The Unexpected Messiah Celebrated

Luke 2:6-7 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

That is all we are told about the actual birth of Jesus. Mary gave birth and laid him in the manger, because there was nowhere else to lay him. The unexpected part of that is that is it so...unexceptional, just so normal. 

Luke 2:8-11 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Now we’re talking. Finally some respect. An angel makes the big announcement. The unexpected fact is to whom the announcement is made. To shepherds. Not to the priests. Not to the religious leaders or students of the law. Not to teachers. The angel came to shepherds to tell them that the Savior was born. Shepherds were at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. Children did not aspire to be shepherds when they grew up. It was a dirty, demanding difficult.  The shepherds were awake, watching over their flock, watching out for lions and bears who would prey on the sheep, and watching over the sheep who would easily wander away and get lost or hurt.  These are the ones that the angel came to.

Luke 2:13  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"

I love this verse. It just seems to me that the angels could not hold back any longer. The chosen angel made the announcement, then all the angels broke through the curtain of heaven and began a chorus of praise to God. 

Who else got to hear about the Saviors birth?

Mat 2:1-2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "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."

Who are these wise men?  We don’t know much about them, but we do know they are not Jewish. They are from the east, probably from the area that is now Iran. The actual Greek word used to describe them is “magi”, the name given by the Babylonians, Medes, Persians, and others, to the wise men, teachers, priests, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, augers, soothsayers, and sorcerers. These are men who studied the stars, experts on astronomy. God revealed to these gentile men from an idol worshiping nation that a new king was born. God spoke their language. They studied the stars, so God used the stars to tell them about the Messiah. 

Who would have ever guessed that God would tell gentile magi? 

 

They didn’t know exactly where the king was to be born, so they went to the capital to look for him. Herod asked the priests and scribes, and they immediately said that according to the prophecies, he would be born in Bethlehem. The magi went on their way to Bethlehem, where they worshiped this new king and gave him expensive gifts from their treasuries. 

It is interesting that the priests and religious leaders just stayed in Jerusalem. Bethlehem was six miles away. Six miles. The magi travelled about 1000 miles to worship this new king, and he was not even their king. The Jewish leaders would not go SIX MILES to just see if perhaps this was the Messiah they were waiting for.

Matthew 2:11 and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

I like to consider what Mary thought and felt when this caravan of wealthy scientists/astronomers came to her home, fell down before her son and worshiped him, then opened their treasures to offer him gifts of great value. She must have been shocked.

Everything about this Messiah is so unexpected.

Sometimes we forget. We may have heard the story so many times that we have lost the mystery. We know the story. If we can for while forget that we already know what happened and regain the wonder, not just of Jesus birth, but the wonder of everything about Jesus.  Because, it is not just his birth that was so unexpected. Everything about Jesus was unexpected.

The Unexpected Messiah is announced

The first sign that something unexpected was about to happen is seen in Luke 1.

 Zechariah  was serving as priest in the Holy Place when an angel appeared to him. Angel sightings were unusual even then, and Zechariah fell on his face in fear.

Luke 1:13  But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

This was unexpected because both Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were well past child bearing years and had never had children. The angel goes on to tell him that the child will be the one who will prepare the people for the Messiah. This is a good indication that things are not going to happen in an ordinary manner.

Luke 1:26  In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,  to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.  And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!"

Gabriel went on to tell Mary that she would become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit and that she would give birth to the Son of God, the Messiah they were looking for and longing for. Since Mary was a virgin, this was an unexpected turn of events.

It really seems that God likes to do things that we don’t expect. He likes to surprise us.

A surprise that we might miss is the fact that the VERY FIRST HUMAN to know that the Messiah was coming was a young woman, probably just a teenager. God had promised one who would defeat the enemy right after the fall in Genesis 3. The prophets had told of one who was coming for centuries. All Israelites were looking for him. The first person to know was one who would not have been included in any inner circle Jewish study groups. She was no one special in any human eyes, no one to listen to or share important news with. 

After Mary’s discussion with Gabriel, she went to visit Elizabeth, who happened to be a relative. 

What happened next is certainly surprising.

Luke 1:41-44 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!  And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

So, after Mary, the next human to know that the Savior was coming…is…an…embryo! Yes, an unborn baby in his mommy’s tummy. The baby leaped for joy, and somehow communicated to his mom that her relative who just walked in was pregnant, and that the baby was the Lord!  Now, that is pretty spectacular, and pretty unexpected!  

The Unexpected Messiah-His Heritage

The one who announced the coming of the Messiah did not meet anyone’s expectations. Neither did anything about the birth of the Messiah.

First, if you read the record of the ancestry of Jesus, you find some unexpected entries. Especially, if you were living 2000 years ago. If you read through the record in Matthew 1:1-16, you will find five women listed, which may not seem strange to you, but, to a reader of the time, it would have been strange and totally unacceptable. Women were not included in genealogical records of the time. The 

Old Testament has numerous records of families, but only lists the fathers.

Matthew opens the New Testament “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ”, and beginning with Abraham, traces the lineage of Jesus, including the names of five mothers. This would have been quite shocking to his early readers. Even more shocking would be who these women were.

1. Matthew 1:3  “and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar,” 

Tamar was a woman who married Judah’s oldest son, an evil man who died unexpectedly. According to the custom, Tamar was then given to Judah’s next son, also an evil man who died soon after. Judah sent Tamar back to live with her parents, which was a socially unacceptable and shameful thing to do. After some years of living as a shamed and childless woman, not free to marry outside of the family of her dead husband, Tamar used deceit and manipulation to become pregnant…by Judah. Ugh. Horrible. But, here she is, listed with her son. (Her story is in Genesis 38)

2. Next woman, Rahab 

Matthew 1:5 and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab

Rahab, usually called Rahab the Harlot. Rahab was not of the Jewish people. She was a Canaanite who lived in Jericho and helped the Israelites who came as spies to check out the city and its defenses to prepare their attack.  She and her family were saved because believed in the God of the Israelites and helped the spies.  After the victory of Israel, she was allowed to come live with the Israelites, married a good Jewish man, and became an ancestor of Jesus. (Joshua 2 and 6)

3. Another outsider, Ruth

Matthew 1:5 … and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,

Ruth was a good woman, but she was not an Israelite, in fact she was from Moab, one of the sworn enemies of Israel, a people who worshipped idols and practiced child sacrifice.  She married into an Israelite family. After the death of her husband and her father in law, she went to Israel with her mother in law. Because of her faith and her care for her mother in law, she married a respected man of Israel, was the great-grandmother of David, and, eventually, in the lineage of Jesus.  (The whole book of Ruth)

4. Next we have Bathsheba.

Matthew 1:6 and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah. Do you notice something unusual about that sentence? “By the wife of Uriah” The great King David saw a beautiful woman, Bathsheba, who was married to one of his army officers, Uriah, who was away at war. David had Bathsheba brought to him, had sex with her, and, when he found out she was pregnant, had her husband killed in battle so that he could marry her to cover it up. That baby died, but they later had Solomon.  When Matthew wrote the genealogy, he mentioned her as the wife of Uriah. Because of the King’s sinful actions, Bathsheba lost her husband and her child. However, she is honored as an ancestor of Jesus.  (1 kings 11)

5. The final woman in the story, of course, is Mary.

Matthew 1:16 and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

Mary, the sweet, faithful young woman who became Jesus mother. The only surprising thing about her was that she is mentioned at all.

If we read this list in the context of first century, we would be shocked to see women in the list. To me, that says that this Jesus is starting something very new, and beginning a new day for women in particular.

The Unexpected Messiah

God comes to us in unexpected, sometimes strange ways. The Jewish people who lived 2000 years ago were expecting a Messiah to come, were looking for and longing for the Messiah. They were certainly not expecting the kind of Messiah who came. First, remember the person who came to announce that the Messiah was coming.

“ In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."   For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'" Now John wore a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.” Mat 3:1-4 

Those who knew Scripture expected that someone would come before the Messiah who would announce his coming.  But, not someone like this.

In the wilderness, apart from the religious and political center of Israel.

Not in the temple. John was the son of a priest, in the priestly line, expected to be a priest.

Not wearing the commanded priestly clothes. He wore camel’s hair and leather. He probably didn’t smell like a priest, either! And, he ate locusts and honey. Not the diet of an important person such as he.

He was nothing that the people were expecting.

What did he preach? “Repent.”

Repent-literally means to change your mind, change your way of thinking

The Greek word is compounded of the preposition μετά, after, with; and the verb νοέω, to perceive, and to think, as the result of perceiving or observing. In this compound the preposition combines the two meanings of time and change, which may be denoted by after and different; so that the whole compound means to think differently after.

Why?  Because the kingdom of heaven is near

Israel was a great kingdom under the great king David, prosperous, strong, feared. Under his son, Solomon it continued to prosper and grow. After Solomon there was a civil war and the kingdom split. From that time, the nation struggled. Finally, the nation was conquered, and for 600 or more years, was under control by a foreign power.  At the time of John, Rome ruled Israel.

The prophets in the OT spoke many times about a man who would come someday and become king, restore the kingdom.  

The people were looking for, longing for, this man who would come and overthrow the rule of the hated Romans, who would restore the nation of Israel, who would set on the throne of David and make Israel free and great again. John used a unique term. “Kingdom of heaven” is only used in Matthew. Matthew was the gospel written by a Jewish man for the Jewish people more than the other gospels. Jews were looking for the kingdom to come.

John came saying, “You’ve got it wrong. You have got to change your whole way of thinking. Your looking for the wrong kind of king, and the wrong kind of kingdom. This new kingdom is not the earthly kingdom you are expecting, but a heavenly kingdom.”

The Jewish people then, and most people now, are looking for the wrong kind of Messiah, wrong kind of king and wrong kind of kingdom.  We want to see God come and change things here, on earth, now. We want to see political, social, cultural changes so that our lives will be more pleasant and easier. We need to hear John’s voice. We need to repent, to look instead for the king who is “at hand.” Near to us, ready to be King Jesus in our hearts and our lives. 

Why did God make Adam sleep while he made the woman?

We are looking at the book of Genesis in Sunday School, this morning in Gen. 2, the detailed account of the creation of man and woman.

Gen 2:18  Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him."

Adam lived in paradise, absolute perfection, yet God said that there was something lacking.  Adam’s problem was that he was alone, and while he was alone, he was only half the story. The image of God in him, the imprint of the nature of God, needed a counterpart. The image of God on earth could only reflect the reality of the Triune God, the three one God who lives in perfect community, through a plurality of persons. God created humans social beings who need to be in relationship.

God said that to rescue Adam from his aloneness, he would create a helper for him.  The word translated helper is the Hebrew word Ezer, which has no meaning of inferiority or subjection.

The word is generally attributed to God himself when he engages in activities of relief or rescue among his people.

Other places that the English uses the word “helper”;

Psa_30:10  Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!"

Psa_54:4  Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.

Psa_72:12  For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper.

Adam was alone, which God declared to not be good. God provided him with a rescuer to become with him the community that God had intended to create all along.

Gen 2:21-22  So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

As we looked at this in class today, someone asked the question, “Why did God make Adam sleep? He didn’t have to do that.” True. He didn’t have to make Adam sleep to do the surgery. So, why did he?

One thought is that God took Adam out of the process. Adam had nothing to do with the creation of the woman. She was created by God alone, just as the man was. Good point.

Then, one of our ladies, Teressa, who is really a Bible scholar, said that she thinks it is so that the woman had time alone with God after her creation. The man had time alone with God, to establish an intimate connection and to come to understand that the man’s primary relationship with God, more important than any human relationship. Now, God created the woman while the man slept. The first person that the woman saw was God. She had time alone to establish an intimate connection with God, just as the man had. It was only after the woman came to know God, that God, took her and introduced her to the man. 

What a great insight that is! 

Joy

We are about to start a new Bible Study called Fight Back with Joy. Such an interesting title.  I believe that joy is a very important characteristic, a crucial virtue of the Christian life. I have never thought of it as a weapon in our arsenal, but I have thought that joy is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit that we have overlooked somewhat. I am excited to see how joy can be important in fighting life’s battles.  

Early this morning, as I was sitting in the back yard on a swing, I whispered thanksgiving to God for the sweet cool breeze. I heard in my heart, “Stop long enough to really enjoy it.”  I closed my eyes, and leaned my head back to just delight in the feel of the breeze on my face. This made wonder how often I take the time to truly experience the joy in the little things that come my way every day. We often speak of the importance of gratitude, of giving thanks to God for everything. I appreciate the emphasis we place on giving thanks, knowing that a grateful heart is pleasing to God, and that giving thanks is an act of obedience. 

Today, though, I was convinced that we need to go beyond gratitude. We need to take the time to enjoy the gifts that God gives us. We need to be grateful people, and also joyful people. Jesus is here giving us gifts that he designed to give us joy. If I give someone a gift, I hope that they will say, “Thank you”, but, more than that, I hope that they will enjoy it, that they will use the gift and the gift will bring them joy.

Do you remember what the angel said when announcing that Jesus was born?

Luke 2:10-11  And the angel said to them, Do not fear. For, behold, I proclaim good news to you, a great joy, which will be to all people,  because today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, was born to you in the city of David.

And, just before his death, Jesus promised us that we could have full joy.

John_15:11  I have spoken these things to you that My joy may abide in you, and your joy may be full.

And, finally, a promise for the future, that we will be before him in joy.

Jude_1:24  Now to Him being able to keep you without stumbling, and to set you before His glory without blemish, with unspeakable joy;

The Bible is actually filled with commands to rejoice, with promises of joy, and with reasons to be filled with joy. I am looking forward to a study of joy in the coming weeks. This should be fun. 

No one is too…anything for Jesus to reach

John chapter 3 and 4 contain so many wonderful truths that books could be written about just those two chapters. One thing that I am thinking about from them is the stark contrast in the people Jesus speaks to in those chapters; Nicodemus, and the woman of Samaria. These two could not have been more different. Just look at the characteristics of each of them.

Nicodemus	Samaritan woman
A Jew- of the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, with the privilege of having the Word of God, the knowledge of the things of God, the ability to worship God in the temple.	A gentile. When Assyria conquered Israel in 722BC, they deported the Israeli people and brought in foreign people to live in the land. These new inhabitants mixed the worship of Jehovah with the worship of idols.
A man	A woman- during that time most of the world, and certainly Jewish culture, considered women far below men. Jewish men did not speak to women in public. Jewish men did not consider it correct to teach women the Scripture.
A Pharisee- trained and educated in the Scripture, and in Jewish religious traditions	A woman whose knowledge of God was incomplete, mixed with tradition and idolatry.
A ruler- respected, honored for his position and education	Rejected- having been divorced 5 times. Women did not have the right to divorce. Men could divorce wives for any reason. Since no children are mentioned, she may have been unable to have children, which would have been reason for divorce.
High morality-the Pharisees were at the top of the religious hierarchy, who lived very strictly according to the Jewish law, even adding many restrictions to the law given by God to Moses	After being divorced 5 times, this woman was living with a man who was not her husband.
He sought Jesus, went to him at night to question him.	Jesus reached out to this woman, addressed her at the well
Nicodemus called Jesus teacher, acknowledged that he had power that must be from God.	This woman had no idea who Jesus was.
He came to Jesus as an equal, one Jewish man to another	She was shocked that Jesus would speak to her, a woman and a Samaritan
He came to Jesus to learn	She just wanted water
Jesus revealed wonderful truths to Nicodemus, of God’s love, of regeneration and justification	Jesus revealed that he was the source of living water in her spirit, and that he was the Messiah. This is the first time recorded that Jesus told anyone that he was the Messiah.
The story ends with Jesus discourse to Nicodemus	The woman immediately went to her village and told her people that she had met the Christ.

When we look at the great differences between these two people, we see that Jesus came to the great and the low, the good and the bad, the seekers and the oblivious, the knowledgeable and the ignorant, those you would expect and the least expected. 

I so love this principle. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. A person’s deep lostness does not disqualify them. I especially love the story of the Samaritan woman. 

Throughout ancient history, women were despised. The Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, almost everyone considered women as inferior to men, just above the status of an animal. Without knowing the historical context, we cannot understand John 4:27, “Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you seek?" or, "Why are you talking with her?"

The disciples wanted to question him, but, after all, this was Jesus, so they just marveled. Jesus took time to speak to this woman, he treated her with respect, he even revealed something to her that he had not yet told anyone, that he was the Messiah. He did not hold back anything from her. She was not too low, to uneducated, too ignorant, too immoral, too anything for Jesus. This woman, despised and rejected, touched Jesus heart; maybe because he knew that he too would be despised and rejected.

Water into Wine=Living Water

        In a recent study of the Gospel of John, I enjoyed some new insight into chapter 2, which tells the story of the very first miracle of Jesus. He went to a wedding where the hosts ran out of wine. An embarrassing situation, and socially unacceptable for the time, but really, hard to see as life threatening. Jesus did a lot of really big, amazing miracles; healing lepers, giving sight to the blind, even raising the dead! His first miracle was a social rescue.

        Jesus obliged them by turning water into wine. In fact, Jesus had the servants fill six large jars with water, a total of about 150 gallons, which he then turned into wine. The normal, natural water, which may not have even been healthy to drink, he took and turned into wine that was refreshing, exhilarating, even intoxicating. The host even said that this wine was the best.

When we looked at this chapter, we had just had a good discussion of John 1, where Jesus is revealed as the true life which is the light of men, and as the source of grace and truth. John 1:16 “ For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.”  Jesus is full of grace, and he has poured that grace upon us and into us. We have received all that He is, abundantly; grace upon grace, overflowing, lavish grace. 

         After a great introduction of Jesus in chapter one, John tells this simple story of Jesus turning water into wine. Why? Maybe Jesus is illustrating what John 1 means. He comes to us, normal, natural human beings, like the normal water in the vessels. He comes to us and fills us. He is refreshing, exhilarating, even intoxicating.

          As I went on reading John, I could see this theme continued. John 3 tells the story of Jesus encounter with Nicodemus, where he tells of the need to be born again, to be born of the Spirit, to be made into a new person.  Then, in John 4, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman he met at a well that He would give all who believe a new kind of water, living water that would always refresh, never run out, and never be old; water that would well up to eternal life.

         For the last week, I have meditated on and relished this thought, that the plain, old, stagnant water of my life became refreshing, exhilarating, intoxicating wine in my spirit by the grace and power of the life of Jesus.

Spa Day-Over and Above kind of volunteers

One of the amazing things about our Single Mom's Spa Day is our volunteers who work so hard to make it a special days for the moms. I wish I could name every single helper. They work so hard with so much love, and the number increases every year. At the end of the day, after working for 6 hours or more, everyone is exhausted, and saying, "next year, we can..." That blows me away. No one says, "Don't count on me for next year, this is too hard." NO, they are already talking about how we can make it better next year.

Two years ago, at the end of a Spa Day, Cathy Burke, a retired teacher who was new to Cottonwood, a first time helper who had worked with the children came to me and said something like, "The children's area was chaos. We need to minister to the kids while we minister to their moms. They need to have a craft, a story, and some organized games, and I will do it."
That's the kind of "complainer" I like, a person who sees a need and is willing to do something about it.
So, last year Cathy organized the ministry to the children, and she took care of it again this year. Here are a few pictures that show what a great day it was for the kids. 
 

About three years ago, the men of the church decided to get involved, and volunteered to wash the cars for the moms.  See how hard they work on those cars! 

This dear man, Charles Grimsley, checked the oil on every car, and left notes for the mom's if the oil was low. So, next year, we will have oil on hand to add if it's needed. 

We have already had several discussions about how to make Spa Day better next year!

Single Mom's Spa Day 2015

Yesterday we held our 11th annual Spa Day for single Moms.  We offer free hair-cuts, manicures, pedicures, facials, make-overs, plus special refreshments for single mothers who are caring for minor children. While the moms are being pampered, we have another crew taking care of all of the children, and our men and children was their cars. We also provide school supplies for any of the children who need them, and a selection of gently used clothing. 

We do this because we want to reach out to these women in our community who may not have the opportunity to spend a day being loved on and pampered.  

One thing that I so appreciate is the many, MANY volunteers who make this day so very special. I can't even begin to name all the helpers, over 100 of them, raging in age from 7 to 87, literally. What a blessing to serve with people who love the Lord and love to serve. 

This was posted on facebook by one of the moms who came. 

" This morning the service at my church was about making people feel wanted and welcomed. How to do just that in the work for the Lord and bring people to Christ. Right after service we headed to Cottonwood Church in Dublin for the Single Mom's Spa Day. Let me just say - they did just what was preached this morning. My car was parked for me, the men of the church cleaned and washed the inside and outside of my car (it has never looked cleaner!), I got a hair cut, make-up, a facial, a pedicure, a manicure, and my photos taken. They fed me and my child. They also watched my child so I can have a baby free relaxing day. They gave clothes and school supplies, talked to me, loved on me, and made me feel special. That is the way you treat guests. Thank you Cottonwood Church for making my daughter and I feel like our own church family does. It was a excellent day and a much needed mommy break."

 That explains the day pretty well, so instead of writing more, I will let some pictures speak. 

We begin with a great greeting. 

The women go through the different stations, loved on by a lot of different women. 

Professional hair dressers give their time. They treat each woman just like a paying customer, taking all the time needed to give the cut and style each one wants. 

We always do make-up, but this year we had a professional make-up artist use her air brush equipment! What a special treat. 

Who doesn't love the luxury of a pedicure? 

These two girls have been painting toe nails almost since the beginning of our spa days. 

The manicure room was always full. 

This was our facial crew...no clients at the time!

 The food is always AMAZING. We didn't get any pictures in the kitchen. Those ladies work incredibly hard to make the refreshments a very special treat, and beautifully presented.

 

 

 MORE TOMORROW...kids and cars... while the mom's are being treated.