Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

January 31, 2021

1/31/2021

The Silent Years

        And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. Luke 2:40.

    Fast-forward 12 years. Verse 39 features the young Jesus returning from Egypt (after a brief stay) to Nazareth with His family. And verse 41 has Him traveling to Jerusalem at age 12 for His Bar Mitzvah. Today's verse (Luke 2:40) provided our sum total of biblical knowledge about the intervening years.

    Then verse 41-51 describe His trip to Jerusalem, closing with the observation that He returned with His parents to Nazareth "and was obedient to them" (verse 51, NIV). Verse 52 adds that "Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man" (RSV). After those few verses the story of His life fast-forwards another 18 years to the arrival of John the Baptist and the beginning of Jesus' ministry at about the age of 30. Thus after the events surrounding the birth narratives and the glimpse of His trip to the Temple at age 12 we have only three verses of the first 30 years of the most important individual in earth's history. Silence is what we have--nearly total silence.

    What I would give to be able to fill out the picture! Just think if I discovered five pages of text or one "photograph" of those missing years. I would be instantly wealthy. But God in His wisdom just tells us that Jesus was normal in His growth patterns. Beyond that, we find nothing.

    But not everybody was happy with that lack. As a result, from the second century on we find several birth and infancy gospels that fill out the blanks. The infancy Gospel of Thomas, for example, has the 5-year-old Jesus fashioning sparrows out of soft clay. That was OK with His neighbors, but it was the Sabbath. As a result, certain Jews complained to Joseph. Joseph, in turn, rebuked Jesus, who "clapped his hands and cried to the sparrows: 'Off with you!' And the sparrows took flight and went away chirping." The Jews, as we might expect, "were amazed." Other stories picture the young Jesus healing the injured, raising the dead, cursing His enemies so that they die, and so on. Those glimpses into the developing years of Jesus were extremely popular for the next few centuries, so much so that the clay sparrow sequence found its way into the Koran in the seventh century.

    What a contrast we find in the inspired Gospels, which present Jesus as one whom we and our children can identify with. He was obedient to His parents and developed mentally, physically, spiritually, socially, and vocationally as He lived in Nazareth and worked with Joseph in his carpenter's shop. He was truly one of us.

January 30, 2021

1/30/2021

Born With a Price on His Head

        Now when [the Magi] had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him. Matt. 2:13, NKJV.

    The shadow of the cross dominates the story of Jesus from this point forward. Jesus came into the world with a price on His head. His family escapes from Bethlehem in time to avoid Herod's hit men. A man who thought nothing of slaying members of his own family if he felt threatened by them, and gave orders on his deathbed that the leading citizens of Jerusalem were to be slaughtered so that there would be weeping at his funeral, would not think twice of killing a few dozen babies just in case one of them should be regarded as future royalty.

    Some people have it easy in their early years. Not Jesus. He was born into a difficult part of the world at a time of trouble, fear, and violence. As N. T. Wright points out, "before the Prince of Peace had learned to walk and talk, he was a homeless refugee with a price on his head."

    That is how God set about to liberate His people and bring eventual justice to the world. "There is no point," Wright continues, "in arriving in comfort, when the world is in misery; no point having an easy life, when the world suffers violence and injustice! If he is to be Emmanuel, God-with-us, he must be with us where the pain is."

    Fleeing to Egypt in times of trouble had a long tradition among the Israelites, as illustrated by the stories of Abraham and Joseph. Egypt was the safest place to go. As a result, by the time of Jesus colonies of Jews had sprung up throughout Egypt, with Alexandria alone having upward of 1 million Jews. Thus when the family reached Egypt they would not find themselves altogether among strangers.

    After Herod died, Joseph took his family back to Israel, but to Nazareth because of angel-inspired fear of Herod's son (Matt. 2:19-23).

    Dirty little Nazareth. What a place for the King of kings to grow up in. It was not a notable place as was Jerusalem or even a Messianic location as was Bethlehem. Nathaniel once wondered out loud if any good thing could come out of Nazareth (John 1:46).

    Often we may be tempted to complain about the stack of cards that life has dealt us. Sometimes we feel sorry for ourselves because of life's injustices. In such times turn your eyes upon Jesus, who became you that you might someday inherit a heavenly kingdom.

January 29, 2021

1/29/2021

First Temple Visit

        And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord...and to offer a sacrifice....Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Luke 2:22-26, ESV.

    Jesus and His family were Jewish. As a result, the family obeyed the cultural laws that He Himself had given to Moses 1,500 years earlier. About a month after His circumcision (performed on the eight day of His life, Luke 2:21), the family took Him to the Temple in Jerusalem for the ceremonies connected with the purification of His mother and the dedication of her firstborn son.

    The Temple visit undoubtedly occurred before the arrival of the Magi, since the parents would not have come to Jerusalem to tempt fate once Herod had been aroused. And, furthermore, they left Bethlehem for Egypt almost immediately after the Magi departed.

    During their visit they met Simeon in the Temple, a godly man who belonged to a remnant of the Jews who were faithfully studying the prophecies regarding the Messiah ("the consolation of Israel"). Another student was Anna the prophetess who spent most of her waking hours in the Temple, speaking of the coming deliverer to all who would listen (verses 36-38).

    Simeon was unique in that God had told him that he would not die until he had seen the Christ child. And when he discovered Jesus, he blessed Him, noting that he had now seen the salvation of God (verse 30), who would be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for [the] glory" of Israel (verse 32, RSV). In that proclamation the aged Simeon moved beyond the general parochialism of the Jews. They all too often were looking for their own deliverer, not the Savior of all people. But in the inspired words of Simeon we discover even in Jesus' infancy that His incarnation would provide atonement for all people--both Jew and Gentile.

    Here we have an important lesson. As members of a certain sector of God's family we can hold Jesus too close to ourselves and to those who think and believe just like us. We tend to see Him as our Savior. But Simeon's words remind us that Jesus is the Savior of all who accept Him and His work on the cross.

    Simeon noted that all people will fall or rise (verse 34) in terms of their relationship to Jesus. Here we have a hard saying. William Barclay enlightens it by pointing out that "it is not so much God who judges a man; a man judges himself; and his judgment is his reaction to Jesus Christ."

January 28, 2021

1/28/2021

A Third Response to Jesus

        [Herod] was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet." Matt. 2:3-5, RSV.

    There exists a third possible response to Jesus in the Magi episode of Matthew 2--that of the Jewish leaders. Matthew tells us that "all Jerusalem" was "troubled" by the arrival of the Magi and their statements and questions regarding the birth of the "king of the Jews." The Jewish leaders understood the import of the Magi's mission and were able to pinpoint the fact that according to Micah 5:2 the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. They knew their Bibles and its Messianic predictions. Ignorance was not one of their faults.

    But the great tragedy of the Magi story is that the Jewish leaders were apparently "disturbed" because of their fear of what Herod might do, rather than being excited about the possible arrival of the Messiah. Matthew paints their response to Christ Himself as one of utter indifference. They made no trips to Bethlehem, although it is only about eight miles from Jerusalem; they gave no evidence of Herod's fear and hate; nor did they display the interest of the worshipping Magi. They just didn't care.

    Thus in the Magi story Matthew presents three possible responses to Jesus: violent rejection, worship, and indifference. Those possibilities didn't cease in Matthew 2. To the contrary, how to respond to Jesus becomes a theme of all four Gospels. An associated motif is that the arrival of Jesus always divides people and brings conflict. Confronted by His life, teachings, and claims, every one of us finds ourselves forced into responding in terms of (1) praise and welcome, (2) hatred and opposition, or (3) cold indifference. One of the paradoxes of the coming of the Prince of Peace is that His claims have continued to separate people into these categories as the great controversy between Christ and Satan works itself out in the lives of individuals around the world in every generation.

    These are issues that we need to take seriously. After all, the experience of the Jewish leaders demonstrates that church membership or even leadership does not mean that we are right with God. He gives each of us the freedom to do what we want with "the king of the Jews."

January 27, 2021

1/27/2021

A Negative Response to Jesus

        When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled...;and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born....Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; and he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go search diligently for the child, and when you have found him bring me word, that I may come and worship him."... Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under. Matt. 2:3-16, RSV.

    Herod was "disturbed." But then any king would have been so by a report about the birth of a child who would occupy his throne. But Herod the Great had more reasons to be upset than most, partially because he was not Jewish by birth, but an Idumean (a branch of the ancient Edomites). He was Jewish, however, by religious profession and citizenship. Beyond that, Rome had appointed him to be king of the Jews in 37 B.C. In order to make himself more acceptable to the Jews he ruled, Herod married Mariamne, heiress of the Jewish royal line.

    All in all, Herod was a volatile mix of insecurity, with an inordinate desire for power, and with an almost insane suspicion of others--all of which made him ruthless when he sensed any challenge to his position.

    Anyone who threatened him, Herod would promptly eliminate. Thus soon after making his brother-in-law high priest, Herod had him "accidently" drowned in the palace pool. Mariamne, his favorite wife, soon shared her brother's fate when Herod suspected her of plotting against him. That same fear led to the death of two of his sons. And five days before his death (about the time Jesus was born), he had a third son, his oldest and thus his heir, executed. Roman Emperor Augustus claimed that it was safer to be Herod's pig than his son.

    Here was a king who would brook no challenge or threat to his authority. And it was in Herod's territory that Jesus was born. It is little wonder that the ruler was "disturbed" at the Wise Men's question "Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?" (Matt. 2:2, RSV). Nor should we be surprised to find him killing all the male children in Bethlehem under 2 years of age in an attempt to eliminate a potential rival.

    While we can take the positive attitude of the Magi toward Jesus, we can also make the negative decision of Herod. After all, there is a Herod in each of us who wants to be king or queen of our life.

January 26, 2021

1/26/2021

A Positive Response to Jesus

        When they heard the king they went their way; and lo, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. Matt. 2:9-12, RSV.

    It was quite a star. Not only was it bright, unlike other stars, it moved as it guided the Magi to the young Jesus. With the mobility of the star in mind, it is slight wonder that some have suggested that in actuality it was a band of angels--perhaps the same ones who serenaded the shepherds.

    And, of course, those stargazers of the ancient East would be especially fascinated by a traveling star. Thus it was that they located the "King of the Jews."

    After finding Jesus, "they fell down and worshiped him." That fact is crucial in Matthew's Gospel, because, according to the Ten Commandments, God had commanded the Jews not to "bow down" or "worship" anything but Himself (Ex. 20:3-5). By emphasizing the Magi's bowing down in a book written for Jews, Matthew is forcefully claiming that Jesus the Christ is none other than "God with us" (Matt. 1:23).

    The Magi's interchange with Jesus did not end with their bowing down in adoration, but extended to the more tangible presentation of their gifts of wealth to Him. Worship never takes place just in our minds. To the contrary, it spills over into the world of everyday life as men and women, following the example of the Magi, give themselves and their wealth in response to Him who "so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son" John 3:16, NIV).

    The Magi's gift-giving was as much an act of worship as was their bowing. Beyond that, it provided the much-needed means for Joseph to take the young King to Egypt, where He would be safe from the evil intentions of Herod the Great.

    There is a meaning in all of this for us. The Magi provide an example for us in offering their worship and gifts. "If we have given our hearts to Jesus, we also shall bring our gifts to Him. Our gold and silver, our most precious possessions, our highest mental and spiritual endowments, will be freely devoted to Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us" (The Desire of Ages, p. 65).

    Today, Lord, I dedicate myself anew to You.

January 25, 2021

1/25/2021

God is Not the Possession of Church Members

        Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east and have come to worship Him." Matt. 2:1, 2, NKJV.

    An important truth of the Bible is that God works with all people, not just those in the "church." So it was with the "Magi from the east" (NIV). Those men probably came from Persia, where they formed a priestly class learned in such areas as philosophy, medicine, and natural science. One of the main interests of such people was astrology, a "science" prevalent throughout the ancient world as a way of discerning the purposes of the gods. Thus when the Magi saw the supernatural star they set out to discover its significance.

    We do not know exactly how they came to connect that special star with the birth of the "King of the Jews," but there are several possibilities. For one thing, as a result of the Babylonian captivity Jewish communities had scattered throughout the Near East. And since the second century B.C. those exiled Jews had a translation of the Bible in the universal Greek language. Thus learned individuals of the priestly type would have had access to the Old Testament.

    Of special note to the astrological interest of the Magi would have been the words of another Gentile Magi in Numbers 24:17, in which Balaam declared: "A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel" (NIV). Many Jews about the time of Jesus' birth viewed that very text as a prediction of the coming Messiah.

    That specific expectation and the more general Jewish one of the coming Messiah-King led to a widespread belief in the Roman Empire that a world ruler would arise in Palestine. Thus the Roman historian Suetonius (c. A.D. 100) could write: "There had spread over all the Orient an old and established belief, that it was fated at that time for men coming from Judea to rule the world" (Life of Vespasian 4:5). Similarly, Tacitus (c. A.D. 55-120), another Roman historian, reported that "there was a firm persuasion...that at this very time the East was to grow powerful, and rulers coming from Judea were to acquire a universal empire" (Histories 5:13). With those thoughts in mind, it is not too unusual that the Magi followed the star in their search for "He who has been born King of the Jews." Then again, the God who warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod (Matt. 2:12) may also have given them dreams concerning the star. Our God is able and willing to utilize a multitude of ways and people to set forth His saving truth.

January 24, 2021

1/24/2021

Jesus' Birth From the Perspective of Heaven

        And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth. Rev. 12:1-4, RSV.

    Here we have a birth narrative of a different type. In it we find no mention of adoring shepherds or glorifying angels. Revelation presents a picture radically different from the birth stories in the Gospels. It is a vision of the significance of Jesus' birth that pulls back the curtain to provide us with a glimpse of the Incarnation from the perspective of God's heavenly throne.

    That point of view pictures a savage struggle that spreads to the earth as an enormous red dragon enters the picture, sweeping a third of the stars out of the sky and casting them to the earth. Subsequently the dragon (identified as "the Devil and Satan" in verse 9 [RSV]) crouches before the woman "that he might devour her child when she brought it forth."

    What we find in Revelation 12:1-4 is the beginning of a cosmic conflict that commences in heaven and then moves to the earth. The ongoing battle will echo through the corridors of history until the end of time (verse 17). The rest of the book of Revelation indicates that the struggle pictured so graphically in chapter 12 will not reach its climax until the victorious Christ finally puts an end to the dragon and the forces of evil (Rev. 19; 20:11-15).

    Some have viewed the Revelation perspective on the significance of Jesus as a "great controversy between Christ and Satan." Philip Yancey graphically captures the same picture when he writes: "On earth a baby was born, a king got wind of it, a chase ensued. In heaven the Great Invasion had begun, a daring raid by the ruler of the forces of good into the universe's seat of evil." The king, of course, was Herod and the initial chase took Jesus to Egypt, topics that we will view through the eyes of Matthew in the next couple days.

    Lord, help us to see the larger issues as we read Your Word. Help us to be able to recognize more clearly the context in which our daily struggles take place.

January 23, 2021

1/23/2021

Meeting Jesus: A Life-changing Experience

    And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord..."
                Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
                    "Glory to God in the highest heaven,
                        and on earth peace to those on
                            whom his favor rests." Luke 2:8-14, NIV.

    There was plenty of fanfare when Jesus was born. But it seemed to be the wrong people. After all, Israel had lots of really important individuals who were learned and upright and who had access to those with power and influence.  So why begin the gospel proclamation with shepherds, men despised and largely ignored by the pillars of society? Such people couldn't read or write. Beyond that, their lowly work kept them dirty--both physically and ceremonially. They were quite unable to keep the details of the ceremonial law as interpreted by the Pharisees. Their flocks made constant demands. Thus they had no time for the meticulous hand washings and rules and regulations prescribed by their social betters. But their hearts were open in a way that those of the self-satisfied religious leaders were not.

    One of the most revealing aspects of Jesus' birth narratives is that God selected such humble individuals to be first to tell the Christmas story to. But while the men may have been humble, the presentation came with power and glory, so much so that they trembled in fear. But their terror turned to joy at the announcement of the angel that the Christ had been born in nearby Bethlehem. At that point their senses were shocked again as "a great company of the heavenly host" burst out in a song of praise. One can only wonder at the impact the experience had on the shepherds. First they had only the dark, star-studded sky. Then they had the glory of one angel who turned the darkness of night into light. And last the multiplied, blinding glory of a host of heavenly beings.

    The impact of the glory and the message delivered to them transformed their lives forever. After visiting the manger they returned to their fields "praising God for all they had heard and seen" (Luke 2:20, RSV) and spreading the good news to others (verse 18).

    For them meeting Jesus was a life-changing experience. And so it is for you and me as we respond to the mystery of God's love in Jesus.

January 22, 2021

1/22/2021

Humble Beginning With a Capital H

        And she gave birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:7, RSV.

    The journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem was about 80 miles. But the overcrowded conditions because of the massive influx of people who needed to register for the census left little room for Joseph's family. They were probably happy for even the stable.

    It was there in the manger, history's most famous animal feeding trough, that the Lord of glory entered the world as a human person. Like other infants of the day, His mother "wrapped him in swaddling cloths," which consisted of a square cloth with a long, bandage-like strip attached. Jesus was first wrapped in the cloth square and then the strip was wound around Him a few times to hold the "garment" in place. Such was the introduction of the Creator of all into human existence.

    J.B. Phillips has written a rendition of the Incarnation that helps us visualize the gap between what Jesus left behind and what He came to here. Phillips imagines a senior angel showing a very young angel the splendors of the universe. They visit a multitude of blazing suns and whirling galaxies, finally entering one with more than a billion stars.

    "As the two of them drew near to the star we call sun and to its circling planets, the senior angel pointed to a small and rather insignificant sphere turning slowly on its axis. It looked as dull as a dirty tennis ball to the little angel, whose mind was filled with the size and glory of what he had seen.

    ' 'I want you to watch that particular one,' said the angel....

    " 'Well, it looks very small and rather dirty to me,' said the little angel. 'What's special about that one?' "

    After being told of the Incarnation, the little angel asked, " 'Do you mean that our great glorious Prince...went down in Person to this fifth-rate little ball' " and " 'stooped so low as to become one of those creepy, crawling creatures...?' "

    To think about the incarnation of the Christ into the baby Jesus is almost beyond our imagination. And our comprehension gets further stretched when we realize that He began His story in this world not in a mansion but in a manger in a fourth-rate village.

    When I think of what He gave up for me, it makes me wonder what I should give up for Him.