Chapter Twenty-two

The week of June 17


The Birth of the King

Malachi had been the last prophet to be heard. For 400 long years there were priests and local leaders,but no king and no prophet with God’s word. The Greeks with Alexander the Great succeeded the Persians in dominating the known world and then the Romans ruled with the Caesars. Israel showed a spirited fight during the times of the Maccabean revolt, but all of Israel yearned to throw off the yoke of Rome and have the peace of Messiah. As Paul would later write in Galatians: It was the fullness of time.

Pp 309-11  The apostle John in his Gospel describes the incarnation (God becoming flesh) as the Word becoming flesh. The Word of God, so long silent, was now a live human being as a baby. He was with God and was God at the same time, transversing time because 'He was in the beginning'. He was the Creator, Life-source, and Light of the world, coming from His Father and was His only Son. He would give the prerogative for humans to become children of God. His mission was to make God His Father known and explained.

His human name was Jesus, meaning God saves. God sent His angel to a female descendent of David (the new king must come from David), to tell her she would conceive and give birth to a son, the Son of the Most High. How would you have responded to this message?

Mary knew she was a virgin so she asked how this could be. The answer was: through the Holy Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit normally came upon prophets and warriors, not servant girls. Yet she lived by faith and glorified the Lord for choosing her.

Pp 311-13  How would you respond if you were Joseph, Mary's finance? Mary boldly told what the angel had said. Joseph understandably had a difficult time believing her and was going to quietly release her from their marital responsibility when the angel confirmed Mary's story. This and over 300 other Old Testament prophesies were confirmed in the life of Jesus. So Joseph took the pregnant Mary as his wife.

The Caesar of that time was Augustus and he set an order that all people should return to their ancestral home for a census. Joseph set out for Bethlehem (remember David had shepherded sheep there) with a great-with-child Mary. What an uncomfortable ride! Arriving in Bethlehem they found no room but a makeshift barn and an animal feeder. Their firstborn son was delivered in these humble surroundings as God had touched down. The manger was his first bed on earth. Even more common folk were notified of the arrival. Shepherds, so untrustworthy that they could not testify in court, would witness God's music with light show and find this simple setting in the barn. Why is it so important that God's Son came to regular people? As in the Old Testament, God weaved together difficult circumstances to accomplish is aims.

Pp 313-15  Sometime before Jesus became 2yo, several esoteric men from the East came looking for this child to whom God directed them. Jesus was that person. They bore gifts and gave accolades. One problem developed when the puppet-Jewish King Herod said he also wanted to honor the child. When these men skipped town, Herod slaughtered a couple dozen young children to make sure for himself that the chosen child was dead. The angel had alerted Joseph so they already had escaped to Egypt. Isn't it interesting that the Savior would again be called out of Egypt? Once Herod had died, Joseph took his family to Nazareth where he had made his living in carpentry.

Pp 315-16  Jesus lived an obedient life to his parents. He made the travels with them to festivals including as a 12yo to Jerusalem for Passover, an 160 mile round trip. After beginning the trek home, Jesus' parents realized he was missing and frantically backtracked to the Temple. Here they found him knowledgably in dialogue with the teachers (he would later do more of that). Everyone was impressed with his insight. Jesus' response to his parents was that they should have known he was about his Father's business. Though he was the Son of God, Jesus would grow in every aspect of learning life.

With this dramatic debut, Jesus peaked interest in what he would become. God sent His Son not merely for His entry, but for the reason of His purposeful exit.