One down, 259 to go.
The Flow
The Birth of Baby Jesus (1-7)
The Announcement of Baby Jesus (8-21)
The Dedication of Baby Jesus (22-38)
The Growth of Baby Jesus (39-40)
The Maturity of the Boy Jesus (41-52)
Our Focus
Today I want to focus on two things. But before I begin, I must show more thing from chapter 1. Zechariah and Elizabeth were blameless and barren. That is before they had John the Baptist, God had not blessed them with a child. Yet they were still living upright and fearing God. It reminds me of the last verses of Habakkuk (3:17-18)
“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.”
Oh that I would take joy daily, no hourly, no moment by moment in the God of our salvation even when things do not go as planned –barren and blameless not bitter. Which leads me to today.
Luke 2:10 contains a wonderful phrase that captures the central message of the Bible – “good news of great joy that will be for all people.” The Gospel is news to be declared by dissected. It’s a fact. It’s true. Accept it, declare it, but do not try to remake it. Leave that for the 5 o’clock crowd. The Gospel brings us great joy! It does not bring us minimal joy, enough joy, but great joy! The Savior has come. He was at work then and is at work now in all those who love him and are called by his name (Rom. 8:28). And the Gospel is for all people. It is for Jews and Gentiles, men and women, white collar and blue collar, rich or poor. Like the old rhyme goes, “red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight.” So precious that Jesus came to save a world of all kinds of people (John 3:16-17).
At the end of the chapter we see a true remnant of Jews who were anticipating the Messiah. They had learned from the OT that He was coming and they looked forward to that day. And so Simeon, Anna, and “all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” by God’s grace and for God’s glory got to see the baby Jesus. Although today we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7), things are no different for us. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 says we should turn to God from idols and wait for His Son to come and complete the redemptive work he began upon his first advent. May we wait as Ray Ortland so eloquently put “fully reconciled, fully consecrated, fully forgiven, and in sweetness.” Read the whole thing here.
Blessings!