Messengers

Last week we talked about identity and how fingerprints are formed on a baby reaching out to touch its surroundings. We talked about the fact that Jesus was willing to come in the form of a child and that He Himself went through that very process. This week we are going to look at the birth of Jesus itself.

As I read through all of the gospels and looked at a lot of the prophecies of the coming Messiah and studied for this week’s sharing, it occurred to me to ask, who were the people who believed that Jesus was the Messiah and why did they believe?

There were eight people, or people groups, who believed. These are the messengers. They carried the most beautiful message of hope to a weary world. We have Mary, Jesus’ mother, Joseph his father; the shepherds, the wise men, Simeon, Anna, Elisabeth, and John the Baptist in the womb.

King Herod also believed. He knew that it was said a Messiah was coming and when the wisemen said that they saw a star in the East, he believed, but he didn't want there to be any other king other than himself.

I find it interesting that eight messengers believed. You know, with the Bible, there's never anything that is unneeded. Every detail is on purpose. So I researched the number eight. The biblical meaning of eight means “New Beginning.” It's a number of “hope, new horizons, and a bright future”. For the Israelite men, it was eight days when circumcision was required. Noah's Ark had eight people on board. And the New Testament was penned by eight men. In the New Testament, there were eight watches every day. After his resurrection, eight separate times it was mentioned that Jesus revealed himself. Jonah the prophet spoke a sentence made up of only eight words that turned the giant city of Nineveh’s heart to repentance. And they say that eight is the number of Jesus whose name in Greek numerically adds up to 888.

Eight believed, and I think God was saying there was a truth here, a truth of new beginning. A truth of hope. A truth of a bright future.

So let’s look at the people. Mary was a virgin. An angel spoke to her. She was very afraid. She was told that she was going to have a child by the Holy Spirit and that this child would be hers and God’s. She knew that when people found out that they weren’t going to understand, but she believed. She had faith to carry the child.

Next, we have Joseph. Joseph had every right when he found out Mary was pregnant to have had her stoned. But he was a good man who loved her, and he decided to divorce her quietly. Then an angel came to Joseph in a dream to tell him the truth. He believed and continued in the marriage.

There was a person named Simeon who ministered in the temple. The Holy Spirit had told him that he would be able to behold the Messiah before he died. He was an old man. He was a faithful man who got to see Jesus. He believed and was granted the fulfilment of his faith.

Next, we have the prophetess Anna. She lived in the temple. She had been married for seven years and become a widow. She was 84 years old. Now think about that for a moment. In those times widows didn’t have any ability to have land or to make a living. Being widowed, she had nowhere to go. But she believed the Messiah was coming, and God made sure that she was taken care of for all those years. She fasted and prayed and prophesied about the coming Messiah. She got to meet Jesus because of her faith.

Next, we have Elisabeth and John the unborn baby. When Mary went to visit Elisabeth her baby boy John leaped in her womb. John knew it was Jesus, and His mother immediately attributed the movement of her baby to the fact of Mary carrying the Messiah. And she too believed.

Next we have the shepherds. I had always heard that people called them outcasts, but I took a deep dive into the culture and when things were written, and honestly, that's not what I found. They were in daily contact with their sheep. They took care of them. We as followers of Christ are later referred to as sheep, and Jesus is referred to as a good shepherd. In John 10:11 and john 10:14, it says, “I am the good shepherd the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand sees the wolf coming. But because he is not the shepherd he runs and flees.”

God saw the shepherds as a group who would be honest messengers. They shared who he was. The angels came to them and told them not to be afraid. They said, “we bring you good news of great joy that will be for all of the people”. The shepherds might not have had authority, but they had the truth. They were known in their time as being honest and straightforward. These shepherds called the baby the Messiah, the Savior, and the Lord.

Next, we have the wisemen. We don’t really know how many there were, but we know that they brought three gifts for Jesus. They followed a star and traveled for more time than any of us would, believing that the King of all kings was going to be born. These men were not from God’s people, but they believed in God’s work in their world. They believed and came to honor Him in faith.

Eight different messengers all received messages of literally Biblical proportions. God was on the move. God specifically chose them to share the greatest story ever told! He chose the young, the old, women, and men, each with different statuses and stations in life. God looked throughout the earth and throughout time and chose messengers that He could count on to share the good news with the world!

Now let’s look at King Herod. Herod believed the prophecies and scriptures as well. He believed another king was coming. He didn’t believe in order to worship this king but instead desired to compete with Him.

He became fearful that he would lose his stature and power. I think it is interesting that the wisemen went to an earthly king looking for the Heavenly King, assuming that would want to honor Him. They were foreigners and didn’t understand the political situation in that region. God later warned them not to go back to tell Herod the whereabouts of Jesus. God is always in control.

Even though King Herod is an example of someone who believed the Messiah was coming, he was also an example of a person filled with pride who didn’t want there to be any authority other than himself. He very much reminds me of satan who wanted all of the glory meant for God.

Herod went as far as to have all of the Israelite children 2 years old and younger killed, trying to kill Jesus after the wisemen never returned to tell him where Jesus was.

Why two-year-olds and younger you ask? I did too. I found out that the images we see of wisemen surrounding Jesus in the manger like the nativity scenes we are used to aren’t accurate. The Bible says that they had moved to a home. Matthew chapter two says that the wisemen found Jesus and his family in a house. The time it took the wisemen to find Jesus was much longer than I had thought. How about you?

Wow! Think of all of the young men killed in an effort to thwart God’s plan. But alas, as always, that is impossible.

Another thing I found so powerful when researching was that we all know Joseph, Jesus’ father, as a carpenter. The Greek word used here for his profession is “Tekton”. The word means “craftsman or builder”. What I found out was that this wasn’t typically referring to someone who worked with wood. I know we have all seen the TV shows and movies where Jesus is making a table or chair, but that may be a side job of what He and his father did. I looked into what was happening in that society at that time and their houses were made of stone. Trees were actually scarce in that region. So stones were cut for their homes or buildings. Jesus and his father may have made chairs and tables as an aside after creating the home, but Joseph would have been trained in stone masonry and so would Jesus. Joseph might have known how to work with wood but He wouldn’t have been able to support a family working with wood due to the scarcity of trees. He would have been more of a master builder, and that is who Jesus would learn from.

This thought that Jesus was trained as a stone mason led me to think about the fact that it says in Luke 20:17 and Psalm 118:22 that the stone that builders have rejected has become the cornerstone”. The cornerstone is the crucial piece that holds the entire building together!

So this revelation that Jesus’ father would have been a master builder training his son how to build a house of stone made me think. Peter writes, “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5)

Here is the thing, whether Jesus was a carpenter who worked with wood or a stone mason has no bearing on his work as Savior of the world, but it does bring a fresh sense of wonder and meaning to his words. Literally he is the one who turns hearts of stone into flesh . And out of all the professions that Jesus’ father could have had like being a sandal maker, a fisherman, or a vineyard worker, God purposefully made him a master craftsman. I think that's important because this is what Jesus grew up being taught how to do. In the Talmudic sayings, the Aramaic definition of this word is “Naggar” and that actually is defined as a scholar or a learned man. Coincidence? I think not. No little detail is left unspoken in God’s beautiful story of redemption and love.

There are so many prophecies of Jesus coming and of Jesus being the Messiah. Many people argue over the number of fulfilled prophecies. Most people land at 300, some say 200 some say 400, but for one person to fulfill even 50 prophecies would be miraculous!

This points to Jesus being the Messiah who was prophesied.

One of these prophecies, which kind of makes me laugh because God can use anything He wants to, was that Jesus “would be born in Bethelem” and not where his parents were from. It was due to a Roman census issued by a Roman ruler Ceasar Augustus, that ended up bringing Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem in order to fulfill prophecy. God will use anything and anyone that He wants to to show you His truth.

As we reflect on the depth and width of God’s love this Christmas, I invite you to spend some time alone with God as I did. Ask Him questions, and let Him show you all of the answers. They have been left there in His word, His word that was made flesh on that marvelous night when Christ was born!

Luke 2:15- 20 says, “ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”

The Promise had come. The Messiah was born. The light had entered the darkness. Hope was alive, and grace was a living breathing gift for all of mankind.

The good news is that God is still choosing messengers to share about His Son. He is still looking for hearts that will believe. Won’t you help share the greatest news ever to have been told? Won't you speak the name of Jesus into the world? His name is peace, love, and hope.

Don’t miss this blessing in all of the Holiday busyness, Jesus loves you! He is the Holy One, He is called Emmanuel. He is God with us, and He promises to stay with us forever!

I pray that you have a very Merry Christmas!

AMANDA SCHAEFERDecember 24, 2022