JOYFUL INCARNATION!

JOYFUL INCARNATION!

The angel told Joseph  . . .and you shall call His Name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.  (Matthew 1:21)

Christmas is Jewish.  It has to be.  Think of it.  What did the world know about Christmas at the time of the first Christmas?  There was something far greater than tinsel, fruit cake, and cards at that time in Biblical history.  There was Messianic fervor.  There was a longing for the Messiah!  The Jewish people were living in the expectation of the coming of the Messiah. 

Consider this with me: Christmas isn’t the beginning.  The Bible doesn’t begin with the Christmas story.  Christmas is a fulfillment of what God had promised in the OT.  The Jewish people were waiting for the Messiah.  And He came!  And, He’s coming again.  Are we, as His followers, living in the excitement of the second coming of the Messiah?

Jesus came the first time to die for sin.  He came as our sacrifice for sin.  There is sorrow in that…isn’t there?  And yet, we thank God for Jesus’ sacrifice.  There is victory in His sacrifice…so much so that Jesus is coming again as the conquering King!

The Christmas account from Luke and from Matthew speaks to Jesus’ FIRST COMING and His SECOND COMING! 

Luke 2:8-12 tells us that an angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds.  Shepherds were the lowest of the low.  These Jewish shepherds were under a rabbinical ban.  Because they were with their flocks in the field 24/7, they couldn’t obey the regulations in the Law regarding washings, and purification rites, and foods.  The Jewish shepherds were shunned by the Jewish community.  Amazing!  Here are these Jewish shepherds, the lowest of the low, not highly esteemed, scorned and rejected, visited by an angel of Almighty God!  I love God’s sense of humor!  More than that, what a message God was sending to the world: God’s grace reaches down to the lowest of the low.  God’s grace reaches down to you and to me!

These shepherds were watching their flock in an area to the north of Bethlehem called Ephrathah (Micah 5:2).  Ephrathah was on the road to Jerusalem.  The Rabbis of the day had ruled that sheep destined to be sacrificed in the Temple in Jerusalem had to be tended/kept within a certain radius of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Ephrathah was within that radius.  Scripture tells us in Micah 5:2 that Jesus came into the world in the part of Bethlehem known as Ephrathah where only sheep that were going to be sacrificed in the Temple were kept!!

The account of the shepherds in Luke speaks to the Messiah Who came as the Lamb of God, the ultimate sacrifice.  Jesus came to die for our sins at His first coming.

He’s coming again, isn’t He?  Time has gone by.  We’re waiting and watching and marveling at God Who is unfolding His plan.  Scripture speaks to a gap between the Messiah’s first coming and His second coming. 

Let’s return to the Christmas account…in Matthew.  We find the Magi appearing on the scene, noted in Matthew 2:1-2, following a gap of time after Jesus’ birth.  The wise men found Jesus in a house, not lying in a manger (Matt. 2:11).  Jesus, at the arrival of the Magi, was a “Child,” not a baby (Matt. 2:11).  The wise men weren’t Jewish; they were Gentiles.  These Magi who were king makers, saw the star when Jesus was born. They set out from Persia, traveling across the desert to…Bethlehem?  NO!  They traveled first to Jerusalem (Matt. 2:1), the city where King David reigned and where the Messiah will reign as King at His second coming.  These king makers had an agenda: to find the King of the Jews!  The Magi asked Herod, Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? (Matt. 2:2). 

The shepherds found Jesus as the Lamb of God Who would be sacrificed!  When was Jesus sacrificed as the Lamb of God?  At His first coming.  The Magi looked for a King.  When will Jesus come as King?  At His second coming.

In the Christmas account in Matthew and in Luke, we see God’s plan of salvation in a way that we might’ve not previously seen.  We so clearly see Jesus’ two roles: the Suffering Messiah/the Lamb of God; and the Conquering King.  We see His two comings.

Are we MARVELING at God’s amazing plan?  Are we fervently anticipating His any moment return for us?

CHRISTMAS! 

·         What a glorious time to celebrate the One Who came through the Jewish line because of God’s unfailing promises to Israel and to the world! 

·         What an appropriate time to celebrate the One Who is coming again.

·         What a marvelous time to proclaim good tidings of great joy to all those who do not yet know Jesus personally. 

           

Tell your Jewish friends that Christmas is Jewish and explain why.  Thank them for giving the world the Messiah.  Share with them the good tidings of great joy for all people – Jews and Gentiles!

GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST