reason? But I digress.
All that being said to show that Mary was probably 13 when she bore Jesus. Nativity art depicts her as early-mid 20s, but knowing society then, she was about 13. She was the age of an 8th grader. And she was betrothed by her parents to marry Joseph (not to say that betrothals go against God's plan. remember they were both of the line of David. God planned for them to be engaged. And no matter how much you feel you regretted a marriage or wish you could leave a marriage, they are all in His plan)
The angel tells Mary that she is highly favored. Firstly, it must be pointed out that Mary is the only female mentioned to have favor in the eyes of the Lord. Here is a list of bible verses that use the word favor. All of the verses refer to a man with God's favor or like in the Psalms, seeking favor with God. Mary is the only female who is called favored. and not just favored, she is highly favored. she's not special, she's super special. She's not important, she's super important. She is highly favored.
Now, the way we use the word "favor" is very different from how people in the bible use that word. Remember that language changes over time. Which is how the bible gets misinterpreted.
Now, we use favor to say that we prefer it over something else, calling it a favorite, or we ask someone to do a favor, which is doing an action for us that we don't deserve. God wouldn't use our first meaning for favor. His love is perfect, unconditional, and across the board. As humans, we like the idea of favoritism, but God loves you as much as He loves me. And He loves us as much as He loves the person you hate the most. But our second definition of favor is more accurate to the way it is used in the Bible. Now check out this. It's an outline from a pastor's sermon on God's favor. Check out the definitions for favor: grace, charm, acceptance, goodwill, desire, to stoop in kindness to an inferior, and to be shown consideration. That is God's version of doing something for us that we don't deserve. I want to get the idea across of what is going on here.
Grace: forgiveness, mercy, kindness, love. Charm: attractiveness (He is attracted to you) Acceptance: reception and approval. Goodwill: kindness, benevolence (He has a desire to do good for you) Desire: to long for, to crave. Stoop in kindness to an inferior: He is perfection, we are imperfect and therefore inferior. He wants to be on our level instead of looking down on us. Consideration: sympathetic regard or respect. Can you believe it? God respects us! And He is sympathetic - He understands our emotions - He shares our emotions - He FEELS our emotions.
Okay, now take all of that and apply it to the angel speaking to Mary. WOW! What a feeling to be told that God favors you!
The Lord is with you. This is a reoccuring phrase in the Bible. It is reassurance that even though you can't see God, and even though we have lost our perfect communion with Him, He is always beside us, whether we know it or not, and whether we accept it or not. Think of God like you think of air. Air is always there. God is always there. You can only take away air by a man-made vacuum. Only by man-made persistence and stubbornness can we remove God from our life. But even when you don't want God in your life. He is still there.
I find a second meaning to this. Often, the Angels say to people, "Do not be afraid," and I'll get to that more when I'm focusing on other passages, but I feel like this is Gabriel's way of telling Mary to not be afraid. "Hey, I'm about to tell you something that seems impossible, but it's true. I'm going to tell you something and you will be scared, you will be looked down upon by your peers, and it will be so difficult, but do not be afraid. What I'm about to tell you is leading up to 33 years of a child you will love with all your heart, but you will have to watch Him die. Through all this, God has a plan and He is WITH you." (remember what i just went though on favor? This is reinforcing God's incomparable love for Mary)
I didn't think 3 verses would be that long. But it was a lot and it was important.
We left off at the end of verse 25 when Gabriel had visited Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth became pregnant. Today, we will focus on Gabriel visiting Mary, and see how far we get. This passage can be found in Luke 1:26-38.
Remember before, we talked about Elizabeth going into seclusion for 5 months. So this first part of the sentence in merely stating that Gabriel came to Mary during the 6th month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, just after being in seclusion. I'm not going to go heavily into this, but because it's a fascinating read, I'm going to leave this here and let you read it. Some people obsess over when Jesus was born. Jewish knowledge and biblical passages have pointed people to an exact date. The research makes sense, but it isn't something that is of dire importance.
Why Nazareth of Galilee? I just googled for a reason myself. Was Nazareth King David's kingdom? Was Galilee a significant place for Jews? Out of all of my years being a Christian, I don't think I've ever seen so much controversy over something. Many people think this passage proves the Bible is fake because archaeologists and historians don't find a record of Nazareth until 400 years after Jesus was born.
My take on that, since when did God use famous people to act out His will? He took the smallest shepherd son and made him the greatest king (David), He took a coward and made him the leader of an army (Gideon), He took somebody who was absolutely beaten to the core by Satan and used him to sing His praises (Job), and he used someone who constantly disobeyed Him and doubted Him to go and preach to others (Jonah). I could go on. Moses had a studder, yet God used Him to lead the Jews out of slavery and walk 40 years through the desert into the promised land. If God uses "nobodies" like these to do His will, why wouldn't He use a small and unknown town (some say Nazareth, if it had existed when Jesus was born, would've only had 100-200 people. That's a small village by anyone's standards) like Nazareth to enact His plan of redemption?
Also remember, that in that time, people had been expecting the Messiah's birth because of the many prophecies, including those in the book of Isaiah. The government expected a leader, a conquerer, and an administrative king to come to the aid of the Jews and take over the world. They went around killing baby boys, hoping to kill the Messiah. God knew that the government would seek him, so He did not let it be known where Jesus would be born or where he would grow up. Erasing historical evidence sounds like protection that only God Himself could provide.
But, I think He gave a clue. Nazareth is similar to the Hebrew word for branch. In Isaiah 11:1, it says that a shoot will sprout out from the stump of Jesse, meaning that from a great family tree that had been cut down or fallen, a new life would come forth. And the branch will bear fruit. Branch = Nazareth, fruit = Jesus. Remember that Jesse was the father of David. Remember that according to Luke, Mary was a descendant of King David from his son Nathan. and Remember that according to Matthew, Joseph was a descendant of King David through his son Solomon. Legalistically, Jesus had a right to the throne.
Now that the first verse is done... In that day, and throughout time up until about 60-ish years ago, women were considered soiled, impure, unrighteous, and unworthy if they were not virgins when they were married. And up until renaissance times, women were eligible to be wed when they were 13. They were usually betrothed to a man by their parents.
Marriage has always been viewed as means of procreation. By our standards of society and life, thats hard to accept because there are so many couples out there who are unable to have children, personally I think it is a result of the artificial foods and medicine we put into our body and it passes on to a child as a "hidden birth defect". It's also hard to accept because for the longest time, society viewed marriage as finding the best person to create the best children.
Biblical times, marriage was about procreation, but more importantly about servitude to God. Many famous biblical couples were barren, but they were mentioned because they loved God and they were faithful to Him even when they went through such hardships.
Now, marriage is all about finding that one special person who loves you no matter what. No matter gender, age, religion, or whether you both agree on having children. People get married for tax reasons. People get married knowing they will get divorced in a few years, they just want to not "feel guilty" about the sex they want now. People get married because they already have a baby, not knowing if they will grow to love each other.
Do you realize how difficult it is to find a spouse for godly and biblical reasons in today's society where people view marriage for a completely different reason? But I digress.
All that being said to show that Mary was probably 13 when she bore Jesus. Nativity art depicts her as early-mid 20s, but knowing society then, she was about 13. She was the age of an 8th grader. And she was betrothed by her parents to marry Joseph (not to say that betrothals go against God's plan. remember they were both of the line of David. God planned for them to be engaged. And no matter how much you feel you regretted a marriage or wish you could leave a marriage, they are all in His plan)
The angel tells Mary that she is highly favored. Firstly, it must be pointed out that Mary is the only female mentioned to have favor in the eyes of the Lord. Here is a list of bible verses that use the word favor. All of the verses refer to a man with God's favor or like in the Psalms, seeking favor with God. Mary is the only female who is called favored. and not just favored, she is highly favored. she's not special, she's super special. She's not important, she's super important. She is highly favored.
Now, the way we use the word "favor" is very different from how people in the bible use that word. Remember that language changes over time. Which is how the bible gets misinterpreted.
Now, we use favor to say that we prefer it over something else, calling it a favorite, or we ask someone to do a favor, which is doing an action for us that we don't deserve. God wouldn't use our first meaning for favor. His love is perfect, unconditional, and across the board. As humans, we like the idea of favoritism, but God loves you as much as He loves me. And He loves us as much as He loves the person you hate the most. But our second definition of favor is more accurate to the way it is used in the Bible. Now check out this. It's an outline from a pastor's sermon on God's favor. Check out the definitions for favor: grace, charm, acceptance, goodwill, desire, to stoop in kindness to an inferior, and to be shown consideration. That is God's version of doing something for us that we don't deserve. I want to get the idea across of what is going on here.
Grace: forgiveness, mercy, kindness, love. Charm: attractiveness (He is attracted to you) Acceptance: reception and approval. Goodwill: kindness, benevolence (He has a desire to do good for you) Desire: to long for, to crave. Stoop in kindness to an inferior: He is perfection, we are imperfect and therefore inferior. He wants to be on our level instead of looking down on us. Consideration: sympathetic regard or respect. Can you believe it? God respects us! And He is sympathetic - He understands our emotions - He shares our emotions - He FEELS our emotions.
Okay, now take all of that and apply it to the angel speaking to Mary. WOW! What a feeling to be told that God favors you!
The Lord is with you. This is a reoccuring phrase in the Bible. It is reassurance that even though you can't see God, and even though we have lost our perfect communion with Him, He is always beside us, whether we know it or not, and whether we accept it or not. Think of God like you think of air. Air is always there. God is always there. You can only take away air by a man-made vacuum. Only by man-made persistence and stubbornness can we remove God from our life. But even when you don't want God in your life. He is still there.
I find a second meaning to this. Often, the Angels say to people, "Do not be afraid," and I'll get to that more when I'm focusing on other passages, but I feel like this is Gabriel's way of telling Mary to not be afraid. "Hey, I'm about to tell you something that seems impossible, but it's true. I'm going to tell you something and you will be scared, you will be looked down upon by your peers, and it will be so difficult, but do not be afraid. What I'm about to tell you is leading up to 33 years of a child you will love with all your heart, but you will have to watch Him die. Through all this, God has a plan and He is WITH you." (remember what i just went though on favor? This is reinforcing God's incomparable love for Mary)
I didn't think 3 verses would be that long. But it was a lot and it was important.
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