How Does Deuteronomy Help Us Rejoice in the Lord?

As our name suggests, Desiring God Church emphasizes the importance of our delighting in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We often quote verses such as Psalm 16:11 and Philippians 4:4:

In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

But consider how often we find similar commands in the book of Deuteronomy – often prescribing rejoicing during the regular feasts or when bringing tithes and offerings:

Deut. 12:7 (NET): Both you and your families must feast [at the place God designates] before the LORD your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he has blessed you.

Deut. 12:12 (NET): You shall rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God

Deut. 12:18 (NET): In that place you will rejoice before the LORD your God in all the output of your labor.

Deut. 14:26 [When the people bring their tithes to the place God designates]: You shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.

From Deut. 16:10-15: Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you. 11 And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there…. 14 You shall rejoice in your feast…. 15 For seven days you shall keep the feast to the LORD your God at the place that the LORD will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.

Deut. 26:5-11 [When the people offer from their first harvest in the Promised Land]: You shall make response before the LORD your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. 7 Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8 And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. 9 And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the LORD your God and worship before the LORD your God. 11 And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

Deut. 27:7 [After crossing the Jordan and building an altar]: You shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God.

From these and related passages, consider four observations that help us today to rejoice in God:

First: Rejoice corporately! In our individualistic culture, we easily internalize commands such as Philippians 4:4: “I must rejoice in God in myself!” In contrast, all the quoted passages refer to rejoicing in God together with others. So today we should rejoice together in God not only in our worship services but also at our meals, at family events, at gatherings in our homes. By so doing, we help one another also to rejoice internally.

Second: Recognize that all you have is a gift from God! God owes you nothing. You have earned nothing. As the excerpt from Deuteronomy 26 emphasizes, only a handful of people went to Egypt, and God multiplied them, making them a great nation. Then He rescued them from oppression and by His power brought them into a fruitful land. Just so with us. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, and by His great mercy through the work of His Son He made us alive in Jesus. Every breath, every heartbeat, every morsel of food is an undeserved gift from God.

Third, and related: Recognize that even what you “earn” is a gift from God! Deuteronomy 12:7 says we are to “rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he has blessed you.” Thus, even what seems to result from our work is a blessing from God. Deuteronomy 8:17-18 elaborates on this idea: “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.” If I produce more output than others through diligent work, that doesn’t mean I am better than others, or that I deserve the additional output. Rather, the diligence and the ability to work well are gifts that others do not have. I should therefore rejoice in God all the more.

Finally: Rejoice in the Giver rather than the gift! When they prosper, the Israelites are to rejoice in the giving of tithes and during their regular feasts as repeated reminders of the One Who is Himself good and holy and loving. The houses, the herds, the flocks, the silver, the gold, health, children, protection – all these are pointers to God. Just so with us. Every good and perfect gift is from Him (James 1:17). We must not be like the thousands in John 6 who ate the miraculous bread and simply desired more, failing to see what it signified. Rather, we can take the occasion of every delight – cardinals at the feeder, sunshine on new leaves, a whiff of Clematis flowers, a brisk early-morning walk, tasty cobbler, a toddler’s smile – and rejoice in our trinitarian God, from Whom, through Whom, and unto Whom are all these joys.

[All quotations are ESV unless otherwise indicated.]

Evangelism: Dying Men Preaching in Love to Dying Men for God’s Glory

Richard Baxter famously wrote: “I preached as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.”[1] God has given the great privilege and work of evangelism to the church, which it has carried out since its inception. The first six chapters of Acts illustrate this quite strikingly. Not only does Luke explicitly report four gospel presentations to unbelievers in the first six chapters (Acts 2:14–41; 3:11–26; 4:8–12; 5:29–32), but we read formulas that point to ongoing evangelism like:

 

And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls (Acts 2:40–41).

 

And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2:47).

 

But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand (Acts 4:4).

 

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31).

 

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles (Acts 5:12) (The Holy Spirit bears witness to the gospel through signs and wonders. Therefore, Signs and wonders in Acts go hand-in-hand with gospel proclamation. Cf. Acts 2:22; 5:32; 14:3).

 

And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women (Acts 5:14).

 

And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus (Acts 5:42).

 

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith (Acts 6:7).

 

Evangelism is and has always been the work of the church. But, is there a way to go about this great work of evangelism in a wrongly? Is there a way in which we preach the gospel not as dying men and women to dying men and women for God’s glory?

 

The Right and Wrong Way to Evangelize from Paul and Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Paul says in Philippians 1:18, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” Does this mean that the ends justify the means when it comes to evangelism? Not really. When Paul rejoices that Christ is preached even when the motive of that preaching is envy and rivalry (Philippians 1:15), this is a testament to his utter dearth of selfish ambition when it comes to gospel proclamation, not an approval of motive or how to go about it. Rather, Paul himself here offers us an the right example to follow when it comes to evangelism. For Paul, evangelism is not about himself or his influence. It is about loving and glorifying God in Christ and loving the lost at the expense of oneself.

It must’ve been in this same spirit that the great Welsh pastor (and in many ways evangelist) of Wales and England Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981) (ML-J) offered these five principles for evangelism at a conference in England in 1942:

 

  1. The supreme object of this work is to glorify God…The first object of preaching the Gospel is not to save souls…Nothing else however good in itself, or however noble, must be allowed to usurp that first place.
  2. The only power that can really do this work is that of the Holy Spirit…
  3. The one and only medium through which the Holy Spirit works is the Word of God…The medium which is used by the Holy Spirit is the truth.
  4. The true urge to evanglization must come from apprehending these principles and, therefore, of a zeal for the honour and glory of God, and a love for the souls of men.
  5. There is a constant danger of error, and of heresy, even amongst the most sincere, and also the danger of a false zeal and the employment of unscriptural methods.[2]

 

ML-J’s fifth principle here makes clear the assumption of the biblical foundation of the first four. Therefore, this affords us a helpful exercise. If the first four principles define biblical evangelism, then the opposite of each should help us define unbiblical evangelism. So let’s rewrite the first four principles as the photo-negative version of themselves:

 

  1. The supreme object of this work is to glorify man…The first object of preaching the Gospel is to save souls…
  2. The only power that can really do this work is that of man and his innovation…
  3. The only mediums through which the Holy Spirit works is man’s personality, celebrity, clever words, and persuasive rhetoric.
  4. The true urge to evangelization must come from apprehending these principles and, therefore, of a zeal for the honor and glory of man and a love for self.

 

These principles define an evangelism that will err—stumble headlong into heresy, produce a false, manufactured and manipulated zeal, and employ unscriptural methods. Such evangelism is not the work of dying men seeking to rescue dying men and bring them to God for his glory and influence. This is the work of dying men seeking to rescue dying men and collect them for their own glory and influence. This type of evangelism is evangelism of self-love. But true evangelism is not about self. It is about loving God and loving the souls of lost men even at the expense of oneself.

 

Jesus: The Supreme Evangelist
Jesus is the supreme model for evangelism. In Jesus we see every principle that ML-J articulated. Jesus came evangelizing: “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’ (Mark 1:14–15). And what Jesus called lost men to, he fulfilled in love for men and for God’s glory: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12–13); “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus suffered and died to bring lost souls, whom he loves, to God for God’s glory. Jesus, the living Word, the man of the Spirit, gave his life for the glory of God and in love for the lost. Jesus was the epitome of a dying man bringing the gospel to dying men in love for the glory of God.

 

A Call to Evangelize
Let us be like the founder of our faith. Let us continue his great evangelistic work that he passed on to the church, who has continued to pass on this great work down through the centuries ultimately to you and me. Let us “do the work of an evangelist” and so “fulfill (our) ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5). Let us not evangelize for man’s glory and for love of self, but for God’s glory and for love of the lost. Let us “preach as a dying man to dying men.”

 

[1] Baxter’s Poetical Fragments (1st ed.; 1681), p.40, lines 7-8.

[2] Iain H. Murray, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Fight of Faith 1939–1981 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 2016), 2:90.

Jesus Is Worth It

In Acts 5:40–42, we see a fascinating situation unfold. The religious leaders in Jerusalem beat the apostles for preaching and teaching the gospel of Jesus and charge them to cease and desist. And what happens next? The apostles leave the council, rejoicing!

What leads to this kind of response to suffering and dishonor? Simply put: Jesus is worth it. The apostles treasure Jesus and his gospel promises.

 

Man’s Honor or God’s Honor
Luke notes that the apostles rejoice because they were deemed worthy on behalf of the name to be dishonored (Acts 5:41; My translation). Luke does something interesting here. A few verse before this, a Pharisee named Gamaliel counsels the religious leaders concerning the apostles. Luke makes this observation of Gamaliel: he was held in honor by all the people (Acts 5:34). While this is just an observation on Luke’s part and not necessarily an indictment on Gamaliel, Luke makes this observation to add a flourish of irony to this scene. Desiring honor among the people is the heart of the religious leaders’ problem.

The religious leaders resist the gospel and Jesus because he threatens their influence and authority over the people. Their desire of not wanting the gospel to spread among the people (Acts 4:17) motivated their original ban on gospel preaching by the apostles. The religious leaders covet their glory, authority, and honor among the people. Therefore, when the apostles grow in their influence and the followers of Jesus exponentially increase, the religious leaders are filled with jealousy (Acts 5:17). Jealousy, James notes, goes hand-in-hand with selfish ambition (James 3:16). The religious leaders’ are so bought into their own glory and honor among men that they would gladly trade the glory of God for it. But not the apostles. The apostles, God’s people, gladly choose dishonor among men for Jesus’ sake in order to gain honor from God. Therefore, they rejoice. And this honor from God is guaranteed because they gain it through their treasure Jesus and his gospel promises.

 

Jesus and His Promises
Jesus offered his apostles these words in Luke 6:22–23,

 

“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.”

 

The apostles suffer dishonor among men to gain honor from God because they hold fast to Jesus’ gospel promises. Jesus promised his disciples that their suffering for his sake would lead to great reward in heaven. Here in Acts 5:40–42, with every strike of the rod or whip upon their back, the apostles hear these words ringing in their ears “Your reward is great in heaven! Honor from God!” They hold fast to Jesus’ gospel promises of reward and honor. What is the essence of that reward and honor? Eternity with their treasure, Jesus. How do they know it’s guaranteed? Because Jesus gain it for them.

The apostles suffer dishonor among men to gain honor from God because they hold fast to their treasure, Jesus, who is their life. The apostles are able to endure and hold fast to these promises because they are not the first ones to walk this road. In fact, the path to eternal life in heaven with God has already been paved for them by a forerunner, a pioneer, the Author of Life, their Savior, Jesus (Acts 3:15; 5:30–31). They hold fast to these promises because they hold fast to Jesus who suffered the dishonor and shame of the cross for the sake of the joy that was before him (Hebrews 12:1–2). And, he rose victorious, exalted to God’s right hand as the Author of Life (Acts 3:15; 5:30). Therefore, when the apostles suffer dishonor for Jesus’ sake, they do so because they cling to him as their savior, trusting in the life he won. Furthermore, when they suffer dishonor among men for reward set before them, they have never looked more like Jesus. This last observation—looking like Jesus in suffering—is worth a closer look.

 

Deemed Worthy of Dishonor
Luke notes that the apostles rejoiced not just because they suffered dishonored, but because they were deemed worthy to suffer dishonor. The apostles saw their suffering as an affirmation from God of their worth. This is remarkable. We often consider our suffering to be tied somehow to our being unworthy in the eyes of God, but here we see it is often just the opposite. While the apostles do suffer persecution, which is a unique kind of suffering, the purpose of suffering in general in Scripture points to this same remarkable reality. First Peter 1:7 notes that various trials grieve us in this life for the purpose of proving the genuineness of our faith.

Trials and suffering are not applied because of lack of faith. God applies trials and suffering to reveal for all to see the true, genuine, worthy faith that was there all along, like gold encased in raw ore that only appears once its passed through the crucible. When Christians suffer it is because God has deemed us worthy to suffer. And, we are only worthy because we are united to the great sufferer, Jesus. Because he was perfectly worthy we can rest assured that our suffering points to our worth in him. And so, in the eyes of the world and the heavenlies, when the Christian suffers and still clings to Jesus, God is glorified. And, when the Christian suffers and clings to Jesus, God adds another jewel into the unfading crown of glory that he deems you worthy to receive amidst much praise, glory, and yes, honor (1 Peter 1:4, 7; 5:4). This calls for rejoicing.

 

Rejoice
Whether we suffer persecution for the gospel or suffer the trials of life, let us rejoice. Rejoice because in God’s eyes, we have been deemed worthy of the highest honor: suffering like our king who endured for the joy set before him. Rejoice because of the life we have in and with Jesus our greatest treasure now, and because of the reward he won for us in that awaits in eternity. And as you rejoice, be like the apostles and continue to proclaim Jesus (Acts 5:42). Let the psalmist in Psalm 73:25–28 instruct us,

 

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;

you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

But for me it is good to be near God;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

that I may tell of all your works.

 

When suffering and dishonor come in this life, rejoice! Jesus is worth it.

Don’t Stand Aloof. Fly to the Fount.

In Acts 5:12–16, we see an amazing scene glowing red hot with signs and wonders and astounding church growth. But nestled within this wild scene is an exhortation that we can’t allow to sneak past us for all the action. Don’t stand aloof from Jesus. Come to him.

We find the action that gives rise to the dramatic results in verse 12,

 

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.

 

God the Holy Spirit powerfully works signs and wonders through the apostles among the people and in the gathered church. The result:

 

more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

 

Now, at this point in Acts, the Lord had already been adding people to the church in huge numbers: Three thousand at Pentecost. Two thousand or perhaps even five thousand after Peter and John heal the lame man. So the church, counting women and children, is already pushing ten thousand at this point. And now more than ever believers were added to the Lord (Acts 5:14). The scene had to have been a wild one in Jerusalem. How do you even begin to report it. Well, Luke essentially drops us into a theater seat here and offers us a glimpse of the glorious, divinely directed play. People in the streets on cots. People pouring in from all the surrounding cities threatening to burst the walls of Jerusalem. All healed.

A good question to ask at this point is this: did the signs and wonders do this? They certainly played a part, or Luke would not have pointed them out. But what part did they fill in this divine comedy? Were they the lead role? Or, were they the supporting role. Acts 2:22 gives us the answer:

 

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22).

 

The purpose of signs and wonders and the miraculous when Jesus walked the earth was to attest to Jesus. Acts 14:3 confirms that this remains the purpose of signs and wonders and miracles in the ministry of the church. There Luke describes Paul and Barnabas’s ministry in Iconium, saying,

 

So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands (Acts 14:3).

 

Thus, the Holy Spirit performs signs and wonders through the church for the purpose of attesting to and bearing witness to Jesus and the gospel. Signs and wonders are the supporting character that shines the spotlight on the lead character, Jesus. Signs and wonders show Jesus. That’s their purpose, and they cannot be divorced from that purpose. They are never alone, but accompany the gospel.

So, when we consider a scene like Acts 5:12–16, we must recognize that Luke assumes the gospel here. These signs and wonders were done while the apostles boldly proclaimed the gospel (Acts 4:30–31). If this is the case, then, people are flocking to Jesus and availing themselves of all his benefits promised in the gospel. Thus, as Luke notes, believers, that is believers in Jesus, were added to the Lord (5:14). And as they came bringing the sick and demon afflicted, or perhaps sick and afflicted themselves, they found healing. Here in Acts 5:12, you can see the desperate hope. You can almost smell the mass of humanity. You can hear the commotion—cries of need from the sick and afflicted mingled with spontaneous exultations of the healed and delivered. Wonder upon wonder!

And, tucked away in this sensory scene is an implicit exhortation. In v. 13 we read,

 

None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem (Acts 5:13).

 

While believers frantically flock to Jesus, there are others or the rest, the people (formulaic in Acts for those outside the church) who keep their distance. And yet, we also see that these people are divided even within themselves.

The people, while not daring to join the church still hold them (the apostles and the church) in high esteem. A more literal translation could be they magnify them. This Greek word that we render hold in high esteem or magnify (μεγαλύνω) usually attaches itself to the Lord or Jesus in the NT. For example, the Lord Jesus was extolled or magnified in Acts 19:17. In the OT, the Greek word translates the Hebrew word that communicates the idea of making great. Again, this word most often refers to God being made great. However, when it is applied to a man in the OT, that man is typically made great or magnified only because of his association with God and his glory. That is, God makes them great in the eyes of men (For example, Genesis 12:12; 2 Samuel 5:10).

The payoff of this little word study is this: These people who keep their distance magnify the apostles and the church not in spite of Jesus and his glory, but because of him. They recognize that God is with the church and doing something through them for his glory in the name of Jesus. And yet, they dare not join them.

When Jesus enters the scene, we can rest assured that there will always be division. That’s because Jesus demands all or nothing. But in return, he gives so much more,

 

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35).

 

When these people in Acts 5:13 see Jesus, they sheepishly stop short—content just to spectate and admire. Others see Jesus and furiously fly—not content until he is theirs and they are his. And it is only those who come to Jesus who find healing (Acts 5:16).

Let this exhort us.

When God reveals his glory to us in face of Jesus

When Scripture shows Jesus in all his exacting elegance

When the preached Word pricks our hardened hearts with the call of Christ

When the Holy Spirit works a sign or wonder or miracle to throw light on the love of God in Jesus

Do not stand aloof. Fly to the fount.

 

Nothing in my hand I bring

Simply to the cross I cling

Naked come to thee for dress

Helpless look to thee for grace

Wretched to the fount I fly

Wash me Savior or I die [1]

 

[1] Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me by Augustus Toplady (1776).

Quiz: Identify What is Left Out

Consider the following version of Ephesians 2:1-10, without looking at your Bible. Is something wrong?

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience– among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ– by grace you have been saved– and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

This version of the text clearly states essential aspects of the Gospel: We were dead in trespasses and sins; we thus cannot save ourselves; God saves us by grace through the work of Jesus, through our faith in Him; He has made us alive, raised us with Christ, and seated us with Him, so the work is complete; He will delight to show us His grace in kindness to us forever and ever; He has prepared good works for us to do in this life.

So is anything important missing?

This version leaves out nine words: “In Christ Jesus,” repeated in verses 6, 7, and 10.

Did you notice that?

Many presentations of the Gospel highlight the essential aspects detailed above, yet do not explicitly state that these benefits are all in Christ Jesus. We tend to highlight that the benefits of the Gospel come to us through Christ Jesus, because of Christ Jesus – His death, His resurrection, His teaching, His example. The Apostle Paul, in contrast, emphasizes strongly that these blessings are ours if and only if we are in Christ Jesus. Indeed, in Ephesians 1:3-14 Paul repeats that idea six times.

Other biblical images elaborate on this truth: We are the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23, 1 Corinthians 10:16); He is the vine, we are the branches (John 15:1-10); we are the Bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25-33, Revelation 19:7-8, 21:2); we are to be rooted and built up in Him (Colossians 2:6-7); we are to feed on Him, the true Bread from heaven (John 6:32-35, 53-56).

When we focus solely on the Gospel benefits we receive through Jesus, we have a tendency to think of salvation in legal terms: we are guilty, but Jesus paid the penalty. We are now free from condemnation.

By emphasizing that these benefits are in Christ, Paul highlights the essential relational nature of the Gospel – and thus the point John emphasizes: our need to keep feeding on Him, to continue to depend on Him, to keep cultivating that love for Him, and to be alert to disruptions in the relationship, being quick to repent and turn to Him.

As a participation in the body and blood of Jesus (1 Corinthians 10:16), the Lord’s Supper pictures these truths. So as we approach a season of celebrating this ordinance every Sunday, come to the table with these thoughts in mind: “I am in Christ Jesus; I feed on Him; I have no good apart from Him; He is the blessed man (Psalm 1) and those blessings are mine in Him.”

Praise God for the Gospel benefits that come through Christ Jesus. And praise God that we have Gospel blessings in Christ Jesus for all eternity.

God Loves You More Than You Love Him

God is more excited about your redemption than you are. Zephaniah 3:14–20 prophesies of the coming day of redemption for God’s people through the gospel of Jesus. It is a day of great joy. And, the joy of some is greater than others. In short, God’s joy in and love for you so outshines your joy in and love for him that when you finally witness it in full, it will quite literally take your breath away. Consider some bits of the passage.

 

The Joy of the Redeemed
Zephaniah 3:14 exhorts you to express your joy fervently:

 

Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! (Zephaniah 3:14)

 

God through his prophet gives you three commands: (1) Sing aloud, (2) Rejoice, and (3) Exult. God’s people are a people who must sing and sing loudly! They are a people who must rejoice and exult with all their hearts. In the same way the Great Commandment exhorts you to love the LORD your God with all your heart, Zephaniah exhorts you to sing loudly as you rejoice and exult with all your heart.

Why? Two categorical reasons. Because of your redemption and because of your redeemer. The next verse makes this clear.

 

The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. (Zephaniah 3:15)

 

The three commands of sing aloud, rejoice, and exult have three reasons that we can shuffle into the two categories of redemption and redeemer: (1) the LORD has taken away the judgments against you; (2) the Lord has cleared away your enemies; and (3) the King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst.

 

Your Redemption
First, you sing, rejoice, and exult because of your redemption. Consider the first two reasons that make up your redemption. (1) “the LORD has taken away the judgments against” you, and (2) the LORD “has cleared away your enemies.” Zephaniah makes a word play here that we don’t get in our English translation. The Hebrew word that we translate “take away” conveys the meaning of turn aside. We could translate then, “the LORD has turned aside the judgments against you.” Similarly, the Hebrew word we translate “cleared away” conveys the meaning of turn to. So we could translate “he has turned to your enemies.”

The full effect here is this. In your sin, you were an enemy of God under his rightful judgment. Yet, the promise of redemption in Jesus means that God has turned aside his judgments against you because they have all landed on Jesus. No more wrath for sins remains for you. Thus, as a result, the LORD now turns to all your enemies—sin, Satan and his demonic forces, and death itself—in order that they may feel the full weight of his divine judgment. Because of Jesus, the LORD has turned aside his wrath from you and has turned toward your enemies in his hot, blazing wrath. This is enough in and of itself to lead to great joy. But there’s more.

 

Your Redeemer
Second, you sing, rejoice, and exult because of your redeemer. The third reason in Zephaniah 3:15 doesn’t describe your redemption but your redeemer—the King is in your midst. Notice how the prophet describes the king. He is not merely “the King of Israel.” He is “the King of Israel, the LORD” who is in your midst. This King is YHWH. That is, Jesus Christ your King, the Son of God, dwells in the midst of his people now spiritually, and he will dwell in the midst of his people forever in the new heavens and new earth.

The reasons for joy have piled up so high that you should be boiling over with loud singing, rejoicing, and exulting! You who are in Christ should be the most joyful people because of your redemption and your redeemer. And you should be experts at expressing it with passion. However, there is one whose excitement for your redemption outpaces even your own. Look at what else the prophet has to say.

 

The Joy of Your Redeemer
In Zephaniah 3:17, the prophet moves away from describing the joy of the redeemed and begins to describe the joy of the redeemer.

 

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17).

 

The command to you is to sing loudly, rejoice, and exult with all your heart in your redemption and in your redeemer. And yet, what you read here is that your redeemer—the King, the LORD who is in your midst—also rejoices. And notice what or rather who he is rejoicing in—“he will rejoice over you with gladness.” Specifically, the prophet says (1) he will rejoice over you, (2) he will exult over you, and (3) he will sing over you. The prophet begins to paint a picture for you here.

As you come to the LORD, singing, rejoicing, and exulting with everything you have, he is doing the exact same thing. And what is the result? Is it a joyful back and forth of singing? Surprisingly, no. The prophet says you will actually stop your singing at the sight of the LORD—he will quiet you by his love. The Hebrew word for “quiet” here does not convey the idea of calming down or comforting like you might comfort and quiet a fussy or sad child. Rather, the word conveys the idea of keeping silent. The picture suddenly takes on more color. You come to the LORD with great joy, singing loudly, rejoicing and exulting with all of your heart. But you quickly find that the LORD’s joy completely eclipses yours. God’s delight in you, whom he has redeemed, is so great that it moves you to shocked silence.

 

Stand in Awe of Your Redeemer
God is more excited about your redemption than even you are. And his joy in and love for you will so outshine your joy in and love for him that it will quite literally take your breath away. What does this mean for you? Well, it means that right now for you in Christ, you should worship him with all you have. Specifically, according to Zephaniah, (1) you must sing and sing loudly, (2) you must rejoice with all of your heart, and (3) you must exult with all of your heart. You should express the entire scope of your joy and happiness in your redemption and in your redeemer. But it also means that you should expect in foretaste now and in full flavor in eternity to be moved to shocked silence—hand over your mouth, awe—when you see, experience, and know God’s joy and love for you in Christ that surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:17–19). It also means that even when you are not delighting in and rejoicing in him or when you may be tempted to doubt his love for you, he has not ceased to delight in and rejoice in you.

As excited as you may be about your redemption, and as much as you might delight in and love your redeemer, his excitement over, delight in, and love for you far surpasses it. Look at the joy and love of your redeemer, and be moved to silence. Stand in awe of King Jesus, the LORD your God, in your midst.

The Sanctity of Life and the Fourteenth Amendment

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution is much in the news this month following President Trump’s executive order on ending birthright citizenship. Section 1 of the amendment reads:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The present legal debate concerns the meaning of “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” All agree that the phrase excludes the children of diplomats from other countries who reside in the US. But does it include the children of tourists? Those tourists, after all, must obey US criminal law. Or does it only include those citizens and legal permanent residents who have a commitment to this country?

The language of the amendment and the historical setting raise an even more fundamental question, however: As Marvin Olasky and Leah Savas write, “Were unborn children among the ‘persons’ the Amendment protected? Or, should the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of the laws’ … include freedom for women to abort?” (All quotations are from chapter 18 in The Story of Abortion in America: A Street-Level History 1652-2022, Crossway, 2023).

Scripture describes instances in which unborn children are filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:15), leap for joy (Luke 1:41-44), are in sin (Psalm 51:5), and struggle with one another (Genesis 25:22). These are characteristics of persons. We at DGCC have argued time and again that the biblical evidence is thus clear (see these links: first, second, third, fourth).

But does that biblical understanding underlie the fourteenth amendment? Olasky and Savas present evidence that its contemporaries thought it did.

The Congressional debate over the amendment in May of 1866 rightly focused on providing equal protection for African Americans recently freed from slavery. Earlier that same month in Memphis, police and other state officials – even the Tennessee attorney general – did nothing to stop and even encouraged mobs to slaughter dozens of African Americans. With such government-inflicted horrors in the news, no congressman made an explicit statement concerning abortion during the debate.

But the history of the amendment’s ratification displays the widespread understanding that unborn children are persons. In January of 1867 the Ohio legislature ratified the amendment while also passing an anti-abortion law, with a committee stating that doctors all agree “that the foetus in utero is alive from the very moment of conception…. The willful killing of a human being, at any stage of its existence, is murder” (Olasky and Savas). This legislature clearly believed that in ratifying the amendment they were protecting the rights not only of African Americans, but also of the unborn.

State legislatures also passed pro-life laws shortly before or after ratifying the fourteenth amendment in Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon, and Vermont. By 1868 more than 80 percent of the 37 states had pro-life laws. As Olasky and Savas write, these laws

referred to the fetus as a “child” and/or “person.” Twenty of them punished equally killing an unborn child at six weeks [of gestational age] or six months. Laws in 17 of the states called abortion manslaughter, murder, or assault with intent to murder, and classified abortion as a crime against a person.

In the next several months, many will argue based on evidence from the 1800s about the implications of the fourteenth amendment for birthright citizenship. I encourage you, when you hear such arguments, bring out this even more important issue from the same century.

And pray:

  • Pray that the horror of hundreds of thousands of unborn children killed annually might end
  • Pray that we God’s church might work more and more effectively to love and care for women with unplanned pregnancies
  • Pray, yes, for better laws protecting unborn children in our own state
  • And pray against idolatry, in your own heart and in the hearts of others. For the decision to kill a child in the womb always results from idolatry.

[The Olasky and Savas volume tells numerous stories that illustrate the link between idolatry and abortion over the past several hundred years.]

 

Welcomed by God

Are you a weary sinner worn down by your idolatrous pursuits, guilt-ridden and ashamed to return to God? God welcomes you in Christ. Are you a weary saint worn down by the trials and tribulations of life, wondering if any of your labors will bear fruit, reward, or glory for your king or whether such labor will be overshadowed by your feebleness and failings? God welcomes you in Christ.

This Sunday, we will consider this high calling in Romans 15:7,

 

Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

 

To do this, we must first consider this: How does Christ welcome us?

 

Weary Sinners
First, Jesus has welcomed us as we are, sinners in need of a savior. When we come to God in our weakness and need, he welcomes us as the father welcomed his prodigal son in Luke 15:17–24. We often come to God like this prodigal son came to his father. We come with a plan. Consider Luke 15:17–19,

 

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’

 

Notice the plan: (Step 1) I’ll confess, (Step 2) I’ll declare my unworthiness, (Step 3) I’ll take a demoted position and work to earn my place. The plan is heartfelt and marked with genuine humility. Yet some subtle but substantive misunderstanding of the father tinctures this plan. And so too often with us when we return to God from our wayward ways. And God in Jesus blows up our categories of restoration with his profound grace. Just consider how the father receives his returning son,

 

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

 

Notice, the son begins to implement his plan, and what is the father’s response? He doesn’t even acknowledge his sons attempt earn the restoration. Luke uses the key word “But” to show us the contrast in the father’s response to the son’s expectation of being treated as a servant. The son offers his spiel, but the father puts on mercy’s robe and a ring of grace.[1] The father welcomes his son home with abundant mercy, grace, and celebration. There is no time for self-flagellation when a son who was dead returns alive.

This is how Christ welcomes weary sinners. This is how Christ welcomes you. He welcomes you with staggering mercy, confounding grace, and exuberant celebration. But what’s arguably more breathtaking is the welcome weary saints receive when King Jesus returns.

 

Weary Saints
Second, Jesus welcomes weary saints with refreshing. Jesus offers us a parable to illustrate this in Luke 12:35–40. There, Jesus offers a parable to warn his people to remain faithful and expectant of his future return rather than being distracted by and invested in earthly things. Consider Jesus’ words,

 

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them.

 

The promise to the servants who are faithfully waiting their master’s return is that when the master does finally return, he greet his faithful, joyful servants happily. Then the servants will, in their joy, have their master sit as they begin to serve him. Is that the promise? No. The unexpected promise is that when the master returns and finds his servants faithfully working, he will have them sit, and he will serve them in joy. We can never outdo the hospitality of God in Jesus. The promise for you weary saint is that no matter how arduous or up and down the journey to eternity seems, no matter how long you have awaited the return of your master, if you remain faithful, he will come to you. And though you would welcome him, he will welcome you with times of refreshing.

 

Welcomed by God
God welcomes weary sinners and weary saints in Jesus. The promise for you weary, prodigal sinner is that if you will come to God in Jesus, he will welcome you. He will clothe you. He will adorn you. He will kill the fattened calf and celebrate you. There will be no place for guilt or demotion. The promise for you weary but faithful saint is that when Jesus returns, he will welcome you. He will wipe the sweat from your brow. He will sit you down at table. He will offer you a cool drink from the river of life. And he will set a feast before you. So if you are weary, a weary sinner or a weary saint, let the tried and true words of that great hymn by Joseph Hart be your anthem,

 

I will arise and go to Jesus
He will embrace me in His arms
In the arms of my dear Savior
Oh, there are ten thousand charms (Joesph Hart, “Come Ye Sinners” [1759])

 

This is your king, the one who welcomes you with ten thousand charms. Come weary sinner. Come weary saint. You are welcomed by God.

 

 

[1] “mercy’s robe” and “a ring of grace” are lyrics found in “The Prodigal” by Sovereign Grace Music. Music and words by Meghan Baird and Ryan Baird. © 2009 Sovereign Grace Worship/ASCAP (adm. by Integrity Music). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Churches. All rights reserved.

Snow and the Kindness of God

Snow should remind us who are in Christ of God’s kindness.

According to Queen City News, Charlotte has not seen measurable snow since January 2022. That’s a three year snow drought. That means, we (the Smith family) have never seen snow in Charlotte. But as I write this, snow sits on the ground outside our house. Our first NC snow! As many of you know, we moved here from the Midwest—namely Kansas City, MO, by way of Minneapolis, MN,—where we grew quite accustomed to lots and lots and LOTS of snow. But, let me tell you, it hasn’t taken very long for us to lose our familiarity with it. Three years of no snow may as well be thirty. So that makes our very first snow in Charlotte and the first snow in three years for many of you as fascinating and magical as ever. And, while there can often be some inconveniences with snow, these white crystals of frozen water that captivate us from the time we’re young should also spark flames of praise to our Heavenly Father. Consider the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 147,

 

Praise the LORD!

He sends out his command to the earth;

his word runs swiftly.

He gives snow like wool;

he scatters frost like ashes.

He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;

who can stand before his cold? (Psalm 147:1, 15–17)

 

God is the inventor and maker of snow, and that should lead to our wonder and praise. And, when this rare snow starts to melt, which is likely to be rather quickly, that too should remind us to send up praises to the Creator. Again, the Psalmist,

 

He sends out his word, and melts them;

he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. (Psalm 147:18)

 

Snow should lead us to praise God. But do we praise God merely for this mesmerizing gift of snow as wonder-inducing as it may be? No. This sprinkle of snow and ice, its falling and its ultimate melting, is simply a kind reminder from God that he has been uniquely kind to us who are in Christ. That’s because, just as he sent this snow by his word, he has kindly revealed himself to us by declaring his Word to us. Again, the Psalmist,

 

He declares his word to Jacob,

his statutes and rules to Israel.

He has not dealt thus with any other nation;

they do not know his rules. (Psalm 147:19–20)

 

If you know the gospel, if you know God’s Word, it is only because he has spoken it to you and revealed it to you. It is only because God has kindly shown mercy to you.

 

Just as God speaks to send the snow and take the snow away, he spoke to reveal himself, awaken our hearts, and remove our sinfulness through the gospel of Jesus. As long as a three year snow drought may seem, we were on a trajectory of lifelong spiritual drought. And God in his kindness permanently broke the drought. Snow should remind us who are in Christ of God’s kindness to us. This snow, therefore, should lead all of us who are in Christ to one thing. It should lead us to repeat the refrain of the Psalmist,

 

Praise the Lord! (Psalm 147:20)

The Confusion of Christmas

The Confusion of Christmas

  • “Happy Holidays!”
  • “Best wishes for the Festive Season!”
  • “Peace on earth!”
  • “Merry Christmas!”
  • “Joy to the World!”

We have heard and read and sung such expressions this season. Praise God, Jesus’ birth is a time for celebration:

  • The angel Gabriel says to Zechariah, “You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth” (Luke 1:14).
  • Mary sings, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47).
  • The angel says to the shepherds, “I proclaim to you a good and great joy” (Luke 2:10).

The long wait is over! The Child is born! He is Savior and Lord!

But taken in isolation, those expressions are misleading. For the message of Christmas is not peace to all. The coming of Jesus is not joyous to all mankind. The incarnation of the Lord God is not merry to many.

We see this in our own day. Many do not recognize the baby in the manger as Christ the Lord. Of these, a few – following after Ebenezer Scrooge – therefore refuse to celebrate at all. But most are unlike Scrooge. They take the opportunity to celebrate whatever they treasure, whether debauchery or riches or family and friendship.

Our passage, Luke 2:22-52, makes clear that Christmas is not about a general sense of celebration – not even a celebration of family and friendship. Yes, the long-awaited Messiah is born, and those who believe in Him should rejoice and celebrate. Yet Luke follows his account of the celebration by angels and shepherds of Jesus’ birth with a report of Mary and Joseph’s confusion and consternation.

From the start, Jesus is not what people expect him to be. He becomes a dividing line. Praise God, His coming leads to the rising of many in Israel. But His coming also leads to the fall of many. There is no peace, no goodwill for them. Thus, Jesus is a divider. So we must ask ourselves: Which side am I on?

So the message of Christmas is not: Celebrate! The message of Christmas is: Receive the Gift of Salvation! Then celebrate the Giver!

We’ll examine our passage under two headings:

  • A Savior – for Whom?
  • A Son – to Whom?

A Savior – For Whom?

Luke has already told us about Zechariah and Elizabeth, who were “righteous before God, walking blamelessly” (Luke1:6). They were devout. They kept a clear conscience before God. When they sinned, they made use of the sacrificial system, the provision in the Law for dealing with sin

Joseph and Mary are similar. At a time when many ignored the Law and others lived up to it outwardly but violated it inwardly, this couple lived by it. Luke 2:22-24 provides evidence of this. According to Leviticus, Mary needed to be purified after giving birth. Also, every firstborn needed to be redeemed according to the Law. In addition, it seems as if Mary and Joseph are dedicating Jesus in a special way to God, like Hannah did with Samuel. So Mary and Joseph intend to accomplish all three of these purposes when traveling the seven miles from Bethlehem to the temple in Jerusalem.

When entering, they meet another righteous, devout person: an old man, Simeon, who is “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” That is, he is waiting for the Messiah. He believes the prophecies. He knows the Messiah is coming.

The Spirit has revealed to Simeon that he would see the long-awaited Messiah before dying (Luke 2:26). When his eyes fall on the infant Jesus, the Spirit lets him know: “This is He!” So Simeon comes up to Mary and – likely to her surprise – takes the baby in his arms.

Luke 2:33 tells us that the couple “marvel” at what he then says. The word translated “marvel” can also connote surprise, or being disturbed. Here, Mary and Joseph are definitely surprised, and quite possibly disturbed. Why? Let’s consider Simeon’s words.

After praising God and declaring, “I’m ready to die,” Simeon goes on to say, “My eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared before all peoples.” Jesus is that salvation. But in what sense is He “prepared before all peoples”?

The picture here is similar to David’s image in Psalm 23:5: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Jesus is the feast, the Christmas dinner if you like. Indeed, Jesus will say, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), and, when speaking of bread, “This is my body which is for you” (1 Corinthians 11:24).

For whom did God prepare this feast? God prepared this feast “before all peoples,” for all nations. He set the table in front of all peoples. Every people group is not only invited; every people group will attend. Whatever race, whatever customs, whatever majority religion, however many centuries of rejecting the Gospel – those from every people group will find salvation in Jesus Christ, every people group will feast on Him.

This message is in the Hebrew Scriptures (see Psalm 67:3,5 and many others). Yet for the most part, Jews – even devout Jews like Joseph and Mary – had missed that truth. They saw the Messiah as coming to help them. They knew other nations were involved somehow – they knew that other nations would recognize that they were truly God’s people. But they didn’t see the Jewish Messiah as coming to save all peoples. So this idea is confusing – disturbing even – to Joseph and Mary.

But Simeon doesn’t stop with that statement. In verse 32, he calls that salvation – Jesus Himself – a light. Then he explains how Jesus is a light in two different ways. First, He is a “light for revelation to the Gentiles.” The word “Gentiles” here refers not to non-Jewish individuals, but once again to nations, to people groups. All these nations are walking in darkness. They desperately need the light of the revelation of Who God is, and how to be put right with Him. Jesus is their salvation.

Second, Jesus is also a light for glory to God’s people Israel. This is what Joseph and Mary expected and longed for. The Messiah will come and show that those who loved His appearing were right. They will be glorified. God will show that He has not forsaken them, despite the centuries of oppression.

So the Messiah serving as a light to show the glory of true Israel is not a surprise. But Israel – in particular, Jesus Himself as the True Israel – being God’s chosen means of blessing all nations was not expected even by devout Jews, and thus this idea surprises Jesus’ parents. Simeon in effect says, “Mary, this son of yours is not only the Messiah who will redeem Israel. He also will save all peoples, even those who have oppressed Israel.”

Mary’s head must be swimming at this when Simeon speaks directly to her in in Luke 2:34-35, adding another element to her consternation:

“Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Consider first what comes before and after the parenthetical phrase.

Some within Israel will rise when they encounter this child. Their hearts will be revealed, showing that they truly follow God, they truly love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. He may confuse them; they will not always understand Him. But they will love Jesus’ appearing.

Others won’t rise. They will stumble over Him. They will fall. Their hearts will be revealed, showing that they are in fact opposed to God, no matter what their official title might be.

Of course, this happened in Jesus’ own day. The High Priest, the chief priests, the Sanhedrin as a group opposed Him. They stumbled over Him. Their hearts were shown to be against God, not for Him.

And the same still happens today. Some long for His appearing. Some – even some with the title of pastor or bishop – mock it.

Luke 2:36-38 add to this point by speaking of elderly Anna, who like Simeon is devout and looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. After seeing Jesus, Anna speaks of Him to “all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” The clear implication: While some are waiting for this redemption, others are not. She doesn’t even speak to them.

My friends, Jesus ultimately divides all people into two groups: Those who long for Him –  who love Him before they see Him, who know Him upon seeing Him – and those who don’t. Jesus is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel. Simeon and Anna both bring out this point

But I don’t think this idea surprises Mary, for in her song of praise (Luke 1:46-55) she says, “His mercy is for those who fear Him” (and thus His mercy is not for those who don’t fear Him); “He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts” (for the proud set themselves up in opposition to Him), and “He has brought down the mighty from their thrones” (for He is the only ultimate power).

Mary knew from the Old Testament that the proud, the mighty within Israel would not follow the Messiah, and that He would overthrow them. She knew that only the remnant, the true, believing remnant, would follow the coming King. So, this idea is not what surprises and disturbs her.

The surprise is found within the parenthetical phrase in Luke 2:36: A sword will pierce her soul. This is the first hint that being the mother of the Messiah will bring pain to Mary. Of course, she has already experienced some degree of pain and inconvenience.

  • She became pregnant before she was married.
  • Her plans for her life were turned upside down.
  • She had to make a journey of several days while pregnant.
  • She gave birth in far from ideal circumstances.

But Simeon suggests a much deeper pain, a much more piercing sorrow. Why? She’s the mother of the Messiah! His kingdom will last forever! All generations will call her blessed!

The Holy Spirit allows Simeon to get a glimpse of the suffering Mary will go through following the rejection of her son by the religious leaders. This, too, is the first indication that there will be a major delay between His incarnation and the time when all will bow down before Him.

This is the confusion of Christmas. Jesus comes as King over all, but He also comes to divide. There is no cause for celebration at Christmas for those who refuse to submit to Him.

Furthermore, although those who long for His appearing should celebrate His birth, even for them there is reason for sober judgment. For until He comes again, we, like Mary, will suffer if we follow Him. We may lose possessions. We may give up careers. We may lose respect. We may even lose our lives. So we must ask one another: Do you count all else as rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Him? He must be your treasure – He must be more valuable to you than all else. You can’t take a piece of the Messiah. To be your Savior, He must be your Everything.

So this infant is a Savior – for whom? He is a Savior for the Jews who long for Him, who love God with all their hearts. He is a Savior for those from every tribe and tongue and people who also long for Him. The offer to join the feast stands today: Love Him. Long for Him. Treasure Him. And He will be your Savior.

A Son – To Whom?

Mary and Joseph eventually return to Nazareth, where Jesus grows in physical strength and is filled with wisdom by God’s grace. The next scene takes place when Jesus is twelve (Luke 2:41-52). All Jewish men are obligated to attend the Passover in Jerusalem. This year, Mary and Jesus accompany Joseph. Many from Nazareth and, perhaps, from nearby towns travel together for safety and companionship. After Passover concludes, the caravan begins the several-day journey home. Mary and Joseph don’t see Jesus during that first day of travel but think nothing of it; He has many friends and relatives in the caravan. But that evening, He is nowhere to be found; they realize He did not leave Jerusalem with them. The next day, they return to find Him, but arrive late and once again go to sleep not knowing the whereabouts of their son. Worried, they search for Him the next day.

Where do they find Him at long last? In the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening, questioning. Those hearing Him are amazed at his understanding.

Mary and Joseph are dumbfounded (Luke 2:48). He knew when the caravan was leaving. He knew they expected Him to go with them. What does He think He’s doing?

Mary speaks out, using words similar to what some of you parents may have said to your own child: “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”

Jesus’ response provides us with His earliest words recorded in the New Testament: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49).

Jesus says, “I’m easy to find. It’s necessary that I be here, in my Father’s house. Didn’t you know that? Mother, consider: Who am I? Who is my Father?”

Now, Jesus is not being disobedient or disrespectful. Luke 2:51 makes this absolutely clear: He returns to Nazareth and is submissive to Mary and Joseph.

So why does Jesus do this? To make a point. His actions tell Mary and Joseph, “I love you and respect you. I will always be your son. I will serve you as a son. But I have another calling – a higher calling. I was sent for a purpose. I must be about my Father’s business. And also, Mother, do you feel this pain now? It’s not my intention to give you pain. But as I follow my Father’s plan, I will give you greater pain than this. This is the first of many times when my actions will confuse you. So remember what you have learned. A sword will pierce your own soul. But I am the Son of the Most High. I am the King of Kings. My reign will never end. Trust me. I know what I must do – for your good and God’s glory.”

Mary’s problem is our problem. She had expectations for her Son, the Messiah. Jesus didn’t live up to those expectations. He had his own agenda. He had his own plan. So she was dumbfounded.

What do you expect Jesus to do? How do you expect Him to relate to you? Whatever you expect – He will act differently. Whatever plans you have, almost certainly Jesus will change those plans.

The Christ of Christmas confuses and astounds us, confounding our expectations. The Christ of Christmas will challenge you, stretch you, mold you, break you.

But He is the feast set before you! He is the ultimate joy! His incarnation should lead to a joyous celebration among His people. Christ is born! The Savior is here! And He is Lord!

What is He to you?

Don’t be fooled by the pictures of baby Jesus. A tiny baby in his mother’s arms seems no threat to anyone. Everyone loves a baby.

  • But the Christ of Christmas is appointed for the falling and rising of many.
  • The Christ of Christmas reveals the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
  • The Christ of Christmas divides us all into those who treasure Him and those who oppose Him – there is no middle ground.

He comes to save His people. But He is your Savior only on His terms. And His terms are: Everything. Your possessions. Your future plans. Your family. Everything.

We must love Him with all our heart. We must trust Him with all our lives.

Do you trust Him? Do you love Him? Will you follow Him – no matter what confusing, circuitous route you might take?

The Christ of Christmas is God’s salvation for you.

The Christ of Christmas is a light for revelation to all peoples – including your people.

The Christ of Christmas is worth more than everything you own; He is worth more than all your hopes and dreams.

So take Him! Confess your sinfulness, your lack of love for Him. Confess your mixed desires.  Repent – and find your salvation in the Christ of Christmas.

(This devotion is based on a sermon on Luke 2:22-52 preached Christmas Day 2005.)