Tag: christ’s birth

Who Is Jesus? (Luke 2:22-40)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
The Presentation in the Temple, 14th century fresco in Pomposa Abbey, Codorigo, Italy

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
    which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 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.

When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. (New International Version)

The Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John actually contain very little information about the childhood of Jesus. That’s because the Gospels are not biographies – in the sense we think of them – but rather they are narratives that seek to answer a fundamental question about faith and life on this earth: Who is this Jesus?

C.S. Lewis went about exploring that very question. He reasons with us in his classis work, Mere Christianity:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

St. Luke’s account of Christ’s childhood stories, seeks to make some important theological points about Jesus:

  • born a Jew amongst devout religious Jews in a thoroughly Jewish society, under Roman authority (Luke 2:1-7)
  • born of a woman, born under the law (Galatians 4:4-5)
  • obedient to his heavenly Father (Luke 2:49; Mark 3:35)
The Presentation in the Temple, 14th century marble statue in the National Museum of the Middle Ages, Paris, France

So, as such, the presentation of Jesus in Jerusalem at the temple is motivated by specific requirements of the law of Moses:

The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days…. On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over….

“‘When the days of her purification for a son… are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering….

“‘These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy… But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’” (Leviticus 12:1-8, NIV)

What’s more, every first-born male (as Jesus was) specifically belongs to the Lord, and is set apart.

The Lord said to Moses, “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me… you are to give over to the Lord the first offspring of every womb….”

“In days to come, when your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ say to him, ‘With a mighty hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed the firstborn of both people and animals in Egypt.

This is why I sacrifice to the Lord the first male offspring of every womb and redeem each of my firstborn sons.’ And it will be like a sign on your hand and a symbol on your forehead that the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his mighty hand.” (Exodus 13:1-2, 12, 14-16, NIV)

Luke was making the connection that when Joseph and Mary presented Jesus to the Lord in Jerusalem, they were essentially dedicating his life to God. Jesus will be the means of redemption for all the people.

Mary would have remembered the words the angel Gabriel told her, that her son will not only be holy, but also be called the Son of God. The life of Jesus – conception, birth, and presentation at the temple – is demonstrably dedicated fully and completely to his heavenly Father. Deliverance for both Jews and Gentiles is focused in the person of Jesus.

Simeon and the Child Jesus, 16th century statue in Zadar, Croatia

Simeon and Anna show up at the presentation of Jesus as devout Jews who are awaiting the fulfillment of God’s promises of consolation and redemption for Israel.

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness;
    I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
    to be a covenant for the people
    and a light for the Gentiles.” (Isaiah 42:6, NIV)

Break forth; shout together for joy,
    you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the Lord has comforted his people;
    he has redeemed Jerusalem.
The Lord has bared his holy arm
    before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
    the salvation of our God. (Isaiah 52:9-10, NRSV)

Simeon and Anna became the spokespersons for the redemption that is to come through Jesus. They both got a glimpse of the salvation that would, one day, reveal itself to the whole world. Forgiveness of sins, deliverance from death and hell, and freedom from guilt and shame all become laser focused on the suffering servant of God.

Who is Jesus? He is the ultimate meaning of Christmas, the incarnation of the Son of God, the Savior of the world. Amen.

Celebration and Lament (Matthew 2:13-18)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Coptic Church depiction of the holy family in Egypt

Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi.Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

“A voice was heard in Ramah,
    wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
    she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.” (New Revised Standard Version)

Smack in the middle of the great celebration of Christ’s birth is a great lament. That’s because not everyone views the birth of Jesus with joy; there are others who see it as a threat and want to stamp it out.

We are humans, with two ears, two eyes, two hands, two feet, two lungs, and two kidneys. Our paired organs exist because we need the two of them in order to function properly. Joy and sadness, celebration and lament, are emotionally paired so that our soul may serve us as it is intended to. We hold them both together – at the same time, all the time – in order to have a well-rounded and healthy way of life.

In this time of year, it can be easy to gravitate towards either one or the other. We might become engrossed in all the shiny things of the season; or we may get lost by all the sorrows which the season stirs up for us.

I invite you to approach the mundane and simple manger. Although it might seem dull and unattractive – the last place you may find wholeness and peace – it is truly the place where we find God. It is here that both our joys and our sorrows meet, because among the stinky animals and the lower class life we shall actually discover the real longing of our hearts.

The gracious and almighty God preserved and protected the child Jesus. Christ’s early life retraced the life of ancient Israel. Like the Jewish patriarchs, Jesus went down to Egypt (and would eventually go down and face hell for us in his crucifixion); and, like the ancient Israelites, Jesus was brought up out of Egypt (and would rise from the dead bringing freedom from sin and death once for all) in a New Exodus.

It is as if the disciple Matthew means to connect the two Testaments as a unified whole by saying, “Look, here is the Messiah, the coming King, the promised One of Israel and of all the nations. Jesus is our salvation, the fulfillment of all that we have hoped for.”

Jesus is the New Exodus

In the second of three dreams, Joseph is told to take Jesus to Egypt. Joseph obeyed the Lord and took responsibility for the role of protecting Jesus, as contrasted with Herod’s role in attempting to murder Jesus.

Yet, there is more to this story than Christ’s protection; this is the fulfillment of a biblical pattern, an identification of Jesus with the people of God. Matthew pulled forward the prophet Hosea to say that just as God brought the Israelites out of Egypt through a great deliverance, God brought up Jesus, the Great Deliverer, out of Egypt as the unique Son of God.

Ethiopian Orthodox icon of the holy family fleeing to Egypt

When we hold the pair of Testaments together in both hands, we feel the weight of Jesus as God’s divine Son; so therefore, Christ is the rightful Ruler in God’s kingdom.

Just as God preserved Israel from Pharaoh’s wrath, the Lord protected Jesus from Herod’s wrath. God’s kindness and loyalty extends to us as covenant people and preserves us from the wrath of the devil who seeks to keep as many people as possible in the realm of darkness.

Our hope is in the Lord Jesus, who conquered the devil by establishing a beachhead on this earth through an incarnation as the Son of God.

Jesus Brought Us Out of Exile

The scoundrel King Herod massacred innocent toddlers to ensure the destruction of Jesus. Behind his atrocity was the devil himself, who knew Jesus was the coming king who would one day bring salvation. Reflecting on a vision of Christ’s birth, the Apostle John identified the sinister plan and the divine deliverance:

The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that when she gave birth, he might devour her child. She gave birth to a son, a male child who is to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was snatched up to God and his throne. (Revelation 12:4-5, CEB)

Satan wars against God’s Son and God’s people, whose roots go all the way back to the first prophecy of Christ after the Fall of humanity. God declared to Satan:

“And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
    and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NLT)

There has been continual enmity ever since, between the serpent and the seed of the woman. It manifests itself with the Israelites constantly being threatened with extermination and tempted to conform to pagan ways.

King Herod was just another in a long line of demonically animated persons trying to perpetuate the kingdom of darkness. We must take this threat seriously because the devil knows that his time is short. A second Advent is coming which will be the final judgment.

Satan’s most powerful weapon, death, has lost its sting because of Jesus. Christmas is a hard time of year for many people, filled with depression instead of joy, grieving over lost loved ones for whom we will not spend another Christmas with.

Yet there is a reunion coming, the hope of a bodily resurrection in which we will be with Jesus and God’s people forever. Be encouraged to understand that there is no time in heaven; it will be only a moment and the people who have gone before us will turn around and see us; we will one day join them.

Matthew also used the prophet Jeremiah to communicate hope. Jeremiah’s prophecy dealt with children who were lost in war to the invading Babylonians. The prophecy is a lament with the hope that captivity will not be forever.

The disciple Matthew wanted us to see that the exile is over for us; Jesus has arrived, and the tears which were shed will shortly dry up. There may be a time of suffering we must endure, but there will be glory. Jesus is the Great Deliverer who brings us out of sin’s captivity and into the promises of God. He is our hope.

Jesus is the promised One who will deliver us from the tyranny of the devil. Christ is the hope of the nations, the Savior of the world. So, let us come back to the first Christmas which was the beginning of the end for evil on the earth.

Believers in Jesus are part of God’s victory, and they overcome the evil one by the blood of the lamb, acknowledging that Christ’s incarnation was essential for us. 

Just as Jesus made a radical break with his former life in heaven through the incarnation, we, too, must break with our old way of life.

God will save the people through this child Jesus. The greatest gift we can give in this season and throughout the coming year is the gift of grace, the presentation of the Christ child.

Loving God, help us remember the birth of Jesus so that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and the wisdom of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love across the world.

Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil through the blessing of the Christ child.

Teach us to be happy with pure hearts.

Grant us grateful thoughts, devoted hearts, and gracious hands, through Jesus our Savior in the might of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Jesus the King (Mark 11:1-11)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Entry Into the City, by John August Swanson (1938-2021)

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”

They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. (New International Version)

We are presently in the 12 Days of Christmas (December 25–January 5), the annual celebration of Christ’s birth on the Christian Calendar. It may seem odd that the Revised Common Lectionary daily readings have included a text associated with Palm Sunday. However, this is reminder to us that Jesus was born a king – which is why old King Herod saw a little baby as such a threat. (Matthew 2:1-18)

“Christ” is not the surname of Jesus, but instead is a title, meaning “anointed one.” In other words, in the New Testament Gospels, Jesus is referred to as an anointed king. It was broadly understood, within the religious milieu of the ancient Jews, that the Messiah (the Hebrew term for Christ) would come and beat up God’s enemies, restore God’s people to their former glory, and usher in an everlasting state of peace.

Jerusalem had a history as the royal city – the place where ancient Jewish kings lived and ruled. So, most ancient Jews made a clear connection between the Messiah, the king, returning to reign in Jerusalem. They anticipated that the City of David would once again be the seat of power, without any meddling Gentiles to complicate things.

Nativity, by John August Swanson

So, when Jesus entered Jerusalem – in what turned out to be the final week of his earthly life – many people looked upon this as a triumphal entry. He was close to ascending the ancient throne. The disciples of Jesus were waiting for this, and ready for a future of greatness and glory alongside their Rabbi.

Not only did people lay their palm fronds on the road in front of him declaring the ancient refrain, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Psalm 118:26) but they also added an explicit reference to the days of King David stating, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!” The city was awash in the messianic hope of no longer being subject to foreign rule.

Yet we know the tragic and ironic end of the week. Jesus knew it, too, even at the time. He knew what fate awaited him by entering Jerusalem (Mark 8:31; 10:33-34). And Jesus knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was not going to be a king who gains and keeps power through military might and the bloodshed of war. Instead, only his own blood would be offered, as a sacrifice for many. The power of Love will overcome any and every earthly power.

Those with the eyes to see and the spirit to discern could understand this Jesus riding on a humble donkey instead of the proud warhorse. It made complete sense. Jesus did not enter this world with the fanfare of the rich and powerful, but quietly slipped onto the earth in a non-descript and poor Jewish family. His birth, life, and ministry, were all counter cultural. So, why not also his eventual death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification?

Yes, Jesus is a king. But no, he is not a king in any conventional sense. It is Jesus, beginning with his incredible and unexpected incarnation, who helps us reimagine what power and authority can and ought to look like.

All the trappings of control we can get so enamored about, such as wielding influence through economic wealth, social status, political power, and religious weight, all get tossed aside as mere stuffed animals compared to the real deal of moral dignity, ethical love, and compassionate justice shown to people who had absolutely no ability to either pay back Jesus or prop up a throne for him to sit upon.

Jesus is a king who gives his life for the healing of humanity – all people everywhere – including the ones we don’t much like or care about. I have no problem calling Jesus a king, just as long as we understand what sort of kingship we are actually talking about.

I serve King Jesus because he throws a monkey wrench into oppressive systems that seek to keep other people under a heavy hand of injustice. My allegiance is with Christ the Lord because he uses his prodigious authority to bring peace, light, wholeness, and integrity to all the places of the world (and the human heart) that are dark and clueless.

Today I celebrate in this Christmas season the birth of a baby who was born to die to the world and for the world. I rejoice with the angels that Christ is born in Bethlehem, the king of kings and lord of lords, the prince of peace who himself became peace so that we might live in peace.

May you discover deliverance from guilt, shame, and regret, through the One who came and was wounded for us so that we might be healed. Amen.

Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46b-55)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
The Magnificat, a woodcut by Sr. Mary Grace Thul

Mary said,

“With all my heart I glorify the Lord!
    In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior.
He has looked with favor on the low status of his servant.
    Look! From now on, everyone will consider me highly favored
        because the mighty one has done great things for me.
Holy is his name.
    He shows mercy to everyone,
        from one generation to the next,
        who honors him as God.
He has shown strength with his arm.
    He has scattered those with arrogant thoughts and proud inclinations.
    He has pulled the powerful down from their thrones
        and lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things
    and sent the rich away empty-handed.
He has come to the aid of his servant Israel,
        remembering his mercy,
    just as he promised to our ancestors,
        to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants forever.” (Common English Bible)

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was able to wrap both her head and heart around an incredible reality – that God had done great things for her. And it was enough for her to erupt into a great song of praise. Indeed, the Lord shows mercy to everyone who worships and adores the mighty acts of God.

It strikes me that Mary, instead of being full of worry and afraid of the future, and as an unmarried teen with child, is full of the Spirit and faith. Mary neither complained nor fretted for the nine months of her pregnancy; she praised God and was clear-headed about the grace shown to her.

Mary’s canticle gives us insight into the mystery of the incarnation: God chooses the weak, those of low esteem, and the powerless. Mary was quite ordinary for her day. She had no wealth and nothing which would cause anyone to pick her out of a crowd.

Yet, Mary is the one chosen by God. And her wonderful response to grace demonstrated that there is so much more to any person than what we can see with our eyes and perceive through our earthly glasses of high positions and strength of personalities.

What’s more, Mary had the wisdom to discern that her situation typified the Lord’s egalitarian work of leveling the field so that all persons have what they need. Her son, the Messiah, would carry this into his own life and ministry – declaring good news to the poor, comforting the brokenhearted, proclaiming freedom for captives, telling those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.

We may tend to think that the work of God is surprising, only because we might often experience so little of grace and mercy in this old world. But God is always full of grace, mercy, and power to those who are powerless and in need of help. The Lord has our backs. 

Perhaps if we all, both individually and corporately, continually used our words to identify and declare the great things God has done, we would then realize the consistent blessing of the Lord. 

I encourage you to take some time today and either journal and/or speak with another about the ways in which God has been good to you in this Advent season, and like Mary, offer praise for each act of mercy. Mary exhibited no helplessness but had her heart calibrated to detect the grace of God when it was present.

May the joy of the angels, the eagerness of the shepherds, the perseverance of the wise, the obedience of Joseph and Mary, and the peace of the Christ child be yours this Christmas. And may the blessing of God almighty – Father, Son, and Spirit – be among you and remain with you always. Amen.