December 21
2013
Christmas – A Season of Faith – Fourth Sunday of Advent (IV of IV)
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Christmas – A Season of Faith – Forth Sunday of Advent (IV of IV)
How are you enjoying our journey through Christmas as a season of faith? Are you gaining new insights into the faith of those that were involved in the Christmas Message? Are you learning about your own faith?
This week we will continue by looking through the faith lens of the Shepherds, the Wise Men, the Chief Priests and Scribes and Herod the King.
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Shepherds
Do You See What I See?
“Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: you will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manager.’”
Luke 2:10,12
We find the shepherds out in the countryside, minding their business, tending to their sheep. When all of a sudden they are treated to the show of a lifetime. An Angel of the Lord appears to them, the glory of the Lord shines all around them and the Angel delivers a Message of great hope and joy! And then the Heavenly choir shows up: “suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’” (Luke 2: 13, 14). WOW!
The Shepherds don’t question the appearance of the angel or the heavenly host, and they accept the message as coming from God – but they do decide they want to see this thing for themselves. “The shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord as made known to us.”” (Luke 2: 15). So they took their sheep and headed to Bethlehem where they found the Baby. “Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child…then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, for all the things that that had head and seen, as it was told them.” (Luke 2: 17, 20).
So what can we say of the faith of the shepherds? The shepherds did not question the Message or the Messenger – amazing as the show was! They accepted it but then sought to see for themselves. They listened, heard God speak through the Angel, and they picked up their belongings and sought after the Christ Child. Once they had seen the Babe they made known to others what they had HEARD and SEEN and been TOLD, while glorifying and praising God.
We could say that the shepherds had faith that believed and sought to SEE and HEAR more of what they had been told. Theirs was a faith of seeking, and sight, but also a faith that spread the “good news” enthusiastically once they had seen!
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Wisemen
Do You Know What I Know?
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?’” Matthew 1:1,2
The wise men were astrologers who came seeking to find the “King of the Jews” based on a new star that had appeared in the heavens. They traveled a great distance to come to Jerusalem, having faith that the star singled the birth of the Christ Child. Their intention was to come and worship the new “King” and to bring treasures to him. Their faith was based on knowledge. Knowledge of the constellations and that a “new” star had appeared in the heavens. Knowledge of prophecy, that the star was indicative of the birth of the “King of the Jews”. Knowledge that allowed them to travel great distances following the star to its source.
Their faith demanded commitment. Commitment of study, time, travel and even the commitment that granted them the courage to approach the current King of Jerusalem to ask about this; and the commitment of the treasures that they brought to worship the Babe.
“And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11).
The wise men also heard from God and were obedient to His voice. They were warned in a dream not to return to Jerusalem to Herod and so “they departed for their country another way.” (Matthew 2:12).
So the faith of the wise men was a faith based on knowledge. A logical faith based on putting the pieces together and seeing the whole picture. And once they KNEW what they believed, the moved forward with great commitment to find and worship the Child. They also had a faith of obedience to the Voice of God.
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The Chief Priests and Scribes
Blinded by the Darkness
“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”John 3:19-21
The chief priests and scribes were the leadership of the “Church” of that day. They were to bring leadership and direction to the people. They knew of the prophecy of the Messiah. In fact when King Herod consulted them as to where the “Christ was to be born”they answered without hesitation, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:5, 6). And yet we read that they were troubled by the query of the wise men regarding the new born “King of the Jews” as it says that “Herod the king…was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.” (Matthew 2: 3). And then we hear no more about the chief priests and scribes in the remainder of this Christmas Message. Where were they? You would have thought that they would be rejoicing and dancing in the street. The star, and the wise men that followed after it, were an indication of the fulfillment of the prophecy of the coming Messiah.
What of their faith? They knew the prophecy; one would think that they believed the prophecy, why then were they not eager to follow the wise men or to ask them to return and share their findings with them?
John 3 tells us that when the light came into the world that men loved darkness because there deeds were evil, and therefore they hid from the light. In Jesus’ later years of Ministry He would spend much time speaking out against this group of “church leaders” for their hypocrisy and their love of the approval of man rather than that of God. One could suggest that although they had a belief, that their eyes were blinded to the truth as the Christ Child (the light) came into the world, and they choose darkness.
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King Herod
Self-Faith
“Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.” Matthew 2:16
Herod was the King of all Palestine and his reign was known for its terror and bloodshed. Imagine being approached by the wise man, inquiring about the newborn “King of the Jews”. What courage they had and what anger they instilled within him with their query. Herod quickly consulted the chief priests and scribes as to where the Christ was to be born. Being very crafty he gave that information to the wise men and encouraged them to return to Jerusalem with news of the Child so that he could also go and worship him. No doubt he thought he would allow the wise men to do the work, find the Child, and then take care of him quickly. When his plan failed and the wise men did not return he did not hesitate to take matters into his own hands and ordered the very public and brutal massacre of all male children in Bethlehem, under the age of 2 years.
So what of Herod’s faith? Did he have faith? Well, he definitely had belief. He believed the wise men and the quest for the Child, and he believed the prophecy as quoted by the chief priests and scribes that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem. He also believed that this Christ Child would become the “King of the Jews”. Otherwise he would not have taken such drastic measures to protect himself. Why did he not rejoice in the fulfillment of the prophecy, that the Savior would come and rule His people and His people would be free? Did he care about the freedom of the people, or was his only interest for himself, his own life and his status/position as King? What did Herod have faith in? Herod had self- faith. Herod believed that he was able to thwart the very plan of Almighty God.
Herod’s faith was nothing more than arrogance – faith that he, as an individual, could take care of the “situation” even to the point of stopping the Savior from coming to rule His people – a plan that has been in place since before the beginning of time.
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And so we see faith through the lens of 4 more groups. So many types of faith, all so different – changing with time and circumstances. Are you able to identify with any of them as you peer through their lens of faith?
Are you one who needs to SEE for yourself, and then are ready to run with the Word of the Lord?
Are you one who works the puzzle logically? You have a great commitment to the cost of seeking the Lord – time, knowledge, and treasures. You seek to KNOW, to understand and to piece it all together in order that you may rejoice and worship the Lord.
Have you ever had a time when you faith was blinded by your choice of the darkness? Have you ever believed and heard from God, but because of the state of your heart and mind, could not see God at work?
Have you ever tried to “fix” the situation you find yourself in – thinking in your mind that you can do it better or because you don’t think you like the direction God is taking you in. We all find ourselves at various stages and in various experiences of faith. Where are you now? Where would you like to be?
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I hope you have enjoyed our journey of faith in this Christmas Season. I’ve certainly enjoyed taking this journey with you! Did you ever think that faith could be viewed through so many different lenses? Have you learned anything about the faith of those that we have talked about? Have you learned about your own faith? Do you know and understand in your heart, mind and spirit that this journey is not just meant to impact how you spend December 25th of 2013, but that it is meant to impact your days into the New Year and beyond? I hope so!
May the Lord Bless you and yours this Christmas Season and may His Hand of Blessing extend into the New Year, as you seek to learn and live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and rejoice in and worship Almighty God!
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, Almighty God, we come before You once again and praise Your Holy Name. We thank You for this journey through Christmas as a Season of Faith. We thank You for the opportunity to fellowship together through these devotions, the opportunity to seek Your Voice and Your will for our lives, the opportunity to see Christmas as a life long event, not just a season dictated by retail and media, that leaves us burned out and deflated on the 26th of December. We know that You have a much greater plan and purpose for our lives. We understand that You sent Your Beloved Son to earth in the form of a Child for a much greater purpose than gifts and parties, that you sent Him that He would live as a man and be sacrificed on the cross, rising again on the third day, to cover our sins and grant us eternal life and an eternal walk with you! We ask for Your guidance and direction, Father, as we seek to understand faith and how it impacts our lives and our decisions and our walk with You. Grant us wisdom and understanding. And now I ask, Father, that You bless each and every one reading these devotions – their families, friends, home, lives. That You would show each and every one of them that You loved them enough to send Your One and Only Son, for their sin – that they just need to believe and confess with their mouth that they are in need of a Savior, that Jesus is that Savior and that they want Him to be Lord of their life. (“’The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ [that is, the word of faith that we preach] that if you confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:8-10). We pray all of these things in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen and Amen and Amen.