“Make Ready The Way”

Luke Chapter 3

LUKE 3:1-6

Advent 2 C

LUKE 3:1-6

[Lk 3:1] Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, [2] in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. [3] And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; [4] as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.

[5] ‘EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BE BROUGHT LOW;

THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH;

[6] AND ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.’”

LUKE 3:1-3

In the fifteenth year

Most theologians focus on Luke the physician and Luke the historian, but I want to focus on Luke as the loyal friend and an example of the best of Plato’s philosopher/rulers.He was a precursor of the Renaissance man.An astute student of philosophy, medicine, character, history and the arts but it was his loyalty to Paul that set him apart.

We have no idea how he came to Paul (and thus to Christ), but he followed Paul under heavy guard to Caesarea and then to Rome.He was shipwrecked with Paul on Malta and stood by Paul through each of his trials. First before Felix (Ac 24:1-27), then Festus (Ac 25:1-22), Agrippa (Ac 25:23-26:32), and finally Caesar himself (Ac 28:15-31).

Some theologians believe Luke is so concerned about dates in his letters because he wanted to give an accurate account for a friend of his named Theophilus (lover of God).Others believe that Luke and Acts are written as legal briefs and “most excellent Theophilus" was a judge in Nero’s “religious” court. Whatever the case, God chose a Renassaisance-style man to paint a detailed picture of Jesus and the early church. If the writings also served as Paul’s legal brief, one must wonder if Luke may have considered himself a failure.After all, his defense failed and Paul was beheaded.

Did Luke go to his grave wondering if perhaps the ultimate work of his life failed at what he may have interpreted its purpose to be?Or, was he given a glimpse that Jesus (and almost all those whom Luke wrote about) failed terribly by human standards.

God’s design for Luke was not a legal brief, but a landscape.Not an attorney’s chronology but an artist’s selection of the background that would draw, not attention to itself, but to the painting of theeternal subject; Jesus.In this case it was a detailed painting of the Savior; not of Paul, not of the Jews, but of eternity.

This artist of this “painting”was the Leonardo DaVinci of his time.Did Luke have any idea his work was destined for more than a friend or even more than his legal defense?Did he know that all humanity would be touched by the panorama of creation that came through his quill and ink?

It doesn’t matter.What matters is that he allowed himself to be a servant.What matters to us is to realize even if we fail, we fail only in human purposes. God’s purposes are grander, greater, and bolder than we would dare imagination.Will we let ourselves be used even if we think we are failures?

The word of God came to John

From a historian’s viewpoint, Luke places the beginning of John’s ministry in the 15th year of Emperor Tiberius who ruled Rome from A.D. 14-37.It had been four hundred years since the last prophet had spoken and John entered the stage in true form to a hungry audience.His lineage, his lifestyle, and his message had all the fire needed to ignite the region’s interest. Prophecy stated the coming of the Messiah would be heralded by the reappearance of prophets (Joel 2:28-29, Mal 3:1; 4:5) and John was perfect for the role.

From the stony wilderness of Perea across the Jordan a man came who was unfettered to the world allowing him to bear the unadulterated word of God.Free of the world’s bondages, he was able to be God’sabsolute servant. He had made his life so simple and his needsso meager that he didn’t measure any word by man’s influence, only God owned him.This was a man fit to herald the Christ and to embrace the humility needed to say; “He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals [Matthew 3:11].”

When I measure my life to judge another or excuse my sin, it helps to remember John. I may self-righteously consider myself “something special” compared to the person next to me, but what worth do I have to declare my prestige beside the true giants of faith?

A baptism of repentance

To us, baptism, and the forgiveness of sin seem to flow seamlessly into a unifying response to God’s act of inconceivable love. To the Jewish person, and particularly among the most righteous, this was a radical combination of thoughts, even incongruent. The Jewish person had no reason to be cleansed; he was already a child of Abraham. Baptism was for the Gentile convert (for outsiders like Luke). This was new and radical thinking — dangerous thinking — all the more dangerous because John was drawing large crowds. The people wanted to be cleansed, they wanted something new. The more of them John reached the less his actions appeared to be a fad and the more he became a threat. Even the religious elite began to line up for John’s revolutionary style of cleansing.

Yet, what John was initiating was not a new way to look at old thoughts. He was demanding new thinking and a new way. This was radical change, a paradigm shift, which is the closest interpretation we could identify for the Greek term for repentance [G3341 metanoia]. This is seeing the world in a radical new way. It is not just changing paths, it is changing destinations.

LUKE 3:4-6

[4] As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.

[5] ‘EVERY RAVINE WILL BE FILLED, AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL WILL BEBROUGHT LOW; THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH ROADS SMOOTH;[6] AND ALL FLESH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF GOD.’” (NAS)

THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING

Matthew and Mark quote just Isaiah 40, verse 3, but Luke includes verses 4 and 5. Why the difference?

First, let’s look at the intent. When a king was going to visit his new lands it was unthinkable they would travel upon sheep trails. Long before the King would come, messengers would run to the towns along the path and tell the subjects they had better get the road ready. Whatever it took, whatever was necessary, the people of each town needed to make a straight and level road for the King or they would be held accountable for their neglect.

The Holy Spirit placed the courage in John to claim this verse. He claimed that he was the voice crying in the wilderness; “Make ready the way of the Lord.”

John’s call was to come from the wilderness to prepare the way. We have a subtly different call. We are not a lonely voice and we are called not from, but to the wilderness.

MATTHEW 28:19-20

[Mt 28:19] “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The word used for “all the nations” is ethnos [G1484]. The term means all races, but especially all “other nations,” it means “especially the pagans.” To the Jewish believer, a Gentile was a pagan. Luke intentionally includes Isaiah 40:5-6 in John’s call so we can be aware that God’s plan included “all flesh.” In Hebrew, the words are kol [H3605] basar [H1320]. It means “the whole people,” “all and every person.”

There is the cry of our day, to go to the wilderness preparing all nations (even those we might call pagans) to experience the all-embracing invitation of Jesus. Our question now is; “How do we prepare the way to them, for those we might call “pagans,” for those “outside” our comfortable crowd?”

ISAIAH 52:10

[Isa 52:10] The LORD has bared His holy arm in the sight of all the nations, that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God.

THE CROOKED WILL BECOME STRAIGHT

So our work is cut out for us; “How do we prepare the way to them?”

What obstacles lie between the Gospel and those at the “end of the earth” in my own town? Are there mountains of great height separating the poor from social justice? Are there valleys of despair that repress the aged, abused, incarcerated or mentally ill in my hometown? What crooked paths or rough roads need to be smoothed so that even the oldest, youngest or most impaired can make it to a community where they will find warmth and acceptance?

The call of John sends me to repentance, the call of Christ demands of me radical obedience: “How do we prepare the way to them?”

The Consolation of Israel

LUKE 2:22-40

[Lk 2:22] And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord [23] (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “EVERY firstborn MALE THAT OPENS THE WOMB SHALL BE CALLED HOLY TO THE LORD”), [24] and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS.”

[25] And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. [26] 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. [27] And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, [28] then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

[29] “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; [30] For my eyes have seen Your salvation, [31] Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, [32] A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

[33] And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. [34] And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— [35] and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

[36] And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, [37] and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. [38] At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

[39] When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. [40] The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

LUKE 2:22-24

“Shall be called holy...”

Luke was not only a physician, but he was apparently a well-read historian and some say he was an accomplished painter as well. We know for sure that Luke was very particular about details. His profession and his avocation were steeped in precision. In these three verses, Luke shows us — in typically accurate fashion — how each of the sacrificial requirements of the Jewish law were met by Christ’s parents.

1. Jesus is presented to the Lord to be named and circumcised;

On the eighth day after birth, every male child was to be circumcised as a sign of the Jewish covenant with their One God.

2. Redemption of the Firstborn

Within thirty-one days of birth, the firstborn male (the child that opens the womb) had to be purchased back from God. In the days of Abraham, every first-born male was sacrificed to the god’s of those ancient tribes. YHWH refused the death offering of Isaac but claimed the life of the firstborn as his servant [Exodus 13:2]. However, the child’s life could be purchased back from God for five shekels [Numbers 18:16] which was paid directly to the temple priests.

3. Mary waits through the days of purification:

Women had to live apart from others for forty days if they had a boy and eighty days if they had a girl. During this time, they were allowed to do housework, but she was forbidden from the temple or religious activities. At the end of that time, she was required to make an offering of a sheep and a pigeon. This offering was incredibly expensive and unreachable for the poor (who could rarely even eat meat). The Law [Leviticus 12:8] allowed for those who were impoverished to offer a second pigeon if they could not afford a sheep.

This is fairly indicative of how taxing the law had become for the poor. Not only was there a financial weight to meeting these laws—but these sacrifices spread out over many days and those who lived a fair distance from Jerusalem would be especially burdened to meet these requirements. The fact that Mary and Joseph offered two pigeons also reminds us of the humility of our Lord’s station. Jesus came from the poor to bring good news to the poor.

Each of these rituals was necessary for the fulfillment of Jewish law but something had gone horribly wrong. These rights of incredible passage (culminating in the Bar Mitzvah when a male became a “child of the law”) should have brought children under the wing of a nation with powerful resources. Granted, it was not the most powerful nation, but it still had a huge amount of resources at its disposal. The problem was that those resources were in the hands of a very elite group who used them towards their own ends and not towards the ends of the next generation; Israel’s future. It just so happened that one of these neglected children was also the only begotten and first male child of Israel’s God.

How ironic that the Son of the Most High God was totally neglected by the most elite of Israel’s highest court. He was just another nameless face in a long line of forgotten children for whom the social fabric had been torn asunder.

However, this is the tragedy of government after government, religion after religion and corporation after corporation. We continue to miss the face of God in our own children because we continue to not see them as our greatest treasures but instead as a faceless irritant to our system.

Eventually, this child would be tried and killed because of how he treasured children and became good news to the poor. He was killed for expediency and not for any other reason:

John 18:14

[Jn 18:14] Now Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was expedient for one man to die on behalf of the people.

As I write this, I sit in juvenile court watching case after case—child after child—”processed.” For some of them it will be the tenth time or more that they will be in front of this judge. Somehow we don’t seem to “get it”; these children aren’t the problem. The system we keep sending them into is the problem but it is not expedient to fix the system. It is expedient to blame the victim. Jesus was that victim; he was that number in a faceless line that we missed completely.

For this reason Malachi and the angel Gabriel sent John to “turn the hearts of the fathers back to children [Mal. 4:6, Luke 1:17].”

The nation that neglects its children neglects its future. Nothing could be a greater condemnation of a leader than; “You lived in comfort while the children around you starved — whether it be for attention or food.”

“A PAIR OF TURTLEDOVES OR TWO YOUNG PIGEONS.”

Remember, the preferred offering for purification was a lamb. If that was too expensive for a family then they would offer the turtledoves or pigeons. This was obviously not even a consideration for the Holy Family. A lamb was so far beyond their economic means. Here again is the irony of ages. Jesus Christ, the sacrifice for all humanity could not even afford a proper sacrifice at his own presentation before his own Father. This is the distance that had developed between religion and salvation. That separation reflected the distance between the religious and the least of these of whom the infant Jesus was one.

The further we are from the wounded body of Jesus; the more ritualistic and religious we become. The closer we are to the least of these; the more likely we are to see the face of Jesus daily.

LUKE 2:25-26

“A man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon”

We actually know quite a bit about Simeon:

He was one of a group called The Quiet in the Land. This group committed themselves solely to praying for the coming of the Messiah and to hasten his coming by pursuing justice and devoting themselves to being a living sacrifice to God.

1. He was committed to justice and well-known for that commitment;

When the bible says that Simeon was known as a "righteous" man, the word comes from "just." He was a just man; the verb [dikaios; G 1342] means that he was equitable, indeed holy, in his dealings with others. Here we see the heart of biblical justice. Regardless of whether the world around us is fair we will be fair. To be Christian doesn’t mean weighing our actions by the legal or ethical standards of our culture. Our measurement is to treat others as Christ has treated us. Simeon was just—not legal. He lived above the law, not by it or dancing around it.

1. He was known for his commitment to habitual practice of God in his daily life;

Simeon was known to be a devout man [eulabes, G1342]; two words that combine to mean "a well-lived lifeo and "an amazing life'—even "an amazingly accepting / forgiving life." Piety should not be measured by church attendance and daily prayer — but whether our attendance and prayer produces the fruit of acceptance and forgiveness in our lives. Are we amazingly accepting and forgiving of others? If we are—then our habitual practices seem to be leading us to see Jesus in the cacophony of today’s world (as did Simeon and Anna). If not, perhaps our piety is in form only.

2. He was in that place at that time by God’s design and the Holy Spirit’s prompting;

Simeon’s life had but one purpose, to live in such a way that he would be able to see and testify to Jesus upon his earthly arrival. Simeon was not on the temple steps that day by accident—nor was Anna. They were there by design of God and by the prompting of the Holy Spirit to add their testimony to the arrival of the Anointed One. Only Luke, in his studious research finds these two who testified to the arrival of Jesus. There are a number of reasons why only Luke would print this;

i) Only Luke was extremely concerned with the legal details of Jesus’ life;

ii) Only Luke would consider a woman’s testimony as "fit for print." There were too many hang-ups to the Jewish, Middle Eastern mentality that did not encumber Luke. Praise God for the gentile writer with a love for the details.

Where are the “Quiet in the Land” today? Who, in your community are the simple, devoted believers who quietly work for justice while living in constant, communal prayer? Their simple devotion helps them to see Jesus. I am convinced it is worth everything to live among such people for the reward is seeing Jesus while the masses (and the religious leaders) walked right by him. Others were seeking a Messiah to unseat Rome, some had reduced their ritual to religion, for still others; religion was simply the center of their cultural and social life. We can learn immense knowledge from these short few verses about the “Quiet of the Land”. What a joy it would be to be counted among them

This man was righteous and devout

While the religious were in the temple observing the ritual; there were two elderly people observing the crowds. They were Simeon and Anna. Scripture tells us how devout they were and goes on to tell us that Simeon was known for his righteousness.

Devout [2126 eulabes]; describes a person who is literally caught up [NT2983 lambano] with doing what God calls good [NT2095 eu]. Righteous, means to do acts of justice [NT1342 dikaios]. Can there be a better description of a person who is poised to see the Savior in any crowd?

Notice, Simeon wasn’t looking “in the church” for the Savior; he was looking “on the street.”

Where am I looking for the face of my Savior today? Do I look with expectation upon the crowd outside the church; examining every face for the Christ within? Am I poised like Simeon caught up in doing acts of kindness and justice? If I am, the face of Salvation is still among the nameless crowd who shuffles past our churches in every city in the world. He is still there; am I poised to find him?

It had been revealed to him

Simeon has one last lesson to teach us. It is a lesson about not clinging to this world. It is so visible throughout the season of Advent to Christmas and on through Epiphany that those who were able to see Jesus were absolutely unencumbered by this world.

1. There is John the Baptist, the desert aesthetic who came as merely a moon to Christ’s sun;

2. There is Mary, the mother of Jesus, who took on the stigma of an unmarried mother to become the handmaiden of God;

3. There is Simeon and Anna, whose eyes had left behind all worldly wants so they could only want to see Jesus.

Each life was unconcerned about the world’s perceptions, about their image, about their personal needs. Each life was solely focused on a mission;

1. To herald the Lord;

2. To bear the Lord;

3. To testify to the Lord.

To them, giving up their worldly desires was nothing compared to carrying out their heavenly mission. Each of them was faithful to the end, offering a “peace that is beyond all understanding.” Simeon closes his life with praise on his lips; [Luke 2:29] “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word.”

It was as though each of them could see beyond the veil of this life and into the liberty of life in Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:54-58

[58] But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. [55] “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” [56] The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; [57] but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[58] Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not {in} vain in the Lord. (NAS)

“The consolation of Israel”

This is one of the names of Jesus that we don’t often think about. He was the “Consolation of Israel.” The word “consolation” in Greek [NT3874 paraklesis] and Hebrew [OT5162 nacham] means comfort and encouragement. Here is how it is used in the Old Testament:

Isaiah 40:1-5

“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God. 2 “Speak kindly to Jerusalem; And call out to her, that her warfare has ended, That her iniquity has been removed, That she has received of the LORD’S hand Double for all her sins.”

3 A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. 4 “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; 5 Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Isaiah 51:3

3 Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody.

Here in Isaiah the Consolation of Israel is heralded. “The Lord will be revealed,” proclaims Isaiah. He will be consolation in all the waste places and a garden in the desert. What greater promise could there be? Notice, however that Isaiah does not promise that there will be no “waste places,” that there will be no “deserts.” He promises comfort within those places.

That is a huge deception by many Christian preachers; that once we become believer’s our trials and suffering will disappear. Yet, the Consolation of Israel comes to bring comfort to what would otherwise seem as wasted, useless circumstances. When we feel most deserted, our Consoler will be most present. Similarly, we become most like Jesus when we take his consolation to the most wasted deserts around us. Where are those wasted deserts in your community?

Furthermore, we can go with great confidence because Jesus has given us the eternal comforter. The Lord came to bring our salvation—to complete the promise of God. But he promised to leave us one who would be our comforter for all time and in all places:

John 14:14-18

14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. 15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 16 “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

That word for “Helper” is the same word as the term for Comforter and Consolation. Indeed the Consolation of God’s people has arrived. His name is Jesus, and he has given us the eternal gift of peace within chaos; strength within adversity; hope within desperation; and well-watered gardens within the wasteland.

LUKE 2:33-35

[33] And His father and mother were amazed at the things, which were being said about Him. [34] And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed- [35] and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

A sword will pierce even your own soul

As long as we are in this world—there will be no escaping the fact that the message of Jesus will have an edge to it. As soon as it becomes warm and fuzzy and unchallenging—it has somehow been watered down. Certainly, there is a quiet confidence in the Christ Follower knowing that Jesus has created the bridge to salvation. Yet, being comfortable in this world, means that we have either turned a blind eye to injustice or quit searching for the last door where Christ’s love has yet to be offered. According to Peter, only when every door has been knocked upon will salvation break forth: “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance [2 Pet 3:9].”

Jesus, the Consolation of Israel, has done his part; and he placed the church into our hands to continue through the work of the Holy Spirit. We can find comfort in Jesus; but we can’t get comfortable with Jesus.

The sword of salvation is like operating with a double-edged scalpel. Remember the story of the young man who walked away from Jesus? Our Lord tells him that perfection is found in selling everything to the poor and following the Lord. Only Mark recounts the story with the full passion of Jesus’ heart: “And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me [Mark 10:21].”

How painful it must have been for Jesus to watch him walk away. How tempted I would be to say; “No, come on back, we make exceptions for rich young rulers. You only have to give ten percent—if that is comfortable for you.”

How hard it must have been for the father to watch his prodigal child leave to indulge in the sin of the world. How hard it must have been for God to let his son come to earth. How hard it was for Jesus to accept the cup of God at Gethsemane.

A parent who loves their child knows there are times when the child will be angry at them for being corrected. A mature parent takes no comfort in rebuke. A mature Christian takes no pleasure in preaching repentance or challenging Christian infants that they are stagnant in their faith. Yet, the mature parent or Christian is willing to operate if necessary—even if the razor is double-sided; even when the pain is deep.

Simeon’s blessing was glorious. Simeon’s blessing was horrid. Yet, Simeon’s blessing was truth. As truth it still stands today. The message of Jesus divides goats and sheep. It brings a sword—even between families. It is opposed, it is piercing, it reveals hearts. Yet, it never pierces, cuts, or reveals capriciously. As Luke—the surgeon of the Lord—would know; Christ cuts to heal. Our Lord seeks to eradicate what is cancerous and leave behind wholeness.

It is the pain that heals.

LUKE 2:36-40

“And there was a prophetess”

Anna was also one of “Quiet of the Land.” Of her father, Phanuel, and the tribe of Asher, we know very little (except that Asher—for whom the tribe was named—was one of the sons of Jacob). We can only presume that Luke uses this reference as it meant something that would increase Anna’s stature at the time of his writing. However, we do know this about Anna:

1. She was a widow of many years;

Luke tells us that Anna was 84 when she proclaimed Jesus. He also tells us in typical detail that she had been married seven years before becoming a widow. That would mean that Anna had been devoted to her temple ministry for nearly sixty years.

Here is a lesson in the power of prayer and faithful waiting. Anna had devoted the length of her life and extent of her energy to praying for the Messiah’s arrival. Her lifelong endeavor was to pray for and prepare to recognize the Lord upon his arrival. Waiting upon the Lord is never easy but waiting nearly sixty years seems incomprehensible in an age of nanoseconds and immediate gratification.

There are many temptations faced by those who wait upon the Lord for any amount of time:

i) Losing interest and perhaps even losing faith that God hears or cares for you. We often become impatient and even blame God for not responding according to our timeline.

ii) Instead of deepening in faith, we can become ritualistic attached to a method of waiting and losing any expectation of the Lord’s response. We go through the actions, recite the words, but there is no feeling behind them.

One can almost imagine Anna asking daily; “Is this the day, Lord?” That’s the type of waiting that pleases the Lord and leads to his revelation. That was the expectant waiting of John the Baptist, Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon and Anna. Has our waiting lost its urgency? Is our waiting (despite its length) still comprised of expectancy and enthusiasm?

2. She was a prophetess;

Being a prophet [prophetis, G4398] was a much wider expression than being someone who “foretold” the future. It also meant someone who “proclaimed” the future. Forward (pro) claiming (take possession of) is an inspirational concept to the Christian. Anna, had “forward claimed” the day that she would live to testify to the Messiah. God answered that prayer in a most amazing way. He allowed her to live to an extremely old age (the life expectancy in Judea at that time was the late forties). What if Anna had lost faith at twenty? What if she had become bitter at fifty or gave up praying at eighty-three? God did not answer Anna by immediately responding to her needs, he responded by allowing her to live another day until—after 30,660 days—her life overlapped with the presentation of Jesus.

Meanwhile, she did not lose faith. She kept on praying, “pro-claiming” and “forward-obtaining” the Lord. Showing up at the temple and asking the Holy Spirit; “Will I see him today?”

“Is this the day, Lord?”

Is there anyone that you are forward claiming? Am I proclaiming the arrival of Jesus in my community? Am I waking with Anna's passion; “Is this the day, Lord?” “Is this the day that you will come into my grandson’s heart?” “Is this the day that you will come into our jails?” “Is this the day, Lord that you will return?”

Yesterday, I had a great talk with a friend of mine who is a Pastor of a pretty comfortable church. We talked about the return of Jesus and how I was longing for that event with immediacy. He smiled and said; “All in good time.” As we talked about Christ’s Second Coming, I began to realize how different our “sheep” were from each other. There is literally no one that I see in my daily work that would lose a thing if Christ established his reign immediately. If the bars fell and they were free, if they woke up and had good health or a home. If suddenly, they had clarity of purpose, were free from depression, abuse, alcohol or drugs. None of them have an investment in this world of sorrow and brokenness.

Yet, “having everything” is nothing compared to “being anywhere” with Jesus. The Pastor and I both agreed that the more we have—the harder it is to imagine a life of total dependency upon the Lord.

In the meantime, let us all pray for the Consolation of Israel to return and let’s pray most earnestly with our actions. Like Anna, let’s seek the Christ child among the crowd and continually ask: “Is this the day, Lord?”

“Didn’t you know?”

LUKE 2:41-52

[Lk 2:41] Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. [42] When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. [43] After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. [44] Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. [45] When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. [46] After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. [47] Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. [48] When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

[49] “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” [50] But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

[51] Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. [52] And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

LUKE 2:41-42

[Lk 2:41] Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. [42] When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.

The Feast of the Passover

There were three times every year that all Jewish males within fifteen miles of the temple were required to go to Jerusalem. These customs were spelled out in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy:

Exodus 23:14-17

[Ex 23:14] “Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. [15] “You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed. [16] “Also you shall observe the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. [17] “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.”

Deuteronomy 16:16

[Dt 16:16] “Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.”

The particular feast that Luke describes here is the Passover (the Feast of Unleavened Bread). The origin of this feast dates back to when God, through Moses, released His people from slavery to Pharaoh:

Exodus 12:21-36

[Ex 12:21] Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb. [22] “You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning.

[23] “For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you. [24] “And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. [25] “When you enter the land which the LORD will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. [26] “And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ [27] you shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the LORD who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’ “ And the people bowed low and worshiped.

[28] Then the sons of Israel went and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

[29] Now it came about at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. [30] Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. [31] Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the LORD, as you have said. [32] “Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.”

[33] The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We will all be dead.” [34] So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders.

[35] Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; [36] and the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.

Jesus’ family attended the Passover feast in Jerusalem When henwas twelve. It was a lengthy walk (app. 70 miles or 113 kilometers) and it was quite an expensive proposition to worship at the temple. However, what Luke shows us in chapter two is a family that diligently followed the “habits of communal faith.”

Verses 21 - 40 tell us that Mary and Joseph adhered to all the traditions of parenting a Jewish child:

1. He was circumcised on the eighth day after birth [Lev 12:3]. This ceremony celebrated the difference between the Jew and the Gentile and marked the unique relationship between God and the Jews.

2. He was taken to Jerusalem for the Redemption of the Firstborn. In this act, the parents acknowledged the firstborn belonged to God and needed to be “bought back” through a sacrifice by the mother and father [Ex 13:2, 11-16; Num 18:15-16].

3. Purification of the Mother. A mother was ceremonially unclean and could not enter the temple for 40 days after the birth of a son and 80 days after the birth of a daughter. At that time, wealthy parents would offer a lamb and a dove for the mother’s purification. A poor family could offer two pigeons, which is what Mary and Joseph offered. However, these offerings still had to be declared pure by the priests, a practice which lent itself to official abuse.

Despite the costs and the tremendous commitment of time, Mary and Joseph adhered to the traditions of the faith. There is an important, yet subtle, grace apparent here. Although Jesus was born into an obscure and working class family, he did not lack in tradition. Perhaps one of greatest gift his earthly parents gave him was the deep sense of faithful tradition that Judaism has to offer.

Do we realize this is one of our greatest gifts to our children as well? Long after we are gone, our children will remember our habits and traditions. They will remember the way we celebrate Christmas and Easter They will remember evening prayers at family meals, attending a faith-based community on Sunday and acts of service the family shares together. Faith and traditions are two of the greatest gifts we can choose for our children and grandchildren.

Even more, the only time that a parent can really pick a child’s friends is during the first eight to ten years of their lives. The child who is raised in the arms of a compassionate church with caring adults is far less likely to slip into drugs or anti-social behavior. In fact, a study by Case Western University under the direction of John DiAiellio, found that the three primary actions a father could take to keep his children off drugs were:

1. Eat dinner with his family;

2. Do homework with his children; and

3. Take his children to church.

Jesus was raised among the most common people, but he was given the richest of traditions to start his life.

LUKE 2:43-47

[43] After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. [44] Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. [45] When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. [46] After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. [47] Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.

After three days they found him

It is not that unusual that Jesus would be lost among the crowds at the temple or overlooked among the pilgrims on the way home. It wasn’t even unusual that a twelve-year-old would not be panicked about being left behind (this was a culture oriented towards care of the stranger and one in which children were given great responsibilities at an early age). What was unusual was that Jesus didn’t even set out after his parents. He was completely “at home” where he was left (or more aptly, had stayed).

In addition, Jesus was at a “tween” age, half adult/half child. A male child could walk with the women (in the front of the group) or with the men who came last. To deter robbers, these groups were very large and could be spread over a substantial distance. We must remember that Jerusalem would swell by up to 300,000 people on the feast days (in particular, the Passover).

Mary and Joseph were not careless parents unconcerned with Jesus. In fact, this tells us more about the culture in which they lived. One in which children were not preyed upon and parents were more secure in the adults of their community. In fact, what could be more definitive of the Hebrew concept of temple [H1005 bayith], than the picture in this story? Prior to the term being used in reference to a building, church or temple is described as a family. It was, in the strictest sense, a place where children could be raised in the faith and in the safety of a compassionate community. However, even the term “place” is deceptive, for the Hebrews were formed by God as nomads under Abraham and Moses. Family was the body of people you journeyed with under God’s direction. Long before church was a dedicated place, it was a dedicated people.

Sitting among the teachers

This is a very contradictory verse, something we wouldn’t catch with a quick overview. First of all, there is Jesus as the respectful student. Jesus was, “listening to them and asking them questions.” He was not a precocious brat who disrespected his elders. However, Jesus stood out even as a 12-year-old. “Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.”

What we see is the wisest of men being formed. As a boy, Jesus was neither afraid to ask questions and listen or respectfully share his understanding. As a result of his respectful demeanor more clarity into the “child Jesus” who was becoming the “young man Jesus.”

In particular, Luke is told that when Mary and Joseph found Jesus, he was “seated among the teachers.” That is a huge revelation about the Lord’s temperament. For, without a doubt there were men present who had been studying the Torah for years that would long for such a privileged seat.

Teachers of the Law sat (instead of stood) when it was time to teach. The fact that Jesus was allowed to sit among them was not a thing he could invite himself to do. He could only be invited by others, by the teacher’s themselves, who were, “amazed at his understanding and his answers.”

To be amazed [G1839 existemi] was the same as literally saying, “Knocked on your rear” or, “Stopped in your tracks.” This was the impact of Jesus’ understanding of Scripture.

Understanding [G4907 sunesis] meant more than knowledge, it also meant, “to run things together.” It was a term used symbolically of making two headstrong horses pulling a chariot respond as if they were but one animal.

Jesus, even as a boy on the verge of manhood, had the amazing ability to make God’s plan fit with people’s daily lives: To unite knowledge with application, wisdom with compassion, and make them run as one horse.

Do my words have the same effect? Have I sought that gift from the Holy Spirit? So that, no matter whom I am with, the Gospel makes simple sense in their life?

“Lord, give me that courage. To move beyond words that are really designed to impress or even confuse others (so as to pretend to make me seem brilliant). Help me embrace a servant’s heart so the few words I speak encourage the weary heart.”

Isaiah 50:4

[Isa 50:4] The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.

He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

LUKE 2:48-52

[48] When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

[49] “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” [50] But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

“Son, why have you treated us like this?”

It had been twelve years since our Lord’s birth. Perhaps two years were spent in Bethlehem and another three to six more in Egypt (until the death of Herod the Great in 4BC). So, the period in which Mary and Joseph’s had finally returned to their familial home of Nazareth was but a few years. Still, like all of us, they seemed to have settled quickly and deeply into mundane patterns. A few unchallenged years and they were feeling like a normal family.

However, they were not normal. They were raising the King’s child; they bore responsibilities beyond the “normal.” Perhaps they wanted to forget it, who could blame them after the ordeals they had already faced? Yet, in forgetting this fact, these two parents were “astonished and anxious” when Jesus began to assert himself at twelve. The actual words are ekplesso [G1605] and odunao [G3600], together they mean to “agonize and panic.”

I am amazed at my own weakness and how easily I “agonize with panic” when God begins a deep work in my life. I struggle too, wanting to go back to the normal, the comfortable, and the mundane. Like Mary and Joseph, I get comfortable with the infant Jesus and struggle when the teenageJesus starts to assert himself in my life. Am I really ready for Jesus to assert himself in my life? Am I ready to move from a docile relationship with the cute baby in swaddling clothes to the Jesus who must turn the tide against sin entrenched in my life and this world?

Am I really ready for a grown-up Jesus in my life?

“Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

The spring of Jesus’ twelfth year would be very different, not only for Jesus but for his entire family. On the twelfth year of any Jewish male’s life they moved from being a son of their parents to a Son of the Law (Bar Mitzvah). It was the year when Jesus moved from being the official son of Joseph to a Son of the Law. It was critical for Mary and Joseph to know that Jesus didn’t belong to them; he belonged to God. Jesus puts Mary and Joseph on alert with the simple but frank statement; “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” It was perhaps the gentlest way that Jesus could firmly say, “I don’t belong to you.”

How many times has Jesus had to say that to me?

· As a follower;

Jesus has to continually remind me that I am most a servant when I am least in control. I, like Mary and Joseph, may think that Jesus is lost, but he sure didn’t think so. When I finally find him, he is exactly where he is supposed to be. Am I where Jesus is supposed to be or where I want him to be? I have to keep reminding myself; “He’s not the one who is lost.”

· As a parent or leader;

My children and my flock don’t really belong to me. My role is to solely and completely point them to God, raising them with the sole intent of turning them loose. Am I ever mindful of preparing them to be Christ-centered in a Christ-hostile world? Am I ever mindful of John the Baptist’s statement; “He must increase, but I must decrease [John 3:30].”

Jesus was giving his parents a velvet-covered brick. It would hurt to hear what he had to say, but it would “hurt good.” A good parent doesn’t find joy in a child’s dependence but in watching them make tough choices and recover from tough odds. Does that define my parenting or shepherding?

· As a church or denomination?

How easily we begin think that Jesus plays on my team and forget that we’re just one player on his. How often we find churches like a circle of wagons shooting “in,” too parochial to see the prophetic. It must wound Jesus to see us so at war with each other that we can’t be a witness to the world. Jesus is not interested in my theology but my compassion. He isn’t concerned over my denomination but by my mercy and justice. He’s tired of me defending the faith; he wants to see me practice it.

To be Christian means to quit trying to own Jesus and let him own my heart, mind and soul.

Then he went down to Nazareth with them

This verse always amazes me. The greatest minds in the Jewish world were in Jerusalem and Jesus was seated among them. He could have stayed. There were plenty of teachers who would make room for such a brilliant lad. He would have been raised as one the greatest minds in human history, far greater than David or Solomon. He might have even been an advisor to the family of Herod or Caiaphas.

Instead, he went back to Nazareth, back to a commoner’s life, back to an obscure family to learn about God through the struggles of a common person. The option for elitism would have been there for Jesus, but he chose the life of the working poor. He became like the least among us:

II Corinthians 8:9

[2Co 8:9] For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

Hebrews 5:9

[Heb 5:9] And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.

And Jesus didn’t go back to the obscurity of Nazareth moping. In fact, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men [Luke 2:52].”

My question is will I ever be as mature as this 12-year-old boy? Last Saturday I gave a eulogy for a woman whose parent’s wouldn’t take her to church on Sundays. At the age of eight, she began to bundle herself up and walk to church alone. She finally “won permission” to take her younger siblings with her. Every Sunday morning, she would take on the role of parent, dressing all the kids up and marching them to church for worship. Her younger brother went on to become a missionary, he would lead others souls to Christ much the same as his sister led him. She preceded him into God’s arms, yet in my mind, I’ve no doubt he was the one who walked beside her on her last journey before the King.

Our choices often lie between pursuing the cushioned comfort of the privileged life or seeking Christ among the most common? Let’s ask ourselves, WWJ-12-D? What Would the 12-year-old Jesus Do?

“Heaven Was Opened”

LUKE 3:21-22

[Lk 3:21] Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, [22] and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

Jesus was also baptized

We already know that John the Baptist had come under fire by many Jewish leaders who condemned him for baptizing Jews. In their minds, baptism was for initiates seeking to become Jewish. However, the Jewish belief was they were already Sons of Abraham and “you can’t improve upon perfection.”

In like manner, we are well aware of Christians who would use that mantle as if they’ve been admitted to an elite club rather than becoming humbled by God’s grace in the midst of our sin. Christian privilege is a dichotomy in terms. Christian humility is our proper state.

Some believed John focused on baptism because he belonged to the Essenes; a small group of desert monks who were ritualistically focused on austere living and ceremonial bathing. Yet, there is much more to John’s baptism than symbolic ritualism. John's focus was the intent behind the ritual. During Christ's time, many of Jerusalem's religious leaders (and many Christian denominations today) were steeped in ritual but had lost the intent behind it. Ritual without service becomes a dangerous distraction from God’s path. We can begin to believe we are faithful just because we practice ritual. Over time, ritual itself becomes a god.

What was within John’s ritual Jesus himself sought to affirm?

It wasn’t just repentance from sin because Jesus was already free from sin. Even more than being freed from an act or acts of sin, John was preaching repentance from the way of sin. Scripturally, sin is defined as a way of living not a particular act. Repentance, in like form, is not just seeking temporary relief from the consequences of our actions, it is changing the desires that lead to our compulsive and addictive habits. In Scripture, sin is almost always habitual, it is not associated with “making a mistake."

So, why would Jesus seek to affirm that sacrament? Keep in mind that a sacrament is an “outward expression of an inward change.” It not only states my determination to change but it invites a community of believers to support me (and hold me) to that decision, while also inviting them to renew their commitment.

Repentance is a new way of perceiving life and baptism was its communal expression. Its not just saying; “God, clean up my past.” It is saying — in front of a community driven by the same mission —“God, I am no longer my own, I am yours.”

It is not just giving to God what I’ve done, it is giving to the Creator who was, is and ever will be, what I was, am and always will be.

Jesus wasn’t like the other religious who were lining up to be baptized and whom John had to castigate for their lack of authenticity.

Luke 3:7-9

[Lk 3:7] So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? [8] “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. [9] “Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Our Lord was not just feigning an act of public confession for show. Jesus didn’t feign acts of political correctness for authoritarian approval and he didn’t seek a public show. Jesus was standing before witnesses and saying; “From this moment on, I am no longer my own. May God do with me as he wills.”

Jesus was stepping out of a comfortable path as an obscure carpenter’s son and into the current of God’s river — a current both holy and horrible.

Jesus’ baptism was a radical statement. Some believe our Lord knew exactly what was in store for himself when he made that decision, others don’t. I believe that Jesus would be naïve not to know the path he was choosing would place him at the crux (cross) of colliding forces: Temporally, he would stand between Rome and Jerusalem but eternally he would stand between Satan and God’s beloved children — you and I.

Jesus knew his destiny at twelve and publicly declared his intent around age thirty. He was thoroughly aware he was about to enter into the hardest endeavor in history.

Some say the years between twelve and thirty were Jesus’ hidden years. That being the case, Christ’s baptism announced he was coming out of hiding. He went directly from John’s baptism to serve papers on Satan’s front door step.

The time of the Savior had arrived!

Have we ended our hidden years yet? That is really the critical question for us. Have we experienced a baptism that goes beyond asking forgiveness for past sins to seeking repentance; a new way of being, seeing and acting? Have we come out hiding? Has the Lord of Darkness become aware that he has a new enemy? Have we served our warrant to Evil (in Hebrew, evil is a living and malevolent force, not a state of being)? Have we given him notice or are we even on his radar?

Have we been washed for the fire? Cleansed by the waters of repentance to be purified by the Refiner’s fire?

Let’s move beyond the hidden years and into the public crossroads of a viable ministry. Scripture often uses the term of being “slapped out of obscurity." It says this of Joseph when he couldn’t decide what to do with Mary and couldn’t decide whether to leave Bethlehem. In both cases, an angel had to come and “slap him out of obscurity.” For us, it is more like being slapped out of security; tucked away in the hidden lap of the comfortable.

Let’s get off the sidelines and into the fray. It is a time to be slapped out of our stupor, out of obscurity and into what matters. Through his baptism, Jesus took a public stand that would cost him his life, but it would give life to us. Are we ready to step into God’s current and out of our hot tub?

While He was praying

This is a special insight by Luke and we wish we knew his source for none of the other Gospels remark on Jesus’ prayer. Matthew [3:13-15] and Mark [1:9] both tell us that the Spirit descended upon Jesus “immediately.” However, John (the author and beloved of Jesus) gives us an insight into the testimony of John the Baptist [Jn 1:32]. John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.”

Only one Gospel writer was a disciple of both John the Baptist and Jesus, that was John the Beloved.To me, there is great joy in this revelation. The Gospel literally testifies to itself, truth upon truth, spreading throughout Jerusalem, to Luke, to Theophilus, to Caesarea, Malta, Rome, and finally to the ends of the earth.

Don’t we want to make sure it doesn’t stop with us? What part of the world will we take the Gospel to on this day? Where are the “ends of the earth” in my town? To whom will we tell this wonder — that we are deeply beloved and highly esteemed by God?

Yet, it is also interesting to note, not only who might have been the source of this eyewitness testimony but also, what definition did Luke use for prayer?

The Hebrews used a number of words for prayer, for example:

· [H8605 tephillah] This was the primary word for prayer and it includes intercessory prayer, supplication or “a hymn.”

· [H6419 palal] This word was the root form of tephillah. It has the same basic meaning as tephillah except it also means to judge as when the Lord tells Jeremiah He will not listen to the prayers of a stubborn people: So the LORD said to me, “Do not pray for the welfare of this people [Jeremiah 14:11]."

When used by Nehemiah, we see both terms used in their proper form as he prays for the desecrated people of Jerusalem [Nehemiah 1:4-22]

When Nehemiah spoke of prayer he used tephillah, but when he was praying he used palal. Which term is most frequent in my life? Do I speak of prayer or could I count myself among those who pray for others (intercessory), pleading with him (supplication) to remember mercy and kindness (compassion)? Are the words of my mouth also the meditations of my heart and applied liberally in my actions throughout the day?

Psalm 19:14

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.”

In the New Testament, all of the Gospel writers tell us that Jesus wants us to pray. However, only Mark and Luke tell us how Jesus himself prayed. Mark makes reference to this once [Mk 1:35] when Jesus was preparing for his public ministry and left Capernaum early in the dawn hours to pray privately. However, Luke tells us that Jesus prayed:

1. When he was baptized [Lk 3:21]

2. Before he named the disciples [Lk 6:12]

3. Before asking the apostles; “Who do you say I am?” [Lk 9:18]

4. Before the transfiguration [Lk 9:29]

5. Before he taught his disciple the Lord’s Prayer [Lk 11:1]

6. And, in the Garden before his arrest [Lk 22:44]

It is Luke’s intimate portrait of Jesus that tells us how our Lord was constantly in intimate touch with the Father during the most important decisions and trials of his life. Luke also tells us the Lord warns us to imitate that behavior: “But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man [Luke 21:36].”

The strength of Jesus lay in his communion with God the Father; the two being One with the Holy Spirit. Yet, Jesus also tells us our strength lays in our weakness and dependence upon communing with God. Our effectiveness is based upon being in constant relationship with God through prayer. We see this behavior modeled in the early church in the book of Acts [1:14, 2:42-45, 6:4, 26:29].

Luke (who is very fastidious about his words) tells us in his choice of terms, exactly what he means by prayer. The word for prayer he uses [GSM4336 proseuchomai] comes from two root words pro [G4314] and euchomai [G2172].

“Pro” means to “move forward to a destination,” to “move near to someone” or to “get close enough to whisper.” It is also used to “speak pertaining to someone,” even to “promote” them.

Euchomai means “to wish,” but look how Christians used that word in the New Testament:

ROMANS 9:3

For I could wish that I myself were accursed, {separated} from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.

2 CORINTHIANS 13:7

Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we should appear unapproved.

2 CORINTHIANS 13:9

For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you be made complete.

JAMES 5:16

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

3 John 1:2

Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

“Wishing” in this world’s vernacular is not the same as the word we see used by these men and women of faith. They “fervently desired” to trade even their own bodies for the freedom of those enslaved to sin. Bondage or beatings meant nothing to them if it resulted in the salvation of one soul from the darkness of hell. They would indeed die for the souls of their beloved church.

Yet, to show such strength they had to go forward (pro) moving determinedly closer to Christ. In the end, that is where they found their freedom, free from all encumbrances of this world even (and especially) the fear of death. They had already found life eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord.

That is what it means to pray!

Heaven was opened

All four Gospel writers tell us some variation of the statement that the heavens were opened. What is the meaning of that? Does it merely mean the skies literally parted revealing a place beyond our dimension? Well, yes and no.

Jesus tells us the kingdom is different than heaven: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven [Matt 6:10].”

The Kingdom of God [G932 basileia] is literally the rule or reign of God. God’s reign begins the moment we start to “do his will.” The Kingdom involves a way of being within God’s will. Heaven [G3772 ouranos] is an existence where God’s will is implemented eternally and completely. On earth, we might do God’s will but the Evil One seeks to undermine God’s work. In Heaven — eternal and complete — God’s will is carried out without impediment; perfectly and fully.

When Jesus came to the river to be baptized, those who were present (definitely John the Baptist, but also perhaps John the Beloved and Andrew — remember, they were first followers of John the Baptist) testified that they saw the perfect will of God being carried out. For one instant they were given a glimpse into the eternal. For one instant, they were carried through the gates where Evil cannot enter and only the will of God is practiced. For one instant, the heavens were opened and they were allowed to glimpse the euphoria of following God’s perfect will unimpeded.

The heavens opened [G455 anoigo] means that the Heavens broke forth. God’s perfect will “broke forth,” opened and was revealed to those present. One other use of this term is “spoken freely.” For an instant, those who testified to this moment were allowed to hear God’s perfect will spoken freely in all three of its integrated forms: Father, Son and Holy Spirit united as One.

That is the day to which we are journeying. The day when the unity of God is spoken freely, unimpeded by the influence of evil. This is the joy to which we seek to invite all whom we know and all we are yet to know. This is the goal worth all of our efforts and energy; prayers and meditations. The day in which we too will see “the heavens opened!”

Like a dove

I remember walking with my daughter (at a time she was about eight) and watching her explore the flowers along our path, a butterfly rested for an extended moment upon on her petite hand. Some people will look at an incident like that and say, “What a coincidence.”

Personally, it as a very spiritual moment.

My daughter has always had a great heart for the Lord and incredible compassion for all living things (including spiders and snakes). The moment still reminds me of my responsibility as a Christian father to raise up a young woman who is a delight to her God. In my relationship with her, my daughter will learn what it means to be loved and how to love. That is an ominous task and I need all the butterfly moments I can get to help me remember the divine in her.

I have no doubt a dove landed upon Jesus as testified to by all four Gospels. I am well aware of the theologians who call this moment purely symbolic and I believe it was both pure and symbolic; but I also believe this actually happened. I am aware it is merely preference that turns one man’s coincidence into another man’s spiritual moment and I prefer a life filled with the miraculous over the coincidental.

In fact, the more I choose to look for God in each day, the more I see his symbolism and experience his touch. Whether some would interpret that as purely wishful thinking matters little to me. I choose to see life as God revealing himself to me in increasingly deeper ways. His fullness washes over me in waves and it continually deepens the unexplainable peace that leads to unshakable faith.

I choose a perspective in which children are blessed by butterflies and our Savior was confirmed by the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.

The dove itself was a symbol of God’s peace. The symbolism of the dove is first presented in the story of Noah and the flood:

GEN 8:11

And the dove came to him toward evening; and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth.

Later, it was used to represent the loving care of God for His people. Like a mother dove that spreads its wings to cover her chicks from the elements:

PSALM 68:13

When you lie down among the sheepfolds, {you are like} the wings of a dove covered with silver, and its pinions with glistening gold.

In Solomon’s song, the dove is representative of Christ’s love for his church:

SONG OF SOLOMON 6:9-10

[9] {But} my dove, my perfect one, is unique: she is her mother’s only {daughter;} she is the pure {child} of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed, the queens and the concubines {also,} and they praised her, {saying,} [10] “Who is this that grows like the dawn, as beautiful as the full moon, as pure as the sun, as awesome as an army with banners?”

The church and its people can hardly call themselves perfect, pure and awesome. Yet, that is how Jesus sees us. As a bridegroom seeing his new bride; blinded to her imperfections and dedicated to her beauty. Jesus makes us into what he sees in us.

So along with choosing to see miracles — literally to bring the divine into the mundane — will I take on the eyes of Jesus? Will I see the bride as he sees her? Will my love look past her imperfection and make her into the perfect wife that Jesus sees?

After years of working with the incarcerated and the homeless, I have learned that what you see in people is what they become to you. If you see others with the utmost respect, they will endeavor to be worthy of that respect. It is hard to imagine, that we have a God who sees us in such a manner. He sees us into perfection, purity and awesome glory.

Praise our Lord!

A Voice Came Out of Heaven

The Hebrews believed the greatest inheritance was passed from the father to the eldest son in the form of a “Blessing,” a custom instituted by God in Genesis. First, God blessed all of life on earth [Genesis 1:22].

Then, God blessed man and woman [Genesis 1:28].

Then God blessed the Seventh Day [Genesis 2:3].

After the destruction of man, God returned His blessing upon Noah and his family [Genesis 9:1]

Then, in a surprising turn of biblical events, man blesses God and chooses whom to bless among his own children [Genesis 9:20-27].

Through Abram, God extends his blessing to an entire nation and even to those who bless that nation [Genesis 12:2-3].

In 1 Samuel we see the deep meaning attached to this blessing when Jacob tricks Esau out of his inheritance. Once given, a blessing cannot be taken away except by God. This, in fact, happens to Saul when he disobeys God and lies to Samuel [1Samuel 16:14]

We see the details of Saul’s rejection in Chapter 15 [1 Samuel 15:22-23]

Saul’s blessing is repealed, but not just because he sinned. David, who became God’s next king sinned grievously as well. However, Saul lied about his sin — not just to Samuel — but also to God. Saul took both Samuel and God for fools.

These references give us insight into what God blesses and whom. God blesses what he creates and then blesses those bless him. He blesses the family and even the nation that blesses him.

In Hebrew, there are two words for blessing, Barak [H1288] and ashar [H833]. Barak also means to kneel, to thank, to salute or greet. In essence, it means to “formally welcome,” as into the family or into a group (like a church, club, or family). It is to be given a formal commission and the responsibility that goes with it.

When God blesses us, he brings us into formal relationship with all the attached responsibilities and titles. Titles like Paul bore: Servant, Slave, and Prisoner for the Lord. Through Jesus, that blessing has been extended to all who trust in his name [Romans 9:25-26].

The other term for blessed [H833 ashar], gives a glimpse into the responsibilities of the blessed. This term means to go straight, to call upon God, to be guided or to proceed as called.

This matches fairly closely with the Greek terminology where the two words used for blessing are makarios [G3107] and eulogeo [G2127]. Luke uses both terms depending upon the circumstances of the blessing.

In the beatitudes, the people are blessed [G3107 makarios] when their circumstances are unjust because their inheritance will be heaven itself, an eternity with God [Luke 6:20-23].

Makarios [G3107] means to be happy or fortunate and implies good luck or a good thing that happens to you because you were in the right place at the right time. That is certainly true with God; who blesses us when we endeavor to be in the right places (which — according to the beatitudes — are with the poor, the hungry, the meek and the sorrowing).

Alternatively, Luke uses another word for blessed in the story of Mary and Elizabeth [Luke 1:42-45, 48].

This word eulogeo [G2127] is the root word of our eulogy; to summarize a life as “well-lived.”

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master [Matthe 25:23].’”

We could literally say that makarias [G3107] is the blessing of your life and circumstances, but eulogeo [G2127] is what you do with what you’ve received.

“You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

Jesus was audibly blessed by God twice in his life, in this verse and, once again, at the transfiguration.

MATTHEW 17:5

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”

In both cases, witnesses testify to God’s statement that Jesus was:

1. God’s beloved [G27 agapetos]; from agape [G25], loved beyond reason or comprehension

2. God’s Son [G5207 huios]; son, a special attendant (like Nehemiah was to his king or Joseph was to Pharaoh), it also meant the foal of a great horse

3. Of whom God was greatly pleased [G2106 eudokeo]; he gave pleasure, joy to the Father. It also means well-chosen or chosen gladly for a task

This is hard for a consumer generation to understand. We are so used to being “accepted based upon our performance (for what we achieve or obtain)” as opposed to being loved unconditionally. We are so alien to the concept of receiving love simply because we are children of God as opposed to merely receiving approval for what we have or do. We might rightly say that in this culture we are human havings or human doings, but not human beings.

However what God blesses in his Beloved Son is his choice to be available to God, to be God’s attendant [G5207 huios].

It wasn’t what Jesus had done or accomplished God blessed — for Jesus had not really achieved or accumulated anything in his thirty years as a carpenter’s apprentice. However, he was now choosing to leave comfort and obscurity behind him in order to become completely available to God. It was a choice Jesus knew would cost him everything.

How much easier it would have been to remain in Nazareth in an out-of-the-way shop, in an out-of-the-way life. To be available to God is both lovely and terrifying at the same time. In fact, the word for holy and also for saint [G40 Hagios] means both sacred and horrible. It was a horrible choice to step in the Jordan knowing it would bring deadly consequences. Indeed, it was the ultimate choice of history, yet through that holy choice salvation has become available to us all.

How are we willing to respond to Christ’s choice? Will we too make a choice to leave behind comfort and obscurity to “be available” to God?

It is interesting to see how long it took for Peter make that ultimate commitment to Christ. It wasn’t until after Peter’s betrayal, then Jesus’ death and resurrection, that Peter makes the holy and horrible choice of availability. As a result, Jesus gives Peter both a command and a warning [John 21:17-18].

To be available to Jesus is to:

1. Tend to (be an attendant of [G5207 huios]) his sheep

2. To leave behind our plans, our comforts, and our will and to step into the current of God’s spiritual river

To step into God’s current is holy and horrible [G40 Hagios]. Being available to God is a blessing; both makarios [G3107] and eulogeo [G2127]. It is allowing ourselves to be “yanked by our belts” to the tough places and to tender the “great report.” It means we take whatever we were given in this life and turn it into something miraculous.

Is this the day I will see “heaven opened?” When my earthly life and God’s heavenly focus will join in unity? Will this be the day I step into the Jordan and into God’s current?

“The Son Of…”

LUKE 3:23-38

23When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, 24the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 25the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Hesli, the son of Naggai, 26the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 27the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 29the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 30the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 31the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, 33the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Heber, the son of Shelah, 36the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan, 38the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. “THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, ‘MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.

INTRODUCTION TO THE GENEALOGY OF JESUS

There are people who simply skip over the genealogy of Jesus viewing it as countless names without importance. However, there are reasons that both Matthew and Luke took great pains to research Jesus’ forebears. There are also differences between the genealogy of Matthew and Luke that need to be explored.

Genealogical Introduction

Let’s begin by examining the significance of these readings.

Luke begins with the statement, “When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph…”

Luke wants us to know Jesus’ age because thirty was the age when priests could begin their ministry [Numbers 4:1-3].

Both Matthew and Luke wanted to show that Jesus’ call to priesthood was lawful — he was thirty years old and a descendent of Levi — but also his claim to be the Messiah was genealogically correct — he was a descendent of David [2 Samuel 7:16].

Luke also states, “being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph…”

The word “supposed [G3543 nomizō],” should be a clue to Luke’s primary emphasis in retelling Christ’s genealogy. In essence, Luke is saying, “Joseph was Jesus’ earthly father, but his true father was God.”

These are not the only genealogies in Scripture, nor even the most extensive. The Old Testament traces the children of Adam and Eve through the roots of Cain, Abel and Seth down to Noah [Genesis 4-5].

The Genealogy of all twelve tribes of Israel is traced in Chronicles [1 Chronicles 1-9]. The patriarch of the twelve tribes was Jacob and the tribes were descendants of his twelve sons. No doubt both Matthew and Luke used this document extensively in tracing Jesus’ lineage.

Both Gospel writers trace the genealogy through Jesus’ earthly father as that would have been the only acceptable genealogy at that time. Matthew relied more on the Old Testament than Luke and traces Jesus’ line through Joseph’s brother, Jacob, as opposed to Joseph.

The discrepancy between Matthew’s writing (tracing Jesus’ line through Joseph’s father, Jacob) and Luke’s writing (tracing it through Jesus’ grandfather Heli) can be attributed to a custom known as Levirite Marriage. The widow of a childless man could marry his brother and produce children through that family line. This was quite common during Jesus’ time because women had a much shorter life expectancy than men and it was not uncommon for an older man to be re-married to a much younger woman. Some even argue that Mary was a late bride of Joseph. They emphasize that Mary was widowed and was “ever-virgin,” but that Joseph had prior sons who were actually Jesus’ brothers or — according to Jerome’s writings in the 4th Century — cousins of Jesus [Matthew 12:46-50].

Others would argue there are no definitive biblical texts indicating Mary was always a virgin so they would categorize this as a denominational belief. The belief itself did not surface until around A.D. 120 and arises from a text called the Protoevangelium of James.

The Protoevangelium states that Mary’s mother, Anne, vowed Mary would devote the child to the service of the Lord. The practice of this custom can be found in 1 Samuel 1:11 — where Samuel was dedicated to the service of the Lord but had already been a custom for centuries [1 Samuel 2:22].

The custom indicates Mary would need a protector, Joseph, who was to honor this vow of virginity.

The Only Son of God

John is the only writer who — while he does include a genealogy — traces Jesus’ lineage directly to God, not to humans. Three times John simply states Jesus is the only begotten [G3439 monogenēs] or “only gene” of God.

Two statements can be found in John 3:16-18.

And again in 1 John 4:9.

THE LESSER KNOWNS

A number of people in Jesus' genealogy come with little or no information about them. They include those found in Luke 3:24-25 and Luke 3:28-29.

Salmon, Ashram, Amminidab, Arnie and Hezron are all mentioned in the Old Testament, but little is known about them.

ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

The son of Zerubbabel

Zerubbabel was born in Babylon during the Jewish captivity. He returned to Judah when Cyrus set them free [Ezra 1:1-2:2]. Zerubbabel was responsible for leading the first wave of Jewish people back to Jerusalem and for rebuilding the temple. He is listed as the son of Shealtiel in Ezra 3:2, 8; 5:2 and Nehemiah 12:1.

David

Matthew traces Jesus’ lineage to David through his son Solomon while Luke traces it through David’s son Nathan. Despite his flaws, David was considered a prototype for the Messiah King [Isaiah 9:6-7, 11:1-2; Ezekiel 34:23-24; 37:24-25]. As referenced earlier, David received the promise of an eternal kingdom in 2 Samuel 7:16. His life story is found in 1 Samuel 16 – 1 Kings 2 and also 1 Chronicles 11-29.

Jesse

Jesse was David’s father and had many sons. The prophet Samuel surprised Jesse by anointing his son David (the “runt” of the litter) to follow Saul as the next king of Israel [1 Samuel 16:5-13].

Boaz

Boaz and Ruth came to Israel from Moab. Their story is told in the book of Ruth. They were the parents of Obed who later fathered Jesse [Ruth 4:13-17; 1 Chronicles 2:12].

Judah

Judah was one of the twelve sons of Jacob. These twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel [Genesis 49:1-29; Genesis 25-50]. Judah had twin sons, Perez and Serah [1 Chronicles 2:4].

Jacob

Jacob is famous for receiving the blessing of God then spending nearly his entire life trying to take — through human effort — what God had freely given him. He was the younger brother of Esau and the child of Isaac and Rebekah, born in their elder years [Genesis 25:26].

Jacob’s story can be found in Genesis 25-50 and his inheritance to his twelve sons can be found in Genesis 49:1-28.

The Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are known as the patriarchs of the Jewish Nation. The heritage of Jesus is linked inextricably to the patriarchal covenant with God [Genesis 50:24; Exodus 3:16, 33:1; Numbers 32:11; Deuteronomy 1:8; 6:10, 9:5, 27, 29:13, 30:20, 34:4; 2 Kings 13:23; Jeremiah 33:26; Matthew 8:11; Luke 13:28; Acts 3:13; 7:32]

Terah, Cainan, Arphaxad and Shem

Terah was Abraham’s father who brought the family out of Haran. Nothing else is known of him. Cainan and Arphaxad are only known by name and Arphaxad was the third son of Shem. Shem was one of three sons of Noah. Their stories can be found in Genesis 11:10-26 and 1 Chronicles 1:24-27.

Noah

Noah had the unique responsibility of repopulating the earth after the flood. His story is found in Genesis 6-9. His father was Lamech [Genesis 5:25, 28; 1 Chronicles 1:3].

Methuselah, Enoch, Jared, Mahalalel, Kenan and Enosh

Little is known of Jared [Genesis 5:15; 1 Chronicles 1:2], Mahalalel [Genesis 5:13; 1 Chronicles 1:2] or Kenan [Genesis 5:9; 1 Chronicles 1:2]

Methuselah lived longer than anyone in history — 969 years [Genesis 5:25, 28; 1 Chronicles 1:3].

Enoch was taken up to heaven to walk with God — after living 365 years — because he was a righteous man [Genesis 5:23-24; Jude 14].

The life of Enosh is recorded briefly in Genesis 4:26, 5:6 and 1 Chronicles 1:1.

Seth, Cain and Able

These are the three sons of Adam and Eve. Cain killed Able [Genesis 4:1-17] and Seth was born following that incident [Genesis 4:25].

Adam

Luke calls Adam the “son of God.” His purpose in this is not to compare Adam with Jesus but to show that all people are connected to God through his son. Jesus did not just come for Jewish followers who converted to Christianity, instead of to all people, of all races and all beliefs. In short, one is not “born” Christian. All people can become followers by practicing the “Way” of Jesus.

Adam was made of clay and the breath of God. Jesus was “monogenes” — the very genes of God. Luke’s point is we are all connected to God through Adam’s creation and brought into the family of God through our relationship with Jesus.