02-05-2023 – “The Greatest Earth Man to Ever Live”

Bible Text: Luke 7:24-28a | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: Luke | Above are the
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February 5, 2023
“The Greatest Earth Man to Ever Live”
Luke 7:24-28a

Read Luke 7:24-28a… Last week we studied how Jesus demonstrated His Messiahship in the presence of John’s disciples, who had come from John (himself in prison at Herod’s summer palace).

Luke 3:19-20, “When Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by [John] because of [his affair and unlawful marriage to] Herodias, his brother [Phillip’s] wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.”

Read Luke 7:24… As soon as John’s disciples left to tell John what they had seen and heard, Jesus began to speak about John, asking a rhetorical question, and by doing so, saying that John was not like some reed being blown back and forth by the wind; he was a man of God, and quite frankly, he didn’t care what popular opinion or majority consensus was in Israel or the rest of the world. John had been born for this sovereign mission.

In Luke 1:15-17, the angel Gabriel comes to Zacharias at the temple and says, “He [your son John] will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. “And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

In Luke 1:67, we read, “And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying” at John’s birth, (vv. 76-80), “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare His ways; to give to His people the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise from on high will visit us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Jesus was the promised Messiah, who would fulfill all the promises and Covenants of God: His blood would be shed and His life would be given to pay for our sins; He would be buried, but He would rise from the dead on the third day to demonstrate eternal life for all who believe in Him; everyone who believes Jesus to be God’s Son, Lord, and Savior, becomes a child of God and is eternally indwelled by God’s Holy Spirit, free from all condemnation for sin, forever!

Jeremiah 31:31-34, “‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ declares the Lord. ‘But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.’”

Hebrews 10:14-18, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them,’ He then says, ‘And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.”

See Luke 3:2-18… Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people traveled 40-80 miles through the wilderness, to the Jordan River, north of Jerusalem, where John the baptizer was calling people to acknowledge their sin before God and repent, to turn away from sin and to turn to Jesus Christ the Savior for the forgiveness of sin.

Read Luke 7:25… Jesus poses another rhetorical question to the people in order to tell them something about John, he did not wear clothing that was “soft” from the Greek word “malakos,” which is translated “effeminate” in 1Corinthians 6:9, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals.”

When the word malakos is used in reference to clothing, it brings to mind the lacy, frilly, puffy, effeminate clothing of royalty, like the English Kings gone by.

In direct contrast to the soft effeminate look, John was a rough and tough man’s man, not a wimpy male who, at a glance, could be taken for a woman. John was a wilderness man; he didn’t live in luxury like the nobles who lived in “royal palaces.” No doubt, this was a criticism of Herod who had incarcerated John for speaking out against Herod’s adultery, incest, fornication and other evil deeds.

John didn’t wear fine tailored clothes or eat a diet of expensive foods served on silver platters (Matthew 3:4), “John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.” John was the last of the Old Testament Prophets, and by Jesus’s own commendation, John had the most preeminent duty of any prophet, for although Isaiah, Daniel, and Malachi foretold the coming of the Messiah, John His cousin, witnessed, prepared the way for, talked with, and baptized the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Read Luke 7:26-27… Jesus now speaks to the prophetic fulfillment of John’s calling and mission, saying to the people, “what did you go out into the wilderness to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’”

The coming of John was foretold in the Scriptures, for John was God’s prophet who would declare that the Messiah was now among men (Isaiah 40:3), “A voice is calling, clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God,” (Isaiah 40:5), “the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

John was so full of the Holy Spirit that many of the people thought maybe he was the Messiah (Luke 3:15), “Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ,” and so they came asking him (John 1:19-23), “when the Jews sent to John priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’ They asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ And he said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ And he answered, ‘No.’ Then they said to him, ‘Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”

Malachi had prophesied the words of the Lord saying (Malachi 3:1), “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me,” (Malachi 4:5), “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.”

Was John actually Elijah somehow resurrected and returned before the coming of the Lord? No! Any erroneous confusion about John and Elijah is cleared up by comparing Scripture with Scripture, where it becomes apparent that John is the fulfillment of an Elijah-like prophet. In Luke 1:17, Gabriel tells Zacharias that his son John, who is to be born to Elizabeth in her old age, “will go as a forerunner before [the Messiah] in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

John was not a reincarnated Elijah, but a prophet of God who came in the “spirit and power of Elijah.” Jesus declared (Matthew 11:13-15),“For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

John is the last Old Testament prophet, meaning that he was the last messenger to come from God before the commencement of the ministry of Jesus Christ, through whom the covenant of God’s Grace would replace the covenant of God’s Law (Hebrews 10:8-10), “‘sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them’ (which are offered according to the Law), then He said,‘Behold, I have come to do Your will.’He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Israel had disobeyed, turned away from, and rejected God’s authority, the priests offered defiled sacrifices, and the people worshipped pagan deities; therefore, God removed His presence and didn’t send a messenger to Israel for 400 years, not until the coming of John the baptizer, who would proclaim that God’s Salvation, the Messiah, had come, and John called all Israel to repentance.

From Genesis to Malachi, the Law and the Prophets tell of God’s plan, purpose, and provision of the Messiah. Up until John came and broke the silence between God and Israel, the prophets had written, “the Messiah is going to come!” But when John came as the forerunner of Christ, He declared, “The Messiah is here!”

John’s mission was foretold by the prophets long before his birth. The last words written by Malachi (Malachi 3:1; 4:5-6) tell us that God is going to send Elijah before the great and terrible Day of the Lord; Luke tells us (Luke 1:15-17) “that [John] will go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah!”

John wasn’t Elijah, in fact, he himself (cf. John 1:21) declared that he was not Elijah, nor was he the Christ. But Jesus tells us that John “came in the spirit and power of Elijah.” And as we read earlier (cf. Luke 3:18), it was John the baptizer who first, “preached the gospel to the people.” John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and yet he is the first preacher in the New Testament to proclaim the Gospel of Christ! No wonder Jesus said to the crowds (Matthew 11:14), “if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come.” And then Jesus said (Matthew 11:15), “He who has ears, let him hear.”

The phrase, “He who has ears, let him hear,” is quoted three times in Matthew, once in Mark, and two times in Luke, and each time, Jesus is testing the spiritual responsiveness and heart understanding of those who are there to hear what He just said, but more than that., too understand the deep meaning of what He said. John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, and he came in the spirit and power of Elijah. John came to fulfill God’s purpose and to display God’s presence and power, just as Elijah had done about 1,000 years earlier.

Listen! Jesus is saying that John came preparing the way for the Messiah, calling people to repent of their sins and believe in Him alone for forgiveness, as John declared (John 1:29-34), “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water. John testified saying, ‘I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me,’ ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.’”

John knew his priority was to present the Savior (John 1:15-18), John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

It is all about Jesus Christ: Crucified, Resurrected, and Coming again. Have you called upon Him to forgive your sins and save your soul? Do you have the assurance of eternal life (Romans 3:23), “all have sinned,” (Romans 6:23), “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 5:8), “in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” (Romans 8:1), “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” (Romans 10:9-10), “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” 13 “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Jesus provides forgiveness for all your sins: past, present, and future].

Don’t leave here today without being absolutely sure that you have received forgiveness for your sins and that you spend eternity in heaven with God..

1John 5:11-13, “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Pastor Mike
>’(((>

01-29-2023 – Are You the Expected One?

Bible Text: Luke 7:18-23 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: book study of Luke | Above are the
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January 29, 2023
“Are You the Expected One? ”
Luke 7:18-23

Between November 20 and last Sunday (except for January 1), I gave a series of teachings from Luke 1-2, covering the narratives about Christ’s birth, His infancy, and His childhood, up to the age of twelve, at which time Luke records

(Luke 2:52),

“And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

Today we will return to Luke 7, where we left off last November. We will be picking up our study in chapter 7:18-23, but because it has been two months since we were studying in chapter 7.

I want to give you a little recap from chapter 7:1-17, so that today’s study will be in its proper context.

Luke 7:1-10,

1 When He had completed all His discourse in the hearing of the people, He went to Capernaum.

2 And a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die.

3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave.

4 When they came to Jesus, they earnestly implored Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him;

5 for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.”

6 Now Jesus started on His way with them; and when He was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof;

7 for this reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.

8 For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

9 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

has Jesus returning to Capernaum, located on the NW shore of the Sea of Galilee. This was His adopted home town and base of operations for His Galilean ministry,

A centurion had sent a message to Jesus to come and heal his servant who was dying, for the centurion believed Jesus could heal him just by speaking the words.

In Luke 7:9,

9 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

Jesus says to the crowd, “not in all of Israel have I found such great faith,” i.e., that centurion [a Gentile] exhibited greater faith than any Jew in Israel. Luke 7:10 tells us, “the servant was healed.”

The incident in

Luke 7:11-17,

disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd.

12 Now as He approached the gate of the city, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her.

13 When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.”

14 And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”

15 The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16 Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!”

17 This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.

happens soon after the healing of the centurion’s servant. Jesus, with a large crowd following Him, goes to Nain, a small village about 20 miles SW of Capernaum, just 6 miles SE of Nazareth).

As Jesus arrives in Nain, a dead man, the only son of a woman (who is also a widow), is being carried out to be buried, accompanied by a large crowd.

In Luke 7:13,

13 When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “Do not weep.”

the Lord expresses compassion for this woman and her loss, basically saying, “Don’t cry, it will be okay.”

Jesus (Luke 7:14-15)

14 And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”

15 The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

walks up to stretcher, on which the dead man lays, and He touches it, causing the procession to stop. He then speaks to the dead man saying, “get up!” The dead man sits up and begins to talk; fully restored to life, he is now returned to his mother.

We are told

(Luke 7:16),

16 Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!”

that fear and awe gripped the hearts of the people who were there that day, and the people begin to give glory to God saying, “a great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited His people.”

The people in Nain, like all of Israel, had been waiting hundreds of years for God to return to them, to speak to them, and now God in the flesh of Jesus [Yeshua, God’s Salvation; Immanuel, God with us] had come to Nain; yet it would seem that the people are blinded to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, He is God in the flesh.

Jesus is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, equal in power, nature, and majesty, with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. God was present among the people of Nain, but they, like most of Israel, failed to recognize Him.

We are told

(Luke 7:17)

17 This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.

that the report of this dead man being raised backed to life, by Jesus, went out through Judea and the surrounding areas.

Read Luke 7:18-20…

18 The disciples of John reported to him about all these things.

19 Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?”

20 When the men came to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, to ask, ‘Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?’”

Some of John the Baptizer’s disciples were evidently among those who had witnessed the healing of the centurion’s servant (near Capernaum), and/or the raising of the dead man (in Nain) back to life.

According to Luke’s narrative, John is now in prison, and has been for a very long period of time.

Both

Matthew 14:1-12;

1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus,

2 and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

3 For when Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.

4 For John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

5 Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded John as a prophet.

6 But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod,

7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.

8 Having been prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

9 Although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests.

10 He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.

11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

12 His disciples came and took away the body and buried it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Mark 6:14-29

14 And King Herod heard of it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.”

15 But others were saying, “He is Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”

16 But when Herod heard of it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

17 For Herod himself had sent and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her.

18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

19 Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death and could not do so;

20 for Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; but he used to enjoy listening to him.

21 A strategic day came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his lords and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee;

22 and when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.”

23 And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.”

24 And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.”

25 Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

26 And although the king was very sorry, yet because of his oaths and because of his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her.

27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and had him beheaded in the prison,

28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother.

29 When his disciples heard about this, they came and took away his body and laid it in a tomb.

tell the story of John’s long incarceration at Herod’s summer palace, east of the Dead Sea at Machaerus. John was eventually executed (by beheading), at the request of Herod’s unlawful and incestual wife Herodias, for she hated John for rebuking Herod about his marriage to her (for she was actually the wife of Herod’s brother Philip, as well a niece to both of them).

John the Baptizer’s mission was to announce that the Messiah had come, the long Expected One. John’s mission was to point Jesus out, and to direct the people to believe in Him, as their Messiah/Savior, for the forgiveness of their sins.

John 1:23,

[John] said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said

[Isaiah 40:43],”

3 A voice is calling,

“Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness;

Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.

(John 1:29),

29 [John] saw Jesus coming to him and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,’

(John 1:35-36),

35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,

36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

The Scriptures tell us that while John was in prison, some of his disciples followed Jesus

(cf. Matthew 9:14)

14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?”

and also brought back testimonies to John of what Jesus was doing

(Matthew 11:2).

2 Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples

John sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask Him, “Are You the Expected One, or should we look for someone else?” Wow! John’s ministry was indeed the most important of any of the Old Testament Prophets, for they only told about what was going to happen; and John declared that what had been spoken of by the prophets had indeed taken place, God’s Servant, God’s Son, the Savior-King Messiah had come.

The Expected One [the Messiah] was promised throughout the Old Testament. He is the one of Whom Moses spoke

(Deuteronomy 18:15-19),

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.” “The Lord said to me, ‘I will raise up a Prophet…

…and I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.”

Remember when Peter, James, and John were on the mountain with Jesus who He was transfigured before them

(Matthew 17:2-3, 5),

“and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.” “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!’”

Jesus spoke the very words of God the Father

(John 14:10),

“The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works,”

(John 14:24),

“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”

Micah 5:2

2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Too little to be among the clans of Judah,

From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.

His goings forth are from long ago,

From the days of eternity.”

tells us that the Expected One would be born in Bethlehem, He will be the One whose “goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”

Isaiah 7:14

14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

tells us that the special birth of the Expected One to a virgin, will be like no other birth, for this Child will be Immanuel [God in the flesh].

When Jesus entered the synagogue in His home town (Nazareth), on a Sabbath Day

(cf. Luke 4:18-19),

18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,

BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.

HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,

AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,

TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,

19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

He was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, as He stood to read the text from

Isaiah 61:1-2,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”

Luke tells us

(Luke 4:20-21)

20 And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him.

21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

that after Jesus read the passage, “He closed the [scroll], gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”

Consider all we have studied these past two months about how God clearly confirmed Jesus to be the Expected One, the Messiah, the Christ, Lord and Savior.

The angel Gabriel came to both Mary and Joseph; some angels came to the shepherds out in the field, telling them to go find the Savior, Christ the Lord, who had been born in Bethlehem, and was laying in a manger; Simeon, and Anna, declared Jesus was the Expected One, the consolation of Israel; the Magi came with gifts for Jesus, who was both King and Savior.

So, why is John doubting that Jesus is the Expected One?

John is (Isaiah 40:3)

the “voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’”

The angel Gabriel came to Zacharias at the temple saying,

(Luke 1:15),

“[John] will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.”

John was filled with the Spirit of God, heralding the coming of the Long Expected One, God’s Son, the Savior-King. And yet, John had doubts, most likely caused by an incomplete understanding of God’s plan. John didn’t understand why God was allowing him to be left in prison, like many of the circumstances we might find ourselves in during the course of our life; but we forget that whatever happens to us in this life is subject to the sovereign purpose of God, whether or not we understand or don’t understand the why of what is happening to us.

I believe the main reason John had any doubts at all was because of the misunderstandings within Judaism concerning the coming Messiah, the Expected One, and the chronology of what and when He would accomplish the fulfillment of both the Abrahamic and Davidic Covenants.

Orthodox Judaism was and still is focused on the Messiah’s victorious conquering of Israel’s enemies [at that time Rome], and establishing the glorious millennial kingdom, when Christ will rule on earth with peace, prosperity, and plentifulness for all of Israel.

Orthodox Judaism totally ignores the prophecies of Psalm 22; Isaiah 53, that speak of the rejection, the suffering, and the atoning work of the Messiah; taking our punishment for sin upon Himself, even to the point of death on a cross.

Jesus repeatedly told His disciples that He would be killed, and He would rise from the dead on the third day

(Mark 8:31;

31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Mark 9:31;

31 For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.”

Luke 9:22).

22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”

On one occasion, Peter took offense at the thought that the Messiah would suffer in this way

(Matthew 16:21-23),

“From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You. But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.’”

Even after Christ’s death and resurrection, the eleven apostles seemed to still be focused on the restoring of Israel to it’s former glory

(cf. Acts 1:6-7),

“So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The main point there is that we should be focused on being His witnesses, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, for we belong to God the Father because of our belief in God the Son, which means we have the testimony of God the Spirit being demonstrated in and through our life.

Read Luke 7:21…

21 At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind.

At the very moment that John’s disciples come to Jesus, He is healing people of all kinds of infirmities, birth defects, and diseases, casting out demons.

Read Luke 7:22…

22 And He answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.

Jesus tells John’s disciples to go and report to John all they have seen and heard. Jesus knows this will encourage John and fully answer His question, “Are You the Expected One, or do we look for someone else?” The miraculous healings Jesus was doing, testify that He is the Expected One, “the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.”

Then Jesus says

(Luke 7:23),

“Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”

That doesn’t seem to fit in this context. Jesus just listed a group of miracles that prove He is the Messiah, and then He basically says, those who aren’t offended by Me will be blessed.

What does that mean?

Matthew 5:3,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,”

Before anyone can be saved, they must realize they are a sinner in need of the Savior, i.e., they must be poor in spirit, realizing their spiritual indebtedness to God for sin, only then will they confess their sin, believing in Christ for salvation.

Mark 1:14-15,

“Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”

What is the gospel?

Acts 4:12,

“There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved,”

(Acts 2:21),

“And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord [for the forgiveness of their sins] will be saved.”

In Luke 4:18-19

18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,

BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.

HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,

AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,

TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,

19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

Jesus stands up in the synagogue in Nazareth and reads the following passage from

Isaiah 61:1-2,

Jesus then sat down saying

(Luke 4:21),

“Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”

And then, in

Luke 4:28-30 we are told,

“All the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way.”

They took offense at Jesus declaring He was the Expected One, the Messiah, both Lord and Savior. What about you? Does it offend you that Jesus repeatedly said, the only way to receive forgiveness for sin, the only way to enter the kingdom of heaven, the only way to be saved from an eternal hell, is to believe in Him as Savior and confess Him as Lord;

(cf. Romans 10:9-10,

9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Romans 10:13),

13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

and by the way,
He turns no one away.
Pastor Mike
>’(((><

01-22-2023 – “The Childhood of God’s Son”

Bible Text: Luke 2:39-52 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: book study of Luke | Above are the
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January 22, 2023
“The Childhood of God’s Son”
Luke 2:39-52

The Gospels provide narratives foretelling Christ’s birth, the events surrounding His birth, His adult ministry, His death, resurrection, post resurrection appearances, and His ascension back into heaven; but Luke provides the only narrative of the singular childhood event where Jesus’ words are recorded in the Scriptures.

We have studied testimonies, that Jesus is the Son of God, from the angel Gabriel, Mary’s aunt Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna; but today we will look at the testimony of Jesus Himself.

Read Luke 2:39-40…

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.

There is an event missing from Luke’s narrative that occurs between the testimonies of Simeon and Anna at the temple, and the return of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus to Nazareth, and so we go to Matthew’s account.

See Matthew 2:1-12…

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,

2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:

6 ‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH,

ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH;

FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER

WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’”

7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”

9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

The Magi came from the east to find the One who had been born King of the Jews. The Magi visited Mary, Joseph, and Jesus (who was at that time a toddler, not an infant; and Mary, Joseph, and Jesus were staying in a house, no longer at the place where Jesus had been born.

See Matthew 2:13-18…

13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”

14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.

15 He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON.”

16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi.

17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:

18 “A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH,

WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING,

RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN;

AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED,

BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE.”

Herod goes into a murderous rage in an attempt to kill Jesus, but God protects Him by sending Mary, Joseph, and Jesus to Egypt to escape, as Herod has all the infant males in the vicinity of Bethlehem (ages 2 and under) slaughtered by his soldiers.

See Matthew 2:19-23…

19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said,

20 “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.”

21 So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee,

23 and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

Only after Herod is dead do Mary, Joseph, and Jesus return to Nazareth.

Back to Luke 2:40,

“The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” This verse is all that we know about Jesus’ childhood until He steps out at the Jordan River to be baptized by His cousin John.

Jesus grew up like any other Jewish child in Israel, but Luke’s major emphasis is on the spiritual nature and growth of Jesus in the wisdom and grace of God, until He finally appears at the Jordan River to be baptized by John, when

(Luke 3:22),

“a voice came out of heaven, ‘You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.’”

John 1:1-4,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.”

John 1:14,

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:18,

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

From the moment of Jesus’ conception in the womb of Mary, He was God the Son, fully human, yet fully God. Jesus’ birth to a virgin, in Bethlehem, was foretold in the Scriptures, saying He would be the eternal God and Savior of all who believe in Him

(cf. Isaiah 7:14,

14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

Micah 5:2;

2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Too little to be among the clans of Judah,

From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.

His goings forth are from long ago,

From the days of eternity.”

Matthew 1:21;

21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Matthew 2:5).

5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:

Read Luke 2:41-51…

41 Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.

42 And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast;

43 and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it,

44 but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day’s journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances.

45 When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him.

46 Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

47 And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.

48 When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.”

49 And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

50 But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them.

51 And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

The main event in this passage takes place about twelve years after Jesus was presented and dedicated to God at the Temple, as we studied last week. By the time Jesus was twelve, eighteen years before He would step out at the Jordan River and begin His ministry, He already knew who He was and what He had been sent to do as God’s Son, Christ the Lord.

Mary and Joseph, being orthodox Jews, went to Jerusalem “every year at the Feast of Passover.” Passover was one of the three major annual feasts in Israel, the other two being Pentecost and Tabernacles. At this specific Passover, Jesus was twelve, and His family was there for the whole eight day period (one day of Passover, followed by seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread).

Old Testament Law

(Exodus 23:17;

17 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

Exodus 34:22-23;

22 You shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.

23 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.

Deuteronomy 16:16)

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.

required all Jewish men to attend the yearly feasts; but because of the dispersion of so many Jews outside of Palestine, many would only attend Passover. Women were not required to attend, although most devoted women did attend, along with their children. Many Jews would travel in large groups, as did Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.

Notice, Luke states that Mary and Joseph went up to Jerusalem every year for Passover; but this year was very special, because Jesus was now twelve, and all Jewish boys became accountable to the law of God at the age of thirteen, through a ceremony known as Bar Mitzvah [“son of the law”].

Usually, the last two Passovers, before a boy turns thirteen, were very important in preparing the boy for manhood, to be treated under the law as a man. Luke doesn’t record anything out of the ordinary during the eight days of Passover, but does give an account of what happened when Mary and Joseph were returning home to Nazareth, thinking that Jesus was with other family members.

We are told

(Luke 2:43)

43 and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it,

that “the boy” Jesus [affirming He was not yet 13] stayed behind in Jerusalem; although His parents didn’t know He was staying longer, for we are told

(Luke 2:44-45),

44 but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day’s journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances.

45 When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him.

“they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances.”

As I mentioned before, it was common for a large caravan of people to travel together. Mary and Joseph searched for Jesus but couldn’t find Him, so the next morning, they returned to Jerusalem to look for Him.

Some commentators try to infer that either Jesus was being disobedient to His parents, or His parents were being irresponsible to not make sure He was in the caravan leaving for Nazareth: both of those deductions are totally wrong.

God’s wisdom and grace were inherent in Jesus from His very birth. He never disobeyed His parents, but showed them respect, as the Law decrees, but mostly because He was God in the flesh, without any sin, and most likely, Mary and Joseph thought Jesus was traveling with friends in relatives, but He wasn’t.

Jesus was becoming a man, increasing in God’s wisdom and grace, transitioning from acting like the child of Mary [His birth mother] and Joseph [His legal father], to being the Son of God. Jesus’ responsibility was moving from His earthly parents to His heavenly Father, in order to fulfill His mission.

It would, no doubt, be painful for Mary and Joseph, as Jesus distanced Himself from them, in order to fulfill the plan and purpose of God the Father, that His Son would be the Savior to all those who believe in Him, becoming children of God.

Matthew 12:48-50,

Jesus was speaking to the crowds when someone told Him that His mother and brothers had come to see Him, and He responded, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, ‘Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.’’

In John 6:40

Jesus says, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

Back to Luke 2:46-47,

“After three days [one day away from, one day back to, and the 3rd day searching in, Jerusalem] they [Mary and Joseph] found Him [Jesus] in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.”

During Passover week, many prominent teachers were at the temple. Jesus, transitioning from childhood to manhood [at age thirteen], was at the temple engaging in dialogue with some of the greatest religious scholars in Judaism. At age twelve, He is reasoning with the Rabbis, Pharisees, and Priests of Israel; and they were amazed at His understanding and His answers, perhaps instructing them on messianic prophecies, the sacrificial rituals, and the Law of God.

This is the only place in the Gospel accounts where Jesus is portrayed as a student, everywhere else He is said to be the Teacher [didaskalos]; in fact, once He begins His ministry, only Jesus and John the Baptist were referred to as Teacher.

See again Luke 2:48-50…

48 When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.”

49 And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”

50 But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them.

Mary and Joseph had searched for hours and finally found Jesus at the temple with the teachers of Israel. No doubt Mary and Joseph were relived, but also upset that Jesus had stayed in Jerusalem without telling them, instead of leaving with the caravan of family and friends for Nazareth.

Mary said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.” Jesus’ response is amazing, “‘Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?’ But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them.”

Jesus knew He was God’s Son. This is the first time in Scripture that anyone openly claimed God to be their Father. Jesus made it clear that His ultimate purpose was to do what His heavenly Father wanted Him to do.

Jesus repeatedly refers to Himself as the Son of God, saying that God is His Father, that He and the Father are One [equal], and that those who have seen Him have seen the Father. This infuriated the Jewish religious leaders who hated Jesus and opposed Him to the point of finally having Him executed.

John 10:30-33,

“‘I and the Father are one.’ The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, ‘I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?’ The Jews answered Him, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.’”

Matthew 26:63-66,

“The high priest said to Him, ‘I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus *said to him, ‘You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his robes and said, ‘He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; what do you think?’ They answered, ‘He deserves death!’”

We know that Jesus would not disobey or do anything to hurt Mary or Joseph. Jesus kept the fifth commandment

(Exodus 20:12),

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.”

But it seems that His parents don’t understand that their Son, God’s Son, has a responsibility to His Father in heaven and He must now begin to do His will, as He would repeatedly declare, “I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me”

(cf. John 3:13;

13 No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.

John 6:38,

38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

John 6:42;

42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”

John 4:34;

34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.

John 5:30).

30 “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

See again Luke 2:51-52…

51 And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

52 And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Mary and Joseph did not understand the magnitude of the statement Jesus made to them, but they would soon realize, as they we’re told early on, that their son did not belong to them, He belonged to God.

Jesus grew in wisdom, as His intellectual understanding grew to know fully the divine truth of God; He grew in stature, physically growing in strength and ability as any child growing to manhood would experience; and in favor with God, knowing His place as God the Son, and with man, as He increasingly matured and interacted with His culture, gaining the respect that was do Him.

The life lived by Jesus was the One and Only perfect life; a life He would give to pay for the sins of all those who would believe in Him

(Luke 2:40),

“The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him,”

(Luke 2:52),

“And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

William Hendriksen, a well respected New Testament scholar (who died in 1982), writes [in his New Testament Commentary on Luke, pg. 180], “The development of this child was therefore perfect, this along every line: physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual; from the beginning to the end, whether inherited or acquired, He was unimpaired and unimpeded by sin. Between the Child Jesus and His Father… there was perfect harmony, limitless love.”

It is only through Jesus Christ [God the Son] that we can know God the Father, and be known by God the Father, receiving forgiveness for our sins and eternal life.

1Peter 1:18-19,

“For you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Jesus Christ died to set you free from sin and eternal judgement, but you must believe in Him to receive forgiveness for your sins. He took all our sins upon Himself, and gave us His righteousness

(2Corinthians 5:21),

“He [God the Father] made Him [God the Son] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him,”

(Acts 4:12),

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved,”

(Romans 3:23),

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

(Romans 6:23),

“The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,”

(1Timothy 2:3-4),

“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

If you have never asked God to forgive your sins, believing in Jesus’ death on the cross as God’s payment for your sins, and Jesus’ resurrection from the tomb, as God’s demonstration of eternal life, why not do that right now, right here?

Romans 10:9-10,

“If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation,”

Romans 10:13,

“Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Pastor Mike
>’(((><

01-15-2023 – “Simeon and Anna Testify About Jesus”

Bible Text: Luke 2:25-38 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: book study of Luke, Luke | Above are the
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January 15, 2023
“Simeon and Anna Testify About Jesus”
Luke 2:25-38

Last week we studied

Luke 2:22-24,

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.”

where we learned how Mary and Joseph had brought Jesus to the temple to pay the required five-shekel redemption price for Jesus and to dedicate Him to God, since he was their first born son. They had also come to offer the proper sacrifice since Mary’s 40 days of purification was completed, i.e., it had been 40 days since Jesus’ birth.

Read Luke 2:25-32…

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.”

Simeon is not spoken of anywhere else in the Scriptures, only here; but we know that his name means “God has heard.” We are told that Simeon, a righteous and devout man, has come to the temple, led by the Spirit of God, in order to see the consolation of Israel [the One who would console and bring comfort to Israel = the Messiah, God’s Son, Savior and Lord].

Simeon who was elderly, is told that he would not die until He sees the Messiah, the Savior, the One who would fulfill the Abrahamic and David covenants given to Israel.

Jeremiah 29:11-13,

“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.’”

Jeremiah 31:31-34,

“‘Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ declares the Lord. ‘>>>>>>>>>>

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, ‘or I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.’”

Hebrews 10:10,

“We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Hebrews 10:14-18,

“For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them,’ He then says, ‘And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.”

In Jesus’ first synagogue appearance in Nazareth

(cf. Luke 4:16-19)

16 And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read.

17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,

BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.

HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,

AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,

TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,

19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”

He stood up and read from

Isaiah 11:1-2,

1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,

And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him,

The spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The spirit of counsel and strength,

The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

which is a Messianic passage that foretells the fulfillment of the Messiah’s coming, saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.”

When Simeon came into the temple and saw Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus, moved by the Spirit of God, he knew Jesus was

(cf. Luke 2:25-26)

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.

“the consolation of Israel,” “the Lord’s Christ”[Messiah].

Taking Jesus into his arms he proclaims that he has now seen the fulfillment of God’s Salvation [Immanuel] who has come to earth, Simeon could now die in peace

(cf. Luke 2:29-30).

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,

Read 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.”

Joseph and Mary are amazed at Simeon’s words, especially considering all that has happened prior to this meeting at the temple.

Joseph and Mary had been personally selected by God, to care for His Son. God’s angel had independently told Mary, and also Joseph, that Mary was to conceive and give birth to God’s Son, and Joseph was to take Mary as his wife, and to raise God’s Son, as his very own.

Mary was in her ninth month of pregnancy when they traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem (4-day journey) to register in a census, in the hometown of their ancestors.

In Bethlehem they find no suitable lodging and are forced to shelter at a place where animals are feed, when the time came for Jesus to be born. Some shepherds soon show up with a fantastic story of how they were watching over their sheep when an angel of God proclaimed to them that the Savior, who is Christ the Lord, had been born in Bethlehem, and they were to go find and worship Him.

The shepherds return to their sheep, telling everyone they see what has happened, that the Savior, who is Christ the Lord has been born, and God’s peace has now come to all those who will believe in Him.

Eight days after Christ’s birth, Mary and Joseph have Him circumcised and give Him the name Jesus [God’s Salvation], as they were told to do. According to the Law, they paid five-shekels to redeem Jesus, and made the appropriate sacrifice

(Leviticus 12:8)

8 But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”

so that, “the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.”

About 40 days after Jesus had been born, with everything else that had happened, Mary is now being told by Simeon that her son is

(Luke 2:32),

“A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

(Luke 2:34-35)

“Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Wow! Simeon

(cf. Luke 2:34)

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—

prophecies that many Gentiles will come to be saved through their belief in God’s Son, and many Jews will stumble over Him, rejecting Him, bringing judgement upon themselves.

1Corinthians 1:21-24,

“For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

Ephesians 2:11-22,

“Remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the common-wealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off [non-Jews] have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups [Jews and non-Jews] into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

Galatians 3:26-29,

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.”

Most of Israel would reject Mary’s Son, opposing Him to the point of crying out for Him to be crucified

(Luke 2:35a),

“and a sword will pierce even your own soul.”

How painful it would be for Mary when Jesus began to distance Himself from her, in order to fulfill the purpose of His coming.

Matthew 12:48-50

48 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”

49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!

50 For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

(Jesus was speaking to the crowds when someone told Him that His mother and brothers had come to see Him, and He responded) “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, ‘Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.’’

Mary would witness most of the Jewish world turn against her beloved Son, rejecting the very Salvation He provided

(Luke 2:35b),

“to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

In John 19:25-30,

25 Therefore the soldiers did these things.

But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

26 When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”

27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.”

29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.

30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

it is recorded that Mary was standing by the cross when Jesus said, “It is finished!” Then He bowed His head and gave up His spirit..

Early in the Gospel of John we learn the reason for Christ coming into the world; but also, that most people will reject Him

(John 3:16-19),

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.”

Read Luke 2:36-38…

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.

Just as Simeon finishes giving testimony about Jesus as the Messiah, Anna, a woman in her 80’s, from the tribe of Asher, comes up to Mary, Joseph, and Jesus; and she begins giving thanks to God for Jesus, the Savior. We are told that she continued to speak to all those “who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

It is possible that Simeon and Anna knew each other, for Simeon, being a righteous man, frequently came to the temple; and we are told that Anna most likely lived in the temple complex (there were rooms in the outer courts, where priests stayed while fulfilling their two weeks of annual service in the temple); Anna may have been allowed to stay in one of these rooms, since she was a godly elderly widowed woman who served at the temple day and night with “fasting and prayers.”

At the moment Anna came up to Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and Simeon, she began to give thanks to God for baby Jesus. All her years of fasting and praying at the temple gave way to an outburst of praise, which she continued to proclaim to everyone who was waiting for God’s Salvation to come, through Whom the Abrahamic, Davidic, and Final Covenant (through the death and resurrection of this Child), was made effectual

(cf. Hebrews 1:1-3).

1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,

2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Both Simeon and Anna testified that Jesus was indeed God’s Son, the Savior.

How about you?

Do you believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and eternal life?

Are you proclaiming the marvelous message of God to others, like Simeon and Anna did at the temple?

If not, why not?

Eyewitnesses give testimony and history confirms all this to be true

(Romans 3:10-12,

10 as it is written,

“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,

THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;

THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,

THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

Romans 3:23;

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 5:8;

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 6:23;

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:1;

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Romans 10:9-10,

9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Romans 10:13)

13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

Everyone is guilty of sin, but anyone who asks God to forgive their sin, believing in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, will be saved.

Pastor Mike Hale

01-08-2023 – “Mary and Joseph Dedicate Jesus at the Temple”

Bible Text: Luke 2:21-24 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: book study of Luke | Above are the Sunday Morning
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January 8, 2023
“Mary and Joseph Dedicate Jesus at the Temple”
Luke 2:21-24

Our last time together in Luke 2, was three weeks ago when we studied verses 15-20, about how some shepherds near Bethlehem were watching over their flock, when they received an announcement from God’s angels, telling them that God’s peace had come to earth in the form of God’s Son.

The shepherds hurried off to find the baby Jesus, along with Mary and Joseph, just as they had been told. After worshipping God’s Son, the shepherds went back to their flock, but on the way they proclaimed the good news to all who would listen, that indeed the Savior had been born, He is Christ the Lord.

Read Luke 2:21…

21 And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

It has been eight days since the birth of Jesus, and according to the law of Moses, it is time for Him to be circumcised

(Genesis 17:9-14),

9 God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

10 This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.

11 And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.

12 And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.

13 A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

14 But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

for it was through the covenant of Circumcision that God set Israel apart from all the other nations on the earth.

It is not a coincidence that vitamin K (blood coagulant) is at its highest level in a male baby on the 8th day of life. The practice of naming a son on the day of his circumcision had become common place, because Abram [exalted father] received his new name Abraham [father of a multitude] on the day he was circumcised

(cf. Genesis 17:5,

5 “No longer shall your name be called Abram,

But your name shall be Abraham;

For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

Genesis 17:23),

23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, as God had said to him.

when God made a covenant with him, and all of Israel.

Jesus’s name had been previously given to Mary

(Luke 1:31),

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.

and also to Joseph

(Matthew 1:20-21).

20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Yeshua, which translates into English as Joshua, meaning “God Saves,” or the “God’s Salvation,”

(John 3:16),

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Romans 5:8,

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Read Luke 2:22-24…
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.”

It is really Mary who must be purified according to the Law, but this period of time affects both Jesus and Joseph, also.

Leviticus 12:1-4,

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying:’When a woman gives birth and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days, as in the days of her menstruation she shall be unclean. On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall remain in the blood of her purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed,’”

(Leviticus 15:19)

“When a woman has a discharge, if her discharge in her body is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.”

So, according to Jewish law, a women is considered unclean during the time of her menstrual cycle, but also from the day of the birth of her baby, for seven days; if her baby was a male, then on the eighth day he was to be circumcised, after which the mother would be ceremonial unclean for another thirty-three days.

After the 40 days of purification was completed

(cf. Luke 2:22),

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

Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. This was done

(Luke 2:23)

because “it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.’”

Exodus 13:1-2,

“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.’”

Exodus 13:11-12,

“Now when the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, you shall devote to the Lord the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the Lord.”

Exodus 13:14-15,

“And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. It came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord the males, the first offspring of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’”

We find reference to God claiming all the firstborn males from the Tribe of Levi, to be set apart for priestly service,

In Numbers 3:12-13,

“Now, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the sons of Israel instead of every firstborn, the first issue of the womb among the sons of Israel. So the Levites shall be Mine. For all the firstborn are Mine; on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, from man to beast. They shall be Mine; I am the Lord.”

In order for the rest of the firstborn males from the other tribes of Israel to be exempted from priestly duty, a redemption amount had to be paid by the parents

(Numbers 18:15-16),

“Every first issue of the womb of all flesh, whether man or animal, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of man you shall surely redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. As to their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your valuation, five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.”

Note:

A gerah was the smallest measure of weight in biblical times. There were 20 gerahs per shekel, so 5 shekels equaled 100 gerahs, which was about 2 oz. of silver.

Israel was a theocracy, a nation ruled by priests not by a king. Money was needed to run the government, and to carry out all the rituals and sacrifices at the temple, and so taxes were levied for all adult male Israelites to pay, of which the five shekels (no small amount) required under Jewish law, was paid by parents of all firstborn males, as a redemption price to the Lord.

Back to Luke 2:24…

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.”

God says all firstborn males of people and animals, belong to Him. Therefore Joseph and Mary bring Jesus to the temple to dedicate Him to God; having already paid the five shekels to the priest they had come to the temple “to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.’”

Earlier today I told you that under Jewish Law, a woman was considered unclean from the day of the birth of her baby, for seven days; and then, if her baby was a male, on the eighth day he was to be circumcised, after which the mother would be ceremonial unclean for another thirty-three days, for a total of 40 days of ceremonial purification

(cf. Leviticus 12:1-4).
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying:‘When a woman gives birth and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days, as in the days of her menstruation she shall be unclean.
3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
4 Then she shall remain in the blood of her purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed.

Mary’s 40 days of purification are now over and she has come to offer the appropriate sacrifice, so as to be pronounced “clean” by the priest

(Leviticus 12:6-8),

“When the days of her purification are completed, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the tent of meeting a one year old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Then he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, whether a male or a female. But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”

The normal purification sacrifice was “a one year old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering.” But if a person couldn’t afford a lamb, then pigeons or turtledoves could be used instead, one for the burnt offering and one for the sin offering. Evidently, Mary and Joseph couldn’t afford a lamb, so they offered pigeons or turtledoves instead.

I believe the main priority of Luke’s narrative here

(Leviticus 12:2-4),
2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying:
‘When a woman gives birth and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean for seven days, as in the days of her menstruation she shall be unclean.
3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
4 Then she shall remain in the blood of her purification for thirty-three days; she shall not touch any consecrated thing, nor enter the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed.

is to show how dedicated and obedient both, Mary and Joseph, were to God. We know, from the biblical record, that Joseph and Mary were personally selected by God, to care for His Son. God’s angel came independently to Mary, and to Joseph, with very specific words and instructions: Mary was to conceive and give birth to God’s Son; Joseph was to take Mary as his wife, and to raise God’s Son, as his very own son.

Matthew 1:18-25,

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.’ And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.”

Luke 1:30-31,

“The angel said to [Mary], ‘Do not be afraid; for you have found favor with God [with you, God is well-pleased] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.’”

Luke 1:34-35,

“Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.’”

Luke 1:38,

“And Mary said, ‘Behold, the bondslave [is used to distinguish a purchased slave who is owned by (bound to) his master from a servant who is simply hired help but is free to go elsewhere] of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.”

Joseph and Mary’s devotion to God, along with their demonstrated faith and belief, is the essence of this passage, which must also include along all that happened before they came to the temple: Two Jewish young people, committed to God and to each other, had received a message from God telling them what was going to happen and why.

In obedience to God, and to the laws of the land, they travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem (a 4 day journey) to be registered in a census; even though Mary is nine months pregnant and close to the time of giving birth. In Bethlehem they find no suitable lodging and are forced to shelter at a place where animals are feed.

The time comes for Jesus to be born, after which some shepherds show up with a fantastic story of how they were watching over their sheep when an angel of God proclaimed to them that the Savior, who is Christ the Lord, had been born in Bethlehem, and they were to go find and worship Him.

The shepherds locate Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus, telling them about the angels, then as they return to their sheep, they are telling everyone they see what has happened, that the Savior, who is Christ the Lord has been born, and God’s peace has now come to all those who will believe in Him.

Eight days after Christ’s birth, Mary and Joseph have Him circumcised and give Him the name Jesus, just as they had been told. In accordance with the Law of the Lord, they pay the five-shekel redemption amount, and after Mary’s time of purification is fulfilled, the appropriate sacrifice is made, so that

(Leviticus 12:8),

“the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.”

What a testimony of obedient submission and devotion we see expressed in the lives of Mary and Joseph. How about you? Are you living in a manner that is pleasing to God? Have you admitted that you are a sinner, believing in and following Jesus Christ: crucified, resurrected, and coming again?

Romans 3:23

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

tells us all have sinned and are unacceptable to God;

Romans 6:23

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

tells us all sinners deserve death, but God offers forgiveness and eternal life through His Son Who

(Romans 5:8)

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

died in our place on the cross; therefore

(Romans 8:1),

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The good news is that God turns no one away

(Romans 10:13),

“Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Have you done that?
Have you admitted you are a sinner and asked God to forgive you, believing in Jesus Christ for salvation?

1John 5:11-13,

“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Pastor Mike
>’(((><

01-01-2023 – “Look Back and Consider, Then Look Ahead and Commit”

Bible Text: various | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: New Year, New Years | Above are the
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January 1, 2023

“Look Back and Consider, Then Look Ahead and Commit”

God’s Word provides encouragement,

guidance, strength, and wisdom.

Isaiah 43:18-19,

“Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the
past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth;
will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the
wilderness, rivers in the desert.”

Ezekiel 11:19-20,

“And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within
them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and
give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes
and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My
people, and I shall be their God.”

God wants us to learn from the past, but not to dwell on
it.

Proverbs 3:5-6,

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your
own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He
will make your paths straight.”

Philippians 4:6-7,

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known
to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.”

Philippians 4:12-13,

“I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know
how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have
learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of
having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things
through Him who strengthens me.”

1Timothy 2:3-4,

“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge
of the truth.”

2Peter 3:9,

“The Lord is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish
but for all to come to repentance.”

Ephesians 2:10,

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk
in them.”

Ephesians 1:13-14,

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the
gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed
in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge
of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own
possession, to the praise of His glory.”

1Corinthians 12:13,

“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether
Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made
to drink of one Spirit.”

Acts 1:8,

“you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon
you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea
and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

2Corinthians 4:4,

“The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving
so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God.”

2Corinthians 4:6,

“For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the
One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

Ephesians 5:1-2,

“Be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love,
just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an
offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

John 10:30,

“I and the Father are one.”

John 14:7,

“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also;
from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

Colossians 1:15,

“He is the image of the invisible God.”

Colossians 2:9,

“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.”

Hebrews 1:3,

“He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation
of His nature.”

We imitate God the Father by following God the Son.

1John 5:1-5,

“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and
whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this
we know that we love the children of God, when we love God
and observe His commandments. For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are
not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the
world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our
faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who
believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Hebrews 10:24-26,

“Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good
deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the
habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more
as you see the day drawing near.”

2Corinthians 5:17-21,

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old
things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all
these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself
through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to
Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He
has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we
are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an
appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be
reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on
our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God
in Him.”

John 14:1-3,

“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also
in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were
not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for
you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

See 1Corinthians 11:23-26…

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to
you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed
took bread;

24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is
My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as
you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you
proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

John 6:35,

“I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger,
and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”

John 6:51,

“I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone
eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which
I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

John 6:63-64,

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the
words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there
are some of you who do not believe.”

John 5:24,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes
Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into
judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

Hebrews 10:10,

“We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all.”

Hebrews 10:14-18,

“For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are
sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us… …saying, …‘I
will put My laws upon their heart, and on their mind I will write
them,’ He then says, ‘And their sins and their lawless deeds I
will remember no more.’ Now where there is forgiveness of
these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.”

Romans 10:9-10,

“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe
in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be
saved; for with [your] heart [you] believe, resulting in
righteousness, and with [your] mouth confess, resulting in
salvation.”

1John 5:11-13,

“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he
who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of
the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal
life.”

That is the good news,
the very best news,
as we enter this new year.
Pastor Mike
>’(((><

12-18-2022 – “Why Do Most People Miss Christmas?”

Bible Text: various | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Above are the
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December 18, 2022
“Why Do Most People Miss Christmas?”

One week from today, most, if not all of you, will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. He is the Reason for Christmas; an yet, most of the world’s 7,900,000,000 people will not celebrate the birth of God’s Son this year, just as the majority of people didn’t celebrate His birth, when He was born to Mary, in Bethlehem, over 2,000 years ago.

The majority of the world’s people today reject or neglect God’s greatest gift of love to us, His own Son.

The shepherds, on the night of Christ’s birth, were given a marvelous message

(Luke 2:11),

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.”

(Luke 2:14),

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to [all people] on whom His favor rests.”

The first time Jesus came, He arrived in the flesh of a baby, born to a virgin, and only a few shepherds came to witness the Savior’s birth. After seeing the baby, we are told

(Luke 2:17-18),

17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.

18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.

the shepherds went out telling everyone they met about what had happened, just as God’s angel had told them.

How about you? Have you taken time to share the good news of Jesus Christ? Or perhaps have you been stressed out because of personal or family problems, health issues, worries about the economy, or maybe you’ve just been to busy enjoying the season but haven’t taken the time or opportunity to tell someone the true meaning of Christmas [Christ, Holy One; Mass, a religious observance], i.e., Christmas is in honor of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Lord and Savior.

Scripture tells us that when Jesus returns, everyone in the world will see and worship Him

(Revelation 1:7),

“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will worship Him, and will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”

Jesus came the first time as a helpless baby boy; but He will return

(Revelation 19:16),

16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

as the “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS,”

(Philippians 2:10-11)

“at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

The Christ child was called Immanuel [God with us], and given the name Jesus [God’s salvation]; He is the only means of forgiveness and eternal life, for all people, for all time. In the body of Jesus, God lived among us, died for our sins, was buried, and then rose from the grave, just like He said that He would

(cf. John 10:17-18;

17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.

18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

Luke 24:45-48).

45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day,

47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

48 You are witnesses of these things.

The majority of people in the world today will miss Christmas this year, next year, and forever. How can that be? How can anyone miss Christmas, given the history, the amount of publicity, and the commercial promotions that this holiday receives every year?

For those of us who know and love the Lord Jesus Christ, Christmas is a time to focus on His birth. But even we can get caught up in all the activity of Christmastime, forgetting to worship the Savior who has come.

Was He really born in December? Probably not, as most biblical scholars do not consider December 25th to be the date of Christ’s birth, and there is absolutely no biblical support for that date. So where did that date come from?

Actually, it was decided upon by the church Bishops in Rome (4th century A.D). At that time, a majority of the earth’s inhabitants were sun worshipers who praised the sun god for our seasons and our crops. They held feasts at the time of the winter solstice (a time when the days are shortest); they built large bonfires in order to implore the sun god to initiate longer days, and as the days grew longer, there was much rejoicing and celebration.

For the Romans, the month of December marked the Festival of Saturnalia, as

John MacArthur writes in his book

(GOD WITH US:The Miracle of Christmas, pg. 50),

“Our focus On December 25 came from the Roman holiday called Saturnalia. This was a pagan observance of the birthday of the unconquered sun. Saturnalia began December 19 each year, which, in the northern hemisphere, is when the days start getting longer, [the celebration] continued with seven days of wild revelry. Many of our Christmas customs have their origin in Saturnalia, which was marked by feasting, parades, special music, gift giving, lighted candles, and green trees. As Christianity spread through the Roman Empire, the pagan holiday was given Christian connotations. In 336 A.D., Emperor Constantine declared Christ’s birthday an official Roman Holiday. Some church leaders, such as Chrysostom, rebuked Christians fore adopting a pagan holiday, but December 25 has endured as the date we celebrate Christ’s birth.”

It is believed by historians that the first Christmas tree was instituted by Boniface, an English missionary to Germany in the 8th century, who supposedly sought to replace the practice of sacrifices being made to the god Odin’s sacred oak, with a fir tree that was decorated in honor of Christ. There are also credible accounts claiming that Martin Luther was the first to introduce a Christmas tree lighted with candles.

The name “Santa Claus” is a contraction of St. Nicholas, an actual Christian bishop in Asia Minor during the 4th century, who was known for his extraordinary generosity, and was later associated with the giving of presents at the end of the year. It is said that St. Nicholas was adopted in the Netherlands as the patron saint of children, and on St. Nicholas eve, the children would put out their wooded shoes filled with hay for the saint’s white horse, only to find them filled with small toys and candy the next morning.

With all these historical renditions (whether true or not) of what goes on during Christmastime, is it any wonder that so many people are confused and miss Christmas? The biblical story of the birth of Christ is overshadowed by a multitude of traditions and celebrations today; but the reality is, most of the people who were there when Christ was born in Bethlehem, missed it. The Scriptures record several reasons why the people in and around Jerusalem 2000 years ago missed Christmas, as well as why most of those living today miss it.

Self-importance…

In Matthew 2:1-3,

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,

2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

Matthew 2:7-8,

7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”

we meet Herod, the so-called king of the Jews (by his own proclamation); he was fearful of the One born in Bethlehem, who was the true King of the Jews. The Greek word translated “troubled”

(Matthew 2:3)

3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

means, “to be agitated” or “stirred up,” “panicked”. Herod was afraid of baby Jesus-.

Herod was cruel and merciless. He was incredibly jealous, suspicious, and afraid of losing his position and power. Fearing a potential threat, he had the high priest Aristobulus (his wife’s brother) drowned, after which he provided a magnificent funeral where he pretended to weep. He then had his wife killed, then her mother, and then two of his own sons. Five days before his death (about a year after Jesus was born) he had a third son executed.

But his most barbaric act

(cf. Matthew 2:16)

was the slaughter of “all the male children who were in Bethlehem and the surrounding areas, from two years old and under.” By doing this, he hoped to kill Jesus, who was the major threat to his throne; the One who the magi said had been born the King of the Jews.

Herod missed Christmas because of he was a megalomaniac: unwilling to give up his self acclaimed authority, power, prominence, and control; like many people today who want what they want when they want it, and anyone preventing them from getting or keeping it, becomes an enemy and a threat. They won’t come to Christ because they think He will force them to give up or change-the way they live.

The psychologists, social gurus, and the media tell people to do their own thing, to be the master of their own fate, to determine their own destiny. The world is full of self professed kings who won’t recognize, let alone kneel before, Christ, so they miss Christmas just like Herod did.

Indifference…

Once Herod learned from the magi that a child would be born King of the Jews

(see Matthew 2:4-6),

he gathered “together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, [and] began to inquire of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet, “And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a Ruler, who will shepherd My people Israel.’”

The chief priests consisted of the high priest, the captain of the Temple police, and the priests-with teaching and leadership skills (Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes). They knew the Messiah was to be born in “Bethlehem,” as per the prophecy of

Micah 5:2.

2 “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

Too little to be among the clans of Judah,

From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.

His goings forth are from long ago,

From the days of eternity.”

The Jewish nation had been waiting for their Messiah to come, at the time of Christ’s birth, they had been waiting hundreds of years for a deliverer to come, they are still looking for Him for these religious leaders were unwilling to travel to Bethlehem to find out if the Messiah had indeed been born.

They missed Christmas because they were indifferent, they just didn’t care. They had all they wanted, and they didn’t need a Messiah. These self-righteous overseers of the law, had hearts that were filled with pride, and there was absolutely no room for the Son of God in their religious system.

When Jesus grew up and began His ministry, they hated and despised Him, and even plotted His murder. Jesus exposed their prideful indifference in a stinging rebuke

(Matthew 9:12-13),

“It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

When the Pharisees held a feast, they invited self-righteous people; but Jesus welcomed sinners who were desperately aware of their need for a Savior.

Many people today miss Christmas because they don’t have any interest in the Savior; they don’t understand the depth of their own sin and their need to be saved; and so they reject the truth

(cf. Romans 6:23),

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

that the wages of sin is death, leading to an eternal hell. They ignore God’s remedy for sin, because they reject what the Bible says

(Romans 3:10-12),

10 as it is written,

“THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,

THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;

THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,

THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

that there is no one who is righteous, not one; we have all gone our own way, and we deserve the wrath of God.

Religious Activity…

Luke 2:20

20 The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

tells us the after seeing the baby Jesus, “The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.” Out of all the people in Jerusalem, God singled out shepherds to receive the great news about the birth of Christ. Shepherds were a despised group because they couldn’t maintain all the ceremonial washings and religious activities.

The majority of the people in and around Jerusalem missed Christmas because they were very religious, busy with rituals and ceremonies, so they missed Christ’s birth.

Religion will damn a soul to hell more than anything else, because false religion gives a person a counterfeit sense of spiritual security, or rightness with God.

People are deceived in cults and world religions that talk about God, talk about Jesus, and even reference the Bible, but they don’t teach that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is Creator, Sustainer, Lord, Savior, and Judge over all. Most of the world’s religious people are lost, just like the people of Jerusalem who missed the birth of their Messiah, while they were performing religious acts of piety.

Idolatry…

Most of the Greco-Roman world missed Christmas because of their idolatrous worship of a multitude of gods. It is no surprise that the midst of their pagan idolatry they missed Christmas.

Read Acts 17:22-31…

22 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects.

23 For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;

25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;

26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,

27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’

29 Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.

30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,

31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

About 20 years after Jesus ascended into heaven, Paul is in Athens standing before the Areopagus (the council or judiciary of Athens, who judged the beliefs and behaviors of men), similar to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.

These men are worshippers of many gods and Paul tells them that he is going to introduce them to the god who was unknown to them.

He tells them about “The God who made the world and everything in it.” The God who doesn’t live in temples or need manmade things, for He is the Creator of all things; and in fact, He made from one man [Adam] every nation on all the face of the earth, determining when and where and how long they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him, and know Him, and become children of God.

Paul declares that until Jesus came, God overlooked the ignorance and idolatry of all who did not know God, but now He has commanded that everyone repent and believe in Christ, who died and rose from the dead, showing Himself to all who would believe in Him for salvation

(cf. Romans 10:9-10,

9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Romans 10:13).

13 for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

The world today is still full of people who worship their own manmade gods, not statues made of gold, silver, wood, or clay, but idols still the same: money, cars, boats, houses, land, power, prominence, good looks, good health, etc., all these are equal to the idol worship of the first century A.D., leading people to miss Christmas.

Over-Familiarity…

Even the people of Jesus’ home town missed Christmas.

Luke 2:39-40 says,

“When they [Mary, Jesus, and Joseph] had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. And the Child continued to grow and became strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”

When Jesus returned to Nazareth, He was unnoticed, like any other Jewish child; and even though Jesus spent thirty years of His life in Nazareth, the residents failed to recognize Him as the Savior.

See Luke 4:16-17,

“And [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written

(Luke 18-19, (x-ref: Isaiah 61:1-2),

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.’

Luke 4:20-22,

And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?”

Luke 4:28-30,

“And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way.”

The people of Nazareth missed the Christ of Christmas, because they knew Jesus as Joseph’s son, not as their Messiah. Most of us know people who were raised in a Christian home, who don’t believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Over-familiarity can blind people from the truth, i.e., when you’ve heard something so many times, without believing it or confirming it in your mind and heart, such over-familiarity can often breed indifference and/or contempt.

Needless to say, there are many reasons that people miss Christmas: their misplaced self-importance, indifference, religious activity, idolatry, and over-familiarity. But truth be told, behind all those so-called reasons is the real problem: unbelief. How sad it is that most people continue to reject God’s Son, Jesus Christ, for Salvation.

Luke 2:10-11,

The angel said to [the shepherds] “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

Acts 2:21,

“And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved,”

Acts 4:12,

“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Matthew 1:23,

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”

Matthew 1:21,

“You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Please don’t miss Christmas! Believe in and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, right now, right here, and you will be a child of God forever!

John 3:16,

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life,”

(John 1:11-12),

“He came to His own [the Jews], and [they] did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God,”

(John 10:28),

“I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish.”

Pastor Mike
>’(((><

12-11-2022 – “The Wonderful Names/Titles Given to Jesus”

Bible Text: Luke 2:15-21 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: book study of Luke | Above is the
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December 11, 2022
“The Wonderful Names/Titles Given to Jesus”
Luke 2:15-21

About 2700 years ago, one of God’s prophets (Isaiah) wrote about the future birth of a male child to a virgin; and about 700 years later, a young woman, named Mary, said to be a virgin, gave birth to a male child in Bethlehem, in Judea; the baby was named Jesus [God’s Salvation] and was called Immanuel [God with us].

This child would be the only source of salvation for mankind, and He would also be the fullness of God in human flesh. God told the world ahead of time, so that when it happened people would believe in His Son for the forgiveness of their sins.

Isaiah 7:14,

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

Christmas is the celebration of Jesus’ birth: it is a compound word formed from the words Christ [the Holy One], and Mass [a gathering for religious observances], i.e, Christmas celebrates the good news that the Savior has come to earth.

The next time you go to a large store or a shopping mall, consider the following, “If you weren’t a Christian and didn’t know about God’s Son, is there anything out in the public marketplace that would point you to Jesus?” Probably not!

Last week we read, in Luke 2:1-14, how God moved Caesar Augustus to order a census that would eventually bring Joseph, and Mary (who was pregnant with Jesus), to travel to their ancestral home town, Bethlehem, near Jerusalem; while they were in Bethlehem it came time for the baby to be born, and Mary wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger [a feeding trough used by animals].

We read how God used an angel to announce the birth of His Son to some shepherds who were out in the fields watching over their flock at night. The angel declared to them the good news that indeed the Savior had been born, and He is Christ the Lord.

The shepherds were instructed to go to Bethlehem and search for the newborn baby, who would be wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. At that moment a large number of angels appeared praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among upon whom God’s favor rests.

Read Luke 2:15-20…

15 When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us.”

16 So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.

17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.

18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.

20 The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

After the angels had departed, the shepherds, believing what they had been told, determined to go to Bethlehem to this thing that had happened. It is unlikely that all the shepherds would have left the sheep, but instead, that some would have stayed to guard them, while the others went to see this thing which had happened.

The shepherds went quickly, no doubt with great excitement, and they found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby. Bethlehem was a small village and it is unlikely that many, if any other babies at all, were born that night; and surely, there was not but one newborn baby who was laid in a manger.

Although there is no recorded dialogue between the shepherds and Mary and Joseph, not must have been an amazing conversation as the shepherds recounted all the angel had said, and then the sudden appearance of a multitude of angels praising God and giving glory to Him for what He had done: sending His own Son who would be the Savior of the world.

Perhaps Joseph and Mary shared some of their own encounters with God’s angel and who was said to them? All we know is that after the shepherds found and looked upon Mary, Joseph, and the baby

(Luke 2:17),

“they made known the statement which had been told them”

(Luke 2:11),

“today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

It would seem that the shepherds went about with great excitement telling everyone the the long awaited Messiah, the Savior, had been born. God used these lowly shepherds as the first witnesses of Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:14 says,

“all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.”

It is interesting that although the testimony of the shepherds seemed to cause people to be amazed and to wonder about what the shepherds were proclaiming; but there is no record in the Scriptures of anyone else finding their way to the place where baby Jesus was born; not would seem that no one else sought out the Savior who had been born, who is Christ the Lord.

Mary

(Luke 2:19),

“treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

Mary deeply considered all that had been said and had been done considering the birth of God’s Son; God’s redemptive plan, purpose, and provision had sent the Savior to redeem all those who would trust in Him, believing Him to be the Savior!

God’s words through the apostle John speak volumes concerning this One born that night in Bethlehem, and those who believe in Him

(see 1John 2:12-14)…

12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.

13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.

14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

The Christians life, from the moment we are born-again into the family of God, is a continual growing in our knowledge of Christ.

As John MacArthur writes

(New Testament Commentary, Luke 1-5, page 164), “From being a spiritual child, who only knows God the Father and forgiver of sins, to being a spiritual young man, well grounded in biblical truth, to being a spiritual father, with a deep understanding of God’s person.”

We continue to grow in our knowledge of Christ and will never reach a place where we know all things or mature to the level of not needing to grow anymore, as we see in the life of Paul, the most expressive and aggressive proponent of Christ in the Bible, who continued to grow and desire

(Philippians 3:10),

“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”

The shepherds near Bethlehem that night had a marvelous and supernatural evening that would no doubt, forever change their lives. But by the end of that long night

(Luke 2:20),

they returned to their flock, “glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.”

Read Luke 2:21-24…

21 And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

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.”

It has been eight days since the birth of Jesus, and according to the law of Moses, it is time for Him to be circumcised

(Genesis 17:9-14)

9 God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations.

10 This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.

11 And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.

13 A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

14 But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

through which God set Israel apart from all the other nations in the world. Circumcision also provided the benefit of decreasing the possibility of bacteria being transferred from man to woman; it is a fact that Jewish women have lower rates of cervical cancer and other diseases, then do women in other cultures, and this is attributed to the fact that all Jewish husbands are circumcised.

The practice of naming a son on the day of his circumcision is not an Old Testament requirement, but had become common place, perhaps because Abram [exalted father] received his new name Abraham [father of a multitude] on the same day he was circumcised

(cf. Genesis 17:5,
5 “No longer shall your name be called Abram,
But your name shall be Abraham;
For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

Genesis 17:23),

and God made a covenant with him (the Abrahamic covenant through circumcision) by which all of Israel was identified and set apart as the Nation of God.

Jesus’s name had been previously given to Mary

(Luke 1:31),

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus,”

and also to Joseph

(Matthew 1:20-21),

“Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’”

Jesus is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua, meaning “Yahweh saves,” or the “Lord’s Salvation”.

John 3:16,

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Romans 5:6-9,

“For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”

Galatians 4:4-5,

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

Isaiah foretold some wonderful names to be given to the Christ Child.

Isaiah 9:6c,

“And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor…”

This speaks of God’s Supernatural Wisdom.

The New Testament records Jesus’ encounters with a variety of people; and that He always knew just what to say, for He spoke the words and wisdom of God.

Temple guards were sent to arrest Jesus

(John 7:46),

46 The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.”

but they returned to the Chief Priests without Him, saying, “No one ever spoke the way this man speaks.”

Matthew 7:29,

“He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

Only Jesus can make sense out of life’s confusion and provide hope for eternity; and yet, most of the world turns to the counsel of psychiatrists, psychologists, philosophers, astrologers, and other so-called experts, instead of to God’s Word.

1Corinthians 2:14-16,

“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, provide eternal, authoritative, sovereign, divine, and supernatural wisdom for all who believe.

Isaiah 9:6d,

“And His name will be called Mighty God…”

This speaks of God’s Sovereign Power and Strength for all of eternity.

Deuteronomy 10:17,

“For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.”

Revelation 1:8,

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 1:17-18,
17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,
18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

God forgives sin, grants eternal life, answers prayer, heals broken hearts and bodies, defeats Satan, brings order to the chaos and purpose to the confusion in our lives; all this, while sustaining the universe and preparing eternity for those who belong to Him.

Isaiah 9:6e

“And His name will be called Eternal Father…”

This speaks of God’s Eternal and Intrinsic Nature as the Originator and Giver of Life.

Psalm 90:2,

“Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”

John 10:30, Jesus said,

“I and the Father are one.”

John 14:6-7,

“Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.’”

Colossians 1:15-20,

“He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

Jesus is God the Son, equal with God the Father (who is Immortal, Invisible, Eternal, and the Creator of all), and God the Holy Spirit (who is Immortal, Invisible, Eternal, and the Creator of all). Jesus Christ has made God the Father known to us.

John 1:1,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:14,

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 1:18,

“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”

Only true Christians (believers and followers of Jesus Christ, the One who was crucified, resurrected, and is coming again: that Jesus) can rightfully call God their Father, for it is only through belief in God’s Son that we can become God’s children, forever!

Isaiah 9:6f,

“And His name will be called Prince of Peace…

This speaks of God’s removal of enmity, condemnation, conflict, chaos, confusion, anxiety, fear, and oppression, replacing these with God’s Perfect Peace. If you know Jesus, you have God’s Peace; if you don’t know Jesus, you don’t have God’s Peace!

Romans 5:1-2,

“Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

Except for the first few days of Creation, before the curse of sin came upon creation, there has not been peace on earth; but God continually provides Peace in the hearts of everyone who believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Jesus Christ is God’s greatest Gift to the world. He is not only the Reason for the Christmas Season, He is Christmas. As you celebrate this Christmas season, consider all that has been said in God’s Word about God’s Son. Christmas celebrates the good news that the Savior has indeed come to provide forgiveness for sins and eternal life to all who will believe in and follow Him.

No wonder Paul declares

(2Corinthians 9:15),
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift!”

Pastor Mike
>’(((><

12-04-2022 – “The Savior is Born, He is Christ the Lord”

Bible Text: Luke 2:1-14 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: book study of Luke | Above is the
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December 4, 2022
“The Savior is Born, He is Christ the Lord”
Luke 2:1-14

Read Luke 2:1-5…

1 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.

2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

3 And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.

4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,

5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.

Although Caesar was an unbelieving Gentile, God used him to fulfill the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

We find that Old Testament prophecy recorded in the New Testament, when Herod gathered the chief priests and scribes to ask them where the Messiah would be born, and they responded

(Matthew 2:4-6)

4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:

6 ‘AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH,

ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH;

FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER

WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.’”

by quoting Micah 5:2,

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity.”

Notice in Luke:2:7

7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

it says, “in those days,” referring to what was written in

Luke 1:5,

5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

“In the days of Herod, king of Judea.” Herod reigned as king in Judea from 40 B.C.—4 B.C., and he died when Jesus was just a toddler, after Joseph had been told by an angel, to go to Egypt because Herod was trying to kill Jesus

(Matthew 2:13),

“Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.”

The decree for a census to be taken of all those in the Roman Empire, was most likely for the purpose of the taxation of all those under the rule of Caesar [lit. emperor] Augustus [lit. revered, esteemed]. His actual name was Gaius Octavius and he was born in 63 B.C. Note: His mother was Julius Caesar’s sister, making him heir to the throne after Julius Caesar was assassinated.

Luke also tells us that this census was during the reign of Quirinius as the governor of Syria, and that everyone must go to their own home town to register. Joseph and Mary went up from Nazareth [1140 ft. above sea level], to Bethlehem [near Jerusalem, which is 2500 ft above sea level.

Luke calls Bethlehem “the city of David,” because that is where David had ruled as king

(2Samuel 5:7,

7 Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David.

2Samuel 5:9),

9 So David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. And David built all around from the Millo and inward.

“David captured the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David.” “So David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. And David built all around from the Millo [meaning boundary, terraced wall] inward.”

As we have talked about before, both Joseph and Mary were from the ancestral line of David: Joseph (Jesus’ legal father) through David’s son Solomon

(Matthew 1:6,

6 Jesse was the father of David the king.

David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah.

Matthew 1:16),

16 Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

and Mary (Jesus’ biological mother0 through David’s son Nathan

(Luke 3:23,

23 When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,

Luke 3:31).

31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,

This gives Jesus both the legal right and the blood ancestry to rule on the throne of David.

Sovereignly God moved Joseph and Mary to be in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus birth, so as to fulfill the prophecy concerning the birthplace of the Messiah.

Read Luke 2:6-7…

6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.

7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

We are not told how long Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem before Jesus was born; all we know is what Luke tells us here, that it came time for Jesus to be birthed and so He was born and Mary wrapped Him in cloths and laid Him in a manger. There is no mention of a mid-wife, or angels present, or a voice from heaven; only that Mary and her husband Joseph were alone, near a place where animals were fed, when it was time for Jesus’ birth.

Jesus, like any other baby born in Israel, was wrapped in cloths to keep his arms and legs straight and to provide warmth. He was not wrapped in royal cloth worthy of His divine nature, neither was He placed in a royal bassinet with gold and silver accents; but instead, He was placed in a manger [an animal feeding trough].

We don’t know exactly where Jesus was born; just that it was “not in the inn, because there was no room.” The Greek word kataluma, here translated “inn,” is a general term meaning lodging place, or shelter; it could have been a campground, a way station, or a public shelter where caravans or travelers stayed.

The word kataluma is also used in

Luke 22:11,

11 And you shall say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’

where it is translated as, “guest room,” where Jesus and the Twelve celebrated Passover; and in Luke 10, Jesus tells a parable about a good Samaritan helping a Jewish man who had been beaten and robbed

(Luke 10:34),

“by bringing him to an inn and [taking] care of him.”

A different Greek word is used by Luke in that parable, the word pandocheion (pronounced pan-dokk-i’-on), and it is translated “inn.”

Let me try to resolve this: both of these words can be used to describe some sort of shelter or lodging, but kataluma is mostly used to describe a public or free sleeping space; whereas, pandocheion is usually rendered when speaking of a paid lodging.

Luke 2:7

7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

says this is Mary’s firstborn son, meaning, she had other children, as we talked about last week

(Matthew 13:54-56),

“[Jesus] came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?”

The point Luke is making is, when God’s Son came into this world, in the flesh of a baby boy named Jesus, He was born in a rough place without any of the comforts of home, perhaps in a shelter, a campground, or even a cave…

Jesus said

(Luke 9:58),

“The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head,”

(Philippians 2:5-7),

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men,”

(Mark 10:45),

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Read Luke 2:8-14…

8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;

11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

It is very appropriate that the good news of the Savior’s birth be announced to shepherds who were caring for the sheep to be used as sacrifices for the sins of the people.

Shepherds were at the bottom of the social/religious ladder, as there were often uneducated, unable to keep the Sabbath regulations, and therefore ceremonially unclean, and considered to be unwholesome and dishonest, to the degree that were not allowed to testify in court (along with tax collectors). And yet two of the most prominent men in Israel’s history were shepherds: Moses and David.

In the Old Testament God is referred to as the Shepherd of Israel, and Jesus says

(John 10:11),

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep,”

and Peter, the first pastor in the Church of God

(1Peter 5:4)

4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

calls Jesus the “Chief Shepherd.”

Luke 2:8-11

8 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;

11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

tells us that the shepherds were in the vicinity of Bethlehem, out in the fields. It was the normal practice to let sheep graze during the day and then to move them to a protected area in the evening, a sheepfold, where they would be safe from predators and or thieves. It was here that the angel of the Lord appeared before them, and the brightness of the glory of God shined all around them. It must have been frightening for those shepherds.

Note:

God’s glory had been manifested to Israel in the wilderness when the tabernacle was dedicated, and then again when the temple was dedicated. But because of Israel’s sin and rebellion against God, God’s glory left the temple and departed Israel until this very night in the fields surrounding Bethlehem.

An angel manifesting God’s glory was announcing the good news of the Savior, who would redeem from humanity those who would believe in and obey this child now born in Bethlehem. The angels tells the shepherds not to be afraid, for they are proclaiming the very best news, “which will be for all the people, for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

God singled out these lowly shepherds to be the first witnesses of the salvation that had come to earth, for God the Father sent His One and Only Son to be the Savior of the world, as John wrote

(1John 4:14),

“We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.”

The frightened shepherds

(Luke 2:12)

12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

are given a sign to look for in the city of David, in Bethlehem (they are to find a newborn baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger), proving this is indeed is the Savior, Christ the Lord. There would not have been many other babies born in a village of that size that night, let alone one who had been placed in an animal feeding trough. That should narrow down their search for Jesus.

Jesus’s name means “the Lord is salvation,” or ”the Lord saves,” meaning He is the Savior. Remember how Joseph was told by the angel

(Matthew 1:21),

“you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Jesus came to resolve, to remedy, to do away with by His own willful sacrificial death, mankind’s major problem, sin; and by His own sovereign resurrection He demonstrated eternal life for all who believe in and follow Him.

The title “Christ,” is an exalted title meaning “anointed one,” or “holy one,” He is the Messiah [Hebrew], the Christ [Greek], the KING of Kings and LORD of Lords. In

Revelation 1:7-8, the return of Christ is in view,

“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’”

To say that the Christ Child is Lord, is to say He is God. When used as a reference to Jesus Christ [Greek kurios = Lord], conveys all that is implied by the tetragrammaton YHWH [pronounced Yahweh] the Hebrew name of God transliterated in four letters which the Septuagint [the Greek version of the Old Testament] translates as kurios.

This is the name of God

(Exodus 3:14-15),

“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM’; and ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.’ God, furthermore, said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.”

(The most common fundamental confession of Christianity is,

“Jesus is Lord”

(1Corinthians 12:3),

“no one can say, [truthfully] ’Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”)

Look again at Luke 2:13-14…

13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

While the angel is speaking to the shepherds, a multitude of angels appear, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” A large number of angelic hosts are giving praise to God in heaven, for the peace God is granting to those on earth upon whom God’s favor rests. The peace of God is only realized through faith in God’s Son, who is Christ the Lord, Savior of all who believe in Him.!

Colossians 1:19-20,

“For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Romans 5:1,

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Hebrews 13:20-22,

“Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Pastor Mike
>’(((><

11-27-2022 – “Mary Exalts the Lord Her God”

Bible Text: Luke 1:39-50 | Speaker: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: book study of Luke | Above are the
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November 27, 2022
“Mary Exalts the Lord Her God”
Luke 1:39-50

At our last time together we studied the awesome interaction of the angel Gabriel and a young virgin named Mary to whom he said

(Luke 1:31-32),

“You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,”

Luke 1:35,

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”

Mary humbly and obediently believed all that Gabriel told her, saying

(Luke 1:38),

“may it be done to me according to your word,” and then we are told Gabriel left her.

Today we pick up the narrative in

Luke 1:39-40…

39 Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah,

40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.

Mary immediately set off for the hill country of Judah; remember what Gabriel said to her

(Luke 1:36),

“behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.”

Mary “went in a hurry” to see her aunt, no doubt to confirm that all this was really true. Mary herself would have been newly pregnant as she began the 3-4 four day journey south (80-90 miles0 from Nazareth to the hill country of s (about 5-6 miles from Jerusalem). Note: archeologist believe Judah (where John the Baptizer was born) may very well be the same area as Bethlehem (where Christ would be born, six months later than John).

Mary made the journey to her aunt Elizabeth and uncle Zacharias’s house. Greeting Elizabeth, she no doubt told her all that had happened with Gabriel’s announcement to her; and Elizabeth no doubt told Mary of Gabriel’s announcement to Zacharias (at the temple), and all that had happened, i.e., Zacharias was stuck mute and still couldn’t speak

(Luke 1:20).

20 And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.”

To hear Elizabeth’s account of her miraculous conception, and now in her sixth month of pregnancy had to be affirming to Mary concerning her own pregnancy.

Read Luke 1:41-44…

41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

42 And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

43 And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?

44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.

As Mary told Elizabeth about what had happened to her, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped, and at that moment she was filled with the Holy Spirit and began to declare that Mary was blessed above all women because of the child she carried in her womb.

The filling of the Holy Spirit is often followed by a proclamation of the Word of God. Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit at the birth of his son John

(Luke 1:67),

67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:

and he began to declare a marvelous prophecy

(Luke 1:68-79),

68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,

For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,

69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us

In the house of David His servant–

70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old–

71 Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES,

And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US;

72 To show mercy toward our fathers,

And to remember His holy covenant,

73 The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,

74 To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,

Might serve Him without fear,

75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

76 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;

For you will go on BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS;

77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation

By the forgiveness of their sins,

78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,

With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,

79 TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH,

To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

about what John would fulfill concerning the coming Messiah (Who happened to be John’s younger cousin).

As some of you will recall from our Wednesday night Study in the Book of Acts, on the day of Pentecost, the believers

(Acts 2:4),

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

“were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak [in other languages, not their own,

Acts 2:8-11],

8 And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?

9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,

10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,

11 Cretans and Arabs–we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”

“as the Spirit was giving them utterance.”

Here in Luke 1:42-45,

Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and she cries out in a loud voice a hymn of praise for Mary who has been given this greet honor, and a praise for the child in her womb, God’s Son, the Lord and Savior of all; Elizabeth praises Mary’s Son

(Luke 1:43), as “[her] Lord,” declaring Christ’s deity.

43 And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?

That Elizabeth should be so blessed is overwhelming to her, to be in the presence of God’s Son, her own Lord and Savior, in the womb of Mary, is over whelming to her

(Luke 1:44),

“For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached her ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.”

Elizabeth now proclaims more blessing upon Mary, not just because Mary will give birth to God’s Son, but also because of Mary’s faith in believing what the angel told her, that God would fulfill His greatest gift to all of humanity. Mary no doubt believed in her heart what the writer of

Hebrews 11:6

6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

declares, that “God exists and God is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

Let me be clear about something: Although the Roman Catholic Church teaches and observes in its liturgy that Mary is the “Mother of God,” the “Queen of Heaven,” and that she is a co-redeemer, with Christ, of sinful humanity and an intercessor who hears and receives our prayers. No such teachings are found in God’s Word.

Mary is not the mother of God, because God is eternal in nature, and God was never conceived or born, for He has always existed. Mary was the mother of the human Jesus, not the mother of His eternal nature. Mary was a sinner in need of salvation, just like you and me; but Mary’s humble faith and obedient submission to God’s will, is an example of greatness to all believers for all time.

Mary would be horrified that anyone would consider her to be equal with Christ in any way; the very idea that Mary can receive prayers or praise, the confession of someone’s sins, or the granting of forgiveness leading to salvation, is the worse kind of heresy and is antithetical to teaching of God’s Word.

Read Luke 1:46-48…

46 And Mary said:

“My soul exalts the Lord,

47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

48 “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;

For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.

Mary, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, expresses the proper attitude of true worship. This section in Luke is called The Magnificat, which translates as, to magnify, to celebrate, to highly esteem, to praise, to glorify.

Mary is experiencing and expressing her supreme joy in the Lord. Notice, she declares how her soul exalts the Lord and her spirit rejoices in God her Savior. The words soul and spirit are interchangeable, as they refer to the whole inner person, i.e., the fullness of worshipping God with all that you are in Christ.

You can only worship God if you have received forgiveness for sins and eternal life.

Notice in Luke 1:47,

47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

Mary’s renewed spirit praised the Lord, God her Savior, for she was a sinner like everyone else, in need of the Savior. God’s mercy and grace had been given to and received by Mary and her soul and spirit was rejoicing.

Deuteronomy 6:5,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Matthew 22:37,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

Mark 12:30,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

Luke 10:27,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind.”

When Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman about worship that is acceptable to God, He told her

(John 4:23-24),

“true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for… God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Mary is worshipping with her heart, soul, mind and strength, or might (this is internal fortitude, spiritual strength of character, firmness of purpose, strength of mind, i.e., steadfast intent to bring praise, honor, and glory to God).

Romans 12:1-2,

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Colossians 3:17,

“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Colossians 3:23-24,

you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

Look again at Luke 1:48a…

48 “For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave;

For behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.

Mary is so thankful for what God has done, that He would choose her, from all the women in the world, to have the blessing of carrying and giving birth to God’s Son.

Mary was just an ordinary girl, growing up in a nondescript village, far from the main travel routes that led to Jerusalem.

Mary calls herself “His [God’s] bondslave” [this is the feminine form of the Greek word for slave. Mary is the first one in the New Testament to call herself a slave of God. Even though she was the mother of the Messiah, she reached no special place of prominence among those first Christians.

Acts 1:13-15,

“When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together).”

Read Luke 1:49-50…

49 “For the Mighty One has done great things for me;

And holy is His name.

50 “AND HIS MERCY IS UPON GENERATION AFTER GENERATION

TOWARD THOSE WHO FEAR HIM.

Mary now begins to praise God for all He has done throughout the ages, verse 50 is quoted from

Psalm 103:17,

17 But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,

telling how God’s salvation will be offered to all who fear Him, to all who revere His Name and seek to do His will, while giving glory to Him and Him alone.

Read Luke 1:51-53…

51 “He has done mighty deeds with His arm;

He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.

52 “He has brought down rulers from their thrones,

And has exalted those who were humble.

53 “HE HAS FILLED THE HUNGRY WITH GOOD THINGS;

And sent away the rich empty-handed.

Mary speaks of God’s mighty deeds in destroying the proud and wicked (e.g., the Philistines, Canaanites, Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, etc.), while at the same time giving aid to the humble, to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for God alone is sovereign and worthy of praise and worship.

Isaiah 65:13,

“Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ’Behold, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Behold, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.’”

Read Luke 1:54-55…

54 “He has given help to Israel His servant,

In remembrance of His mercy,

55 As He spoke to our fathers,

To Abraham and his descendants forever.”

God went out of His way to care for Israel (like a loving father cares for a wayward or prodigal son), time after time Israel turned away from God and did evil in His eyes, and yet God continued to love them.

Jeremiah 29:11-14,

“‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’”

Mary closes this prophetic proclamation of praise to God in

Luke 1:54-55,

54 “He has given help to Israel His servant,

In remembrance of His mercy,

55 As He spoke to our fathers,

To Abraham and his descendants forever.”

by speaking of the covenant God made with Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and the Tribe of Judah, through whom Jesus Christ would ultimately be born to a descendant of David, in the town of Bethlehem, to a virgin named Mary.

God’s covenant to Abraham would be made effectual through the death of the Child Mary was carrying in her womb; the Lamb of God who dies for our sins, so that everybody who believes in Him receives forgiveness for sin and eternal life.

Notice. in Luke 1:55,

55 As He spoke to our fathers,

To Abraham and his descendants forever.”

that God’s promises are “to Abraham and his descendants forever.” This is not talking about the nation of Israel or those who have descended from the blood line of Abraham; this is talking about eternal descendants, those who have been born again by the Spirit of God, through belief in Christ.

Galatians 3:26-29,

Read Luke 1:56…

56 And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home.

Luke 1:26-39

29 But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.

30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.

32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

36 And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.

37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”

38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

39 Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah,

tells us that when Gabriel visited Mary with the news of her conception by the Holy Spirit, it was during the sixth month of her aunt Elizabeth’s pregnancy, at which time Mary hurried off to Judah to see Elizabeth, where she stayed “for about three months,” and then she went home to Nazareth.

Next Sunday we will read through

Luke 2:1-20,