 Read: Go back and reread the entire Christmas narrative in Luke or Matthew.
Key Verse: “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49) We know in Scripture when Jesus was 12 and the family went to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, Jesus stayed behind and was separated from His mom and dad for 4 days. They were frantic when they finally found Him in the Temple listening to the teachers and asking them questions. Can you imagine losing your child for 4 days? Yet Jesus had just one mission during His time on earth – to save sinners and provide a way to reconcile God’s people with God. Take time today to give thanks for Jesus’ sacrifice and wonder at the impact such a small baby boy had on the entire world – an impact still felt today some 2,000 years later. Christmas is so much more than a baby in a manger...it’s the greatest gift of all time. If you haven’t yet accepted that gift of salvation, today’s the day! Admit you’ve sinned, repent, and recognize that we need a savior, tell Jesus you believe He’s God’s son and He came to save you; surrender to Him. Your life will never be the same! Pray: Father God, we cannot begin to fathom what it took for you to send your Son to save us, and what it took for your Son to come and fulfill His mission. But we are so eternally grateful that He did. From the innocent face of an infant wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger to the compassion of the man hanging on the cross, we have been forever changed. And we will never stop telling everyone we know about His amazing love. Thank you Lord.  Read: 2 Timothy 3:14-17; James 1:22-25
Key Verse: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” (2 Timothy 3:16) So far we've spent the month of December trying to see Christmas through the eyes of the people who actually lived it, and we've learned a lot about God in the process. We see: 1. It is always better to obey God, even when it doesn’t make sense. We can trust God. Even when we’re skeptical, when we can’t see how God can do what He says He will do, we can and should trust in Him. Just ask Gabriel, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, or Joseph! 2. He works through ordinary people, not rulers or kings or rich people. He even works through government officials who don’t believe in Him. Zechariah was an ordinary priest, one of many. Elizabeth was an old woman. Mary was just a young girl in a small village. Joseph couldn’t afford the cost of circumcision in the temple. If you think you’re insignificant, remember God knows your name. No matter what you’ve done or who you are, you can be made new in him. Caesar Augustus had no idea he was helping pave the way for Jesus. 3. When circumstances seem dire, don’t blame God. He may have planned it exactly that way. Remember Mary and Joseph wound up in the stable because there were no rooms at the Inn. Then they had to go hide in Egypt for a few years for safekeeping. 4. God chooses the humble over the important, proud, and rich. Just ask the shepherds. God didn’t announce the birth of his son to rulers or the religious elite but to the lowly shepherds. The church mostly advances along through the winding paths of the ordinary and the outcasts, and mundane. If you feel this way, be encouraged. God can and will use you. 5. God visits those whose eyes are fixed on Him. Simeon and Anna waited patiently for several years to see God in human form. And because they never wavered in keeping their eyes fixed on God, they had the privilege of meeting Jesus while Temple priests, scribes, and religious officials missed it entirely. 6. Age is not a requirement for God. He works through the young and old alike and everyone in between. Elizabeth was beyond child-bearing years and Zechariah was almost 100. Anna and Simeon were in their 80s. 7. God often tells us ahead of time what He plans to do. Just check out the prophecies about Jesus. He’s not shy about proving the truth of what He tells us in his Word. Stories are great, and we love the Christmas story, but don’t lose sight of the fact that it can all be proven scientifically and mathematically! 8. He plans things out far ahead of time – decades and even centuries. Micah prophesied 700 years before Christ that He would be born in Bethlehem. Isaiah prophesied almost 800 years before Christ about the traits He would have. And the Wise Men were being trained to look for the star for centuries before they actually saw it. God is always planning and preparing for what He says will come to pass. 9. God always wins. No matter how bad the bad guys are, they’re no match for God. Just ask Herod. 10.God can reach anyone whose minds are open and searching for the truth. The Wise Men will forever be known as wise because they were searching for the truth. When it turned out to be completely opposite of what they assumed they would find, it mattered not. They had seen the real God and they worshiped Him. 11. If we want our prayers to be answered, faith makes the difference. God does reward those who depend on him. The story of Zechariah and Elizabeth builds our trust in God. When God proclaims something over our lives or we read something in the Bible, we need to trust Him. 12. Appearances can be deceiving. Faith grasps the truth. So much of the Christmas story is opposite of what people would have expected – the rulers and authorities were powerless and clueless; the simple, poor and ordinary were the heroes. David, as the youngest in his family, knows better than anyone that God looks at the heart, not the outside trappings. Always look for the truth and trust your faith to help you find it. Let’s not just be hearers of the Word, but doers (James 1:22), always looking for how we can apply its truths to our lives today. Don’t ever open God’s Word without asking yourself what you learned from it and how your life should change to reflect that knowledge. Pray: Father God, thank you for your precious Word of Truth. May we always look for what we should do when we hear that word; help us to put it into practice every day.  Read: Take any one (or 2 or 3) of the following prophetic verses and talk about how they were fulfilled in Jesus. Discuss the probabilities any one man could fulfill even a small percentage of those prophecies. Marvel at God’s handiwork and wonder why it’s so difficult for people to accept the truth of who Jesus is.
Key Verse: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) The story of Jesus saturates the Bible narrative and prophecies of His first Advent are found throughout the Old Testament. One scholar, J. Barton Payne, found as many as 574 verses in the Old Testament that somehow point to or describe or reference the coming Messiah. Alfred Edersheim found 456 Old Testament verses referring to the Messiah. Conservatively, Jesus fulfilled at least 300 prophecies in His earthly ministry. As one of the major prophets, the book of Isaiah has many of those prophecies, perhaps more than any other book of the Old Testament. In fact, Isaiah 53 is the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament. Someone calculated that the 36 details about the Messiah in chapter 53 alone have a 1 out of 68,719,476,736 chance of fulfillment by one person. Jesus fulfilled all of them in His first coming. Yet, there are many more prophecies by Isaiah, and these are astoundingly accurate. Here are just a few found in Isaiah: ● God promised to send a Son who would be "God with us" ("Emmanuel"). (Isa. 7:14, 8:10) ● God promised that a virgin would conceive. Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived. (Isa. 7:14) ● God promised a "stone" that people would trip over. Jesus is our cornerstone. (Isa. 8:14-15) ● God promised David His Spirit would rest on his offspring. Jesus is that offspring. (Isa. 11:1-2) ● God promised a time when the blind would see. Jesus healed the blind. (Isa. 29:18, 35:5) ● God promised a time when the deaf would hear. Jesus healed the deaf. (Isa. 35:5) ● God promised a time when the lame would be healed. Jesus healed the lame. (Isa. 35:6) ● God promised a time when the mute would speak. Jesus healed the mute. (Isa. 35:6) ● God is the shepherd who tends His sheep. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. (Isa. 40:10-11) ● God will send His servant as a light to the Gentiles. Jesus is a light to the Gentiles. (Isa. 42:6) ● He will not be rebellious or turn away. Jesus obeyed God all the way to the cross. (Isa. 50:5) Isaiah speaks of one who will be beaten and spit upon. Jesus was beaten and spit upon. (Isa. 50:6) ● The Suffering Servant will be so abused He will not look human. Jesus was beaten, whipped, crucified, and pierced by a spear. (Isa. 52:14) ● He will be despised and rejected by His own people. He will bear the abuse we deserve for our physical and spiritual healing. Jesus’ tormentors rejected Him and spit in His face. (Isa. 53:4-5) ● The Suffering Servant will bear our sins. Jesus bore our sins. (Isa. 53:6) ● The Suffering Servant is like a lamb that does not defend itself. Although Jesus spoke during His trials, He never offered a defense. (Isa. 53:7) ● The Suffering Servant’s people did not protest His death. Only Pilate protested Jesus’ death. (Isa. 53:8) ● The Suffering Servant will die with the wicked. Jesus died with the two thieves. (Isa. 53:9) ● The Suffering Servant will be buried in the grave of a rich man. Jesus was buried in the grave of Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy man. (Isa. 53:9) ● God ordained that the Suffering Servant would suffer and die. God sent Jesus to die. (Isa. 53:10) ● The Suffering Servant’s sacrifice offers forgiveness of sins. Jesus’ sacrifice offers forgiveness of our sins. (Isa. 53:11) ● The Suffering Servant will intercede for His abusers. Jesus asked God to forgive those who crucified Him. (Isa. 53:12) ● God promises someone to declare good news for the brokenhearted, captives, and prisoners. Jesus is that someone. (Isa. 61:1 – verse Jesus quotes in announcing who he was) In addition to his prophecies of Christ, Isaiah is where that famous verse we so often quote comes from: “Here am I; send me.” (Isa. 6:8). Are we ready to be sent? Pray: Lord, open our eyes to see, hear, and understand your truth. Thank you for providing such compelling evidence that Jesus is your son. Deepen our faith to believe what you say, always. We are ready to serve you.  Read: Luke 1:57-80
Key Verse: “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," (Luke 1:76) “And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.” (Luke 1:80) Why include John the Baptist in the characters of Christmas? Think back to the beginning of the Christmas story in Luke – it starts with the birth of John the Baptist. The two were cousins. No doubt they spent a lot of time together growing up; their mothers were close after all. And the two are intricately tied to Jesus’ ministry on earth. John would, ultimately, prepare the way for Christ, calling people to repentance and baptism. You can’t have one without the other. Apart from Jesus Christ, John the Baptist is probably the most theologically significant figure in the Gospels. Their lives were divinely similar: ● John’s birth was miraculous. He was born of elderly parents who had never been able to have children (Luke 1:7). Jesus’ birth was miraculous, he was born of a virgin who had never been with a man. ● The angel Gabriel announced to Zechariah, a Levitical priest, that he would have a son. Gabriel announced to Mary that she would have a son. ● When Gabriel told Mary that she would give birth to Jesus, he also told her about John. ● When Mary was carrying Jesus in her womb, she visited Elizabeth, and John leapt in his mother’s womb for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice (Luke 1:39-45). This incident shows that even though they are not yet born, John acknowledges the superiority of Jesus and recognizes that Jesus is God's son. ● John’s coming was foretold over 700 years previously by another prophet: "A voice of one calling: 'In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3-5). Jesus’ birth was also foretold by Isaiah, among other prophets (Isaiah 7:14, 9:6). John’s adult life was characterized by devotion and surrender to Jesus Christ and His kingdom. John’s voice was a "lone voice in the wilderness" (John 1:23) as he proclaimed the coming of the Messiah to a people who desperately needed a Savior. He was the precursor for the modern-day evangelist as he unashamedly shared the good news of Jesus Christ. He was a man filled with faith and a role model to those of us who wish to share our faith with others. His message and ministry marked the culmination of the law and the prophets, but heralded the breaking in of the kingdom of God (Matt 11:12 ; Luke 16:16). So John was truly a transitional figure, forming the link between the Old and New Testaments. He spans the ages with one foot firmly planted in the Old Testament and the other squarely placed in the New Testament. Pray: Lord, help us to follow John’s example of faithful and obedient trust in God as we live and proclaim His truth in whatever life circumstances you give us.  Read: Matthew 2:1-12
Key Verse: “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.” (Matthew 2:10) So, how did they know? How did they know about Christ’s birth from over 500 miles away from the event (as the crow flies) and around 700 miles away traveling route? Scripture doesn’t tell us specifically, at least not here in the book of Matthew. But the Bible does give us a clue in the writings in the Old Testament. Not prophetically, like so much of what we learn and can decipher, but from the historical records of Daniel in the king’s service in what was then Babylon. Recall that Daniel was one of several Israelis taken to Babylon and put into service in the king’s court. The book of Daniel records the use of “wise men” to help the kings understand their dreams and visions. It’s not hard to imagine that Daniel, who rose to prominent positions in Babylon – in fact, he was put in charge of teaching the wise men (Daniel 2:48) – had an influence on several generations of eastern intellectuals. Daniel was very outspoken about his faith in the coming Messiah. This meant that Daniel, the Jewish prophet, had leadership over those who would later be termed the magi. It is possible that Daniel taught Hebrew scriptures and messianic prophecies to the others, especially to those who were Jewish. A Jewish tradition even claims that Daniel founded an order of magi and instructed them to watch for the Messiah through the generations. This is very likely because of what we see in the knowledge and response of the Magi that appear at the time of Christ – they were wiser and more in tune with what was happening than the religious leaders of the day, something Christ would berate them for later on (Matthew 16:1-4). Jesus even mentions Daniel in Matthew 24:15. Further back in history, another 1,000 years or so, Balaam prophesied that, “A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel,” (Numbers 24:17(b). Daniel would have shared that prophecy with his students. But that, by itself, even with the appearance of the star and its placement in the constellations, was hardly enough to cause them to set out on such a long and dangerous expedition. That would take the prophecy of Daniel given to him by the angel Gabriel in Daniel 9 which included the exact timing of when these things would occur. And then there were the gifts they brought ... ● Gold: Declaring their understanding of His royal lineage, both earthly and heavenly. ● Incense: Declaring their understanding that He was Immanuel, which means, “God with us.” ● Myrrh: The bitter herb of death and burial; they knew He was the Sacrifice for the sins of mankind — King, God, and Sacrifice all in one! Doesn’t it amaze you to think that some 600 years before Jesus’ birth, God planted servants in the East to begin teachings that would ultimately lead them to the newborn King, His son, Jesus Christ? A journey that would take them a year or longer to accomplish. Makes you wonder what he’s planting in your life today that will be “birthed” in coming generations, doesn’t it? Pray: Father God, I thank you for planning so far ahead and always thinking of us as you put the pieces of your divine puzzle in place. We can only glimpse at the master puzzle you’re constantly maneuvering to ensure we find our way back to you. May we never take for granted that precious gift and may we be more attentive to seeing the way you direct our paths to where we are today. We love you Lord.  Read: Matthew 2:13-23
Key Verse: “When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”’ (Matthew 2:13) An angel appears to Joseph, again in a dream, letting him know his family was in danger and he needed to get out of town. Joseph’s response was what we’ve come to expect from this humble man of God – he obeyed, immediately. Scripture tells us he took Mary and Jesus in the middle of the night to Egypt and stayed there until Herod died. Don’t read over that passage too quickly – he didn’t wait until the next day; he woke his family up in the middle of the night and left right away. The story of the Wise Men in Matthew 2 is part of a larger sequence that involves danger for the newborn child and his parents. When King Herod hears about the child, “King of the Jews,” as a potential rival for his power, he seeks to have Jesus killed. As a result the family flees to Egypt, while Herod orders the execution of all boys under two years old in the area of Bethlehem. Only after Herod’s death does the family return to the Land of Israel, though to Nazareth rather than Bethlehem. At each point in their itinerary, the family is guided by dreams and texts from the Jewish Scriptures. Why was all that necessary? Scripture tells us in the rest of the story – don’t skip over these familiar passages, they are filled with meaning and significance. Three times Matthew refers back to prophecies about the Messiah that were fulfilled in these parts of Jesus’ life: 1. He would come from Egypt – “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Hosea 11:1) 2. There would be weeping over the loss of life – “Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Jeremiah 31:15) 3. He would be called a Nazarene – a branch from the root of Jesse. Pray: Father God, thank you for Your divine protection. Give us Joseph’s heart to obey immediately when warned of danger.  Read: Matthew 2:1-12
Key Verse: “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:2) “Wise” is a good term for these men because they were willing to learn the source of all true wisdom. What is clear to us is that the Wise Men were earnest in their desire to find the King of the Jews. They may have used their reliance on a star to guide their way, but God met them where they were and used his power over the heavenly bodies to lead them to His son. According to Matthew, a bright star led the Wise Men from the East until it stopped “over the place where the child was,” and “upon entering the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother.” No doubt a surprise to the Wise Men – the star from Heaven didn’t point to Herod, but to Jesus. Matthew included the story of the Wise Men to show us how true worshippers worship the King. He breaks it down into four responses that we should emulate in our own worship: 1. Seek – they sought the truth by following the star and reading the ancient prophecies. 2. Obey – they obeyed the voice of the angel who told them not to return to Herod. 3. Bow – they bowed at the sight of Jesus. 4. Give – they gave precious gifts as an act of devotion and worship. We would all be wise to follow their lead and ignite our worship with awe, vigor and passion this Christmas. Pray: Lord, how often is our worship just a check-the-box and move-on type of experience? Forgive us for that. Instead, ignite a passion in us to see more than a cuddling baby this Christmas but the God He is. Have us fall to our knees in reverent worship and offer you our heart, mind, body and soul. May we always seek and obey as the Wise Men did.  Read: Matthew 2:16-18
Key Verse: “When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” (Matthew 2:16) Pretty sure your Nativity set doesn’t include King Herod. But to ignore him is to not only ignore the world into which Jesus was born, but to miss an important thread in God’s grand plan of redemption. For Jesus to be born during the reign of Herod might have been the worst possible time for a new king of Israel to be born. Underneath the warm glow of our Christmas is a dark thread of violence, just a hint of a cosmic war against all that is good. He was renowned for his cruelty. He had members of his own family put to death because he saw them as potential threats to his throne. His brother-in-law, his mother-in-law, two of his own sons, and even his wife were killed by Herod. He murdered out of spite and killed to stay in power. Life meant nothing to him. So is it any wonder that he would order the murder of all boys aged two and under to ensure the “future king of the Jews” never made it to adulthood? He was the Roman-appointed king of the Jews and he wasn’t letting anyone take that away from him. But he didn’t know God and surely couldn’t see how pointless such a move would be. He wasn’t as powerful as he thought. Herod may have seemed powerful. He may have initiated a culture of fear in Israel. But he was no match for the King of Kings. Like every ruler who seeks to challenge God, his attempts to kill the real King of Israel were thwarted by God. More about that when we look at Christmas through the eyes of the Wise Men. Pray: Father God, thank you for including the story of Herod within the Christmas story. We may not like what it describes, but we can certainly learn from it and see your hand at work even though evil surrounds us. May we learn to look to you always, especially when we wonder where you are in the midst of trials and war and famine and hate that permeate our world today. The story of Herod reminds us that You give us hope that it will all be overcome one day.  Read: Luke 2:36-38
Key Verse: “Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:38) Anna is described as a “prophetess,” which tells us she was gifted and unafraid to declare the word of the Lord. Unlike prophets who predicted what was to come, Anna’s role was to show up at the temple and remind God's people of God’s words of promise and hope. Anna had planted herself in God’s presence for decades, turning the grief of a young widow into a lifelong prayer. Waiting on the Lord became her daily practice. Anna had her eyes fixed on God and was in attendance for the presentation of the Son of God because of it. God visits those who wait on Him day and night. Anna responded to Jesus much the same way as Simeon. His sheer existence was the only evidence she needed to recognize God’s redemptive hand. Christ became the focal point of her praise. Pray: Lord it is hard to imagine longing for something for so long and then finally seeing it happen. When we read of Anna and her commitment to you, may it give us the encouragement we need to faithfully wait for your promises. May we, like Anna, always look to you and tell others the wonderful things you’ve done in our lives.  Read: Luke 2:22-35
Key Verse: “And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” (Luke 2:26) Who is this Simeon character? Luke only included one thing about Simeon – he was “righteous and devout,” waiting for the consolation of Israel (the Messiah). Simeon was a faithful follower of God. God revealed to Simeon that he would not see death until he beheld the Lord’s Christ (Luke 2:26), the comforter of Israel who would fulfill all the promises of the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants, the One who would bring both personal and national salvation. Simeon counted the days until God revealed what he had promised to him personally. We don’t know how long Simeon waited, but we do know that he was led by the Spirit to go to the temple that day, and he recognized Jesus the moment he saw Him. Simeon, and generations before him, waited for the coming of the One who would console God’s people. But unlike those around him, Simeon still believed God would save His people. He believed the promise of a coming Servant-King, the son of David threaded throughout the law and the prophets. Simeon’s own name comes from a word that means “to hear intelligently.” And he is portrayed as deliberately listening to God’s Spirit. We are told that the Holy Spirit rested on him (v. 25), the Holy Spirit showed things to him (v. 26), and the Holy Spirit moved him (v. 27). The outcome of Simeon’s listening is one of the most tender scenes in Scripture: Simeon enters the temple to discover Mary and Joseph with their newborn. Then he picks up baby Jesus (v. 28). He has the distinction of being the only person in the Bible who we are explicitly told held the Christ child in his arms. In that act, he provided a striking visual of not just meeting Jesus but receiving Him unto himself. As Simeon gazed into the brand-new eyes of the Ancient of Days, Christ for him went from being “God with us” to “God with me.” Nothing outwardly about Simeon’s life had changed, yet he told God he could die in peace (Luke 2:29). His inner disquiet had been calmed by Christ, and his soul was at rest. There is so much to learn from Simeon’s life. His perseverance, his attentive listening to God in a latter age, his worship of the baby Jesus. But what is most important about Simeon was his relationship with Jesus. Simeon could die not because he’d checked off all the right religious boxes or performed all the outward rituals of the Jewish faith, but because he put his faith in the God-man. Pray: Father God, what a tremendous and encouraging story of faith. Give us Simeon’s perseverance, teach us to listen to you as attentively as Simeon did. We love you Lord and we worship you. |
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