Christ Stories: Jesus, Our Immanuel

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”             Luke 1:31-33

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

    and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us).              Matthew 1:21-23

On this Christmas Eve, we are reminded of the birth of our Savior, Jesus. Jesus, whose name means “the Lord is Salvation,” was born in the humblest of circumstances with the greatest purpose already given to him. Many prophets spoke of this long-awaited king hundreds of years prior to this point. The angels heralded the news of the birth of the Son of the Most High. The star guided foreign seekers to Immanuel, God with us. God spoke through people, angels, and even stars to ensure we would not miss this unprecedented arrival of the Lord of our salvation, God with us. And yet, amidst all the fanfare, Jesus was born in a stable in a small village to a young virgin.

God had dwelt with his people before, first in the Garden—when humans were unstained by sin—then in the Tabernacle, and finally in the Temple— each place, while amongst his people, were still quite separate from them. This time, though, God chose to get dirty and humble himself to become the lowliest of people. He was no longer only with us when we were clean enough to enter his presence. No, Jesus’ humble beginnings illustrate that he now enters into our messy lives, truly “God with us”—in our pain, in our temptations, in our weaknesses and sorrows.

And he is our Salvation. Immanuel’s purpose is written in his name, “the Lord is Salvation.” He does not leave us in the mess to fend for ourselves. He gives us healing, resistance, strength, and comfort. He walks through the valleys with us. And after all that, he saves us from our sin. Salvation from sin and its conclusion is freely given to all who trust in Jesus. The gift of salvation is the greatest gift any of us could get.

This Christmas, let us remember God’s deep love for us in sending the Son of the Most High to take on human flesh to be God with us and the Lord of our salvation. Let us be generous with the grace given to us and extend that gift to others. May we praise him, the Son of the Most High, for joining us in our broken state and lifting us out of the depths of our sin and into his marvelous light.

Christmas Stories: Simeon & Anna

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting 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 do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

29  “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word;

30  for my eyes have seen your salvation

31  that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

32  a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” 

33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” 

36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Luke 2:25-38

There isn’t much scripture devoted to the lives of Simeon and Anna. Simeon is described as righteous and devout, waiting for the Savior’s appearance, and that the Holy Spirit was upon him. He had been promised that he would see the Messiah before his earthly life was over. Anna is described as a prophetess of the tribe of Asher, widowed until she was 84, and did not depart from the temple, worshipping night and day.

Simeon and Anna were nearing the end of their lives. Both had spent their lives in love of and service to the Lord. They were each described in ways that seem to indicate they had close relationships with God. But we are left relatively in the dark over much of their life stories. Did they ever, in their decades of serving, wonder what God was up to? Wonder when his promise of a Messiah would be fulfilled? Did they ever grow weary of waiting? We don’t know about the years in between. The moments leading up to their meeting the Christ child probably seemed just as everyday… as every other day.

As I began my study of Simeon and Anna, I was working through a Bible study that included a study of the intertestamental time. In case you’re unfamiliar, the intertestamental time is the 400 years between the end of the prophets’ warnings of the Old Testament and Jesus’ birth in the New. It is sometimes called “the silent years”—a time seemingly without purpose, action, movement. 

But God was actually very much at work behind the scenes during this time. As the intertestamental period began, the Israelites were scattered and in exile, synagogues spread all throughout Asia Minor. It would be the creation of over 50,000 miles of roads and the spread of a common language, Greek, during this period—events that from a glance seem irrelevant to God’s plans—that would in reality be the work that would allow Peter, Paul, and other missionaries of the early Church to spread the Gospel.

Like the intertestamental years, at a glance, Simeon and Anna’s in-between years could be viewed as unimportant, without purpose or movement. But like the intertestamental years proved critical to the spread of the Gospel, I believe those long years of serving and worship were critical years to building both Simeon and Anna’s faith.

While we don’t get to see their “silent years”, we do get to see a pinnacle moment of their faith. Finally, that moment arrives when they each lay eyes on the promised and long-awaited Savior, and they are filled with praise. Their brief meetings with the young Messiah point us to a time of waiting fulfilled. It may not have been easy in the waiting, but this is their moment to celebrate. To hope. To praise.

Maybe you enter this Advent in a waiting season of your own. What will you do after school? Is there a new job or a much desired marriage or child in your future? How much longer before God shows us our new church home? Maybe life feels hard, or it could just be stagnant. You wonder what God is up to. I won’t discount the challenge and hard of silent times. But may we follow the lead of Simeon and Anna. May we serve faithfully and deepen our relationships with God. Trust that God is at work, though we may not know how it will all unfold. Take this moment, this day to remember, no matter what else is going on, even in whatever else is going on, our Messiah has come. Our Savior came here. He is Immanuel, God with us in the Now, and he is with us in the Yet to Come. 

Christmas Stories: Mary & Joseph

Editor’s note: The Christmas story is a familiar one, even if you never grew up in the Church. We see the Nativity scene in homes and yards, on billboards and cards. This Advent, we will look deeper into the people whose key appearances in the Bible take place in the time of Jesus’s birth. Some may be familiar, some less so, but each has a story, and each person’s story can impact our own lives and, hopefully, draw us closer to our Savior. Join us for Christmas Stories, our Advent reflection series!

Mary and joseph’s Story

“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!’ But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his Father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.  And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”  And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”   Luke 1:26-38

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband, Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.” Matthew 1: 18-25

The Christmas Season is upon us again. For some, the arrival of December might have seemed to cut the fall a bit short and too quickly thrust us into the whirlwind of Western Christmas traditions! However, this season of Advent isn’t primarily a western holiday season, but first the Church’s season of preparation.

Advent is when we as God’s people dwell on the amazing miracle of God faithfully carrying out His promised plan to bring sinful man back into a relationship with a holy God. God’s promise of a Savior to the world was carried out though humble people, in particular, Mary and Joseph. They were not yet married. Both were told the news of Jesus in the quiet of being alone. In fact, Joseph was sleeping. Scriptures don’t tell us that they were blessed to receive the commission of birthing and raising the Savior in a community of people like Paul and Barnabas did when the Holy Spirit told them to go on a mission trip together in Acts 13.

So maybe there were moments when she was alone, afraid, and Mary wondered if she was crazy. Perhaps Joseph wondered if his dream was nothing. Didn't he just have a dream he was a bird last week? And when their small community found out, did she feel the urge to explain the angel’s “visit” over and over and over again? Did Joseph feel tempted to punch the disdaining looks off of the other men’s faces when he chose to stay betrothed to his “unfaithful” fiancée?  What did Mary feel when she walked through Nazareth pregnant before she was a proper wife? How did Joseph experience having a fiancée that was pregnant, but not by Him? We can imagine that they had confusing emotions just like we might. And still… they had listened to God and believed.

We can only speculate, but if there were moments like these, Mary still obeyed. And Joseph obeyed. They walked by faith into what God called them to do. When Mary was told of the miraculous conception and birth, she replied with faith and obedience, “Let it be done to me as you have said.” And Joseph obeyed. He stayed married, and named the baby Jesus as the angel had directed.

Being able to respond by faith in the way that they did didn’t just happen. I believe it makes sense that they were prepared to receive God’s call for them by having hearts that walked by faith before the Lord called them to this “assignment.”

I think they were prepared. Hearts that are tender towards God are hearts that practice daily obedience and communion with Him. As the calendar barrels towards Christmas, in our season of Advent we can prepare to celebrate Jesus by being obedient in the small and big things He has laid before us to do. Are we working? Then we are to work faithfully and excellently, filled with the Spirit. Are we in school? Then we can prayerfully study and use our minds for the glory of God. Are we parents? Then we can gently and truthfully point our children to the grace of Jesus. Are we single? We can rejoice in our friends and the ways God uniquely uses us in the lives of others.

Two lowly and humble people were part of the plan to do the miraculous— that is, to allow the Savior of the world to be born, grow, and eventually die for the souls of men and women who were lost in darkness.

How can you prepare your heart to celebrate the coming of Jesus as a babe? We don’t know what God will call any of us to do in the future, but our daily obedience, Bible reading, confession, and prayers are the tilling of the soil of our hearts so that God might use our lives for His glory.

The ripple effects of God’s plan being carried out by these two lowly people changed the course of mankind for eternity. Their hearts obeyed because they were prepared. Oh, Lord, let us obey because we, too, are preparing our hearts to celebrate your coming and for whatever you may call us to. Amen.