LUKE 2
“She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger” (v7).
At his birth, she wrapped him in strips of cloth and placed him in a manger. Much later, at his death, she was present when they wrapped his body using similar cloth strips and placed him in a tomb. (John 20:5; Matt 27:61.)
“Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (vv11-12).
We hear these verses so often each year but think about the unbelievable joining of those words: ‘Saviour’, ‘Messiah’, and ‘Lord’, with ‘Baby’ and ‘Manger’! The first recipients of the good news of salvation were those poor, unappreciated outcasts of Jewish society; in a similar way, the Resurrection would later be first witnessed by a group of despised women! Back at the stable: once the shepherds had seen, they understood, and spent the rest of their days praising God and spreading the good news. Nothing empowers the message as much as the passionate story from an eye-witness! What kind of witnesses are we?
“On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived” (v21).
The angel had already named him – acting as God’s messenger – but the earthly privilege was given to his legal father, the faithful Joseph, who was, in reality, Jesus’ stepfather (see Matthew 1:25).
Later, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the temple to ‘present him to the Lord’ and to offer a purification sacrifice for him after 40 days (Exodus 13:2, 12); being poor they offered two doves, rather than a lamb and a dove. I wonder whether they knew that they were also offering the Lamb! (John 1:29: “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”).
Simeon was “righteous and devout” (v25); Anna the prophetess “never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying” (v37).
It is highly significant that God chose to reveal the most precious thing he had to those two particular people who had devoted their lives to worship and service of the Living God. What does this say to us today about our devotion, worship, and commitment?
Fast-forward twelve years: children do get ‘lost’ sometimes, and Jesus’ earthly parents were no different from many of us in having that frightening experience. After a misunderstanding in their travel arrangements back to Galilee after a national feast, they had to wait three days to locate their son – in the most obscure place they could imagine, and the most obvious place for him: his Father’s house! Today, we are not concerned with buildings, but with households. If you want complete security and deep understanding of the most important questions in life, then go to your Heavenly Father’s house – join his household – belong to his family. At the tender age of twelve, the boy Jesus was wiser than most adults and unafraid to offend people if it meant obeying his Heavenly Father.
NUMBERS 5 and 6
The Bible is the most misunderstood book in the world. It must be – or else everyone would by now be a Christian! And one of the classic examples of misunderstanding is found in Numbers 5: ‘The Test for the Unfaithful Wife’. Most modern-thinkers will read it and conclude that this is proof that the Bible (and by extension, God) is misogynistic, biased against women, and perpetuates many of the social inequalities that our enlightened society today is at last starting to eradicate. But read it in the context of the nations surrounding Israel in those days: in the eyes of their menfolk and by the laws of the land, women were property, they were slaves, they were wombs, or they were lovers. They had no rights and if they had found a husband who was reasonably kind, they thought they were in heaven! If you were the suspicious or paranoid sort of guy who picked up the slightest hint that his wife was ‘playing away’ (perhaps she had once smiled at someone of the opposite sex), then you flew into a rage and set about her with a whip!
The Bible protects women like no other regulation, law, or holy book in existence. The suspicion was dealt with impartially and judicially by an independent priest and in the presence of the Lord. The burden of proof lay with the man, effectively, since unless God did a miracle of judgment, the woman would experience no ill-effects at all. An early case of innocent until proven guilty, then! If she were truly guilty and had also lied to the Lord on oath, then the punishment for her adultery was severe premature ageing and infertility. By this method of trial, the accusing husband was not penalised for being wrong and the wife was presumed innocent and vindicated by the Lord. If that paranoid husband was frequently tempted to accuse his wife without grounds for it, well, these accusations had to be in public.
In chapter 6, a Nazirite was someone who made a special vow of dedication to God for a period of time – and occasionally for life (like Samson). Nowhere in scripture does it really outline the benefits of doing this – except that it clearly marked you out for leadership and the undeniable benefits that we all can receive by drawing closer to the Lord. Perhaps Samson was forgiven and retained his position of leadership for much longer than he deserved because of his vows – even though he often failed to keep them. “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22.) So you abstained from grape products, alcohol, cutting your hair, and dead bodies for the duration of your dedication period – until the job was done. Interesting that Jesus said (at the Last Supper) “I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom”. Perhaps Jesus was taking a Nazirite vow in his resolute walk to the cross, the tomb and then the New Day.
Numbers 6 ends with one of my favourite passages in the Bible: the Priestly Blessing. When my children were young, I blessed them with it every night before they went to sleep; I still do it now if I can catch them unawares! It is also found in Psalm 67. It consists of three short phrases, building up to a kind of crescendo and increasing in length. In Hebrew, the first line consists of three words, the second of five, and the third of seven. It is a one-way fatherly, priestly blessing, representing the thoughts of Almighty God himself to His spiritual children. Fathers: do you bless your families every day, calling down God’s favour upon them? That is your inheritance, and theirs. The ‘Face’ of God, referred to twice, symbolises his presence and his favour, his acceptance, and his compassion. ‘Peace’ is the Hebrew word ‘Shalom’ that carries the full weight of God’s righteousness, well-being, and rest for us (so much more than just an absence of war!). John 14:27 is very much a new covenant statement of peace.
Aside from fathers and mothers in respect of their children, there is a sense of us all being a priesthood – a priesthood of believers. So the New Covenant equivalent of Numbers 6:23-26 is probably found in 2 Corinthians 13:14, called in Christian circles, “The Grace”. It actually reads fantastically in ‘The Message’ version of the Bible: “The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you”. Amen
The Big Picture 