2019 Christmas

 

A Yeshua for Our Wellbeing

A Yeshua for Our Wellbeing

Matthew 1:18-25
and
Luke 1:26-33

Yeshua is Joshua written in the Aramaic way just as Jesus is the English way of writing Joshua. Jesus is the name that means God will save us both spiritually and physically. In Hebrew tradition, a Joshua was a hero that saved people from being destroyed. In fact, this idea has been around for a long time as we see the idea of Yeshua in the Old Testament. As early of Genesis 3 we have the promise that God will save man.

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."
Genesis 3:15 ESV

Just like the Advent message, this message of good news from Genesis is to give hope as we wait for our saviour. Our savior would right the wrongs of this world and save us from destruction. Indeed, there would be a total sense of wellbeing. At the beginning of Christianity, the early Christians could relate to the message of Genesis. Yet, the totality of wellbeing from the good news does not seem to have come. Adam and Eve experienced the law, and we read about the loss of their two sons.

Although Mary and Joseph did not experience wellbeing in some ways, they did experience wellbeing in other ways. Mary and Joseph were betrothed which meant that their marriage had been planned for a long time, probably years. For Mary to become pregnant so late in her engagement to Joseph, was a real shock. Mary was a virgin and engaged to someone. This was shocking and shameful. It was also dangerous because it would mean death.

According to Jewish law from Deuteronomy:

But if the thing is true, that evidence of virginity was not found in the young woman, then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done an outrageous thing in Israel by whoring in her father's house. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
Deuteronomy 22:20-21 ESV

Later the Jewish Rabbis changed the law to include divorce. Joseph would have just needed two witnesses to quietly divorce Mary. The bride's money would have been returned, tears would have been shed and the couple would have gone their separate ways and probably would have moved to new locations. Still everyone who knew Mary or Joseph would have known something was wrong and that only some shameful act had been done to break the arrangement. To break a betrothal in that time was unusual bringing disgrace to both parties, but still Mary and Joseph experienced wellbeing.

Mary had a lot on her mind and brought up her concerns and worry. Sometimes God will put us into situations which are bigger than us. Be honest with God and say what is on your mind just like Mary. To have concerns or worry is not weak or sinful. In Mary’s candidness, she was a comforted by the message she received from the Angel.

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.
Luke 1:35 ESV

Joseph was the same in that he had much to lose and did not know how he could handle the situation he was put in. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and reassured Joseph that God would intervene.

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).
Matthew 1:20-23 ESV

We, too, will experience challenges that are sometimes bigger than us and cannot be done on our own.

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord , when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The Lord is our righteousness.'
Jeremiah 23:5-6 ESV

Jeremiah tell us that Jesus is going to execute justice to those who are righteous. The prophet also tells us that Jesus is going to forgive us of our sins and we will be made righteous. Jesus has forgiven our sins and we need to remember this. We can respond to God and others with love because our relationship with God has been made right with the forgiveness of sins.

We have been called for purposes which the Lord has given us. These purposes are both spiritual and physical. For instance, Joseph had the physical responsibility to name Jesus. Also, Joseph had the purpose to be a father and husband. God had carefully selected and brought Joseph into plan to fulfill God’s plan. Much the same, our lives are not by mistake or without purpose.

Sometimes we might be in situations that we do not understand what to do. Be like Mary and express yourself honestly. Also, be like Joseph and do what is expected of you and what you can. Whether it is just a prayer, just by being there, or being obedient to God, we can complete our purpose. Most importantly, our wellbeing is grounded on the facts that Jesus will forgive us, we have been chosen and Jesus is with us always. 

The Comforting Hope We Have in the Coming Lord (Isaiah 40:1-5)

The Comforting Hope We Have in the Coming Lord

Isaiah 40:1-5

Holding on to the faith that God is in complete control at all times is a hard challenge. It is challenging to act like or believe that we have nothing to be anxious about. This is especially true when a difficulty in our life has continued for a long time.

The children of Israel were under the Babylonians. The Israelites were oppressed and had lost their wall of security. The Jews had lost their holy vessels and temple. Even their people were scattered as slaves around the Babylonian provinces. The Israelites were slaves physically and spiritually. They were forced to serve foreign rulers and foreign gods. The Jews were a conquered people who seemed to have no hope of fighting back.

However, sixty years after being defeated, in Isaiah 40:2, the prophet Isaiah declares that warfare is over and the Israelites have been pardoned. Later God raised King Cyrus, who, with his Persian army, conquered the Babylonians.

The Jews had been subjected to the might of Babylon, and Isaiah uses words suitable for war in his prophecy. Isaiah tells the Israelites that their King, God, is going to take control, so the people can take comfort. When the Babylonians conquered the Israelites, the Jews understood this to mean that their king had not fought for them because of the sins of the Israelites.

God takes away their sins even though the Israelites had done nothing to deserve this. Not only has God forgiven their sins, God would also deliver them from their enemies. The Jews had to do nothing but prepare the highway of The Lord. In the book of Ezra we read how some Jews accepted this message and returned to Jerusalem. Others did not because of their disbelief.

It would be easy to see why some Jews did not believe the prophecy considering the history of that time and what follows. The Persians conquered the Babylonians. Then the Greeks conquered the Persians in 331 BC and everything went back to being reigned by foreigners. Later the Romans defeated the Greeks in 146 BC and things became even worse. Warfare had not gone away.

Sin had not gone away, and its impact was felt. Still today sin affects many parts of our lives. Yet Isaiah spoke truthfully that we should take comfort.

By comfort, this is what Isaiah means.

1. Our comfort is found on the coming of Jesus. Jesus Christ has become our king. He has become our comfort since he has fulfilled the promises of God. He has also come out of love to us. We do not have the standards to return to good standings with God. Only Jesus can help us out of our situation since we are helpless to do this ourselves.

2. Jesus will bring our warfare with sin to the end. He does not just erase our failings, but gives us His Holy Spirit to us to help us live the way Jesus wants us to live. It is not just a final battle that has been fought, but also an effort of recuperation of strength and of total healing.

3. Jesus will lead His people and do this with tenderness. Not all of the Israelites were guilty of sin. Many people have not sinned and suffer because of the sins of others, and they need to be comforted. We find it hard to understand why God would allow for innocent people to suffer because of the sins of others. Yet we have security in knowing that Jesus will not let any wrongs go unsettled.

4. It is the Good News. Jesus will come and accomplish all that was said and promised by God in the Bible.

5. God will have all His glory when Jesus returns. All the confusion and injustice will be

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18 ESV