THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

December 25, 2024

LIFE IN THE FOLD

There is a very popular christian Christmas song, written by Mark Lowry, entitled 'Mary Did You Know.' I'm sure that most of you have heard it; if not, pull it up on YouTube and listen to it.

The song asks many questions of Mary: Did you know your baby boy would one day walk on water, give sight to a blind man, would save our sons and daughters, has walked where angels trod..... this child that you've delivered will soon deliver you......

I've heard some that have argued the point that they believe that Mary did know all of those things; I personally disagree.

When the angel appeared to Mary, she was told, "You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end."

As a young girl, being told those facts, there is no way that she could have foreseen or understood what raising the Son of God would entail and mean. Even had she been an old woman, her mind wouldn't have been able to fully comprehend what all that meant.

How could she have possibly known what raising the Messiah, the Savior of the world, would be like? At the time that the Holy Spirit came upon her and she became pregnant with Jesus, she had no idea whether or not Joseph would keep his part of the betrothal. She had no idea that they would need to travel to Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth, find no available room, and that she would give birth in a stable. She had no way of knowing that shepherds would show up shortly after her son's birth to worship him. Not only that, they had an angelic visitation telling him about Jesus' birth. Then at some later time, wise men showed up and presented her son with expensive gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

She had no forewarning that an angel would appear to Joseph and warn them about Herod's threats and tell him to take his wife and child to Egypt to live, until further notice. She had to live amongst strangers, in a foreign land, and raise this child without help and advice from family

When Mary and Joseph traveled to Jerusalem, then were on their way home and couldn't find Jesus, they were worried, as any good parent would be. Then they found him teaching in the temple and his response to their worries was, "Don't you know that I have to be about my Father's business?"

At some point, before Jesus began his ministry at the age of 30, Joseph died; so Mary became a widow.

She apparently knew and believed that Jesus would do great things and that miracles would be performed by him, because at the wedding she told the servants to do whatever he asked them to do when the wine ran out.

Even though she believed that he would accomplish great things and perform miracles, I don't think she could have possibly known all that he would do once his ministry began. There's a difference between believing that someone can do something and actually seeing it done.

I believe that her heart was broken when she saw people reject her son's message and the religious leaders always trying to trick him and prove that he wasn't truly the Messiah. Then to hear the report about his arrest, the trials, and then to stand at the foot of the cross and see him crucified, I don't think that's the result she had imagined when the angel had showed up in her home as a young girl telling her that the Lord would give him the throne of David.... he would rule over Israel forever and his Kingdom would never end. Perhaps she had envisioned that he would become a great ruler and overthrow the enemies of the people of Israel.

We can read the Word of God and find out all of the details of Jesus' story; but Mary was living it day by day and didn't know what would happen from one day to the next. We can continue reading and know how our story will one day end; she didn't yet have those details, because God had not revealed them to the disciple John.

Yet, not knowing the details and how the story would play out or end, when the angel appeared to Mary, her response was, "I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." She was willing to trust that God had chosen her for this special task and to trust Him to take care of all of the details.

We all have the opportunity to have a heart like Mary. Jesus wants a relationship with each of us and for us to accept him as our Savior. None of us knows what the journey with him will look like, what all the day to day details will entail, the heartbreak and hardships and tragedies nor the joys and blessings; yet we choose to say yes to the Lord and trust that He will be with us and take care of all of the details.

Merry Christmas to each of you! Receive the gift of Jesus into your life and in return, give yourself fully and completely to Him.

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

The Roman Empire had conquered Israel about 65 years earlier. They put Herod (actually Jewish by birth) as the local "King of Jews". Some say the Roman Empire was more litigious (driven by lawyers and legal arguments) than any other nation, including modern USA. But they still gave so much power to Herod that he was able to order all boys under two years old, in and around Bethlehem to be killed, and they were. It created a lot of hatred and anger between the Jews (by the way, Jew, Hebrew, and Israelite aren't exactly the same, but very nearly) and the Romans.

For hundreds of years, prophets had been telling the Israelites that a Messiah would come, and rescue them. Most of the Jewish leaders when Jesus was born were convinced that the Messiah (if He should come then) would be a military leader who would save them from the Romans. They expected Him (whoever He may be) to tell the Romans what-for, give them one futile chance to repent, then destroy them.

So, it shouldn't be surprising that almost everyone's expectations were completely off. Jesus wasn't born the son of a prophet or a king. He wasn't even born of a couple who were married more than 9 months! He didn't even live in Israel for much of His childhood.

So, I'm sure Mary didn't know what to expect. All the things she was taught to expect were turning out wrong.

He didn't kill anyone, much less entire armies. He wasn't a warrior at all. Instead of conquering, He showed love and compassion, and even forgave those who killed Him.

He did save the Israelites. But He saved them from the condemnation of sin, not from the Romans. And because they had rejected Him, that salvation from condemnation of sin is offered to all of the rest of us, too. And He will soon return to claim David's throne for eternity.

ON THE MENEWE:

Hidden Valley Ranch Oyster Crackers

Whisk together oil, dry dressing mix, and spices.

Put crackers in a large bowl and pour mixture over the top; stir to coat evenly.

Spread crackers on a baking sheet and bake at 275 for 15-20 minutes.

Store in a ziplock bag or airtight container.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

This is from December 2016:

My 5-year old great-nephew, Ben, recently explained Christmas like this:

"Jesus still gets presents at His birthday; all the people who die and go to Heaven are His gifts. I mean, He doesn't always want to just be with His Father -- He likes to be with other people, too!"

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

All the Christmas presents in the world are worth nothing without the presence of Christ. - unknown

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org