Month: December 2024

Simeon, the elderly man descried in Luke 2:21–40, realizes that his life is now complete. What he has been looking for and praying about has happened.. His final words mark the transition from the old order to the new. He marks the change of watch.

God has given you his salvation in Christ. You have seen the Lord’s Christ. Christ was subject to the law for you. He was circumcised, verse 21. He was identified with his covenant people to redeem them. This is part of the background for Paul’s statement in Galatians 4:4–5 that Christ was born of a woman, born under the law. He was presented in the temple following the offering brought by his poor parents–according to the law: Exodus 13:2, 12; Leviticus 12:8. The offerings were required, not because of our humanness, but because of our sinfulness. He was involved in this humiliation for you. His first appearance in the temple is not as the object of worship, first of all, but as a truly human baby, identified with us as sinners. Yet, The Lord’s Christ is Christ the Lord. The Child whom Mary and Joseph presented was identified to Simeon by the Holy Spirit as the Lord’s Christ, whose coming he had awaited, verse 26. The Baby is the anointed of the Lord, set apart for his messianic work. The Holy Spirit’s activity was specifically mentioned in Luke 1:13, 35, 41, 67; 2:25 & 27. He, the Christ, is also the Lord, the sovereign God. Note how the angel identifies him, verse 11. Who he is and what he came to do can be distinguished, but never separated from each other. Christ may have been brought to the temple in obedience to the law, but Simeon recognizes that this is not just a baby, he is Simeon’s Lord. He is your Lord.

Continue reading “The Change of Watch”

The most unusual, the most unexpected of those coming to Bethlehem are the angels, recorded in Luke 2:8–14, appearing to shepherds outside of Bethlehem with joyful news. What makes the news good? That encouragement is spoken to you—who may not happen to be feeling happy this season.

Good news replaces fear. Stand in awe of the glory of the Lord. The shepherds were not easily intimidated. An angel of the Lord appeared to them in the dark, quiet fields outside Bethlehem. These courageous men were terrified by the glory of the Lord which shone around them. The light surrounding them was the glory of the Lord. This shekinah glory had led the Israelites in the wilderness, Exodus 13:21,22. It settled on Mt. Sinai as God gave his law to Moses, Exodus 24:15–18, and then was reflected from Moses’ face, Exodus 34:29. The glory of the Lord filled the Tent of Meeting at its dedication, Exodus 40:34, and later the Temple, at its opening, 1 Kings 8:10, 11. This glory had nearly undone Isaiah when he saw it filling the temple, Isaiah 6:1–5. The Hebrew term is from a root that means “weight.” What frightened the shepherds was not simply the brilliance of the light or the unexpectedness of the angel’s appearance. Rather, it was the sudden consciousness that they were sinners, and they were in the presence of a perfectly holy being.

Continue reading “Good News of Great Joy”

If I say the words, “little town of Bethlehem,” what comes to your mind? Peace? Joy? Angelic choirs? Or do you think of a grave, unfaithfulness, brutal conflict? All of the above would be correct! This morning I want you to look at the town of Bethlehem and journeys to it as they shed light on God’s work of redemption.

Look at the early history of Bethlehem. Bethlehem is noted because of Rachel’s grave. When I mention Bethlehem, you may think of Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus, shepherds and angels. But go back in history almost 19 centuries. If you could have inteviewed Jacob around the time that he blessed his grandsons, and asked him about Bethlehem, you would have heard sadness in his voice (Genesis 48:7) as he recalled the place where he burried his beloved wife, Rachel. Genesis 35:16–18 gives the brief story of her death as she gave birth to her second son, naming him Benoni (son of my sorrow), but the baby’s name was changed by Jacob to Benjamin (son of my right hand). The town was identified as Bethlehem Ephratha or Bethlehem Judah, to distinguish it from the town in Zebulon with the same name, Joshua 19:15.

Continue reading “Journeys to Bethlehem”

Mark 10:13–16 is a simple paragraph with no indication of location or surroundings. But it gives you Christ’s view as to who are members of his kingdom.

Let the little children come. The disciples refused to allow the children to be brought to Jesus. The disciples rebuked the parents. Those bringing the children are not identified beyond “they,” but most naturally would refer to the parents. “Them” at the end of verse 13 is masculine, which would suggest that fathers were among those bringing the children. “Children” covers a broad range of ages. Luke 18:15 is specific, “infants.” Here they include children young enough for Jesus to take them in his arms to bless them. The disciples may have been well intentioned, trying to protect Jesus from trivial interruptions. They rebuke the parents. Jesus was indignant. The word refers to heated indignation or rage, and this is the only place that it is used of Jesus. His reaction is understandable against the background of the Old Testament treatment of children as part of the covenant community.

“The attitude of the disciples, to which these words of Jesus were the rebuke, was one that rested on the assumption that little children were not of sufficient importance to occupy the attentions of Jesus and were not really within the compass of his kingdom task. In contrast, our Lord’s reply is to the effect that none are more intimately involved in his redemptive work and ministry than little infants and that therefore they are to be received into the bosom of the saints’ fellowship and love.”

John Murray, Christian Baptism, pages 65–66

Continue reading “What About the Children?”