At the time of Jesus’ birth, outside Bethlehem an angel announced Jesus’ birth to shepherds. The angel declared to them that their Savior, the Christ/Messiah had been born. They would have a sign of a child lying in a feeding trough, wrapped in swaddling clothes. This sign to the shepherds enabled them to find Jesus, because how many babies would be lying in a feeding trough? The shepherds’ arrival also would have confirmed to Mary and Joseph the identity of Jesus, who had been revealed to them and Elizabeth, but now was being revealed to others, even strangers to them.
The fact that Mary and Joseph were outside with the livestock would have made it easier for the shepherds to find them. Under normal circumstances a child is born in privacy in a home or shelter. Had that been the case the shepherds would have had to find the exact house and room where Jesus was, which would have been much more difficult than locating the livestock in a village, which were probably placed in one location. Having located the livestock, finding a child sleeping in a feeding trough, a very unusual occurrence, would have been much more doable. All was outside and accessible to them. Even in Jesus’ birth, we see that Jesus was not hidden away, but accessible to all who sought him. What was likely a great inconvenience to Mary and Joseph, possibly even a disappointment that Jesus was not born at home in Nazareth or at least in a house, turned out to be a blessing to those who were seeking to honor him. In those difficult circumstances for Mary and Joseph, Jesus was accessible for others to find and worship. This was the purpose of Jesus’ coming, that he would be available to anyone who sought him out. What was true then is still true today.
How we view God will impact our life and how we live our our life. I found it interesting to look at Mary’s, the mother of Jesus, perspective on who God was to her. She made a famous proclamation after hearing the news that she would give birth to the Son of God. In her proclamation called “The Magnificat”, she revealed her view and beliefs about God. She identified God as Lord, implying that she was submitted to him. Following that introductory statement, she called God her savior, revealing that she believed she was in need of a savior. Having identified who God was to her, she acknowledged that he was personally aware of her situation and his care for her and her future. Because of his care for her, she understood that future generations would consider her to be blessed. In fact, since the first century, Mary has been admired and honored by each generation of Christians, because of her belief in the angel’s word that she would be part of something that had never happened before and for some was unbelievable.
As Mary understood God’s care for her life, she also recognized his activity in human affairs. While exalting the humble, God brings down those who are proud. Mary herself is a prime example of one who was humble, but whom God lifted up and has honored throughout history. She never should have been remembered; she wasn’t rich; she wasn’t powerful, nevertheless her memory has been and continues to be honored.
If we view God in ways similar to how Mary viewed God, we will reap benefits from that understanding. We will see his hand in the blessings of our life, while at the same time take comfort in his presence during the trials of life. However, if we take a negative view of God, or deny his existence all together, we will reap the consequences of anxiety over our future and loneliness in the present. We will feel to the need to constantly look over our shoulder to make sure no one is taking advantage of us. Peace and joy will flee from us and be only temporary companions until the next difficulty faces us.
John makes an interesting statement in 1 John 2:15-17. He says that we are not to love the world, because if you do God’s love is not in you. Everything related to the world that we see is passing away, but the one who does God’s will lives forever. John’s statement seems pretty straight forward, but then compare what John wrote here to John 3:16, where he wrote that God loved the world so much that he sent his Son so that whoever believes in him/Jesus will never perish. In 1 John 2:15, John said not to love the world, but in John 3:16 he said that God loved the world and demonstrated it by sending Jesus. John used the same word for “love” and the same word for “world” in both passages. In one he declared that God loved the world, the same world he told his readers not to love. How do we reconcile this inconsistency? John is speaking to two different types of love, even though he is using the same exact words.
The difference is in his explanation. In 1 John 2, John addresses a type of love that desires to receive something. In this case John mentions the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and the pride of life. John is warning us to avoid thinking that the purpose of life is found in the world. Jesus put it differently, that we are to be in the world but not of the world. The world and what it offers does not define who we are, because we are of another kingdom. Peter refers to us as strangers and aliens in this land. One of the biggest challenges that I face living in United States is the lie that I fit in; that this is my nation and my home, just because I was born here and grew up here. I never thought about it until we lived in Italy. When we first went to Italy, we had to get a visa from the Italian consulate in Chicago. When we got to Italy, we had to report to the Questura, the police station in Florence to apply for a Permesso di Soggiorno, Sojourners Permit. That gave us permission to reside in Italy for 1 year. Each year we had to renew that permit, in whatever city we were living in. For the entire time we lived in Italy, we were recognized as foreigners living in a foreign country. We were “stranieri”, foreigners. This was one of the most difficult things of living in Italy, the daily knowledge that we didn’t fit in, we were constantly viewed as outsiders.
The biggest challenge when we returned to this country in 2000, was feeling like we were home, when we really weren’t. We were no longer outsiders in the same way that we felt in Italy, but I should have felt that way. It is very much like living a lie. If you are a follower of Jesus, then you are very much like a foreigner living in a foreign land, even though you know the culture, you know the language, you know the history and you don’t speak with an accent. Even though you may carry a passport, you and I are what Peter called strangers living in a foreign country. That is the meaning of the words Peter used to describe the people to whom he was writing in 1 Peter. This is why John instructs his readers that we are not to love the world by desiring the things of this world. If we feel comfortable in this world, then there is something amiss.
So why did John write that God loved the world, when he tells us not to? Well, God loved and loves the world not to receive anything from the world. He has no desire to receive what this world offers or to fit in this world. God loves this world because he desires to transform it. This is also how you and I are to live, this is the type of life that God calls us to live. We are to live differently, even though we look like Americans, we are still to be different, because we desire and live for things from heaven and not earth.
We live life dealing with many questions that require our answer, however the most important question is one that some may never consider, or conclude that it is irrelevant. It is a question that Jesus posed to his disciples. “Who do you say that I am?” Our response to that question will not only impact how we live our life on earth, but also how we live life through eternity.
The disciples’ response to Jesus was that he was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, while most people saw Jesus as a prophet and some believed him to be a fraud. The disciples formed their response based on observing what Jesus said and did in their presence. We are not able to to do that, however we do form our opinion using what we can read of Jesus in the Gospels. We can also use what others say about their experience of Jesus. As we experience Jesus ourselves, we can grow in our own understanding of Jesus, so that we can also answer for ourselves the same question Jesus posed to his disciples.
The gospel writers portrayed different points of view of Jesus. For example each Gospel begins presenting a complementary view of Jesus. Matthew began with Jesus’ genealogy, demonstrating his Jewish heritage through King David, then he wrote of Jesus’ birth through Joseph’s, Mary’s husband’s, perspective. Mark didn’t refer to Jesus’ birth at all. Rather he began with Jesus’ herald, John the Baptist, who proclaimed and testified that Jesus was the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Luke gave a different perspective, he combined the stories of John the Baptist’s birth with Jesus’ birth. The final gospel writer John took a completely different approach and introduced Jesus from a Kingdom of God perspective, revealing him as the one through whom all creation came into existence. Through the Gospels we get four different pictures of who Jesus was and is. He was both human and divine, but each one presents him as mankind’s savior through whom fear and death were defeated and the doorway to eternal life.
Since the first century countless writers, teachers and philosophers have expounded on who they think Jesus was. So many and so diverse are these opinions that we can become confused. However, in determining the truth on a matter there is wisdom in giving considerable weight to the eye-witness accounts that we have available and then go from there. So what is your response to who Jesus is and what path are you going to choose to arrive at that response?
In one of Jesus’ statements on the cross, he cried out asking why God had forsaken him. The word he used, “forsake”, has an interesting usage and contrast in the rest of the New Testament. This is the only time the word is used in reference to God forsaking someone. All the other references refer to either men forsaking someone, as in Demas forsaking Paul or the promise that God will never forsake us. In other words, as the Gospel shows, Jesus endured being forsaken by God which is something that will never happen to those who follow him. Other men may forsake us for a variety of reasons; in the case of Demas it seems that he was afraid of being persecuted with Paul, but God will remain always with us. Prior to Jesus’ death his followers abandoned him when he was seized in the Garden, but what his followers did to Jesus, he will never do to his followers.
While fear drove his followers to abandon him, Jesus both in the Garden and on the cross conquered all fear. He offers this same type of victory to those who will trust and follow him. We may experience abandonment by friends and family, but because we will never be abandoned by Jesus, we need not succumb to fear in those situations. Yes, we may experience hurt, frustration and grief at the loss of friends and family because of their abandonment of us, but we need not fear of what might happen or what the future may hold. This can give us confidence while we process the other emotions we experience.
I find it curious that Jesus never rebuked people for their beliefs or their doctrines, but he did for their behavior. With his disciples, Jesus warned against those scribes who appear in nice clothes, greet others in the market place and desire places of honor at banquets, yet they take over houses of widows and for appearance sake pray long prayers. In effect they are hypocrites who will receive a harsher condemnation. In the midst of his warning Jesus said that they, the scribes, devour widows’ houses. All the other descriptions are obvious, but how would they “devour a widow’s house”? In that culture a widow and possibly her children would have been the most vulnerable people in society. After the death of her husband a widow would have been both grieving and wondering how she was going to survive, particularly if she lacked other family members to assist her. A wealthy man, maybe even appearing as a benefactor, could offer to purchase her home, quite possibly at less than the value of the home, if the widow was not aware of the true value of the house. In that culture, the wealthy were considered blessed by God and were honored for their apparently moral and religious behavior. These scribes may even have been considered blessed in that transaction, because they acquired the house at such a favorable price.
Reading this account I wondered how often we hear of someone getting a “great deal” and give thanks to God for giving them such a great deal, but fail to consider all the facts. Was a widow’s house devoured in the process? Like the first century society, our own society tends to give recognition to those who have acquired wealth and give them special attention, without knowing the details and business deals that happened to acquire that wealth. How often does this take place and we call it getting a great deal and are blessed by God? These scribes were considered by society and by themselves to be blessed by God, because they had accumulated wealth, but Jesus had a very different perspective on what they were doing. As a people of God we are called to be a blessing and therefore we are to be vigilant, so that in our dealings with others, we are not trading on the misfortune that someone else might be going through. Are we getting a great deal, because someone else is in a difficult and desperate situation like those widows may have been in? They have to sell so their buyer is taking advantage of them. It might be good to pause and ask ourselves why we are getting such a good deal to make sure that both parties are getting a good and fair deal, so that both parties can walk away feeling like they have been blessed by God.
As Jesus hung upon the cross so many declared elements of the truth in the form of mocking Jesus. How often does that take place? They talked about Jesus destroying the temple and in three days he would rebuild it. They missed the point, not the literal temple, but his body and life would be raised in three days after his crucifixion. The chief priests mocked Jesus as saving others but not being able to save himself. That was his mission; he came to save us, not himself. They didn’t believe they needed saving so they completely missed the point.
It is easier for us today to see the mistakes and errors of those in the past, because we have the benefit of hindsight. It is much harder to identify when we ourselves are playing the role of those who mocked Jesus, while missing the truth plainly before our eyes. A place for us to begin might be when we mock that which or whom we do not understand or with whom we may not agree. The people and religious leaders did not understand Jesus or his mission, so they mocked him. They believed their own view was correct and failed to understand an opposing view point. Ironically, we all tend to do this, while declaring the opposing position to be off base and narrow sighted. I’m right, you are wrong, end of discussion. It is that attitude that led the people at Jesus’ crucifixion to miss the truth.
So what are we missing today, as we live in an extremely divided society? The answers probably won’t be arrived at by criticism bordering on mockery. Truth probably won’t be reached as we insist on others listening to us, while we fail to listen to them. A good step might be to ask Jesus to reveal to us what we are missing, what we are failing to understand, what incorrect assumptions we have made, which of our attitudes need to be adjusted.
Even for some of us who follow Jesus, life can be an enigma. We assume when we decide to follow Jesus that we will always be happy and life will go smoothly. It can be a rude awakening when we find that is not the case. I believe that two passages from Scripture can assist us in navigating the difficulties of life and maintaining equilibrium. In the often overlooked book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon brought to light a truth that reveals a lie many of us have believed. In Ecclesiastes chapter 2, Solomon declared that much of what we spend our life pursuing is actually meaningless; he listed as meaningless such things as the acquisition of wealth and possessions, of wisdom, the pursuit of pleasure and comfort and the receipt of fame. For many of us who have lived several decades and spent time and energy pursuing those things, we learn that these things that Solomon listed can only bring temporary enjoyment, but it doesn’t last, leaving a nagging emptiness in its wake.
While Solomon described the problem, the apostle Paul in his powerful and practical letter to the Philippians outlined the solution in a few brief sentences. In Philippians chapter 4, Paul expressed the joy in knowing that the Philippians were concerned about his welfare, while he awaited trial in a Roman prison. In his response, Paul described a very important lesson he had learned. It is important to emphasize that he had learned this lesson. It didn’t happen automatically when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. What was the lesson he had learned? It was the lesson of contentment in every circumstance he encountered, whether pleasant or unpleasant. By contentment, Paul in no way meant complacent. Paul was anything but complacent, he was actively pursuing what he considered his life mission of helping others know how much God loved them, revealed through Jesus.
What then does it mean to be content? To me it means to have the confidence at any given moment that all is well in our life and that no circumstance will change that reality. We refuse to allow pleasant circumstances to distract us from what is truly important. While at the same time, we do not allow negative circumstances to lie to us by believing that those negative circumstances will define our future. The foundation of such contentment is not at all related to circumstances, but that the living God, who allowed Jesus to die on our behalf loves us and will take care of us. No circumstance, either positive or negative will change that reality, but if we allow pleasant circumstances to deceive us into thinking they are the source of our contentment, or if we believe that negative circumstances will endure forever and rob us of contentment, then the contentment that Paul enjoyed will be lost.
So what is the secret to lasting happiness in this life. I believe it is rooted in thankfulness for God’s presence and love for us expressed to us at all times whether our situation is pleasant or unpleasant. The confidence that God is with us and nothing can separate us from his love, proven by his not sparing even his own son Jesus on our behalf produces a lasting happiness in our life. We just need to remember it when things go well and fight for it when things go poorly.
The brothers James and John desired greatness, when they asked for the positions of prominence on the right and left of Jesus in his Kingdom. Jesus revealed that even though they would suffer for their following Jesus, these positions were not for Jesus to give, but were reserved for those who’ve been prepared for them. Jesus went on to explain that there is a path to greatness in his Kingdom that does not resemble greatness in the world. Those who are great in the world seek for others to recognize their authority; they want to have authority over others. Conversely those who are great in God’s Kingdom seek out no authority over others; they serve others and in this way may receive gratitude and honor from those they serve. Later Jesus would remind his disciples that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends. Jesus said those words just prior to his laying down his life for a world that largely ignores him.
If you seek greatness and honor you may achieve it in the world. People may give you recognition, honor and positions of authority because of your abilities and hard work. You may be given the authority to make decisions and direct those who are under your authority. You may be honored with invitations to speak at gatherings large or small, along with an ever increasing income. If you seek that type of greatness, that the world defines as great, true greatness in Jesus’ Kingdom will elude you. Greatness in the Kingdom of God doesn’t ask what others can do for you, rather it asks how you can serve others. The world does not equate serving others as great; it equates being on the top of an organizational chart as being great, commanding a greater salary as being great and being recognized as being great. The willingness to serve without recognition, without honor and without authority is often overlooked by the world, by those who have James’ and John’s perspective of greatness. It is quite possible that those who are great in God’s Kingdom will be invisible to the world. Having said that, there may be some who truly serve others with no desire to exercise authority and are still recognized. However in that moment of recognition those servants must also guard their hearts so that the recognition received doesn’t shift their servant heart to one that seeks more recognition.
The proverb familiarity breeds contempt was evident in Jesus’ neighbors’ response to him when he came to teach in Nazareth’s synagogue. They were amazed at his teaching and at the reports of what he had done in other cities, but rather than listening to Jesus, they were offended by him. The question is why? They should have been honored that he had been raised in their community, that they had known him as a child and young man, but they weren’t. Rather they were filled with contempt toward him, because they had known him, because they knew his brothers and his sisters. Jesus gave an answer for their contempt. He declared that a prophet is honored everywhere but in his own hometown. It can happen that a young person leaves their hometown and is successful and maybe becomes famous. Rather than enjoying his or her success, the response in the home town can be, who is this person, they aren’t so special. Jealousy becomes the response rather than honor and enjoyment of the success the young person has achieved. This was the dramatic response that the people of Nazareth gave to Jesus.
Their example is instructive to us all, because just because we’ve become familiar with someone or something doesn’t mean we have exhausted all that we can learn from that individual or about that topic. Just because someone has followed Jesus for decades doesn’t mean that they cannot learn from someone who has just met Jesus. Just because someone is older, doesn’t mean they can’t learn something new from a younger person. We get familiar and then we can develop blind spots; we stop asking questions, because we think we have all the answers. One of the fascinating aspects of following Jesus is the reality that there is always something new to discover, an aspect about Jesus that you had never noticed before that generates great excitement in us when we discover it. Following Jesus is more than developing good disciplines and routines. Always be on the look out for something you might discover either in the midst of your routine, or when you branch out and try something new.
David Freitag 