Read: Mark 1:9-11
What is the best way to get people’s attention? To kick off his public ministry Jesus gets dunked in the river. Then heaven itself opens up, the Holy Spirit descends and God the Father audibly affirms Jesus’ identity. The text is actually unclear who all heard this voice; obviously Jesus heard it and John describes what he saw in John 1:29-34. But we don’t know if the gathered crowds around saw this miraculous event with all three members of the Trinity present. Wouldn’t that have been spectacular? Imagine seeing the clouds peeled back, getting a glimpse into heaven, and hearing the audible, undeniable voice of the Father!
Historically Jesus’ baptism is celebrated today (January 6) and it is called the Feast of Epiphany. In the ancient church it was a feast bigger than Christmas! This event has also lead people to get their theology mixed up, believing that Jesus was born just a regular human and was only adopted as God’s son at his baptism. One theory for how Christmas came to be is that it was instituted to combat this heresy and celebrate Jesus’ birth as fully God and fully man. Today obviously Christmas has eclipsed Epiphany for a variety of reasons.
One question that needs to be asked is why was Jesus getting baptized in the first place? Remember John was imploring people to stop sinning and get dunked as a commitment. But Jesus was without sin so what was he doing there? John was borderline uncomfortable with the whole situation and Jesus was not one who just went along with what the crowds were doing. In his baptism Jesus was identifying himself with sinners, which is a foreshadowing of his end goal at the cross. Interestingly, when we get baptized we identify with Jesus. But Jesus was identifying with us! A beautiful reciprocal relationship.
God the Father says to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.” On day 1 we talked about the Christian being adopted into God’s family as true children of God. So if you are a Christian, God is saying the same thing about you. He is truly pleased with you regardless of what you have done.
Questions for Reflection
• At his baptism Jesus was anointed and empowered for his ministry. What task has God given you? Remember God wants to help you.
• Take some time today to reflect on your own baptism. Was it a meaningful day in your life? If you haven’t been baptized it would be a good day to ask why.
• Since God is already pleased with you because of Jesus, how does that change how you relate to him?
• Spend time today praising God that he came to identify with us! Remember to celebrate that God became known to us that he might save us!
If you enjoyed this series I would love your feedback! What did you learn? What was the best line? What would you change?
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Day 11 – The Crazy Cousin
Read: Mark 1:2-8, Luke 3:2-18
John would have loved Saskatchewan. His theme verse, Isaiah 40:4, was to fill in the valleys and to flatten the mountains to make way for the Messiah. If he had been born in Saskatchewan this would have already been done for him. But truth be told, this is a metaphor for John’s mission. He was called to prepare people to receive the Messiah. Just as ancient kings would sent whole work crews ahead of them so make sure the roads were in good repair and the people were ready, so to John was preparing the people to meet their long-awaited Messiah.
But John is not the guy who you would naturally pick as your PR/Marketing guy. He lives in the desert, wears animal skins, and eats bugs and honey. Oh and he is continually yelling at people that they are terrible and need to change. One thing we miss by being born 2000 years later is that John was acting and appearing just like a classic Old Testament prophet and is particularly similar to the Hall of Fame Prophet Elijah! This explains why people didn’t simply dismiss him as a crazy guy in the desert.
His title is a bit strange too as he is not associated with the Baptist church which would form many centuries later. A better title would be John the Baptizer. In the Dutch Bible he is called Johannes de Doper, literally John the Dipper.[1]
John’s message at its core was simply get ready for the Messiah, repent and be baptized. Baptism was not completely uncommon in that day as there were a couple of ceremonial washings required in Judaism, especially for Gentile converts. By telling them to get baptized, John is basically telling the people that their standing in heaven will not be based on their Jewishness but on their repentance. Baptism is then an outward and public symbol of a decision that they have made in their hearts.
John gets real practical in his push for repentance. This isn’t a simple stop doing bad things but move quickly to doing the right things. “Got more money than you need? Then give to those who don’t have enough! Got a chance to rip people off? Don’t you dare! Thinking about lying to get ahead? Not a good plan! Be content with where you are.” Here John gives real practical action steps for repentance and isn’t afraid to make them commit to it publicly.
Questions for Reflection
• Are there areas in your life that require “real practical action steps of repentance”?
• How would you have responded to John’s in your face, right here, right now approach?
• Do you think like the Jews that because you were born into a good family God will accept you?
John would have loved Saskatchewan. His theme verse, Isaiah 40:4, was to fill in the valleys and to flatten the mountains to make way for the Messiah. If he had been born in Saskatchewan this would have already been done for him. But truth be told, this is a metaphor for John’s mission. He was called to prepare people to receive the Messiah. Just as ancient kings would sent whole work crews ahead of them so make sure the roads were in good repair and the people were ready, so to John was preparing the people to meet their long-awaited Messiah.
But John is not the guy who you would naturally pick as your PR/Marketing guy. He lives in the desert, wears animal skins, and eats bugs and honey. Oh and he is continually yelling at people that they are terrible and need to change. One thing we miss by being born 2000 years later is that John was acting and appearing just like a classic Old Testament prophet and is particularly similar to the Hall of Fame Prophet Elijah! This explains why people didn’t simply dismiss him as a crazy guy in the desert.
His title is a bit strange too as he is not associated with the Baptist church which would form many centuries later. A better title would be John the Baptizer. In the Dutch Bible he is called Johannes de Doper, literally John the Dipper.[1]
John’s message at its core was simply get ready for the Messiah, repent and be baptized. Baptism was not completely uncommon in that day as there were a couple of ceremonial washings required in Judaism, especially for Gentile converts. By telling them to get baptized, John is basically telling the people that their standing in heaven will not be based on their Jewishness but on their repentance. Baptism is then an outward and public symbol of a decision that they have made in their hearts.
John gets real practical in his push for repentance. This isn’t a simple stop doing bad things but move quickly to doing the right things. “Got more money than you need? Then give to those who don’t have enough! Got a chance to rip people off? Don’t you dare! Thinking about lying to get ahead? Not a good plan! Be content with where you are.” Here John gives real practical action steps for repentance and isn’t afraid to make them commit to it publicly.
Questions for Reflection
• Are there areas in your life that require “real practical action steps of repentance”?
• How would you have responded to John’s in your face, right here, right now approach?
• Do you think like the Jews that because you were born into a good family God will accept you?
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Day 10 – Are you smarter than a fifth grade Jesus?
Read: Luke 2:39-52
Have you ever speculated what Jesus’ growing up years were like? We know that he was sinless for his whole life but it’s hard to envision Jesus as the perfect wonder. The Bible gives us a limited picture of Jesus growing up years, only 14 verses. Throughout history many people have speculated on what Jesus was like as a child. In the Infancy Gospel of Thomas we find Jesus doing a number of bizarre and selfish miracles. At five years old Jesus is making clay models of sparrows and then turning them into real birds. He has a number of brave teachers who try to teach him the alphabet only to be driven mad by brilliant little Jesus. In one story a boy falls out the window and Jesus brings him back to life just to prove that he didn’t push him out the window in the first place. These stories are contrary to the character of Jesus in the New Testament and written several hundred years after the fact, so it is incredibly unlikely that they are true but it does show the curiosity that people have surrounding Jesus’ growing up years.
History can tell us some valuable things about a typical Jewish upbringing in the first century. At age 5 Jesus would have begun the study of the written Torah with the kids in the neighborhood. At age 10 the study of the oral law began and age 13 would have been his bar mitzvah, the becoming-a-man ceremony. Since Jesus is referred to as a carpenter, it is likely that he was apprenticed to his father shortly before his bar mitzvah. This means that he didn’t get to go to rabbi school which was only reserved for the brightest kids in Israel. It also was not likely offered in the backwater town of Nazareth or even the whole region of Galilee. This is why the teachers in the temple at Jerusalem were so shocked that Jesus had good questions. Here is this boy who is destined to be a lowly carpenter after going through the lousy schools in Galilee asking insightful questions to the best religions professionals!
Jesus lived a full human experience and he didn’t just have all of the knowledge of the universe pre-downloaded into his brain. Our passage for today ended with, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature,” this meant he had to learn. Learning is hard work! But where did Jesus learn his vast knowledge of scripture - God and himself. There is a messianic prophecy in Isaiah 50: 4-5 that sheds some light on this issue. Here we see that the servant of the Lord (Jesus) is awakened and taught each morning by God himself. Imagine personal tutoring from God himself every day! Maybe it’s time we looked to do the same.
Questions for Reflection
• Do you value learning and learning about God? How is this practically reflected in your life?
• Do you think living in obscurity and having subpar schools is an insurmountable obstacle to being used by God?
• Do you spend time with God every day?
• The one story we have from Jesus growing up is his family essentially going on a road trip to Jerusalem. Do you think trips and holidays are really formative and memorable in the growing up years?
Have you ever speculated what Jesus’ growing up years were like? We know that he was sinless for his whole life but it’s hard to envision Jesus as the perfect wonder. The Bible gives us a limited picture of Jesus growing up years, only 14 verses. Throughout history many people have speculated on what Jesus was like as a child. In the Infancy Gospel of Thomas we find Jesus doing a number of bizarre and selfish miracles. At five years old Jesus is making clay models of sparrows and then turning them into real birds. He has a number of brave teachers who try to teach him the alphabet only to be driven mad by brilliant little Jesus. In one story a boy falls out the window and Jesus brings him back to life just to prove that he didn’t push him out the window in the first place. These stories are contrary to the character of Jesus in the New Testament and written several hundred years after the fact, so it is incredibly unlikely that they are true but it does show the curiosity that people have surrounding Jesus’ growing up years.
History can tell us some valuable things about a typical Jewish upbringing in the first century. At age 5 Jesus would have begun the study of the written Torah with the kids in the neighborhood. At age 10 the study of the oral law began and age 13 would have been his bar mitzvah, the becoming-a-man ceremony. Since Jesus is referred to as a carpenter, it is likely that he was apprenticed to his father shortly before his bar mitzvah. This means that he didn’t get to go to rabbi school which was only reserved for the brightest kids in Israel. It also was not likely offered in the backwater town of Nazareth or even the whole region of Galilee. This is why the teachers in the temple at Jerusalem were so shocked that Jesus had good questions. Here is this boy who is destined to be a lowly carpenter after going through the lousy schools in Galilee asking insightful questions to the best religions professionals!
Jesus lived a full human experience and he didn’t just have all of the knowledge of the universe pre-downloaded into his brain. Our passage for today ended with, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature,” this meant he had to learn. Learning is hard work! But where did Jesus learn his vast knowledge of scripture - God and himself. There is a messianic prophecy in Isaiah 50: 4-5 that sheds some light on this issue. Here we see that the servant of the Lord (Jesus) is awakened and taught each morning by God himself. Imagine personal tutoring from God himself every day! Maybe it’s time we looked to do the same.
Questions for Reflection
• Do you value learning and learning about God? How is this practically reflected in your life?
• Do you think living in obscurity and having subpar schools is an insurmountable obstacle to being used by God?
• Do you spend time with God every day?
• The one story we have from Jesus growing up is his family essentially going on a road trip to Jerusalem. Do you think trips and holidays are really formative and memorable in the growing up years?
Monday, January 2, 2012
Day 9 - Walk Like an Egyptian
Read Matthew 2:12-23
Imagine if the government just didn’t tolerate protestors, or anything else....
King Herod was known for massive building projects all over Judea and that probably meant high taxes. He was also known for his brutality and his paranoia about any threats to his throne. Ordering the slaughter of all of the babies in Bethlehem was not even the worst thing that Herod the Great did! He ordered the death of his ‘favorite wife’ and four of his sons after only a suspicion. He was probably more aptly named Herod the Paranoid. Caesar even once remarked that “it was safer to be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son.”
So when this power-crazed king catches news from some rich-looking foreigners that there is a new King of the Jews in Bethlehem he needs to do something about that. After figuring out that the wise men duped him, he loses his mind and has all the babies in the area killed. There were no checks and balances to ancient governments’ power, so the king’s crazy plans just happen. How badly do the people of Israel need a good king on the throne? How excited and oh so ready for the Messiah must they have been?
Jesus was spared from Herod’s plans by an angel sending Joseph off to Egypt in a dream. So this young Jewish family moved to Egypt indefinitely. Tradition tells us that they used the gifts from the wise men to fund their move. In Egypt, Jesus and his family are oppressed and then treated like a minority. The text is silent for the most part on their time in Egypt. Were their language issues to deal with? Did Joseph struggle to find work? How long did their limited money last? Were they treated like second class citizens by the Egyptians?
After Herod died, an angel told Mary and Joseph they could move back to Israel. What a relief that must have been! In order to avoid Herod’s son Archelaus, who shared the family trait for brutality, they moved to Nazareth backwater Galilee. That’s like moving to Chetwynd, BC when you used to live just outside of Vancouver! Nazareth is an obscure, off the highway, little town with likely a lousy education system and lots of non-Jewish influences. And that is where the King of the Jews grew up.
Questions for Reflection
• What has God spared you from?
• Do you long for King Jesus to return as much as the oppressed Jews did?
• Here we see that Jesus and his family were threatened, oppressed, treated minorities and lived in obscurity. Jesus knows what troubles there are in this world because he experienced them. Is it comforting that Jesus can relate to our problems here on Earth?
Imagine if the government just didn’t tolerate protestors, or anything else....
King Herod was known for massive building projects all over Judea and that probably meant high taxes. He was also known for his brutality and his paranoia about any threats to his throne. Ordering the slaughter of all of the babies in Bethlehem was not even the worst thing that Herod the Great did! He ordered the death of his ‘favorite wife’ and four of his sons after only a suspicion. He was probably more aptly named Herod the Paranoid. Caesar even once remarked that “it was safer to be Herod’s pig than Herod’s son.”
So when this power-crazed king catches news from some rich-looking foreigners that there is a new King of the Jews in Bethlehem he needs to do something about that. After figuring out that the wise men duped him, he loses his mind and has all the babies in the area killed. There were no checks and balances to ancient governments’ power, so the king’s crazy plans just happen. How badly do the people of Israel need a good king on the throne? How excited and oh so ready for the Messiah must they have been?
Jesus was spared from Herod’s plans by an angel sending Joseph off to Egypt in a dream. So this young Jewish family moved to Egypt indefinitely. Tradition tells us that they used the gifts from the wise men to fund their move. In Egypt, Jesus and his family are oppressed and then treated like a minority. The text is silent for the most part on their time in Egypt. Were their language issues to deal with? Did Joseph struggle to find work? How long did their limited money last? Were they treated like second class citizens by the Egyptians?
After Herod died, an angel told Mary and Joseph they could move back to Israel. What a relief that must have been! In order to avoid Herod’s son Archelaus, who shared the family trait for brutality, they moved to Nazareth backwater Galilee. That’s like moving to Chetwynd, BC when you used to live just outside of Vancouver! Nazareth is an obscure, off the highway, little town with likely a lousy education system and lots of non-Jewish influences. And that is where the King of the Jews grew up.
Questions for Reflection
• What has God spared you from?
• Do you long for King Jesus to return as much as the oppressed Jews did?
• Here we see that Jesus and his family were threatened, oppressed, treated minorities and lived in obscurity. Jesus knows what troubles there are in this world because he experienced them. Is it comforting that Jesus can relate to our problems here on Earth?
Day 8 – A Gentile Convoy!?
Read: Matthew 2:1-11
In almost every nativity scene there are three guys, including a token black guy, dressed in primary colors and wearing lots of bling. Have you ever wondered what they doing there? I have.
The wise men are also called magi, but never kings, and it says they came from the East. We also know that they were studying the stars and astrology - that lead them to discover the star pointing to Jesus. A similar word is used to describe the advisors and magicians that Daniel dealt with in the Old Testament. So these men study the stars, do a little dream interpretation on the side, maybe dabbling in some magic, and might know some proverbs to get the title of ‘wise’. These characters are far different than anyone we have met in the story so far. They are also Gentiles from a different country who likely do not worship the God of the Bible.
The text also doesn’t say there were three wise men, it just uses the plural form when referring to them. Art in the early church depicts anywhere from 2 to 8 wise men showing up at Jesus’ doorstep. They also journeyed from somewhere far away, likely Babylon though some Chinese Christians believe they came from China. But even if they came from Babylon that’s a forty-day journey so they would likely need some servants, camel drivers and some guards for protection. There could be a whole Gentile convoy to Bethlehem!
The story that they told everyone almost throws into question their title of being wise. “We saw a star, so we packed up everything and we’re looking for a baby. Obviously the baby is the king of the Jews.” Keep in mind everyone knew the Jews didn’t have a king because they were subject to Rome. I imagine they were also fairly confused when they showed up at King Herod’s (not a Jew) palace and didn’t find a baby.
Assuming that the star appeared the night Jesus was born and that verse 11 says they went into the house to see Mary and Jesus, it’s fairly safe to say they were not at manger scene. They likely arrived after Jesus was dedicated at the temple because of the money that the wise men gave would have allowed them to buy a better sacrifice.
The gifts that the wise men give are really strange. Since its Christmas you would expect them to at least give age-appropriate gifts to the baby. But they brought the baby incense, perfume and a huge bag of gold. They are wrecking Christmas, and it’s the first one!
Here we see a fascinating picture. Powerful Gentile figures search out Jesus and give him gifts fit for king. Imagine the stir this causes in Bethlehem if you are Mary and Joseph’s neighbors. A convoy of rich foreigners shows up to worship a poor couple’s baby and only spends one night. There must be something special about this baby!
Questions for Reflection
• Have you ever gone on a holiday to worship Jesus? I’m not advocating a pilgrimage here but just using some holiday time to spend time with Jesus.
• Do we sacrifice a great deal to visit and give gifts to our king? Or do you worship when it is convenient?
• Do you give Jesus your treasures?
• We have seen the full spectrum of people come to worship Jesus from the unwanted shepherds to the powerful foreign dignitaries. Does Jesus still have as board appeal today?
In almost every nativity scene there are three guys, including a token black guy, dressed in primary colors and wearing lots of bling. Have you ever wondered what they doing there? I have.
The wise men are also called magi, but never kings, and it says they came from the East. We also know that they were studying the stars and astrology - that lead them to discover the star pointing to Jesus. A similar word is used to describe the advisors and magicians that Daniel dealt with in the Old Testament. So these men study the stars, do a little dream interpretation on the side, maybe dabbling in some magic, and might know some proverbs to get the title of ‘wise’. These characters are far different than anyone we have met in the story so far. They are also Gentiles from a different country who likely do not worship the God of the Bible.
The text also doesn’t say there were three wise men, it just uses the plural form when referring to them. Art in the early church depicts anywhere from 2 to 8 wise men showing up at Jesus’ doorstep. They also journeyed from somewhere far away, likely Babylon though some Chinese Christians believe they came from China. But even if they came from Babylon that’s a forty-day journey so they would likely need some servants, camel drivers and some guards for protection. There could be a whole Gentile convoy to Bethlehem!
The story that they told everyone almost throws into question their title of being wise. “We saw a star, so we packed up everything and we’re looking for a baby. Obviously the baby is the king of the Jews.” Keep in mind everyone knew the Jews didn’t have a king because they were subject to Rome. I imagine they were also fairly confused when they showed up at King Herod’s (not a Jew) palace and didn’t find a baby.
Assuming that the star appeared the night Jesus was born and that verse 11 says they went into the house to see Mary and Jesus, it’s fairly safe to say they were not at manger scene. They likely arrived after Jesus was dedicated at the temple because of the money that the wise men gave would have allowed them to buy a better sacrifice.
The gifts that the wise men give are really strange. Since its Christmas you would expect them to at least give age-appropriate gifts to the baby. But they brought the baby incense, perfume and a huge bag of gold. They are wrecking Christmas, and it’s the first one!
Here we see a fascinating picture. Powerful Gentile figures search out Jesus and give him gifts fit for king. Imagine the stir this causes in Bethlehem if you are Mary and Joseph’s neighbors. A convoy of rich foreigners shows up to worship a poor couple’s baby and only spends one night. There must be something special about this baby!
Questions for Reflection
• Have you ever gone on a holiday to worship Jesus? I’m not advocating a pilgrimage here but just using some holiday time to spend time with Jesus.
• Do we sacrifice a great deal to visit and give gifts to our king? Or do you worship when it is convenient?
• Do you give Jesus your treasures?
• We have seen the full spectrum of people come to worship Jesus from the unwanted shepherds to the powerful foreign dignitaries. Does Jesus still have as board appeal today?
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Day 7 – Shady Ancestors
Read: Matt 1:1-17, Luke 3:23-38 (No skim reading!)
Is your family as messy as Jesus’?
So a couple of obvious observations to start: Strangely the genealogies have different names included in them, start and end at different places and one goes from Jesus backwards and the other from Abraham forwards.
The simplest explanation is that these two genealogies have two different purposes. Matthew’s genealogy is that of Joseph and is designed to show us that Jesus is a legitimate and legal heir to David’s kingdom. Matthew’s list is shorter because it doesn’t go as far back and it omits a couple names. Luke’s genealogy on the other hand goes all the way back to Adam showing that all humanity has a shared heritage if you go back far enough. But strangely there are two different names for the father of Joseph, Heli and Jacob. One suggestion is that this genealogy is that of Mary and doesn’t say Mary because that was against the genealogy conventions at the time. Another suggestion is that Heli is Mary’s father and that he had no legal heir so Joseph was adopted by Mary’s father.
This is interesting (or not) - people in the Ancient Near East valued their ancestors far more than we do. I can only trace my personal genealogy back to my great-grandfather, much less to the beginning of time. I’m sure I could spend some time on the internet and figure more out but it’s just not on my radar. Today in the Middle East they still value their ancestors more than we do. A Muslim I know explained to me that his middle name is his father’s name and his last name is his grandfathers. One commentator figured that some tribes in the Middle East can recite ten to fifteen generations back.
But why does that all matter? Well it matters that Jesus was a real person with a real history. His family didn’t just perfectly materialize so he could be untouched by history. Within Jesus’ line we find wicked king and murders, great leaders and wimpy leaders, rich and poor, prostitutes and a whole bunch of average people we know nothing about. Not the kind of family that you would expect the sinless, all-powerful king of the universe to be born into!
We also see that Jesus is born in the line of David. God promised David that his kingdom would be established forever. Jesus has come to make good on God’s promise, to rule and reign over all the Earth.
Questions for Reflection
• Does the fact that Jesus was born into a ‘normal’ messy family give you any comfort about your own family?
• Is the fact that God keeps his promises, even though sometimes it takes a long time encouraging to you?
• Do you think God can create a legacy out of your family even will the nuts in there?
Is your family as messy as Jesus’?
So a couple of obvious observations to start: Strangely the genealogies have different names included in them, start and end at different places and one goes from Jesus backwards and the other from Abraham forwards.
The simplest explanation is that these two genealogies have two different purposes. Matthew’s genealogy is that of Joseph and is designed to show us that Jesus is a legitimate and legal heir to David’s kingdom. Matthew’s list is shorter because it doesn’t go as far back and it omits a couple names. Luke’s genealogy on the other hand goes all the way back to Adam showing that all humanity has a shared heritage if you go back far enough. But strangely there are two different names for the father of Joseph, Heli and Jacob. One suggestion is that this genealogy is that of Mary and doesn’t say Mary because that was against the genealogy conventions at the time. Another suggestion is that Heli is Mary’s father and that he had no legal heir so Joseph was adopted by Mary’s father.
This is interesting (or not) - people in the Ancient Near East valued their ancestors far more than we do. I can only trace my personal genealogy back to my great-grandfather, much less to the beginning of time. I’m sure I could spend some time on the internet and figure more out but it’s just not on my radar. Today in the Middle East they still value their ancestors more than we do. A Muslim I know explained to me that his middle name is his father’s name and his last name is his grandfathers. One commentator figured that some tribes in the Middle East can recite ten to fifteen generations back.
But why does that all matter? Well it matters that Jesus was a real person with a real history. His family didn’t just perfectly materialize so he could be untouched by history. Within Jesus’ line we find wicked king and murders, great leaders and wimpy leaders, rich and poor, prostitutes and a whole bunch of average people we know nothing about. Not the kind of family that you would expect the sinless, all-powerful king of the universe to be born into!
We also see that Jesus is born in the line of David. God promised David that his kingdom would be established forever. Jesus has come to make good on God’s promise, to rule and reign over all the Earth.
Questions for Reflection
• Does the fact that Jesus was born into a ‘normal’ messy family give you any comfort about your own family?
• Is the fact that God keeps his promises, even though sometimes it takes a long time encouraging to you?
• Do you think God can create a legacy out of your family even will the nuts in there?
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