Tag Archives: Nazareth

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – JUST AND ORDINARY KID?

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CHAPTER TWO

JUST AN ORDINARY KID?

“About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral home town to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant.

“While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped Him in a blanket and laid Him in a manger because there was no room in the hostel.” Luke 2:1-7

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? A young man and his pregnant fiancée! It could be the story of any young couple in today’s world of free sex and blurred morality, in fact, very little morality when you come to think of it. Anyone reading this story for the first time would think that this is a story about our times.

However, Luke has already made it quite clear that Mary’s pregnancy was not the result of a one night stand or a young couple who couldn’t wait. She was a highly favoured teenage girl whom God chose to be the earthly mother of His Son. The baby who was so soon to be born was no ordinary kid. Yes, He was an ordinary human being like you and me and yet His conception was the union of the human and the divine, God stepping down for a season to become one of us.

Because of a government decree, Joseph and Mary had to make the gruelling journey to Bethlehem to join the head count in their ancestral home town. Why then, of all times? Mary’s pregnancy was almost full term. How could she make the long trip before the baby came? There was no train or bus service and certainly no plane to make the flight in an hour or so. This was a long journey on the back of a donkey over rough terrain which would take many days.

But they had to go and they went.

To crown it all, every nook and cranny of the town was filled with visitors. Every house with a spare room was full. There were no luxury hotels to make the situation easier for them. They had to take what shelter they could get and make the best of it. The only space in the local hostel was the downstairs room where the cooking was done and where the animals were sheltered at night.

And then, on top of that, Mary went into labour! What did she think about all this? Didn’t God know that this was not the place for His Son to be born? After all, He was the Son of God. At least God could have arranged it that they have a place in someone’s home where there was female help for this young girl having her first baby!

But God knew exactly what He was doing. Centuries before, through the mouth of the prophet Micah, God promised a ruler who would come from Bethlehem. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2 (NIV). But Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth.

They would have to be moved from Nazareth to Bethlehem at the right moment for the child to be born there. How could they be forced to make the journey at such a crucial time? Only a government decree would motivate them to relocate to Bethlehem. And why in such a lowly place? It was God’s idea to stage His Son’s entry into the world in a place so humble that no one could ever think that they were excluded from His grace.

But Bethlehem was David’s town; David the youngest of Jesse’s sons and a shepherd boy, a despised occupation and yet he was also David, Israel’s greatest king. It was fitting that Jesus be born in Bethlehem because He was of the house and lineage of David even though David’s birthplace was a humble village.

This is just like God, isn’t it? He didn’t only come to earth but He came to a scenario that was below the level of human beings so that He could lift us up. Even His death was the death of the lowest of the low. He could not go any lower.

And now, He cannot go any higher, because He is the highest of the high!

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – GOD DOES SUCH NICE THINGS!

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GOD DOES SUCH NICE THINGS!

“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

“Good morning!                                                                                                                                         You’re beautiful with God’s beauty,                                                                                                     Beautiful inside and out! 

God be with you.

“She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, ‘Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: you will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call His name Jesus.'” Luke 1:26-31.

What a lovely way to announce his presence! Poor Mary did not know what to make of the angel or his greeting.

Imagine a teenage girl suddenly being confronted by a celestial visitor with a shocking announcement that she was to become pregnant before her marriage! What would her fiancé and her family think of her? How would she convince them that this was none of her doing! Should she agree to this, she would run the risk of being stoned to death – the price of fornication.

The angel’s greeting was neither apologetic nor explanatory. What was he trying to do? Butter her up with sweet words? Not likely! He was a messenger from God, speaking words from God. He was conveying in simple human language exactly what God thought of Mary. Isn’t it amazing that he should have used words of lavish praise and appreciation?

Did that mean that Mary was perfect? No! Did it mean that God saw Mary as perfect? Yes! What was the difference? God saw Mary as she would be, not as she was. Isn’t that dishonest? No! God sees the end from the beginning, the finished product, and is able to appreciate His handiwork in advance because He knows that He will complete what He has begun.

“…Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 (NIV).

It was on this basis that God could entrust her with the task of bearing and raising His boy to manhood in a home where He would be taught to love and honour God. Seeing that Jesus was the Son of God, did He need that? Yes, He did because He had to learn to be human and He had to learn it in an environment of a loving and caring home where both His earthy parents honoured and obeyed God.

God chose well. Mary’s response reveals her heart attitude to Him. She did not know all the implications of her obedience, but she could trust Him to lead her through whatever came her way because she knew that He was faithful to His Word. She might have been caught up in the excitement and glamour of the moment, but she would soon learn what her commitment meant.

In her words of simple surrender, “I am the Lord’s servant….May it be to me as you have said,” Luke 1:38, she crossed the line in the sand and put herself totally at God’s disposal to do with her as He chose.

Are you willing to do the same?

THE BOOK OF ACTS – HAND-PICKED WITNESSES

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HANDPICKED WITNESSES

“You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change. Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the devil. He was able to do all this because God was with Him.

“And we saw it, saw it all, everything He did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem where they killed Him, hung Him from a cross. But in three days God had Him up, alive and out where He could be seen. Not everyone saw Him — He was not put on public display. Witnesses had been carefully handpicked by God beforehand — us! We were the ones, there to eat and drink with Him after He came back from the dead. He commissioned us to announce this in public, to bear solemn witness that He is in fact the One whom God designated as Judge of the living and dead. But we’re not alone in this. Our witness that He is the means to the forgiveness of sins is backed up by the witness of the prophets.”  Acts 10:37-43 (The Message).

If you had stood in Peter’s shoes, what would you have said to that company of Gentiles eagerly waiting to hear your message? Would you have explained that they were all sinners and needed to be “saved”? Would you have given them a gory description of hell? Would you have urged them to repent of their sins and receive Jesus as their personal Saviour?

Peter had so much to tell them and an audience hanging on every word. What was the most pressing thing they were longing to hear? Peter grabbed the opportunity to present Jesus to them, not a Jesus who would deal with their problems and give them peace (which are not the reason but the result of bowing the knee to Him as Lord), but the Jesus who represented a loving God to the world and whom God authenticated by His resurrection to be both Saviour and Judge.

He, Peter, and his fellow disciples were eyewitnesses of the most amazing event in history; God came in the flesh to live among His people as an ordinary man, die the death of a criminal and rise from the dead. They saw Him, they spoke with Him and He ate with Him after He had risen from the dead. What did all that mean?

It meant that everything He said and did was the truth. It all hung on His declaration that He would die and rise again. He had to be whom He said He was to pull that off! And pull it off He did! Not only did He predict that He would do it but the prophets who wrote hundreds of years before He appeared on earth also predicted the same thing.

Surely this Jesus, who did something like that, was to be embraced as the Son of God and His promise believed that forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with the Father was the outcome of His death and resurrection. That was the message of the apostles to the world and that was the explosive power of the good news.

To these Gentiles who had known only the worship of gods who demanded but never gave, this came as a light from heaven. The proof of its truth lay in the evidence of eyewitnesses who were willing to face imprisonment and death rather than deny what they had seen and heard. Through Jesus they could receive forgiveness of sins and a place in God’s kingdom for which they had to do nothing.

What joy it must have given Peter to have the freedom to deliver a message like this to people he never thought would be eligible to receive it! God had forcefully made it clear that Jesus was for everyone, even for Gentiles and Roman soldiers! He had forgotten that the prophets had spoken of this day.

“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me.” Isaiah 65:1 (NIV).

“And now the Lord says…’It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and to bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.'” Isaiah 49:6 (NIV).

Truth!

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TRUTH!

“All who were there, watching and listening, were surprised at how well He spoke. But they also said, ‘Isn’t this Joseph’s son, the one we’ve known since He was a youngster?’

“He answered, ‘I suppose you’re going to quote the proverb, “Doctor, go heal yourself.” Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum. Well, let me tell you something: No prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown. Isn’t it a fact that there were many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah during those three and a half years of drought when famine devastated the land, but the only widow to whom Elijah was sent was in Sarepta in Sidon? And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of the prophet Elisha but the only one cleansed was Naaman the Syrian.’  Luke 4:22-27 (The Message).

‘Hey Jesus! Aren’t you treading on thin ice? That’s not the way to win friends and influence people!’

What was He thinking? Was that the way to cash in on His popularity? Why antagonise the people of His own hometown when He had the opportunity to gain a strong following from the ones who already knew Him?

But Jesus was not interested in popularity. He was continually sifting people’s hearts —   looking for followers who would stick with Him through thick and thin because they believed in Him and were convinced that He was the Son of God. He purposely said things to offend, not to be offensive but to expose their reactions.

He knew that “familiarity breeds contempt”. Because He was so well known to them, they would not examine the evidence but write Him off because He was “just a village kid.” They knew His parents and there was nothing special about them.

But there was an even deeper offense that Jesus raised in His examples — Gentiles! This was always a flashpoint for them. It was the Gentiles who had been their undoing throughout their history — they were surrounded by them and they persistently followed their ways and their gods. They had failed to extirminate the Canaanites from the Promised Land. God had warned them that, if they did not, they would be a “thorn in their sides” and they were.

It was the Gentiles who were causing their suffering now, and any mention of them, and especially God’s kindness to them, was like a red rag to a bull. Jonah’s bad experience came from his effort to escape from having to take a message to Nineveh that he knew would result in God’s mercy to THEM if they repented and he was not prepared for that! The people of Nazareth were just like Jonah.

“That set everyone in the meeting place seething with anger. They threw Him out, banishing Him from the village, then took Him to a mountain cliff at the edge of the village to throw Him to His doom, but He gave them the slip and was on His way.” Luke 4:28-30 (The Message).

That didn’t turn out very well, did it? Out on His ear the first time He preached at home. Where did it all go wrong? His fellow-villagers were so blinded by familiarity that they were not prepared to examine the evidence. And they were not the only ones. Wherever He went, there were those who rejected Him because they believed they were right.

It’s this arrogant assumption that we are right that robs us of the wonder of exploring, evaluating and embracing truth wherever we find it. Jesus kept saying, “Look at the evidence,” and His opponents kept insisting, “You are wrong; we are right!” And they killed Him because they believed they were right.

When He walked out of the tomb, who had egg on their faces?

Popular!

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POPULAR!

“Jesus returned to Galilee powerful in the Spirit. News that He was back spread through the countryside. He taught in their meeting places to everyone’s acclaim and pleasure.

“He came to Nazareth where He had been reared. As He always did on the Sabbath, He went to the meeting place. When He stood up to read, He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.” Luke 4:14-17a (The Message).

They knew Him. He was already a well-known and well-loved figure in the region. After all, an unusual person like Jesus could not escape notice. He was talked about outside Nazareth. When He disappeared for six weeks, people wondered where He was. ‘Have you seen Jesus?’ they asked one another. ‘Strange! No one knows where He has gone.’

Then, out of the blue He was back, chatting to groups of people here and there; telling them stories and teaching them about the kingdom of God. They were excited. The news spread. ‘Jesus is back. He’s a rabbi. He tells wonderful stories. Come and listen to Him.’

He fascinated them because He wasn’t like the other rabbis. He seemed to know what He was talking about. He wasn’t forever quoting this rabbi or that rabbi, and His yoke — so different from the others! He spoke about God as though He knew Him; and His God didn’t sound like the God the other rabbis spoke of — always demanding and expecting them to keep this law and that rule to please Him. He actually called His God ‘Father’ and Father was generous and full of mercy and compassion.

Back in Nazareth, on the Sabbath, everyone crowded into the synagogue. Jesus was there and they wanted to hear Him. It was expected that He would have something to say. And He did. When the time came for the reading of the Scriptures, everyone looked at Him expectantly, so He stood up and was given the scroll for that day.

“Unrolling the scroll, He found the place where it was written,

“God’s Spirit is on me; He’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the burdened and battered free, to announce, ‘This is God’s year to act!'”

“He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant and sat down. Every eye in the place was on Him, intent. Then he started in, ‘You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.'” Luke 4:17b-21 (The Message).

What? Did they hear right? Did He say that prophecy was being fulfilled right in front of them? That was something difficult to swallow. There’s a difference between having a strong expectation about something and accepting someone’s claim that he or she is the fulfilment. Many have made audacious claims about themselves, only to disappear like everyone else, leaving life to go on unchanged as usual.

What was different about Jesus’ claim? What was He saying? ‘I am the one on whom all your hopes and dreams are pinned. I have arrived to carry out everything your beloved prophet Isaiah spoke about. You can relax now. I am here!’

Can you imagine a well-known figure, someone who grew up in your neighbourhood, who went to school down the road, who played with your kids in the street, who climbed trees and rode bicycle and scraped his knees under your nose, standing up in church and saying, ‘I’m the one God sent to tell you that it’s going to be okay. I’m going to fix everything for you.’

How would you react?