Windows on Christmas by Bill Crowder

WINDOWS ON CHRISTMAS

by Bill Crowder

If you are like me and enjoy a few books based around the first Christmas story then I recommend this book, Windows on Christmas by Bill Crowder. I had another of Bill's books so when I found this little gem in the charity shop could not resist buying this book! Have checked this morning and there are a few good online prices on this book if you are interested in buying it.

This book is only 117 pages in length and can easily be read as a chapter at a time. Bill looks at 6 individuals/groups of people from one chapter in the bible (Luke 2) for whom the coming of the baby Jesus into the world brought so many changes in their lives - the angels, Mary, the shepherds, Joseph, Simeon and Anna. For me this book helped me to refocus on what Christmas is really about - Jesus coming into the world as Saviour. Over the next few postings I am hoping to look at each of these people and say something of what I have learned from reading this book.

"By looking through the windows provided by those who were there, we are allowed to enter into events that altered forever the world and its inhabitants - to join the humble worshipers who welcomed Christ as his birth. They give us what we often need most - fresh perspective."

ANGELS

Angels are seen throughout scripture and are called by a variety of names, including cherubim, seraphim and living creatures. Sometimes they are described as men, often in shining garments.

Quick bible question for you - can you remember when angels are mentioned in the bible? Well in Genesis they are there guarding Eden. In Acts they rescued Peter from prison. There is the picture in Revelation of angels worshiping in God's presence. There is also the famous angel who rebelled - Lucifer or Satan They have names - Michael which means who is like God. Or Gabriel from the Christmas story whose name means warrior of God. The word angel comes from the Greek term angelos which is defined as "a messenger, envoy, one who is sent, an messenger from God. Sometimes in scripture they carry a message of warning - as in Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. Sometimes they carry a message of rescue - as with Shadrach, Meschech and Abednego in Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace of Daniel 3. Sometimes they carry a message of instruction as with Hagar, Sarah's handmaid in Genesis 16. The messages they carried were directly from God himself - did you know that the New Testament word for "preaching the gospel" is evangelios which comes from the same word as angel? The gospel or good news was first delivered to the world by angelic messengers during the events surrounding the birth of the Saviour.

Gabriel, the archangel in the Christmas story was apparently the highest ranking in the command structure of the angelic realm. He comes to earth to tell everyone that the time was right for the Messiah to come. He does this in a series of announcements:

First to Zacharias to tell him of John the Baptist's birth
Second to Mary
Third to shepherds in the fields around Bethlehem

 

Angels in the first Christmas story brought special announcements.

In the first announcement Zacharias was a priest and he was told he would have a son who would fulfil an Old Testament prophecy of Malachi. This son's role would be to prepare the way for the messianic Redeemer. John the Baptist came to "prepare the way of the Lord", step one in the process of bringing Christ into the world.

In the second announcement the angel Gabriel came to Mary who was living in Nazareth. This was 6 months after the appearance to Zacharias. Mary was told that she would be given the privilege of giving birth to the promised Messiah. Her response was one of submissive confusion - she was ready to do as asked but mystified how such a thing could occur. Mary was told that when her baby was born she was to call him Jesus meaning the Lord is salvation. This name defined both his character as the Son of God and his mission as Redeemer. Following this visit the angel also visited Joseph, the man to whom Mary was betrothed. He was given the same message.

Nine months later the angel appeared again - this time to shepherds and it was to announce the arrival of Jesus. The shepherds were enduring another cold night looking after their sheep on the hills around Bethlehem. They beheld a brilliant, heavenly light show! This time the glory of the Lord accompanied the angel's message and naturally the shepherds were terrified. Angels should not appear to shepherds but to priests. Why would God choose them? Surely they should be calling on the current managers of the temple in Jerusalem not men and boys who were at the lowest level of the Jewish social status.

So much is said today of angelic appearances as if they are everyday occurrences but they were not in bible times and they are not today!

 

Angels in the Christmas story served as God's messengers. But that was not their only function. It may actually be secondary to their primary activities in heaven - praise and worship.

Remember Isaiah in chapter 6 - he was transported into the throne room of God where he witnessed the angelic worship of God in heaven as the six-winged seraphim declared the glory and greatness of God.

The apostle John was give a glimpse of the heavenly landscape in Revelation chapters 4 and 5. He saw the "living creatures" (another term for angels) declaring the holiness of God and calling on the redeemed to worship God for the wonder of his creation and to worship Christ for the grace of his salvation. All the residents of heaven then joined the anthem as they praised the Father and the Son for their powerful intervention into a fallen world.

In the Christmas story they assemble in a glorious mass choir to celebrate his invasion of the broken planet that is the object of his eternal love. They can remain silent no longer. They raise their voices in exaltation of God for his glory, for his Son and for his plan to rescue the lost, tired and confused race of men and women who had like the sheep had long since gone astray.

What Isaiah and John witnessed in heaven the shepherds experienced on that Bethlehem hillside. They heard the angels affirm the glory of God and announce that Christ had come to offer peace with God to a race in rebellion against him The reconciliation between God and mankind - the solution for the human condition of sin - is summed up in the simple word peace.

 

This word peace is not simply the absence of conflict - it is the presence of the Christ who is described by the prophet Isaiah as the "Prince of Peace" - Isaiah 9 verse 6. It is through Christ, the reality of relationship with the God peace - Philippians 4 verse 9. The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, encapsulates this idea, for it carries the weight of such realities as completeness, soundness and contentment. The angels could offer this promise of peace to the shepherds (and us) because the Christ who makes such peace available to us had just arrived on planet earth"

 

How disappointed the shepherds must have been when the glorious bright angels left and the sky returned to its cold darkness. But the angels were not finished. They would continue to be involved in the ministry of Christ for the next 30+ years, particularly during critical moments of danger or declaration.

• An angel warned Joseph to take the Christ child out of Herod's reach - Matthew 2 verse 13
• Angels served Jesus following his temptations in the wilderness - Matthew 4 verse 11
• An angel ministered to Jesus during his suffering in the garden of Gethsemane - Luke 22 verse 43
• An angel opened the tomb on resurrection day - Matthew 28 verse 2
• Angels announced the resurrection of Christ - Matthew 28 verse 5 and John 20 verse 12
• Angels attended the return of Jesus to heaven - Acts 1 verses 10 and 11

There was great interest among the angelic host concerning the earthly mission of the Lord of glory. The events of the incarnation were not merely "seen by angels"; these divine activities were "beheld" - that is gazed upon - with great interest. In other words, Christ's redeeming work was and is, an ongoing source of fascination for the angelic company.

 

MARY

Ever since the promise of a Messiah had been given, young Jewish women had longed to be selected for this privileged role. Centuries came and went, and no Messiah arrived. Then the message came: the time had come for Messiah to be born and Mary was to be his mother! Even in Gabriel's greeting, the wonder of privilege is clear - "Greetings favoured one! The Lord is with you." (Luke 1 verse 28)

 

Luke tells us that Mary was "perplexed" and that she "pondered" at the meaning of such a strange greeting. These are strong words! Perplexed means "deeply distressed" and pondered comes from the same word as our word dialogue. She was, in fact reasoning with herself, in her own mind, about the meaning of all this.

 

Luke 1 verses 30 to 33

 

"Found favour" means that Mary was privileged. Talk about wonder! And Mary's response - that she was a virgin - shows how difficult it was for her to grasp such a thing. Gabriel reassured her that even as her cousin Elizabeth had become pregnant in her old age, the God of the impossible was capable of granting this privilege to her. Awe and wonder dissolved into trust and willingness of heart. Her response to Gabriel was firm and direct: "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word." (Luke 1 verse 38)

 

"I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." New Living Translation

 

Amazingly, Mary understood the magnitude of what she had been chosen to do, and she accepted with humility. Imagine her emotions, her disbelief, her sense of unworthiness, her joy, her amazement. Imagine the wonder in her heart.

 

The scriptures are largely silent about the 9 months Mary carried the incarnate Christ, but we can make some assumptions based on what we know about life. It would have been a time of new experiences in which Mary felt things she had never before known. She had no frame of reference for what she was feeling, physically and emotionally, with every day of the baby's growth. Added to that, she undoubtedly had to endure the looks and whispers of her neighbours in the village of Nazareth - ordinary people with ordinary questions about the true father of the extraordinary child she carried. The sting of pointed words and disgusted looks must have cut her deeply. And there certainly might have been times when Mary doubted her own understanding - "Did I really see an angel? Did it all really happen like I remember, or is everyone right in what they say about me and my child?" - until the wonder was affirmed.

 

Early in her pregnancy, Mary travelled to the Judean hill country around Jerusalem to visit her elderly cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with the baby who would grow up to be John the Baptizer. The bible does not tell us why Mary went to visit Elizabeth, but it is possible that she left Nazareth to escape the harsh looks and wagging tongues. Seeking safety and support, she sought out Elizabeth. They were 2 women, separated by age, but connected by family. Separated by miles, but connected by history. Both the unlikeliest women to be pregnant - one too old and one a virgin.

 

Upon seeing Mary, Elizabeth declared: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1 verses 42 and 43)

 

Mary's affirmation had come from a most unexpected source - the unborn baby that had leaped in Elizabeth's womb at the sound of Mary's voice. Mary's response, sometimes called "the Magnificat" shows the true sense of wonder she felt at the privilege of her pregnancy - Luke 1 verses 46 to 49.

 

Mary's sense of awe at this miraculous pregnancy, is clear in her eloquent response of praise, worship, and thanksgiving. The wonder of this divinely orchestrated pregnancy had grasped her heart, filling her with true and uninhibited wonder..

 

When Mary was nearing the end of her pregnancy, she and Joseph began the long, arduous journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register in the imperial census - Luke 2 verses 1 to 3. In essence, the sovereign God put the entire Roman Empire in motion for the single purpose of getting Mary where she needed to be at the moment Christ would be born. Perhaps because nothing short of an imperial edict would make a woman nearing childbirth travel 80 plus miles on the back of a donkey - Luke 2 verses 4 and 5. Another miracle. Another wonder.

 

Bethlehem, the home of Joseph's family and ancestors, was a village located about 5 miles south of Jerusalem, not far from the foothills of the Judean desert. Upon their arrival in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph found the small community flooded with pilgrims who had come for the census. The inn was groaning under the weight of overflow capacity and there was no place for the young couple to sleep, let alone give birth to a child. The city of David was without shelter for the young woman who was ready to deliver.

 

Yet someone (the innkeeper) was willing to go above and beyond the call of duty. He or she cared enough to make accommodation for Mary and Joseph in a stable. Though primitive, this provided them shelter from the elements, from the evening chill and privacy from the mobs of people. That simple act of kindness guaranteed that the stage was set for the most marvelous reality of all - the Lamb of God would be born in a stable.

 

Luke 2 verses 6 and 7

 

A veil of silence is pulled over the young woman as she agonizes through childbirth. The shouts of joy are left unrecorded as Joseph, apparently serving as Mary's midwife, delivers the baby and hands him to his mother.

 

On one level, Mary must have experienced every wonderful emotion felt by every new mother as she held her child for the first time. But on another level she had to have been overwhelmed by the realisation that this child she cuddled and nursed was the Son of God and by the thought of what this child had come to do - rescue a lost race from their sins (including herself, his own mother). This Son - promised by an angel, conceived by the Holy Spirit, affirmed by the then-unborn John, carried in the womb to Bethlehem, and surrounded in birth by farm animals - was the one whose name would be called "full of wonder" - Isaiah 9 verse 6.

 

Nothing in Mary's childhood or young life could have prepared for all this. She was a normal first-century Jewish girl from an ordinary family living in an ordinary small town. Yet with wonder and obedience she embraced the extraordinary implications of God's extraordinary plan for her life. And the wonder of her 9 month emotional roller coaster brought her to one simple response: "Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart" - Luke 2 verse 19.

 

"Pondering" Remember, that was also her response to the message of the angel Gabriel 9 months earlier - Luke 1 verse 29. Once again she, in her own interior dialogue, in her own mind, was trying to understand all that was happening. Today, in our technology-driven culture, we would say that she was "processing".

 

Processing the fulfilment of the promise

Processing the culmination of the pregnancy

Processing the journey from her home to Bethlehem

Processing the surroundings in the stable

Processing the struggle of childbirth

Processing the visit by simple shepherds

Processing the wonder of God incarnate in her child

 

2000 years later, we are still processing. Still caught up in the wonder.

 

THE SHEPHERDS

How surprised Mary must have been when a band of ragtag shepherds arrived at the stable telling of angelic hosts and "a star of wonder" - all announcing the birth of her son! Though still exhausted from childbirth, Mary must have been astonished as these simple men of the fields bowed in worship before her son and then went to tell everyone they encountered about the child they had seen - Luke 2 verses 16 to 18.

 

The shepherds were the first to kneel at the manger, which could seem surprising, given who and what they were. Yet, there they were - worshipping the newborn Saviour!

 

They were "simple men with simple lives." The very brevity of Luke's description emphasizes this simplicity: "In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields, and keeping watch over their flock by night" - Luke 2 verse 8.

 

The region surrounding Bethlehem has been associated with shepherding since the earliest days of recorded history and it was there that David guarded the flocks of his father, Jesse. Bethlehem was a place of pasture and therefore appropriate for gazing flocks. It was near "the tower of Eder" (Migdal Elder) or "the tower of the flock" - Genesis 35 verse 21, Micah 4 verse 8. though it is uncertain what those were. These "shepherds hills" outside Bethlehem formed a land of sheep and shepherds that was pastoral and practical.

 

Even more significant, however, is that the sheep that grazed here were not ordinary sheep. Because of their proximity to the temple at Jerusalem, the fields of Bethlehem were primarily the domain of temple sheep - the animals used in the sacrifices offered in the temple. In the first century, upwards of 250,000 sheep were offered annually as sacrifices at the festival of Passover alone! Thus these shepherds of Bethlehem were responsible for delivering healthy, unblemished sheep to be offered on the altar of sacrifice for the atonement of sin.

"Staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night."

 

The night was divided into 4 watches - the even, midnight, cock crowing and morning. They kept them alternately, some kept the flock one watch and some another while the rest slept in the tent, or tower, that was built in the fields for that purpose. The reason why they watched them in the field appears to have been either to preserve the sheep from beasts of prey, such as wolves, foxes ... or from bandits, which were common in the land of Judea at that time.

 

The life of a shepherd was a life of loneliness and labour, danger and poverty. Yet these hardships may not have been the greatest of their difficulties. Because of their profession, shepherds were considered ceremonially unclean. Their work, among other things required their hands-on participation in the birthing of lambs (which would bring them into contact with blood) and disposing of dead lambs (which would bring them into contact with dead bodies) - both of which made them ceremonially unclean. This resulted in them being spiritual outcasts. It seems so sad that the very individuals who were responsible for raising sacrificial lambs for the temple in Jerusalem were themselves excluded from the temple because they were considered ceremonially unclean. But these shepherds faced a two-fold dilemma, for not only were they made unclean by the nature of their work, they also were required to stay constantly with their flocks. This meant that they were unable to leave their tasks for weeks at a time, preventing them from going to the temple so that they could be cleansed.

 

Imagine what the shepherds saw in those moments on the hills of Judea - breathtaking, spectacular, magnificent, humbling and overwhelming splendour. Luke 2 verse 9 to 14.

 

The angelic messenger is described as "the angel of the Lord" who was accompanied by the "glory of the Lord" which "shone" in such a way as to terrify the shepherds (Luke 2 verse 9). These poor shepherds were completely unequipped for such a sight.

The glory of the Lord was referred to as the "Shekinah", the brightness of the perfection of the all sufficient God. The shepherds were seeing the glory of the Lord on the hillsides around Bethlehem.

 

In the Old Testament, the glory of the Lord was evidence of God's presence among his people. We see this phenomenon first in Exodus 24 verse 16: "The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days and on the seventh day he called to Moses from the midst of the cloud." The people of God had gathered at Sinai to either accept or reject God's rule over them as a nation. His glory displayed his power and might.

 

We see his glory again at the dedication of the tabernacle, the house of worship for the wandering children of Israel: "Thus Korah assembled all the congregation against them at the doorway of the tent of meeting. And the glory of the Lord appeared to all the congregation" Numbers 16 verse 19. And we see it at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem where the children of Israel had established a centre for their national life and worship in the marvel that was Solomon's temple: "It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord." 1 Kings 8 verses 10 and 11

 

The people of Israel enjoyed the presence of God in their midst - until they began to stray into idolatry and immorality. They corrupted God's house with pagan idols and dishonoured his name, so God responded with chilling words through Ezekiel the prophet.

 

After a series of events in which God displayed the spiritual adultery of his people, Ezekiel watched as, step by step, the glory of the Lord departed from the temple and then from Jerusalem, and ultimately, from the people of Israel. The culminating blow is seen in Ezekiel 11 verse 23, "The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city." Ezekiel 11 verse 23

 

The few remaining references to the glory of the Lord found in the Old Testament point to the future, with no expression of God's presence among his people until that night in Bethlehem some 600 years later. There with the angel of the Lord, the glory returned. Returned to announce the presence of God once again among his people in the person of the Christ, who John described tellingly: "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth" John 1 verse 14.

 

It is "the glory of the Lord" that evokes wonder and worship - and in the case of the shepherds, fear. For hundreds of years, the glory of the Lord had not been seen in the land of Israel. But now in the presence of the shepherds, the glory had returned.

 

Ostracized from the very religious system they helped to fuel, the shepherds were required to look elsewhere for hope. That night, they found it in the angel's message ...

 

"To the shepherds, the first notice of Christ's birth was given; not to the princes and chief priests, and learned men at Jerusalem, but to weak, common, and illiterate men; whom God is pleased to choose and call and reveal his secrets so as he hides them from the wise and prudent, to their confusion and the glory of his grace. This was a precursor of what the kingdom of Christ would be, and by, and to whom, the gospel would be preached." John Gill

 

The shepherds were uniquely equipped to be the recipients of this great privilege ...

 

"The Saviour, who was now born and lying in the quiet manger, was to be the Lamb of God. And as the Lamb, he was destined to die for the sins of the world. To die for those very shepherds as their Saviour. Perhaps shepherds, who cared for young lambs, who sat through cold dark nights in the fields to guard and protect their flocks, might understand the shepherd's heart of God the Father, might glimpse what it meant for him to give his one Lamb for all." Dr Larry Richards

 

From a human standpoint it is amazing that the Son of God would identify himself with shepherds, some of the lowliest members of society and culture in that day (John 10). Yet, he described himself as a shepherd, the protector and the pursuer of his flock. Imagine these shepherds - isolated from their people, their temple and their national hope - discovering from the mouths of angels that they were not cast out or forgotten by God, a fact that he proved by having them be the first to hear the message of hope: "Today in the city of David there has been born for you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2 verse 11

 

The message of hope to the shepherds was a message of hope to all the world. For this child born in Bethlehem would become ...

• The Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep - John 10 verse 11
• The great Shepherd who purchased the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant - Hebrews 13 verse 20
• The Shepherd and Guardian of our souls - 1 Peter 2 verse 25
• The Chief Shepherd who comes again for his own with the reward of a crown of unfading glory - 1 Peter 5 verse 4

Would anyone's first choice for worship be a stable? After hearing the message of the angels, the shepherds' first response was to find the stable where Mary had given birth to the Saviour.

 

Our God is the God of the unexpected. And few things could be more unexpected than the King of Heaven being born in a stable. Luke 2 verses 15 and 16

 

The shepherds' response was, first, to worship, and, second, to tell what they had seen! Luke 2 verses 17 and 18

 

Shepherds were not only the first to hear, they were also the first to tell the Christmas message. With their hearts bursting with wonder at what they had experienced, they shared that wonder with others by telling the whole amazing story - the angels and the glory and the baby.

 

This is true worship - to kneel before the Christ so that you are then able to stand before others and proclaim his glory and salvation. To be humbled into silence in the presence of the King, so that you can then speak boldly to all who need to hear.

 

To think that all this burst forth from a worship experience in a most unlikely place, on a most unlikely night, involving some most unlikely men.

Luke 2 verse 20

 

"These simple men, having satisfactory evidence of the truth of the good tidings and feeling a Divine influence upon their own minds, returned to the care of their flocks, glorifying God for what he had shown them, and for the blessedness which they felt ... what subjects for contemplation! What mater for praise!" Adam Clarke

 

Once outcasts, they were now embraced. Once unfit for the temple, they now stood with prophets and priests to celebrate the arrival of the hope of the ages.

 

Shepherds celebrating at the birth of a lamb - what could be more appropriate?

 

 

 

 

JOSEPH

Joseph the carpenter of Nazareth.  He made choices . He could have turned and walked away.  Instead, he undertook willingly and obediently what could arguably be the most impossible task in the universe – to be the stepfather for the Son of God.  He was obedient, at great personal cost, choosing to be what he didn’t have to be.  And it all began with, as was the case with Mary and the shepherds, an angelic visitor.

Tradition has held that Joseph was significantly older than Mary, an assumption based on the likelihood that he was dead when Jesus began his public ministry.  Perhaps Joseph had waited long to marry and now anticipated the consummation of his marriage to his young bride.  Their betrothal meant they were legally bound to each other, though not yet living together as husband and wife – quite unlike today’s “engagements” which can be easily ended.

Imagine Joseph’s heartache, then when he heard that Mary, his pure and godly young fiancé was pregnant!  Her apparent betrayal must have rocked his world.  How could she do this?  And who was the man who had participated in that betrayal?

We are not told that Joseph had any contact with Mary personally about the matter.  Very likely her father ashamedly approached Joseph with the news.  Now Joseph must decide what to do.  It is Matthew who fills in the blanks for us, giving us a window into the quiet character of Joseph’s heart – Matthew 1 verse 18 and 19.

The heartbroken groom-to weighed his options.  If word of Mary’s pregnancy got out, he would be publicly humiliated, an object of pity and ridicule  yet his response was not only of revenge, or even of a demand for justice.  He could have demanded that his intended bride be stoned to death for the sin of adultery – sexual promiscuity occurring during the formal betrothal period  Although there were no sexual relations between bride and groom during the betrothal period, the arrangement was legally binding and could be ended only by a divorce.  Instead of revenge or retribution, Joseph looked for ways to protect Mary while still obeying the law of Moses.

His options?  Death by stoning, which would publicly exonerate him, or a quiet dissolution of the marriage contract that would remove her from his life.  As Joseph was wrestling with this dilemma, and apparently deciding to end the betrothal quietly, he received a special message from the same messenger that had previously paid a call on Mary – Matthew 1 verses 20 to 23

Joseph thought on what to do – it speaks of deep meditation and intense thought and show the degree to which Joseph wrestled with the dilemma. 

An angelic messenger with a heavenly message is no small thing, and the elements of the message are overwhelmingly significant:

·         Joseph’s position as a descendant of the great King David, hero of Israel’s past, places his stepson in the line of the royal family.

·         The only spirit is the source of Mary’s pregnancy: “Conceived by the Holy Spirit.”

·         The child’s name, Jesus, will describe his mission: “He will save his people from their sins.”

·         The child’s birth will be a fulfilment of prophecy in the Jewish Scriptures, explaining not just why the child was coming, but who he was – “God with us.”

The message of the angel was both good news and bad news.  The good news was that Mary had not been unfaithful to him after all.  He could marry her without doubts about her purity or her commitment to him.  The bad news  Who would ever believe it?  How could he explain to friends and family the true nature of Mary’s pregnancy?  Surely such a story would be seen as absurd, and he would be branded a fool for believing such nonsense.  Once again, Joseph stood at a crossroads of choice – a choice between self-protection and obedience.  Matthew 1 verses 24 and 25.

Obedience was Joseph’s response to a deeply difficult life situation.  It was not an easy or painless obedience and it didn’t come without cost.  It was, however, not the only time that obedience would be the hallmark of his life.

Luke 2 verses 1 to 5

Notice the political heavyweights involved in generating this decision:

Caesar Augustus who ruled the known world at the time

Quirnius who governed a chunk of that world

Yet both of them were ruled by God the king of heaven an earth.  And the entire world – “all the inhabited earth” – was placed in motion so that Mary would be where she need to be for Christ to be born where the prophets had said he would be born.

Joseph followed the edict to the letter by going to Bethlehem to be counted in the imperial census.  It reveals the heart of this man and his complete obedience to the One who so perfectly instructed his followers (and us) on our relationship with the “powers that be”.  It is an indication of a heart that recognises the function of authority and accept it.

As a result of Joseph’s obedience, the Son of God was born in Bethlehem, the city of David, as Micah had prophesied.

Luke 2 verses 21 to 24

Joseph’s next involvement in the story in an event that was without doubt his responsibility, although he is not named in the text.  It was very important to a faithful Jewish man that the requirements of the law regarding the birth of a child be honoured.  The Mosaic law demanded sacrificial responses and ceremonial rituals, set for in these Old testament mandates.

·         Every Jewish male child must be circumcised – this marked them as sons of Abraham – Genesis 17.  First practiced at the direct command of the voice of God, circumcision became incorporated into Jewish law through Moses as a way of keeping the people of God distinct and separate from the pagan cultures that surrounded them.

·         A sacrifice must be made for the purification of the new mother (Leviticus 12).  This would have taken place 40 days after the birth of the child, male and female.  The fact that Joseph and Mary offered turtledoves or pigeons as a sacrifice shows that they were not wealthy as those of means were required to offer a lamb.

It would have been the father’s task to fulfil the requirements of the law, and although he is not named in this passage we can safely assume that Joseph fulfilled the expectations of the law after Christ’s birth preparing the way for the One who would later say: “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfil” (Matthew 5 verse 17)

The Christ who would bring all the law to its true and complete fulfilment followed in the footsteps of an earthly stepfather who took obedience to God seriously.  In all he did, Joseph exemplified the spirit of submission that God expects and deserves from his children.

Before Joseph’s final appearance in the pages of the bible, where we find him visiting the temple at Jerusalem with Mary and 1 year old Jesus (Luke 2), we see him faced with 2 more opportunities to obey or disobey – Matthew 2 verses 1 to 3.

The magi’s visit alarmed Herod, who viewed the birth of a new king as a clear and present danger to the stability and longevity of his own kingdom.  The repercussions of the magi’s visit to Bethlehem must have been equally troubling for Joseph, albeit in an entirely different way.  After these mysterious strangers showed up on the doorstep, another angelic messenger alerted Joseph to the danger hanging over their head – Matthew 2 verses 13 – 18.

Mary and Joseph lived far beneath the notice of rulers and magistrates.  The thought that their child might be in danger from such powers would never have occurred to them.  Suddenly Joseph realised that they lived in a world that was far more dangerous than they ever imagined.  Only an angelic voice could have convinced them that their baby boy was in danger.

When Joseph received the warning from the angel, he didn’t hesitate.  His first instinct was to protect the child  The journey to Egypt would be long an even dangerous in itself, but with Herod’s threats hanging over them, they could not stay in Bethlehem.  In Egypt they would be safe.  And out of Egypt, Christ – like the Moses-led children of Israel hundreds of years before – would eventually return home to live and grow and prepare for his years of public ministry.  Matthew 2 verses 19 to 21.

On a human level, Joseph’s willingness to obey the angel’s warning provided the first of many escapes from peril that Jesus experienced.  The One who was often heard to say “My hour has not yet come” would survive this and other threats until the moment arrived for his death on the cross – a death that would fulfil the law, remove the need of further sacrifices and redeem a sin-filled world.

Joseph’s obedience was part of the preparation fro the ministry and accomplishment of the Son who “learned obedience from the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5 verse 8).

We clearly see Joseph’s constant heart of obedience.  Facing choice after choice after choice, he responded obediently to each challenge set before him.  He chose to live a life of obedient trust in a world that discourages long-term commitment in favour of instant gratification.  Joseph leaves us an example well worth following.

We never hear Joseph speak.  He doesn’t initiate, he responds.  He doesn’t take centre stage; he works behind the scenes.  But the abiding characteristic of his consistent example is his willingness to obey God – because, apparently, he had long before learned to trust God.  In fact, Joseph’s obedience teaches us that trust and obedience are inseparable.  If we do not first trust God, we will never surrender our choices and destinies to his purposes and if we do not obey God, we will never see the great and humbling things he wishes to accomplish in and through our lives. 

SIMEON

Simeon has been a fixture at the temple in Jerusalem for longer than anyone can remember.  But he keeps showing up, honouring his God, waiting for the Promise.  His devotion is captured by Luke with only a few words, but each one is packed with insight.

Luke 2 verse 25

This man, Simeon, had a track record instead of a reputation.  Notice how he is described:

·         Righteous: in the broad sense, righteous refers to a person who is upright, virtuous, keeping the commands of God.  It speaks of someone who is committed to living life on God’s terms instead of his or her own.  In a narrower sense, Strong’s Concordance describes a righteous person as one who deals appropriately and fairly with others.

·         Devout: This word speaks of a person who reveres God and allows that reverence to impact his life and his choices.  Whereas righteous has to do with obeying God, one who is devout is consumed with honouring God.  A significant commitment indeed.

·         Looking for the consolation of Israel: “The consolation of Israel” is a reference to the Messiah of Israel.  Simeon was living his life based on this anticipation – “looking for” the Messiah.  While many, especially senior citizens, appear to be consumed with the past, Simeon was fixated on the future.

·         The Holy Spirit was upon him: This is fascinating because until the Holy Spirit came to indwell believers at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit’s role was largely in the background.  The attachment of the Spirit of God to an individual in this way is a New Testament phenomenon being experienced by a man living prior to the cross.

 

An accurate description of a faithful man who lived a life of devotion.

Luke 2 verse 26

The simple truth is that the something to which biblical hope is attached is, in fact, Jesus Christ.  This allows the reality of hope to be more than merely a “hope-so” sentimentality.  This hope is rugged and strong, with the ability to empower us as we move through life.  In Christ, hope becomes a significant platform from which we can launch out into the deep end of the pool, trusting him.

Simeon’s hope came from a remarkable promise that the Holy Spirit had given him:

Simeon would not see death

UNTIL

Simeon saw the Lord’s Christ

“The Lord’s Christ” was “the anointed one of the Lord”, the Messiah, the long-awaited hope of the ages.  For hundreds and hundreds of years the Jewish people had comforted one another with the promise of Messiah and found strength in that promise during difficult times.  They had cried out for its fulfilment during times of national crisis and had rested quietly in its assurance during days of national prosperity.

Now after centuries of waiting a signal was given: Simeon’s life would serve as a line of demarcation in history.  If he died, Messiah was alive somewhere on planet earth.  But the second part of the promises was even more mind-blowing.  Simeon would not just live until Messiah arrived: He would personally see the Promised One!

This promise radically affected the way Simeon viewed life and the way he lived his life.  The impression we get from Luke’s record is that, as a result of this promise, Simeon spent his days in the temple awaiting this promise and living in anticipation of the moment that he would see the Messiah of Israel.  

Notice again the reference to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of this faithful man.  The Spirit was with him (verse 25), had revealed the promise to him (verse 26) and now it was the Holy Spirit that was moving Simeon to the temple so that the promise could be fulfilled – Luke 2 verses 27 to 32.

At the outset, this must have been terrifying for Mary and Joseph.  No sooner had they entered the temple for the rituals that the law required for the birth of a son, then out of the shadows stepped a man who took their child from them and began making a proclamation.  As bizarre as that might have seemed, what really got their attention was the content of that proclamation.  Simeon declared the truths that they had quietly held in their own hearts since the angelic messenger had visited them so many months before  He also underlined the message the angel had delivered to the shepherds in the Bethlehem fields.  Their reaction would have, reasonably, been one of shock and surprise.

Simeon’s response, however, was one of absolute satisfaction and contentment  the promise that had driven him for so much of his life had been fulfilled.  Messiah had arrived.  How could he ever want for anything more?  He had actually held the Christ in his arms!  He had looked into the face of God.

For years, anticipating this moment, Simeon must have wondered about the promised encounter.  Had he imagined that he would meet the Messiah as a newborn infant?  Or had he expected a royal entourage that he would glimpse from a distance? Whatever he had imagined, it could not begin to measure up to what he was blessed to experience.  He had seen the Christ – and as a result experienced a fullness of life and satisfaction of heart so profound that he declared, in essence, “No more! I don’t need any more! I have seen the Christ.  Now, O God, let me depart from this life in peace!”

Mary and Joseph had already witnessed amazing things – angels, shepherds, the star over Bethlehem.  Now, added to that was the prophetic praise of a total stranger, who proclaimed that his life was complete because he had seen their son.  They could only stand there in amazement “at the things which were being said about him.” (Luke 2 verse 33)

What a fantastic scene it must have been that day in the temple as Mary and Joseph watched a completely contented man do the most meaningful thing he would ever do – celebrate Jesus.

In Simeon’s encounter with Mary and Joseph, he had celebrated the Christ child and the fulfilment of the promise of God that he represented.  Wonderful, miraculous, extraordinary good news.  But this good news, by implication, also carried bad news for this young mother who had embarked on an adventure like no other.  Luke 2 verses 34 and 35

That grave prophecy reminds us that the Christmas story – the joyous, glorious birth of the Saviour was only a part of the process by which he would save the world.  The first steps of the journey brought the most profound joy and happiness, but the final steps would be fulfilled as Mary stood at the foot of the cross watching with tear-stained eyes and broken heart as her son – the holy one of Israel – paid for the sins of the world.  Simeon’s “bad news” for Mary was indeed a bitter pill, for the suffering of her Son would cut like a sword to the very depths of her soul.  The pain of labour by which she received him at his birth would be mirrored by the pain she would experience in releasing him to his sacrificial death.

Mary must have spent the next 30 plus years pondering that prophetic statement as Jesus grew, and then as he carried out his public ministry.  Perhaps she watched in fear as her son entered the crowds or debated the religious leaders.  Her life would be marked with anticipation, just as Simeon’s had been.  But while he had found contentment in the arrival of the Christ, she would feel pain and loss as that same Christ – her son - suffered and died. Simeon’s lifelong anticipation resulted in joy.  Hers ended in grief.

The promise had been fulfilled.  Simeon had seen and held the Saviour.  Yet at the heart of his response was a depth of satisfaction that can only come by experiencing the personal presence of the Christ.

 

ANNA

To discover Anna’s perspective on the birth of the Son of God, we must begin by asking, “Who was she?”  William Barclay refers to Anna as “one of the Quiet in the Land” because the scriptures give us little information about her.  Yet in just 3 verses we are given a fascinating snapshot of this woman.  Notice how Luke pictures her and her entrance onto the scene – Luke 2 verses 36 to 38.

Herbert Lockyer labeled Anna as “The woman Who Became the First Christian Missionary.”

The name Anna is the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament “Hannah” a word that means “grace” or “favour” and Anna certainly was favoured by seeing the infant Christ and telling of his arrival on planet earth.

Anna’s father was Phanuel.  His name means “the appearance or face of God” and was derived from the patriarch Jacob’s wrestling with God.  After that experience, Jacob renamed the location Penial, because he said, “I have seen God face to face and have survived” – Genesis 32 verses 22 – 32.  Phanuel (from Penial) speaks powerfully of the intimate face-to-face communion with God that is the privilege of the child of God.  The intimacy, the immanence, the nearness, yes, even the accessibility of God – all of those extraordinary ideas reside in that wonderful name by which Anna’s father was known – Phanuel, the “face of God”.

Anna is also described as being from the tribe of Asher.  Asher was the eighth son born to Jacob (Israel), and the second by Leah’s handmaid, Zilpah.  When he was born, Leah named him Asher, which means “happy”.  Bible historians see this as significant because Asher has often been considered one of the so-called “lost tribes of Israel”.  Apparently they were not so lost after all, for in the first century Anna is clearly identified as a member of that tribe.

Her life situation was etched in sorrow and marked by perseverance.  Widowed after only 7 years of marriage, Anna was apparently left childless – facing a life without joy and a life without significance in her culture.  The sorrows of her youth carried on into her old age, for she is described as being 84 years old and having never remarried.

The sorrow of such loss and the perseverance of long life would be a destructive combination for many people, plunging them into a perpetual black hole of despair and self-pity.  But such was not the case with Anna.  She chose to live positively in the service of her God – praying, praising and anticipating his grace.

What we are committed to speaks loudly about who we are and what we value.  For Anna it was simple: her priority – her goal – was pleasing God.

Although no prophets had been heard from since the days of Malachi, Anna is called a prophetess.  Luke doesn’t describe the nature of her prophetic ministry or the content of her prophetic message but he offers unquestioned affirmation that she was a spokeswoman for God to her generation.  After over 400 years of prophetic silence, God chose a widow with a heart for him to reopen his declarative expression to the world.

In conjunction with an apparently public prophetic ministry, however, Anna also participated in private worship that testified to a life devoted to God.  "She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers".  Warren Wiersbe says that she was so committed to waiting for the coming of the Lord that she had moved from her homeland with the tribe of Asher to Jerusalem and remained at the temple.   She was a fixture at the house of God and committed to spiritual discipline.  Anna’s life was a model of personal devotion, continually worshipping her God and continually praying and fasting.

Anna allowed her heart to be drawn to God.  And her years of faithfulness were rewarded, for she was in her customary place (the temple) and maintaining her consistent priorities (worship, prayer and fasting) when the little family from Nazareth entered the temple to fulfil the demands of the law required by the birth of Jesus.

At critical moments in history when the right person is matched with the right event, remarkable things happen.  Such a person was Anna.  Prepared by decades of spiritual devotion, she was in the right place at precisely the right time – Luke 2 verse 38.

“That very moment” is the critical phrase here.  In one sense, what Anna was doing was merely the continuation of what she had done for almost 60 years – she was going to the temple to worship.  Yet, that is what made it so remarkable.  She had been doing it for some 60 years!  Her faithfulness to God positioned her in the temple at the very moment that Simeon took the Christ from Mary’s arms and lifted him up, declaring him to be Israel’s long-awaited, long-hoped-for Messiah.

Anna’s years of faithfulness had been rewarded in a moment of celebration.  In the right place, at the right time, she saw the Christ.  But she didn’t stop with worshipping and giving thanks.  She bore witness to what she had seen.

All her life Anna had been a faithful worshipper and a prophetess, but now her role shifted and she became a missionary.  She “began giving thanks to God and continued to speak of him (Jesus) to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem (Luke 2 verse 38).

The New Testament uses several different words that are translated “redemption” and all have to do with the freeing of a slave:

·         Agorazo: referring to the agora, or the market-place, where oftentimes slaves were bought and sold.  Once purchased, the slave was ...

·         Exagorazo: bought out of (ex) the marketplace (agora) never to be sold there again.  Instead that slave was to be:

·         Lato: literally, cut loose and given his freedom.

In Anna’s message of “glad tidings”, Jerusalem is portrayed as the centre of the world.  But “the redemption of Israel” also represents the reality of the human condition.  The bible describes every human being as being enslaved to sin and without hope in the world.  The Christ being proclaimed by Anna, however, had come to set free that lost human race.  He came to bring redemption – lutrosis (from luo, to loose) – deliverance and rescue from sin and its penalty.  Just as Hosea, the Old Testament prophet, out of the depths of redeeming love, went to the slave market to purchase his disgraced wife, Gomer, and make her his own once more, Jesus Christ came to the slave market of this broken world and purchased his bride, with a redemption sufficient for the sins of the entire world.

Anna’s message was one of hope, joy and freedom  After decades of anticipating the coming of the Redeemer King, she now found herself living in a world where this Christ had finally come.  The promise had been fulfilled, so she gave thanks and went out to tell anyone who would listen that freedom and forgiveness and redemption were now available, for Christ had come. 

We see a reminder from the prophetess of the truth and meaning behind all of the chaos and confusion that we amiably call Christmas.

In the midst of all “the stuff” that surrounds our celebration of Christmas, it is far too easy to forget that the first Christmas happened because our sin demanded payment  and only Christ himself could make a payment sufficient to cancel our debt.  The holy day of Christmas is really about rescue and redemption.