|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Printer Friendly VersionI hope you’re ready for Christmas--it is here! The church
bulletin declares, “The choir will sing ‘I Heard the Bills on
Christmas Day.’”
In a B.C. comic strip an ant asks, “Dad, who is Jesus?”
The father ant replies, “He's the reason for the season.” The
next panel says, “But Dad I thought Santa Claus was the reason.”
The father ant replies, “He is--if you prefer Sony Play Station 2 instead
of everlasting life.”
Secular history leaves us with the belief that the Caesars,
kings, and presidents shape the world. Most items considered newsworthy revolve
around these powerful figures, as they demand front-page headlines. In 1809
the newspapers were captivated with stories of Napoleon's campaigns. International
attention was focused on Napoleon marching across Austria. Little else was
news worthy, especially the birth of babies that year. It seemed as though
Napoleon was the only one shaping the destiny of the world.
Actually the world's destiny was being shaped in the cradles of the world. William Gladstone was born in 1809 and he was to become the greatest statesman England ever produced. Alfred Lloyd Tennyson was also born that year to a poor minister and his wife; he was destined to shape the literary world. Oliver Wendell Holmes was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Edgar Allen Poe began his tragic life that same year. Charles Darwin was also born in 1809. That same year in a log cabin in Hardin county Kentucky a baby named Abraham Lincoln was born. At the time these individuals’ births were insignificant in the eyes of the world.
After all the destiny of the world was being shaped by Napoleon
on the battlefields of Austria, right?
In 4 B.C. Caesar August was one of the most powerful Caesars.
It was said he came to a Rome made of bricks and left it a city of marble.
With his roads and armies he transformed the world, not just Rome. Mourners
at his funeral comforted themselves with the belief he was a god and therefore
immortal. After all, Caesar had shaped the world, right?
But the world was never so impacted as it was by the baby wrapped
in cloths and placed in a manger. Let’s look together at the journey
of Jesus. Every journey has a departure point.
What did Jesus leave when He started His journey? Heaven with
all of its beauty and splendor: walls of jasper with gates of pearl, streets
of gold, River of Life, and the Throne of God. Worship: the angels worshipping
and praising God and all of heaven focused on God. Purity: in heaven there
is no evil, sin, injustice, wrong, disappointments, or hurts--only righteousness
and goodness.
Jesus left all of that to come to earth. Imagine that! Did He really leave
all of that? Did He really exist before His birth? Sure! Do you remember the
questions your kids like to ask: Dad, what was I before I was born? In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He
was with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2).
Where did Jesus arrive on His journey? Not in a palace, but
a stable with a manger for a bed and animals for angelic worshippers--a far
cry from heaven! Not in wealth, but in poverty--a great distance from the
riches of heaven! Not in a castle, but in homelessness. Jesus later said foxes
have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his
head. Not to a gathering of friends and family, but to loneliness. There was
no one like Christ. He was forsaken and betrayed on numerous occasions. He
understood loneliness. Not to a world of heavenly angels, but in a sin-saturated
world: He came to a world wrecked by sin. Injustice was everywhere! The strong
took advantage of the weak. The rich took advantage of the poor. The “haves”
belittled the “have-nots.” The spiritually elite disenfranchised
the common person. There was wickedness and violence everywhere. Humanity
had sunk to new lows.
Jesus came into this kind of world. Imagine that! Dr. Larry
Garmen went to the jungles of Peru in 1966. The Indians were cruel and ruthless.
There were no churches. He and his family had no running water or electricity
for the first 16 years. They had to bathe in the rivers. They had gone further
into the jungles than any missionary. He went to two tribes who had been at
war with each other for generations. It was said there would never be peace
between them. Now there are 150 organized churches, many of those churches
have members from both of those warring tribes. And, the Garmens were laypersons,
not ordained elders.
That’s what Jesus did! He came to a place ravaged by sin,
plagued by the affects of sin, a place that knew no peace. He came to our
world of brokenness--broken lives, broken families, broken relationships,
and broken systems of government. Imagine that!
Why? Was it to fulfill prophecy? There is the prophecy in Genesis 3:15 that
the offspring of Eve would crush Satan’s head. There is the prophecy
of the virgin birth. Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord himself will
give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son,
and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah had many prophecies describing the
Messiah. There is the prophecy of Bethlehem. Micah 5:2 says, “But you,
Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of
you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel.” Yes, Jesus
came in fulfillment of prophecy, but there is a deeper reason.
Was it because of sin? Sin had ravaged humanity. It had destroyed
people, families, and nations. All throughout the Old Testament, all throughout
history, God had judged sin and evil. God clearly showed He was on the opposite
side of evil. Sin had to go. There had to be a way to overcome the sin that
enslaved humanity. Yes, Jesus came because of sin, but there still is a deeper
reason.
Look with me at some various scriptures in the Christmas story
that will help us find out why Jesus came.
Matthew 1:1-17 Genealogy: Four women
The genealogy of Jesus is grouped in sequences of fourteen.
The first grouping is from Abraham to David. The second is from David to the
Babylonian exile. The third is from the Babylonian exile to the birth of Christ.
These are nice, little, tidy, compacted organized groupings that would be
enjoyed by a former tax collector or accountant.
However, Matthew did something unusual. He inserted into these
groupings four women. It’s like they do not fit the form of the passage:
they disrupt the flow. Every Jewish person would know their story, and it
wouldn’t be a story that necessarily brought honor to Jesus. But, Matthew
is intentionally communicating something significant.
Matthew is punctuating in particular what he is communicating
in general. In essence he says to his readers, “Here is Tamar (v.3),
Rahab (v.5), Ruth (v.5), and Bathsheba (v.6).” Tamar was guilty of incest
with her father-in-law. Rahab was a notorious prostitute. Ruth was a Moabite
(the Moabites were the hated enemies of the Israelites). Bathsheba was an
infamous adulterous. All four of them were Gentiles. What are you doing with
Gentiles in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of God? Why are enemies
of the people of God included specifically in the genealogy of the purported
Son of God?
Luke 2:8-20 Shepherds: Social Cellar Dwellers
The shepherds are common people, not socially accepted, and
poor. But God sent them direct word concerning the birth of Jesus.
Luke 2:4 Nazareth
Nazareth was not noted for its association with Jewish culture.
Those who sought to be “undefiled Jews” would not likely live
there by choice. It was located along a major highway and consequently the
town received a major source of income from economic dealings with the non-Israelites
passing through. The town’s reputation for commercial enterprise and
catering to Gentile desires would have been despicable to many first century
Jews. It was definitely not the place Jewish leaders were looking for the
anticipated Messiah. Yet, Jesus called Nazareth His hometown.
Matthew 2:1-12 Magi
The magi were not Jews; they were Gentiles. Jews were not to
eat or drink, or really even associate with Gentiles. And yet, God drew them
to Jesus.
Matthew 9:9-13 Matthew: the hated tax collector
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting
at the tax collector's booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew
got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house,
many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with them. When the Pharisees
saw this, they asked Jesus’ disciples, “Why does your teacher
eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It
is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what
this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come
to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Review the clues we just listed. These tell me why Jesus came.
Matthew was pointing out Jesus came for the disenfranchised of society, for
the outcasts, for those outside the community of faith. All of these were
in one real sense outside the community of faith.
Who are the disenfranchised today? Who are those outside the
community of faith? Typical answers would be drug addicts, sexually immoral,
criminals, murders, and so on. We might say the poor have been disenfranchised
by the wealthy. The strong disenfranchised by the weak.
But wait, there’s more. Guess who else is disenfranchised--us!
Everyone (Some just don’t know it but others do)! As it relates to eternal
life--real life--we’re all on the outside looking in.
Jesus came because of His love for us--for you and me (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).
That’s why He left heaven. That’s why He came to a stable, to
loneliness, to homelessness, and so on. That’s why He went to the cross.
Jesus came to reconcile us to God the Creator. Jesus came to
be the bridge between God and us. Jesus came to restore us to God’s
intentions for us. Jesus came to reach out to all people. He came for you
because He loves you. Sin, evil, injustices, unfairness, all create problems,
pain, and anxieties in our lives. But Jesus came because He loves us. He came
to offer life after this life. He came to bring hope and help. He journeyed
from heaven to here because He loves us.
This is why Christ came: He is love and He loves you. Do you want to know this love of God in your life? Here is your invitation to hear the Word of the Lord: Jesus loves you. Do you want to give your heart and life to Jesus Christ?