Burunche’s Blog

Genesis 15:1-21 God’s Covenant with Abram

“After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

But Abram said, “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!”

And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”

And he said, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall [d]go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

If you follow American college football, you have likely heard of a phenomenon called “the portal.” Previously, top college athletes recruited by one school typically remained at that school for their entire time of eligibility or transferred after one or two years. Now, thanks to the portal, athletes may begin a football season playing for one school and end the season by playing for an entirely different school. Coaches who have carefully recruited players to craft a team for a season may find themselves scrambling mid-season to field a team that can survive, let alone win games. Loyalty to one school has become an unknown thing, and performance on the sports field has now taken precedence over one’s education.

These days, loyalty and commitment to any cause have become rare birds. Volunteer fire companies and ambulance services scramble for sufficient staff to serve their territories while divorce rates continue to rises and even the marriage rate continues to plummet. Children are losing the security of the assurance that their parents are committed to the family for the long term.

In the midst of all this mess, God’s covenant with Abraham remains as a beacon of hope. In Abraham’s day, men would literally “cut covenant,” that is, they would slaughter animals, cut them in half, and then walk around and between the halves of the animals, swearing that if they were to break the covenant, they too should be slaughtered and cut in two just like those animals. This practice led to the expression “cutting covenant,” and such covenants were taken very seriously!

In the passage from Genesis, God cuts covenant with Abraham, but while Abraham falls silent in God’s presence, it is God who moves among the parts of the animals to swear His good Name as an assurance. God never goes back on His Word but always fulfills His promises. History has proven that God has fulfilled everything He promised to Abraham that night so long ago. Unlike the college athletes who enter the portal in search of more money and more advancement, God is omnipotent, omniscient, and unchanging.

As we prepare to enter a new year, we can trust that the God who has preserved us this far will continue to be with us and to guide us. We can trust God to work on our behalf, even when we don’t appreciate or understand what He is doing. Just as God sent Jesus in the fullness of time, so God continues to work in the fullness of time. Let us fall down before Him and worship Him, for He is the One who will lead us into this new year and perfect that which concerns us.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we praise You and bless You, that You have sustained us thus far and that You will continue to keep us as we enter the new year. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Genesis 8:20-22 God’s Covenant with Creation

“Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

“While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”

Genesis 9:8-17 “Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Who among us does not need a new beginning, a fresh start? The longer we live, the more we realize just how readily we can mess up and how necessary fresh starts can be. Blessedly, God, our Creator, is a God of infinite variety and is always doing new things. God is the One who can give do-overs and make-overs. We are embarking on a new series of Bible studies focusing on some of the ways God has given fresh starts as recorded in the Bible.

Today’s Scriptures record the time immediately after a massive flood that wiped out all living things apart from those preserved in the ark by the efforts of Noah and his family. Now the ground has dried and Noah and his family have come out of the ark. When Noah makes a burnt offering to the Lord, God responds by promising that never again will He send such catastrophic floods.

“While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”

God follows up this promise by making a covenant with Noah and his family as well as with every living creature. “Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.”

One of the most fascinating museums we have ever visited is the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky. A sister museum, the Creation Museum, is located close by in Petersburg, Kentucky. Although we originally planned to visit both when we went in early December 2018, bad weather forced us to cut our visit to the Ark Encounter short and cancel our plans to tour the Creation Museum. The Ark Encounter is a replica of the Ark following the directions in the Bible as closely as possible. If you’ve ever wondered how Noah and his family could handle all those animals, it’s an amazing structure.

“But I don’t believe in the Bible, let alone the story of Noah or the story of God creating the earth.” Fine. But don’t you owe it to yourself to consider the possibility that you might be wrong, that those who have told you the Bible was nothing but a collection of myths are also wrong? What are you afraid of?

Consider for a moment that God exists, that He created the world and all that is in it, and that He might have sent an enormous flood. Now look at the promises recorded in Genesis. God is promising that never again will He send such a broad-reaching international catastrophe. God is also promising that the rainbow is His sign of His covenant with all creation.

Now look at your own life. Aren’t there places where you long for the chance to do things over, to correct your mistakes, to heal relationships? What have you got to lose by praying to God? If God exists, He will answer your prayer. If God doesn’t exist, you haven’t lost anything.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, all of us are hurting from our own mistakes while some of us aren’t even certain You exist. Please enter every trembling heart and comfort those who are seeking You all the time they are denying Your existence. As we end this year, help us to turn away from our mistakes and guide us into new paths spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Isaiah 62:10-12

“Go through, go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway! Take out the stones, lift up a banner for the peoples! Indeed the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the world: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Surely your salvation is coming; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.’ ” And they shall call them The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, a City Not Forsaken.”

Luke 2:1-20 Christ Born of Mary

“And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

Glory in the Highest

“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

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, goodwill toward men!” So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.”

John 1:1-14 The Eternal Word

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (Other versions say, “The darkness did not overcome it.”

John’s Witness: The True Light

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

At the end of John’s Gospel, he says, “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” (John 21:25)

John’s observation was eminently correct, for ever since the birth of Jesus, people have written, sung, painted, danced, and played music depicting his life and honoring him. Throughout the Scriptures, there are so many names for Jesus because of the infinite scope of his ministries. If you gather several older believers together and get them going on “Jesus stories,” they will talk all day and still have stories left over.

I love the Christmas story, for I grew up on a farm and I know the peace and holy hush that comes on animals settled for a night’s rest. It’s likely that the place might have smelled of sheep, but that odor is not too bad. Consider what all those unwashed bodies would have smelled like at the inn. It was likely a great deal quieter and more peaceful in the stable than in the inn, for the innkeeper was probably packing as many people into a room as he could, both to accommodate travelers and also to make more money.

My heritage is Swedish, and somehow the hymn “The Holy City” has found its way into Christmas celebrations by many Swedes. Although this hymn is actually more of an Easter number, it’s quite appropriate for Christmas as well, for Jesus was born to grow to manhood and to walk the streets of Jerusalem, to be sent to Calvary to die, and to rise victoriously to eternal life. We can celebrate Christmas because, as the verse from “Good Christian Men Rejoice” tells us, “He has opened heaven’s door and man shall live forevermore.” HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, You have given us eternal life through Jesus Christ if we only will receive him as Savior and Lord. Help us to bow our heads, to worship, to adore, and to obey. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Isaiah 61:10-11 “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, s a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.”

Micah 5:2-5 The Coming Messiah

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” Therefore He shall give them up, until the time that she who is in labor has given birth; then the remnant of His brethren shall return to the children of Israel. And He shall stand and feedHis flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God; and they shall abide, for now He shall be great to the ends of the earth; and this One shall be peace.”

Imagine that you are a “stranger in a strange land,” an exile living in Babylon, despised, and scorned by the local people. Your parents have told you stories of a time when your grandparents and great-grandparents lived in their own land; however, that’s a land your parents have never seen either. Your parents have been born in this land of exile. But your parents have told you that the prophets of your people have foretold that a Messiah, a Savior will come and will lead your people out of exile and establish them in their own land.

A few generations later, your descendants will accompany Ezra back to Israel and will help rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and the temple. But your land remains under the rule of foreigners, and your people are subjugated. When will Messiah appear? Have the prophets really heard from God, or is the idea of a Messiah simply a lovely dream?

Yet several generations later, and your land is now under Roman rule. The Romans despise your people for being weak and unable to defend themselves and also despise your religion because of its many restrictions. When Roman soldiers stride through the streets, people shrink back, for soldiers are known for pushing even the elderly out of the way and seizing anything attractive from shops that line the streets. Surely, surely, this is the time for Messiah to ride in on a white horse and deliver his people!

If we ignore the history of the Jewish people, we ignore their reasons for passionately longing for a Messiah to deliver them. The problem is that sometimes when God gives us answers, we don’t like the form in which the answers appear. Although Micah’s prophecy has been well-known for several hundred years, it’s likely that on this night, many religious leaders in Jerusalem really don’t believe it. Bethlehem? BETHLEHEM? That tiny village? What might possibly move God to choose Bethlehem as the birthplace of a Messiah? Surely Micah must have heard God wrong! And if Messiah is to come from the line of David, certainly he will be born to one of the best families in Jerusalem who can proudly trace their lineage all the way back to David.

If you really want frustration, just try putting God in a box and see how you’ve wasted your time. God is a God of infinite variety and is always doing new things, in ways that we cannot possibly anticipate. David was the runt of his family, the last-born and considered so insignificant that he was the one his father sent out to risk his life herding sheep and defending them from wild animals. After all, Jesse had several more big strong handsome sons-if something happened to the youngest, it was no big deal. But God chose David to shepherd His people Israel. God watched as Abraham Lincoln educated himself, reading by the light of the fireplace in a small log cabin, and then chose Lincoln to guide America through one of the greatest crises she ever faced. Lincoln was anything but handsome; in fact, cartoonists of that day portrayed him as an ape. But God knows hearts and God is the One who promotes people.

God’s timing is perfect. Acts 2:1 says, “Now when the Day of Pentecost had FULLY come…” At Pentecost, God waited until the maximum number of people from the maximum number of various nations were present in Jerusalem, and that was the time when the Holy Spirit descended. All those people gathered in Jerusalem listened as those in the upper room began praising God in the heart languages of the people in the crowds.

Galatians 4:4-5 tells us, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive our adoption as sons.…”

On that holy night in Bethlehem, the fullness of time arrived, and the infant Savior of the world was born to humble believing parents. Nothing in the world would ever be the same again.

1.     Good Christian men, rejoice
        With heart, and soul, and voice;
    Give ye heed to what we say:
                News! News!¹
    Jesus Christ was born to-day:
    Ox and ass before Him bow,
    And He is in the manger now.
Christ is born today! Christ is born today.

2.     Good Christian men, rejoice,
        With heart, and soul, and voice;
    Now ye hear of endless bliss:
                Joy! Joy!
    Jesus Christ was born for this!
    He hath ope’d² the heav’nly door,
    And man is blessed evermore.³
Christ was born for this! Christ was born for this!

3.     Good Christian men, rejoice
        With heart, and soul, and voice;
    Now ye need not fear the grave:
                Peace! Peace!
    Jesus Christ was born to save!
    Calls you one, and calls you all,
    To gain His everlasting hall:
Christ was born to save! Christ was born to save!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, words fail when we try to praise You for Your greatest gift of all-Jesus and the salvation he has bought for us with his blood. Help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Isaiah 54:4-17 “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of Hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused,”
Says your God.
“For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.

“For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you.

“O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, your gates of crystal, and all your walls of precious stones.

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Indeed they shall surely  assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.

“Behold, I have created the blacksmith who blows the coals in the fire, who brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the spoiler to destroy.

No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord.”

Matthew 23:37-39 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

At first you might wonder what the promises in Isaiah 54 have to do with Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem recorded in Matthew 23. The promises recorded in these verses from Isaiah refer to Israel and especially to Jerusalem. While Isaiah was simply a prophet, Jesus came as prophet, priest, and king. Matthew records a time when Jesus is prophesying over Jerusalem, for Jesus knows that the Romans will eventually attack Jerusalem in 70 AD and destroy Herod’s temple, as well as much of the rest of the city. Jesus is also foreseeing the time when Jerusalem will finally acknowledge him as Messiah and King. Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah, the Redeemer would come and would transform His people and Jerusalem itself.

We are still waiting for the fulfillment of this promise; however, many of the other predictions in Isaiah have already come true. Several years ago, an elderly friend told me that she became a Christian when she watched the State of Israel being established and the Jews streaming in from all over the world, just as Isaiah had prophesied.

God’s prophecies work on many different levels. The comforting words from Isaiah 54 are meant for us just as much as they were meant for those waiting for the Messiah. We have a Redeemer; His Name is Jesus, (Savior), Emmanuel, (God with us.) Because God is with us and has sent Jesus to redeem us, we can celebrate, not only at Christmas, but at all times.

We can claim the promises of Isaiah 54:17 when those around us mock us for our beliefs. We can claim the promises regarding our children; in fact, we can pray these promises over our children, begging God for their salvation and their peace.

We can rest in this promise: For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you.” (Isaiah 54:10)

2024 has been a difficult year for many people. Economically, things have been bad in many places. Storms, drought, floods, etc. have all taken their toll on many parts of the world. This Christmas, we need God’s promises as much as we ever have. The great news is that God keeps His promises and God provides, even when we see no way of His doing so.

As we approach Christmas, let us worship the One who is our Redeemer, our Savior, our Master, and our Lord. Let us worship Jesus!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us are suffering. Please meet us at our point of need and show Yourself mighty on our behalf. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Isaiah 53:1-12 The Sin-Bearing Messiah

“Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and  the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment,
and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

If you are familiar with Jesus’ life and ministry, you realize that these verses written by Isaiah hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth describe Jesus quite accurately. Jesus grew up in the small village of Nazareth in the region of Galilee, an area previous described by Isaiah as “the people who walked in darkness.” Rather than coming from a priestly family, Jesus was born into a poor working class family and worked as a carpenter and possibly a stone mason until age 30.

During Jesus’ three years of ministry, he never owned a house, a boat, or even a donkey. Jesus and his disciples walked everywhere and when they crossed the Sea of Galilee, they may have done so on borrowed boats.

Although there are hundreds of paintings depicting Jesus as tall, blond, and blue-eyed, it is far more likely that Jesus was short and swarthy. None of the Gospel writers bothers to describe Jesus physically because they were so impressed by him spiritually.

When Jesus eventually suffered through a mockery of a trial, he never reproached nor defended himself, despite urging. As Jesus was dying on the cross, he was begging his Heavenly Father to forgive those who were crucifying him. And when Jesus died, his body was placed in a borrowed tomb.

But Jesus’ life was a triumphant one. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Jesus fulfilled the perfect will of his Heavenly Father and succeeded in his ministry. Because of Jesus, there is hope for eternal life who all will believe. There is a beloved carol that expresses this joy and hope.

Good Christian men rejoice
With heart and soul and voice!
Give ye heed to what we say
News! News!
Jesus Christ is born today!
Ox and ass before Him bow
And He is in the manger now
Christ is born today!
Christ is born today!

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice
Now ye hear of endless bliss
Joy! Joy!
Jesus Christ was born for this
He hath ope’d the heav’nly door
And man is blessed evermore
Christ was born for this
Christ was born for this

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice
Now ye need not fear the grave:
Peace! Peace!
Jesus Christ was born to save
Calls you one and calls you all
To gain His everlasting hall
Christ was born to save
Christ was born to save

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, there are no words sufficient to thank You for living for us, for dying for us, and for taking away our sins. Help us to follow You and to serve You for the rest of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

Isaiah 52:13-15 The Sin-Bearing Servant

“Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; so shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider.”

John 1:29-34 The Lamb of God

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”

And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”

If your only ideas about Christmas center around eggnog, presents, Christmas trees, and parties, then these verses from Isaiah and John will come as a terrible shock. God is always intentional and always up to far more different things than we can possibly imagine. Boiled down to its elements, the Christmas story actually begins in shame, for Mary the virgin suddenly turns up pregnant, even though Joseph and she are only betrothed and are supposed to wait to have sex until after the wedding. Encouraged by an angelic visitation, Joseph braves the jeers of his friends and neighbors, most of whom assume that Joseph simply lacks the self-control necessary to wait out the year of betrothal. Mary’s parents may be heart-broken, despite her descriptions of the Angel Gabriel appearing to her. Anne, Mary’s mother, has been planning Mary and Joseph’s wedding, and is undoubtedly grief-stricken that her plans must be abandoned.

Due to the demands of the Roman government, Joseph and Mary have no choice but to travel to Bethlehem and struggle to find a place where Mary can give birth. Then after visits from the shepherds, the new parents take their son to the temple in Jerusalem where Simeon prophesies over the infant. But the last part of Simeon’s prophesy foretells the suffering that Jesus-and Mary-will eventually endure.

Through the years, there have been lots of myths regarding the flocks outside Bethlehem, the kind of manger used, and whether or not the lambs from these flocks were specially raised to become sacrifices. Chad Bird discusses a number of these ideas in a fascinating article entitled “Debunking Popular Christmastime Myths: Temple Shepherds, Migdal Eder, and Swaddling Lambs.” https://www.1517.org/articles/debunking-popular-christmastime-myths-temple-shepherds-migdal-eder-and-swaddling-lambs

Bird, a distinguished Hebrew scholar, goes back into the ancient Jewish literature, proving that these were ordinary flocks with ordinary shepherds who treated their lambs in an ordinary fashion. But Bird goes on to say that the story of Christ’s birth is already so rich that it needs no embellishment.

In many respects, the Christmas story is awful or awe-full, engendering awe when we realize how many different aspects had to be coordinated for everything to happen as it did. But what also should fill us with awe is the realization that even from the beginning, Mary knew that something terrible would eventually happen to Jesus. Isaiah’s predictions had been read in synagogues for hundreds of years, and Mary may have remembered those words. Was Mary there when John the Baptist made his pronouncement about Jesus being the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world? In a Jewish context, the only way a lamb could take away sins was for that lamb to die as a sacrifice. We don’t know if Mary heard John’s announcement, but we do know that Mary was standing at the foot of the cross watching Jesus suffer and die because Jesus turned Mary’s care over to John the disciple. At that moment, Mary may well have remembered Simeon’s words and realized that a sword WAS piercing her heart.

Eventually, Jesus’ visage and body will be marred, for the Roman soldiers will beat him unmercifully. Jesus will struggle to carry his cross, anointing the streets of Jerusalem with his blood. Those in the crowd who are close enough may even find themselves sprinkled with that blood as Jesus staggers through the streets. Eventually, that blood will not merely flow in the streets of Jerusalem or on Calvary’s hill, but that blood will spiritually anoint believers throughout the world.

There’s nothing wrong with celebrations, but let’s remember the greatest celebration of Jesus’ life-the moment that Jesus ascended into heaven and was reunited with his Heavenly Father. No more prayers at midnight. No more suffering. And let’s think about something else.

For those of us who believe in Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away our sins, some day we too will leave our physical bodies behind, joining our Lord in heaven. And for each of us, that will be the greatest celebration of all.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, please help us to remember that the shadow of the cross also falls across the manger and that Jesus truly is Your Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.  

Isaiah 49:1-9 “Listen, O coastlands, to Me, and take heed, you peoples from afar! The Lord has called Me from the womb; from the matrix of My mother, He has made mention of My name.
And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand, He has hidden Me,
And made Me a polished shaft; in His quiver He has hidden Me.”

“And He said to me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’ Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; yet surely my just reward is with the Lord, and my work with my God.’”

“And now the Lord says, Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength), Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

Thus says the Lord, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, to Him whom man despises, to Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel; and He has chosen You.”

Thus says the Lord: “In an acceptable time I have heard You, and in the day of salvation I have helped You; I will preserve You and give You as a covenant to the people, to restore the earth, to cause them to inherit the desolate heritages; that You may say to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’ to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’

Luke 2:25-35 Simeon Sees God’s Salvation

“And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So, he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Reading the verses from Isaiah, we might wonder if Isaiah is really speaking about the Messiah or about himself. Although Isaiah was from a priestly family, this did not guarantee instant popularity; in fact, tradition says that eventually Isaiah was slaughtered by wicked King Manasseh, the son of righteous King Hezekiah. But we must remember that God’s Word always works on many different levels, so this can be a “both/and” situation, not an “either/or.”

What must Joseph and Mary have thought when this wise old man suddenly walked up to them in the temple and began prophesying over their infant son? All Joseph and Mary wanted to do was to present Jesus as the Mosaic Law demanded. This little family had already suffered a great deal by delivering the baby in a stable in Bethlehem; now all they wanted to do was to get out and have peace. We can’t be certain how old Jesus was when Herod decided to murder all the baby boys in Bethlehem who were two years or less, but Joseph was undoubtedly concerned. By this point, the shepherds had spread their stories all over Bethlehem, and Joseph wanted to maintain as low a profile as possible.

How well known was Simeon? Obviously, Simeon was a fixture in the temple, worshiping sincerely and regularly. Perhaps Simeon had very little money; that would certainly prevent the Scribes and Pharisees from noticing him. Perhaps Simeon was self-effacing and stood off to the side or in a corner during worship. If Simeon was not well known, this would help preserve Joseph and Mary’s anonymity.

The important thing about Simeon is that God and Simeon were friends and God had promised Simeon that Simeon would see the Christ, the Chosen One of God, before he died. For years, Simeon searched the streets and the temple, thinking that perhaps today would be the day the Christ would reveal Himself. Time passed, and Simeon continued to age. By now, Simeon might have wondered if he had heard God correctly or if he was simply deluding himself. Each night when Simeon laid down to sleep, he would beg God to allow him to live to see the Christ. Now, today God was fulfilling that promise, and Simeon was thrilled.

How loudly did Simeon speak when he was pronouncing blessings over the baby Jesus? Did Simeon murmur softly, or did he cry out for all those in the temple to hear? It’s likely that Simeon spoke softly but intensely, crying out in his heart but maintaining the privacy of this little family. And what did Mary think of all this?

MARY DID YOU KNOW

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you’ve delivered will soon deliver you.

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

When you kissed your little baby, you’ve kissed the face of God

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again

The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the Lamb

Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy is Heaven’s perfect Lamb?

This sleeping child you’re holding is the great ‘I Am’

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, thank You that You keep Your promises, no matter how long they take to be fulfilled. Praise You for sending Jesus to be born as a baby and to become Your perfect Sacrifice for the sins of the world. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen