Author: kezha1

A King should come in a gold coach drawn by white horses…this King came on the back of a donkey. A King should come in the prime of the day with people cheering, trumpets blasting, and flags flying high welcoming him…this King in the quiet silence of the darkened streets of Bethlehem. No crowds to welcome Him, no trumpets or flags…just the sound of the donkey’s shuffling along the street. A King should come with all the opulence and honor due him as he arrives at his castle…this King arrived at a stable with no fanfare, just the watchful eyes of the cattle & sheep to attend Him. That night mankind was silent, not even realizing that the King of Kings had been born…but the angels couldn’t contain themselves, so instead, the angels proclaimed His birth. Glory to God! Christ is born!

The birth of Jesus Christ put into motion the beginning of God’s redemptive plan…a plan that would change the world forever. Ephesians 1:7 tells us, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, and the forgiveness of sins…” So think of it this way…Jesus was born to rescue us from sin, through His sacrificial death on the Cross. For our world was once a perfect place to live, but now it’s broken by sinfulness. But if we repent & trust in Jesus, and ask Him into our life, we can be restored, forgiven, and saved…becoming a new creation. Christ’s birth brought God to man; the Cross of Christ brought man to God and with it the gift of eternal life. So we should care about the Nativity…for it was there that God made a way, away in the manger…the greatest gift on earth.

Caesar Augustus ordered a census of the entire Roman Empire with everyone going to their hometown to register. It tells us in Luke 2:4 that, ” Joseph went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.” It was custom to travel to your ancestral home so that families could be counted together…and since Joseph was of the lineage & descendance of King David, off he went dutifully, with Mary his betrothed in tow.  But why the undistinguished & insignificant little town of Bethlehem (located about 5 miles Southwest of Jerusalem)? It was commonly known among the people that the Messiah would come from that unimportant tiny town…first prophesied in Micah 5:2, that God would raise up a Ruler from David’s lineage…a King that would rule & reign forever…Jesus Christ Himself. So in the eyes of most, Bethlehem wasn’t a prominent town…but to God it was of the upmost importance to His plan of Salvation.

Matthew tells us that, “Magi from the East came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the One Who has been born King of the Jews?'” These wise men were ancient astrologers interpreting astronomical phenomena, all the while searching through the writings of others for interpretation. In the fourth book of the Pentateuch, Moses wrote about God’s revealed message, “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” (Numbers 24:17) So they knew that a future Ruler would come out of Jacob…and when this star arose (whether it was some planetary conjunction, supernova, or something purely supernatural) they tied everything together and set off to see this King for themselves.     “And nations shall come to Your light, and kings to the brightness of Your rising.” (Isaiah 60:3)

Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus tells us that, “There were shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks at night.”… when suddenly a great company of heavenly host filled the night sky in brilliant light, announcing the birth of the Christ child, the Messiah. But why them? The Jews were sure that the Messiah would come as a great Political Leader & Warrior…destroying the Roman Empire in one fell swoop, along with His amassed army of mighty & valiant troops. But from the very beginning, God had portrayed Himself as a Shepherd of His people. When Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd in John 10:11, He was fulfilling the prophecy first spoken from Ezekiel in Chapter 34:7-16,23. We even see this in the first verse of the well known Psalm 23 of David, “The Lord is my Shepherd…” So it’s beyond reason that the Messiah’s birth would first be announced to those closest to God’s heart of a Shepherd…those who cared for, looked out for, provided & protected the flock…even to the point of laying down their own lives for them.

Joseph, the husband of Mary, isn’t mentioned much in the Bible…but from what we do read, we have a picture of character & heart. A hardworking & humble carpenter…devout in his worship of God & in adherence of the Law. But still considerate and loving enough to want to spare his betrothed Mary the embarrassment & indignities when he discovered she was pregnant, but not with his child. But regardless, still Joseph raised Jesus as his own flesh & blood…leading a quiet life in Nazareth providing for his family as a village builder/repairman…all the while teaching his boy, Jesus, the trade. But Jesus learned so much more than carpentry from Joseph…He learned integrity, honesty, and a work ethic standing there beside His earthly father.

It was 700 years between Isaiah’s prophecy of, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) and the actual virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Isaiah used the strictest sense of the word for virgin in his prophecy, as did Mary herself when the angel announced to her this miraculous conception… she asked him, “How will this be since I am a virgin?” (or in other words, emphatically stating, ” I have absolutely not known a man sexually)?” The virgin birth is one of the greatest mysteries, and those who do not believe it usually don’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus was born of a woman to demonstrate that He was indeed human and one of us…minus one thing though… and that because He was also fully God, He was not born with a sin nature.

John is warning us of the power & alluring pull of Babylon…the siren song of seduction calling us to love the things of the world rather than loving Jesus. This world system opposed to God wants us to follow it…drawing us away from Christ with all its glitz & glamor, money & power, immorality & lust. In II Corinthians 6:17, Paul quotes portions from both Isaiah 52:11 & Ezekiel 20:34 concerning Babylon when he wrote, “Therefore go out from their midst and be separate from them, says the Lord.” He had just told the Church not to be yoked with unbelievers…to be in the world but not of it… and instead to separate themselves from anything that would cause them to love the world more than they loved God.

If you profess Jesus as your Lord & Savior, people are watching you. They want to know if your character, natural attitude, and prevailing tendencies are just for use on Sunday mornings only, or if they extend throughout the week. They’re watching you in difficult situations at work, school, and home…keenly observing if the talk you talk matches the walk you walk. That’s because it’s so easy to fall prey to our muddled inner nature…where we’re easily led astray when provoked. They’re watching you, not even realizing that they’re actually seek the Lord through you as you imitate Him.  

Paul is writing this letter from prison. The two groups of people he’s writing about here both preach Christ, but it’s their motives & attitudes that are starkly different. One group preaches Christ in a righteous & noble fashion. Their love for Paul is real, and they understand fully that he is “In chains for Christ.” The other group is envious of Paul’s stature and following, even from prison…and respond negatively to his success. Yes, they do preach Christ in a fashion, but it’s out of self-seeking duplicity…and a vying for power & prestige. To them, preaching Christ has become a competition… and a spreading of dissension among the brethren.