The Unexpected Messiah’s unexceptional life

Jesus was born and lived a very human life. The gospels are very specific about that. Jesus, although he was God, fully God, never stopped being God, was, at the same time, absolutely human.

The conception of Jesus was miraculous, extraordinary, unusual.

Luke 1:35 And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

The Holy Spirit overcame her and she conceived the Son of God.

We see that his birth was NOT miraculous.

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.

Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem, and while she was there, as the verse says, the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth.  The surprising thing about that sentence is how unremarkable it is. I mean, this is the Messiah, the Savior, the SON OF GOD. You would expect his birth to be a little more remarkable. We would like a few more details. If one of us women were to visit with Mary, we would ask her how long she was in labor, did she have an epidural or natural birth, was Joseph attentive…Those are questions we would ask about just any birth. The birth of a King should be much more special. We want to know more.

But we have no details, except that they were in a stable because there was nowhere else for them to 

stay. Remarkable that God became flesh but had to be born in a stable. 

Luke 2:21-24 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.  (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord")   and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons."

Jesus was circumcised. God became a human baby boy and submitted himself to be circumcised. Because that is what the law required for male babies. He and his parents did the normal things for Jewish babies. His parents brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Really. But, he was the Lord. Mary and Joseph presented him to the Lord because the Law of Moses said to do that. They offered the appropriate sacrifice for the son of a poor family, just as the Law required. They just did the normal things that Jewish parents would do. 

The Bible does not say much about his childhood.  Maybe because he had a normal childhood.

Luke 2:40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

Jesus grew. He grew physically and intellectually and relationally.

The only story from his childhood recorded is when he was 12 years old and he went with his family to Jerusalem. His parents lost him, and found him in the temple.

Luke 2:46-47 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

He was in the temple listening and asking questions, and answering questions. Maybe unusual, but a very normal thing for a young Jewish boy who loved God to be doing.

Luke 2:48-50 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress."   And he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"  And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.

Jesus answer to his parents is remarkable. He had to be in his Father’s house. This is an unusual response. What is surprising to us, I think, is that his parents WERE so surprised. Even when Jesus said that he had to be in his Father’s house, they did not understand what he was talking about. Mary and Joseph knew who he was. The fact that they did not understand seems to indicate that Jesus just seemed like a normal boy to them. I don’t mean to imply I think he pulled shenanigans of any kind, that he was ugly to his parents or disobedient. But, he lived a normal boy life with his parents.

Luke 2:51 52 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

He went home and lived a normal life. He was a boy who submitted to his parents and did the things that 12 year old Jewish boys were supposed to do. And he grew. He continued to grow physically, mentally, and relationally.

What is so unexpected about this normal human life that Jesus lived?  Who would think that a King would live just like everyone else? The Jews were looking for something else, a King who looked like a king and lived like a king.

Happy NEW Year

Don’t you love new beginnings? I always look forward to the start of each new year because we have the opportunity to say goodbye to the year before and open a new page. When God created our earth, he established a lot of do-overs, because He knew we would need them. Every day is a do -over, we get a new start. Every Sunday brings a new week, every month we can start over, but the first of every year is a really big new beginning.

God has an affinity for things that are new. Look in the Bible. God says that He will make a NEW covenant with us, He will give us a NEW heart, and a NEW spirit. He provides NEW mercies for us every morning, and He puts a NEW song in our mouths. He makes you a NEW person, with a RENEWED mind, and a NEW life. Jesus provided a NEW and living way to go to the Father. God even says that everyone who comes to Christ is actually a NEW creature!

God will create a NEW heaven and NEW earth, with a NEW Jerusalem. And finally, He says, "Behold, I make all things NEW."

When God uses the word new, He means more than we understand. The Greek word translated “new”   is “kainos”, “of a new kind, unprecedented, novel, uncommon, unheard of”.  We talk about getting a new car, but the new car is the same in essence as the old car. It is new In the sense that's it has just been made, but in essence it isn't new at all. In the same way, a new baby is the same as billions of other babies that came before.

When God makes something new, it is new in it's very essence. When Jesus was born, he was a new baby in every way. Before Jesus, there was God, there was man, and there were angels, and fallen angels. Jesus was a brand new thing. He was fully God, and fully human, NEW.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new." When we give our lives to Christ, we are born again. Not just get a fresh start at life with our sins washed away (although we do get that, Hallelujah). We become a NEW creature, New in essence, a human being with God living inside. Before Jesus came, that was something never before seen. NEW! Don't Forget, you are a NEW creature, a very special kind of being, not just human, but a human with God mixed in!

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.