Why sometimes bad things happen to good people....

At the church where I serve, we are spending the weeks leading up to Christmas pausing from the growing expectation, anticipation, and intensity of the countdown to Christmas in order to ask a simple question. And that question is this: Why Christmas? Why are we counting down to Christmas? Why is Christmas celebrated? Why is Christmas so significant? And specifically, why would Jesus enter into humanity that first Christmas?

To answer these questions, we are going to look at five different passages that are found in the letters that make up the New Testament of the Bible. And as we look at these five different passages that are found in the New Testament of the Bible, we are going to discover five timeless answers to the question “Why Christmas?”

This week, we are going to look at the third of five different passages that are found in the letters that make up the New Testament of the Bible, which is found in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of John. Now the gospel of John was written the person who had perhaps the closest relationship with Jesus while He was on earth, a man named John. John is referred to as the disciple Jesus loved. John was Jesus best friend. We see John bring us into his account of Jesus life beginning in John 9:1-2:

As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?"

John brings us into this section of his account of Jesus life by providing the context for this event from history. John tells us that as Jesus and His disciples left the temple after escaping the self righteous religious leaders of the day’s attempt to stone Jesus, they encountered a man who had been blind from birth. In other words, this man had never been able to see a single thing.

And in the culture of the day, being born blind would result in a life of suffering that was totally dependent upon others. Being born blind would result in a life without hope. After all, this blind man had never seen, so how could he ever hope to see? This man was in a hopeless situation. The disciples, upon seeing the blind man, decide to ask Jesus a theological question: "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?”

Now to fully understand the significance of this question, we first need to understand what the disciples believed that drove them to ask this question. You see, the disciples, along with many people who lived in Jesus day, believed that blindness, leprosy and other physical diseases were the result of sin in the person or the family. The disciples believed that bad things happened to bad people and good things happened to good people.

But, here was a man who was born blind. So, from the disciple’s perspective, how could this man be blind before he ever sinned? How could this man have experienced the bad things that he experienced in his life before he had done any bad things to earn such bad experiences? So, from the disciple’s perspective, it must have been the parents who had sinned. From the disciple’s perspective, since bad things happen to bad people, his parents must have been bad people, which resulted in their son experiencing bad things in his life.

Now here is something for us to consider: how often can we find ourselves thinking the exact same way? How often can we find ourselves assuming that bad things happen to people because they are bad people? How often can we find ourselves assuming that the bad things that happen in someone’s life is the direct result of the bad things that either they have done or that those who are close to them have done? How often can we find ourselves assuming that if I simply do good, then I will experience good from God? We see how Jesus answered the disciple’s theological question in verse 3-5:

Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. "We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. "While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world."

Jesus replies to the disciples question by explaining that this man was born blind so that his blindness could be used to bring glory to God through what Jesus was about to do in his life. You see, while Jesus was asked about the cause of the blindness, Jesus answered in terms of the purpose of the blindness.

Jesus here is revealing for us the reality that there are times that bad things happen to bad people. And there are times that bad things happen to good people. And there are times that God uses the bad things that happen to people to make much of Him and point people to Him by the way that people respond to the bad things that happen. Y

ou see, nowhere in the Bible are we promised a wrinkle free life. We live in a world that has been corrupted by selfishness and rebellion. And God often works through the corruption of this world to reveal His greatness and glory through our response to the bad things that may happen in our lives.

Jesus then explained to His disciples that they must be doing what God wants them to be doing during this period of time, because over the passage of time, the opportunities to be a part of what God is doing will pass them by. Those opportunities are going to pass by because Jesus is fully aware that He will soon be put to death. When Jesus states that He is the light of the world, He is revealing the reality that Jesus, in His very being and nature, is life and light that helps us see that there is a Creator who is light and life and there is creation that was covered in darkness.

Jesus is explaining to His disciples that, as the Light of the world, that He came to humanity in order to point people to God. While Jesus was on earth, He revealed and explained God to the world, and revealed and exposed the selfishness, sin and rebellion that was in the world. And in the same way today, just as Jesus was the vehicle that God used to point people to Him, as followers of Jesus, we are to be the vehicle that God uses to reveal Himself to the world. After answering their theological question, Jesus then turns His attention to the man born blind in verse 6-7:

When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam " (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing.

Now a natural reaction right about now is “well Dave that’s kind of gross. That brings new meaning to the phrase “here’s some mud in your eye”. And another question that arises here is “Why didn’t Jesus just heal the man? I mean why place mud in his eye and then tell him to go wash it off in a pool of water?” That just seems weird doesn’t it? I mean Jesus does not even tell this man His name. Instead, He simply goes spit. spit. Go wash. To fully understand what is happening here, we first need to understand where the pool of Siloam was.

The Temple in Jerusalem was located in the northeast corner of Jerusalem. The pool of Siloam was located in the far southeastern Jerusalem. The pool of Siloam and the Temple were on opposite ends of the town. The distance between the Temple and the pool of Siloam was approximately a half of a mile. However, the pool of Siloam was located at a much lower elevation than the Temple. And as you might imagine, the pool was a long walk for any man, let alone a blind man.

Now, I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves in this event from history as the man born blind. You have spent your entire life suffering as a result of being born blind. You are sitting just outside the Temple panhandling because that is the only way that you can possibly provide for yourself.

Then some guy and His friends come up and start having a conversation about why you have been blind your entire life. Now, while you are blind you are not deaf, so you hear this entire conversation. You don’t say a word to Jesus or His friends.

Then as Jesus finishes His conversation, He turns to you, spits on the ground, makes a mud pie and places it on your eyes and tells you go walk a half of a mile down to the pool of Siloam. Jesus basically says to you “I am sending you to the pool of sent so that you might be able to see.” You’re the blind man. You did not ask for this. What would you be thinking? What would you be feeling? How would you respond?

John tells us that the blind man responded by making the half mile trip to the pool of Siloam. Can you imagine what that must have looked like? What would be running through your mind if you were the blind man? What would you be thinking as you arrived at the pool? What would you be feeling as you began to wash the mud off of your eyes? What would you be thinking and feeling as you began to see for the first time?

You see, by having to go wash in the pool of Siloam, the blind man had to demonstrate His trust in Jesus by obeying Jesus instructions. And the blind man’s trust in Jesus resulted in Him experiencing the miraculous in his life.

Tomorrow, we will see how those who knew the blind man responded to what had happened…

Experiencing humanity in its fullest sense...

Last week, we looked at a section of a letter that was written to those who had stopped growing in their relationship with Jesus and who were considering bailing on Jesus, and discovered a timeless answer to the question “Why Christmas?”in that we celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to free us from the power of death through His death. Just as it was for these early Jewish followers of Jesus who were experiencing persecution, just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, we celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to free us from the power of death through His death.

We talked about the reality that Christmas is significant because Christmas is about God the Father providing us the opportunity to be brought into the splendor and radiance of being adopted as a child of God through the suffering of His One and Only Son Jesus so that we could be insiders and a part of the family of God. Christmas is significant because Christmas is about Jesus entering into humanity to become “one of us” and to proclaim God to us before dying for us.

Christmas is significant because Christmas is about Jesus willingly entering into humanity so that His death on the cross would put an end to the power of the Devil to bring eternal death to those who were chosen by God to be rescued from their rebellion and become a part of the family of God. And Christmas is significant because Christmas is about God the Father demonstrating His concern to help those of humanity who He has chosen to experience the fulfillment of the promises that He made to Abraham to live in relationship with Him as part of the family of God that He would have His Son Jesus take on humanity and enter into humanity so that He could die for humanity.  Today, we see the writer of Hebrews then hammers this point home in Hebrews 2:17-18:

 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

Here we see the writer of Hebrews reveal for us the reality that for Jesus to free us from the power of death through His death, He had to be made like His brethren in all things. In other words, Jesus had to experience the human condition in its fullest sense so the He could demonstrate His connection, unity, and solidarity with humanity. The writer of Hebrews then explained that the reason why Jesus experienced the human condition in its fullest sense was so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Now to understand what the writer of Hebrews is communicating here, we first need to understand a few things. The first thing that we need to understand is what the writer of Hebrews is referring to when he uses the phrase “merciful and faithful high priest.” In the Jewish sacrificial system, the High Priest represented the Jewish people before God. It was the High Priest alone who entered into the Holy of Holies in the Temple on the Day of Atonement to offer a sacrifice for his sins and for the sins of the people.  This sacrifice atoned, or covered the sins that had been committed. God would see the atoning sacrifice rather than the sin so that the penalty no longer had to be extracted from the person who had sinned.

Now that leads us to the second thing that we need to understand, which is what the writer of Hebrews refers to when he uses the word propitiation. The word propitiation is a big, fancy, church mumbo jumbo talk word that refers to satisfying God’s right and just response to our selfishness and rebellion.

Now with these things in mind, we see that the writer of Hebrews is revealing for us the reality that Jesus experienced the human condition in its fullest sense so that He could compassionately and reliably represent us before God.  Jesus experienced the human condition in its fullest sense so that He could represent us on the cross in a way that satisfied God’s right and just response to our selfishness and rebellion. And Jesus experienced the human condition in its fullest sense so that He could represent us on the cross in a way that removed the guilt that came as a result of the selfishness and rebellion of humanity.

And because Jesus experienced the human condition in its fullest sense, the writer of Hebrews explains that since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. Now the word tempted here literally means to discover the nature of something through testing. In other words, since Jesus experienced the human condition in its fullest sense; since Jesus character was tested through the suffering He experienced while here on earth; Jesus is uniquely able to render assistance to us in our times of testing and suffering.

You see, Jesus is fully aware of the testing that suffering places us through. Jesus is fully aware and is fully equipped to aid and assist us through the times of testing that suffering produces in our lives because Jesus has successfully passed the test of suffering. Jesus successfully passed the test of suffering in a way that put an end to the power of the Devil to bring eternal death to followers of Jesus who have been adopted into the family of God.

And that is why Christmas is significant. That is why we celebrate Christmas. We celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to free us from the power of death through His death.

We celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to free us from the power of death through His death...

This week we are looking at a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Hebrews that will provide for us a second answer the question "Why Christmas". Yesterday, we talked about the reality that the writer of the book of Hebrews wrote this letter to communicate a simple but profound message. And that simple and profound message involved the absolute supremacy and superiority of Jesus Christ and Christianity over Judaism.

The writer of Hebrews then pointed the readers of his letter the that fact that God the Father, who is the source and Creator of everything that exists, found it suitable to lead those whom He chose to rescue from their selfishness and rebellion so that He could adopt them as a part of the family of God through the suffering that Jesus endured on the cross for their selfishness and rebellion. And it was the suffering of Jesus on the cross for the selfishness and rebellion of humanity that proved and demonstrated that Jesus had accomplished the goal and plan to rescue selfish and rebellious humanity from their selfishness and rebellion.

When we were outsiders when it came to having a relationship with God, God the Father brought us into the splendor and radiance of being adopted as a child of God through the suffering of His One and Only Son Jesus so that we could be insiders and a part of the family of God. And because of that reality, the writer of Hebrews explains that Jesus is not ashamed to call those whom He rescued from their selfishness and rebellion through his suffering brethren.

In addition, the writer of Hebrews reinforcing the solidarity and unity that followers of Jesus have with Jesus as a part of the family of God. The writer of Hebrews then begins to unpack why Jesus, who is God in a bod, would decide to come to the place where He could have such solidarity and unity with His followers as part of the family of God in Hebrews 2:14-16:

 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.

In theses verses, we see the writer reveal for us the reality that, in order to demonstrate His solidarity and unity with His followers as a part of the family of God, Jesus took on flesh and entered into humanity. The word partook here, literally means to have a part or share in something. Since those whom God chose to rescue from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God had a human nature, Jesus willingly chose to enter into humanity and take on a human nature.

Now the big fancy 50 cent theological word for what the writer of Hebrews is describing here is the word incarnation. The word incarnation simply means to take on flesh. Jesus, who was God, added to His Divinity humanity by entering into humanity as God in a bod. The writer of Hebrews then reveals two different reasons why Jesus would choose to add to His Divinity a human nature and enter into humanity.

First, Jesus chose to add to His Divinity a human nature and to enter into humanity so that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. What is so interesting is that the phrase “that he might render powerless” literally means to cause to come to an end.

Now, as we have talked about in the past, Jesus and the other authors of the letters that make up the Bible teach us that demons are a group of supernatural beings who are under the leadership of the devil, or Satan. We also know that demons have superhuman, but limited knowledge and power. Demons are angels that were created by the Lord before the creation of the universe, who rebelled against God sometime before the fall of humanity that is recorded for us in the very first letter in the Bible in Genesis 3.

 And the Devil and the demons that follow the Devil are driven by a desire to destroy the Kingdom of God and the people of God. The writer of Hebrews point here is that Jesus willingly added to His divinity a human nature and entered into humanity so that His death on the cross would put an end to the power of the Devil to bring eternal death to those who were chosen by God to be rescued from their rebellion and become a part of the family of God.

Second, Jesus chose to add to His Divinity a human nature and to enter into humanity so that through His death He might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. You see, humanity throughout history has demonstrated a fear of death. Humanity throughout history has been intimidated and alarmed by the prospect of death. And humanity throughout history has been enslaved, or subservient to the power of death, as they lived their lives here on earth.

And because of the slavery that the fear of death had placed humanity under, Jesus took on a human nature and entered into humanity so that He could set us free from the fear of death through His death on the cross. The writer of Hebrews then reinforces what Jesus had done to set us free from the fear of death through His death on the cross by explaining “For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham.” Now this little phrase “For assuredly” conveys the sense “for one would agree”. When the writer of Hebrews uses the phrase “give help” this little phrase literally means to be concerned about someone or something so as to take an interest in so as to help.

So this phrase, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “for we would all agree that God is not so concerned about angels that He would extend such help so as to free the angels who had rebelled against God. After all, angels simply are servants who worship Jesus as King and minister to humanity, they cannot rescue humanity.  However God is so concerned and is so driven to help those of humanity that He has chosen to experience the fulfillment of the promises that He made to Abraham to live in relationship with Him as part of the family of God, but who rebelled against God, that He would have His Son Jesus take on humanity and enter into humanity so that He could die for humanity. 

And it is here, in this section of this letter that was written to those who had stopped growing in their relationship with Jesus and who were considering bailing on Jesus, that we see revealed for us a timeless answer to the question “Why Christmas?”And that timeless answer is this: We celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to free us from the power of death through His death. Just as it was for these early Jewish followers of Jesus who were experiencing persecution, just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, we celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to free us from the power of death through His death.

You see, Christmas is significant because Christmas is about God the Father providing us the opportunity to be brought into the splendor and radiance of being adopted as a child of God through the suffering of His One and Only Son Jesus so that we could be insiders and a part of the family of God. Christmas is significant because Christmas is about Jesus entering into humanity to become “one of us” and to proclaim God to us before dying for us.

Christmas is significant because Christmas is about Jesus willingly entering into humanity so that His death on the cross would put an end to the power of the Devil to bring eternal death to those who were chosen by God to be rescued from their rebellion and become a part of the family of God. And Christmas is significant because Christmas is about God the Father demonstrating His concern to help those of humanity who He has chosen to experience the fulfillment of the promises that He made to Abraham to live in relationship with Him as part of the family of God that He would have His Son Jesus take on humanity and enter into humanity so that He could die for humanity. 

Friday, we will see the writer of Hebrews hammer this point home...

Moving from being an "outsider" to being adopted as an "insider"...

At the church where I serve, we are spending the weeks leading up to Christmas pausing from the growing expectation, anticipation, and intensity of the countdown to Christmas in order to ask a simple question. And that question is this: Why Christmas? Why is Christmas so significant? And specifically, why do followers of Jesus celebrate Christmas?

To answer these questions, we are going to look at five different sections of five different letters that make up the New Testament of the Bible. And as we look at these five different sections of five different letters that are found in the New Testament of the Bible, we are going to discover five timeless answers to the question “Why Christmas?”

This week, I would like for us to spend our time together looking at the second of five different passages that are found in the letters that make up the New Testament of the Bible that provide for us another timeless answer to the question “Why Christmas?” This second of five different passages is found in a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of Hebrews.  However, before we jump into this section of this letter, we first need to spend a few minutes talking about the book of Hebrews.

As the title of the book of Hebrews reveals for us, the book of Hebrews was written around 65 A.D. to the Hebrews, which were Jewish Christians who had never heard or seen Jesus in person, but had learned of Him as the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel had been proclaimed throughout the known world. However, as the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel was proclaimed throughout the known world; and as people from throughout the known world responded to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel by believing, trusting and following Jesus, persecution against followers of Jesus began to increase throughout the known world.

However, while persecution of Christianity increased throughout the world, those who were involved in Judaism were not experiencing persecution. And as a result of what was going on at this time in history, these Jewish people were impacted in two specific ways. First, there were Jewish followers of Jesus who became stalled and stuck when it came to their spiritual growth. Some Jewish followers of Jesus became paralyzed by the persecution that they were experiencing in such a way that they had stopped growing in their relationship with Jesus.

Second, there were some Jewish people who were exploring faith and claimed to be following Jesus who were considering bailing on following Jesus to return to Judaism. After all, Judaism was safe, while following Jesus was proving to be dangerous. Judaism was accepted by the culture of the day, while Christianity was opposed by the culture of the day.

And as a result of what the author of the book of Hebrews saw occurring among these Jewish people who claimed to want to follow Jesus but who had become either stalled and stuck, or were considering bailing on Jesus, the writer of the book of Hebrews wrote this letter to communicate a simple but profound message. And that simple and profound message involved the absolute supremacy and superiority of Jesus Christ and Christianity over Judaism.

The writer of Hebrews began his letter by proclaiming the absolute supremacy and superiority of Jesus as the messenger to proclaim God’s message to humanity. Jesus was a superior messenger as opposed to the prophets because unlike the prophets, Jesus was the hands of the Creation who was the exact representation of the nature of God. Jesus was the visible representation of the invisible God who most fully proclaimed God’s message as a prophet of God who was also the Creator and King of the universe. In addition, the writer of Hebrews proclaimed that Jesus was a superior messenger as opposed to the angels because while angels were servants who ministered and worshipped Jesus as the King and Creator, Jesus was the object of their worship.

And because of the reality that Jesus had a position of absolute supremacy and superiority over the prophets and angels when it came to proclaiming God’s message to humanity, in the second chapter of the book of Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews encouraged and exhorted the Jewish readers of his letter to pay attention to the superior message of Jesus. The Jewish readers of this letter were encouraged to pay attention to the superior message of the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel, because failing to pay attention would result in greater consequences to those who rejected that message.

And the Jewish readers of this letter were encouraged to pay attention because of the greatness of the messenger, Jesus Christ, who proclaimed the message of the gospel. And it is in this context that we jump into this section of this letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of Hebrews, beginning in Hebrews 2:10-13. Let’s look at it together:

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, "I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN, IN THE MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE." And again, "I WILL PUT MY TRUST IN HIM." And again, "BEHOLD, I AND THE CHILDREN WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN ME."

Now to fully understand what the writer of Hebrews is communicating here, we first need to understand a few things. The first thing that we need to understand is that the phrase “fitting for Him” conveys the sense of something being suitable. And what was suitable was for God the Father, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.

Now that leads us to the second thing that we need to understand, which is what the writer of Hebrews means when he uses the phrase, bringing many sons to glory. The word bringing here literally means to lead or guide morally or spiritually. In addition, the word “sons” refers to those who became followers of Jesus. When the writer of Hebrews talks about glory, he is referring to entering into a condition of splendor or radiance.  So, God found it suitable to lead those whom He chose to become His followers into the splendor and radiance that comes as a result of being adopted as a child of God.

The writer of Hebrews then explains that how God chose to lead those whom He chose to become His followers into the splendor and radiance that comes as a result of being adopted as a child of God was to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. But what does that mean? 

The word perfect here does not mean to make perfect something that is not perfect. Instead, the word perfect here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to bring something to an end or goal. This word conveys the sense of demonstrating or providing the proof that something has accomplished a goal. In addition, the phrase “the author of their salvation” refers to Jesus as being the One who originated and began the rescue of selfish and rebellious humanity from their selfishness and rebellion that had separated them from God. 

And how Jesus originated and began the rescue of selfish and rebellious humanity from their selfishness and rebellion was through sufferings. The sufferings refer to the suffering that Jesus endured as He died on the cross for the selfishness and rebellion of humanity.

The writer of Hebrews point here is that God the Father, who is the source and Creator of everything that exists, found it suitable to lead those whom He chose to rescue from their selfishness and rebellion so that He could adopt them as a part of the family of God through the suffering that Jesus endured on the cross for their selfishness and rebellion. And it was the suffering of Jesus on the cross for the selfishness and rebellion of humanity that proved and demonstrated that Jesus had accomplished the goal and plan to rescue selfish and rebellious humanity from their selfishness and rebellion.

When the writer of Hebrews states that “For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father;” this statement, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “For Jesus, who includes a person in the inner circle of what is holy, and those who are included in the inner circle of what is holy all have one Father, who is God the Father”. With this phrase, the writer of Hebrews is revealing for us the reality that when we were outsiders when it came to having a relationship with God, God the Father brought us into the splendor and radiance of being adopted as a child of God through the suffering of His One and Only Son Jesus so that we could be insiders and a part of the family of God.

And because of that reality, the writer of Hebrews explains that Jesus is not ashamed to call those whom He rescued from their selfishness and rebellion through his suffering brethren. Jesus is not too proud to call us His brothers and sisters. Jesus does not simply put up with followers of Jesus. Jesus does not simply hold his nose hoping and looking forward to the future version of you. Instead, Jesus embraces us and welcomes us as insiders who are His brothers and sisters in the family of God.

And to reinforce this reality, the writer of Hebrews quotes from several Old Testament passages that predicted and proclaimed God’s promise to send a rescuer, a deliverer, a Messiah, who would bring those who were far from God back to God. First, the writer of Hebrews quotes from a section of a letter in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Psalms. In Psalm 22:22, King David predicted and proclaimed the solidarity that Jesus has with his brothers and sisters in the family of God as He proclaimed God to His brothers and sisters while here on earth. Jesus was “one of us” who became a man and proclaimed God to us before dying for us.

The writer of Hebrews then quotes from a section of a letter in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah 8:17-18, the prophet Isaiah described Jesus entry into humanity and how Jesus placed His trust in God and  proclaimed His connection and solidarity with His followers as God gave to Jesus the children whom He chose to bring to Him. With these quotes, the writer of Hebrews is reinforcing the solidarity and unity that we have with Jesus as a part of the family of God.

Tomorrow, we will see the writer of Hebrews then begins to unpack why Jesus, who is God in a bod, would decide to come to the place where He could have such solidarity and unity with His followers as part of the family of God…

We celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to seek those who were far from God so that He could bring them back to God...

This week, we have been looking at a section of one of the accounts of Jesus life that are recorded for us in the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew. We have been looking at an event from history involving an encounter between Jesus and a Jewish tax collector named Matthew. We talked about the reality that Jews who were tax collectors were hated by their fellow countrymen and were viewed as traitors because they were working for the enemy. However, when Jesus saw Matthew sitting at the tax collector booth, He said to him “Follow Me”.

After receiving the invitation to follow Jesus as His disciple, he not only responded by leaving his tax collector booth to follow Him. In addition, Matthew responded by inviting all of his tax collector and sinner friends over to his house for a dinner party to meet and hang out with Jesus. Matthew responded to Jesus invitation to follow Him by inviting all of his tax collector and sinner friends to meet and hang out with Jesus.

And what is interesting is that all of Matthew's tax collector and sinner friend actually accepted the invitation. You see, there was something about Jesus that made people who were far from God comfortable enough to hang out with Son of God. While Jesus never lived a life that was marked by selfishness and sin, people who were far from God felt comfortable enough to engage and interact with Him.

While the tax collectors and sinners were drawn to and felt comfortable hanging out with Jesus, there were others who were not quite as comfortable. Another group of people, called the Pharisees, responded to what was happening between Jesus and Matthew and his tax collector and sinner friends by disengaging.

We talked about the reality that Jesus made insiders feel like outsiders while making outsiders feel like insiders when it came to how He related and engaged them. Jesus, however, overheard the conversation between His disciples and the Pharisees and responded with a timeless reality provides a timeless answer to the question “Why Christmas?” So let’s look at Jesus response together in Matthew 9:12-13:

But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. "But go and learn what this means: 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Jesus responded to the religious people of His day and their criticism with a metaphor to explain his actions: “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick”. You see, a physician, whose whole purpose is to cure physical ailments, does not spend a lot of time while he is at work seeing healthy people. And we intuitively know this, don’t we?

I mean, you usually do not go to the doctor because you want to, do you? You usually don’t say “I know what I’ll do today; I like going to the doctor so much that I’ll make an appointment to go today, even though I am healthy”. No, almost always, we go to the doctor because we have to. We have to go because we are ill, or have been ill, or need a check up to prove we are not ill.

Jesus then takes this metaphor and applies it to his actions and to the Pharisees religious lack of action when it came to those who were far from God. Jesus entered into this conversation and commanded these religious people to read their Bibles again. Jesus quoted a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the bible called the book of Hosea. In Hosea 6:6, God, through the prophet Hosea, condemned the Jewish people for focusing on religious rituals instead of focusing on displaying a faithful devotion to God and to those around them who were far from God and were lost, hurting, and broken.

Jesus then explained that just like a physician, His focus was for those who were far from God and were separated from Him. When Jesus states that He did not come to call the righteous, He is explaining that He did not come to invite those who are right before God. Instead Jesus states that He came to earth to call sinners. Jesus entered into humanity to call those who were far from God and were outsiders back to God.

You see, Jesus did not enter into humanity to see those who were close to Him; Jesus entered into humanity to rescue what was furthest from Him, the outsiders. And as Matthew looked back on his encounter with Jesus; as Matthew sat down to write, by God’s inspiration this letter that is now a part of our Bibles, Matthew recognized that he was not simply a part of the Christmas story, he was the point of the Christmas story.

And it is here, in this event from history from the life of Jesus involving a traitor tax collector, that we see revealed for us a timeless answer to the question “Why Christmas?”And that timeless answer is this: We celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to seek those who were far from God so that He could bring them back to God. Just as it was for Matthew the traitor tax collector, just as it has been for Christmases throughout history, we celebrate Christmas because Jesus came to seek those who were far from God so that He could bring them back to God.

You see, as Matthew sat down to write the divinely inspired account of Jesus life that we have in our Bibles today, Matthew wanted to communicate to us today that the reality is that the Christmas story is not something that we are simply a part of; the reality is that the Christmas story is all about us. You see, we are not a part of the Christmas story; we are the point of the Christmas story. Jesus came to earth to seek those who were far from God.

And to prove to the Jewish people that they were the point of the Christmas story, Matthew shared with us his story. Matthew shared with us his story because Matthew wanted us to understand that Jesus came to seek people who were flawed, broken, and far from God. And that is who we are, aren’t we? That is who I was before Jesus sought and rescued me. And that is who we all are before Jesus came to seek us.

Jesus came on that first Christmas to seek those who were far from God so that He could bring them back to God. And just as it was for Matthew, Christmas is about Jesus entering into humanity to seek those who were outsiders and who were furthest from Him. Just as it was for traitor Matthew, Christmas is about Jesus entering into humanity to provide an opportunity for the traitor race of humanity to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for. 

Making Outsiders Feel Like Insiders And Insiders Feel Like Outsiders...

This week we are looking at a section of one of the accounts of Jesus life that are recorded for us in the Bible, called the gospel of Matthew, which was written to Jewish people to explain and to show that Jesus was the Messiah that God had promised would come to rescue and restore the Jewish nation as His chosen people. To prove that Jesus was the long promised Messiah, Matthew began his gospel with a genealogy to show that Jesus had the proper family background to be the Messiah.

The Jewish people knew their history; their upbringing and their education revolved around the teachings of the Torah, or the Law, which are the first five books of the Old Testament, and the writings, which was the history of the Jewish nation. Many, if not most, Jewish people had the entire Old Testament memorized. They knew the stories and they knew the names and the people behind the stories.

So for Matthew, who was writing to Jewish people to explain and to show that Jesus was the Messiah that God had promised would come to rescue and restore the Jewish nation as His chosen people, the natural place to start his account of Jesus life was with a genealogy that displayed Jesus family tree. In addition, for Matthew, it made sense to write his account of Jesus life this way because Matthew knew something that they did not know and that we often do not recognize. Matthew wrote the story of Jesus life this way because Matthew knew his story. And it is in Matthew’s story we find a timeless truth about our story. We find Matthew’s story in Matthew 9:9. Let’s look at it together:

As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector's booth;

As we jump into this section of the account of Jesus life that was written by Matthew, Jesus had just performed a miracle in the city in which he lived in, which was Capernaum. In this miracle, which we read in greater detail in another account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Mark, Jesus healed a man who was paralyzed after his friends lowered him through a hole that they had made in the roof of a house where Jesus was speaking.

After healing this paralyzed man, Jesus and his disciples left the house and began walking down the street, where they came to a booth where Jewish people were required to pay taxes. Matthew, who was manning the tax booth along with others, was a Jewish man who was a tax collector that worked for the Roman Government.

Now Jews who were tax collectors were hated by their fellow countrymen for two reasons. First, these tax collectors were hated because they would often charge higher taxes than necessary in order to make a profit. Since the Romans did not care what these tax collectors charged as long as they received what was due them, many tax collectors became wealthy by charging over and above what the Romans asked.

Second, Jewish tax collectors were hated and were viewed as traitors because they were working for the enemy. I mean, imagine how you would feel if Mexico invaded and conquered the United States and began to charge large taxes that you would have to pay to the Mexican government. And imagine if your neighbor began to work for the conquering Mexican government as a tax collector. Imagine giving your money to you neighbor, who gave part of that money to the Mexican government and kept part of it for himself.

Now, if that were the case, how would you feel toward your neighbor? That is how Jewish people felt toward people like Matthew. Jewish people so despised tax collectors that they had a separate category for them. There were tax collectors and there were sinners. There were those who sinned and then there were tax collectors. With this background in mind, we see Jesus approach Matthew, this tax collector and sinner, who would later write the letter the bears his name in the Bible and say the following in the second half of Matthew 9:9:

and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him.

Matthew explained that when Jesus saw him sitting at the tax collector booth, He said to him “Follow Me”. Now, in the Jewish culture of the first century, when a rabbi or teacher asked someone to follow him, this was a call to follow the rabbi as his disciple. So Jesus here is calling this tax collector, who was so despised that they had a separate category for him, to follow Him.

Now can you imagine what the rest of the disciple’s response to Jesus invitation to Matthew would be? Can you imagine Peter, for example “Jesus, I don’t think that is a good idea; I mean he is a tax collector; he is the enemy”? What is just as hard to understand, however, is how Matthew responds. Matthew responds to Jesus invitation by leaving his tax booth and job to follow Jesus. I mean at first glance that seems odd, doesn’t it? I mean, to just get up and leave your job because a rabbi asks you to follow him seems strange, doesn’t it?

While it may seem strange at first glance, it would not have seemed strange to the crowds at Capernaum. You see, Rabbis were the most respected members of Jewish society. So to be asked to follow a rabbi was a great honor. But Jesus was no ordinary rabbi; he was performing miraculous signs that people had never seen. Jesus, at this point in His life, was viewed as a rock star or celebrity in the region. In addition, this was probably not the first time that Matthew had seen or heard about Jesus, as they both lived in the same small town.

Plus Jesus wanted him: Jesus wanted a tax collector and sinner to follow Him. Jesus invitation would have been unheard of by any other Rabbi to call such a man like Matthew to follow him as a student. What would be viewed as strange or odd would be why Jesus would want a person like Matthew around Him as His disciple. We see the reaction of others to Jesus seemingly strange behavior as the story continues in Matthew 9:10:

Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples.

Matthew tells us that after receiving the invitation to follow Jesus as His disciple, he not only responded by leaving his tax collector booth to follow Him. In addition, Matthew responded by inviting all of his tax collector and sinner friends over to his house for a dinner party to meet and hang out with Jesus. Matthew responded to Jesus invitation to follow Him by inviting all of his tax collector and sinner friends to meet and hang out with Jesus.

And what is interesting is that all of Matthew's tax collector and sinner friend actually accepted the invitation. You see, there was something about Jesus that made people who were far from God comfortable enough to hang out with Son of God. While Jesus never lived a life that was marked by selfishness and sin, people who were far from God felt comfortable enough to engage and interact with Him. If you are a follower of Jesus, could the same be said of you?

I want us to take a minute and imagine the scene that was occurring at Matthew’s house. Imagine watching as Matthew’s house began to fill up with all his tax collector and sinner friends and their girlfriends. Imagine the sounds of salty language and music filling the room as Matthew’s tax collector and sinner friends began to engage in conversations. Imagine the smells of food and drink wafting through the home. Imagine Jesus engaging in conversation with Matthew and his friends. Can you picture the scene? Matthew then explains that as his house began to fill with all of his tax collector and sinner friends who were far from God, others were attracted to what was happening. We see this in Matthew 9:11:

When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?"

While the tax collectors and sinners were drawn to and felt comfortable hanging out with Jesus, there were others who were not quite as comfortable. Another group of people, called the Pharisees, responded to what was happening between Jesus and Matthew and his tax collector and sinner friends by disengaging. And so often that is what religious people do, isn’t it? As religious people so often do, the Pharisees viewed these tax collectors and sinners who were far from God as “unclean”.

And just like religious people, the Pharisees would not enter into the house and engage those who were far from God; instead, they called Jesus disciples out of the house to ask why Jesus would consider associating with such people. “Why is your teacher hanging out with tax collectors and sinners? Doesn’t he know who they are? Doesn’t he know that Matthew lives there? Doesn’t he know who he is?”

What I find so fascinating is that while those who were far from God felt comfortable hanging out with the Son of God, those who thought that they were close to God often felt totally uncomfortable hanging out with the Son of God. You see, Jesus made insiders feel like outsiders while making outsiders feel like insiders when it came to how He related and engaged them.

Jesus, however, overheard the conversation between His disciples and the Pharisees and responded with a timeless reality provides a timeless answer to the question “Why Christmas?”

Friday we will discover that answer…

Why Christmas?

In our culture, this weekend tends to mark a time of transition. During this weekend, we tend to find ourselves transitioning from a time of thanksgiving to a time of expectation. This past Thursday, we paused to give thanks for the blessings we received this past year. By the following day, however, we tend to transition from a time of thanksgiving to a time of expectation as we look forward to the Christmas season. For many people, this expectation has already begun to build as shopping malls fill with those looking for the perfect gift.

As a matter of fact, for many of you, there is such an expectation and anticipation that is driving you to find that perfect gift, that you know exactly how many days there are until Christmas. For some of you this morning, you know that there are only 24 days until Christmas. There are only 24 days left to make sure that all of your Christmas shopping is done. Only 24 days to prepare and plan for the big day that is Christmas Day.

But you did not need me to remind you of that reality, did you. No, you did not need me to remind you that there was only 24 days until Christmas, because for the last several months, as a culture, we have been counting down to Christmas.  Since Labor Day weekend, when the first signs of Christmas trees and ornaments began to appear in stores, we have been counting down toward Christmas.

And the closer and closer we get to Christmas, the more we are reminded that Christmas is coming. There are more reminders in the form of Christmas ads on T.V. and radio. There are more reminders from family and friends. All around us, the countdown to Christmas continues to grow and gain momentum. And in the next several weeks, the countdown to Christmas will continue to grow in its frequency and intensity. And as the countdown to Christmas grows and gains momentum, our anticipation for Christmas also grows doesn’t it? As the days until Christmas decrease, we find ourselves increasingly looking forward to Christmas Day, don’t we?

Now this growing expectation and anticipation that surrounds the countdown to Christmas is not a new phenomenon. The phenomenon that surrounds the countdown to Christmas has been around for centuries. If you happened to grow up in church or have been around church for a while, you are probably somewhat aware of the countdown to Christmas that occurs in church world. We even have a special name that we use to describe the countdown. In church world we refer to the countdown to Christmas as the Advent season.

Now the word advent comes from the Latin word adventus which the means coming and refers to a time of waiting and preparing for the celebration of Christmas. Advent is a countdown that followers of Jesus throughout history have participated in that marks a time of expectation and anticipation as we remember the birth of Jesus Christ. Followers of Jesus celebrate Christmas to reflect and remember that Jesus Christ, who is God, came to earth to become a man. Followers of Jesus celebrate Christmas to remember that Jesus entered into humanity to live life here on earth.

Yet, whether you call it Advent, or the Christmas season, or the holiday season; Whether you are a follower of Jesus; or whether you don’t buy the whole Jesus, Bible church thing. Whether you are a regular attender of church or whether the only reason that you attend church is because someone agreed to buy you lunch if you came to church with them, we all recognize that expectation and anticipation that grows as we approach December 25^th.

However, I want to pause from the growing expectation, anticipation, and intensity of this countdown to Christmas. I want us to take a minute to pull away from this countdown in order to ask a simple question. And that question is this: Why Christmas? Why is Christmas so significant? And specifically, why would Jesus enter into humanity that first Christmas?

To answer these questions, at the church where I serve, we are going to spend these weeks leading up to Christmas in a sermon series entitled “Why Christmas. During this series, we are going to look at five different passages that are found in the letters that make up the New Testament of the Bible. And as we look at these five different sections of letters that are found in the New Testament of the Bible, we are going to discover five timeless answers to the question “Why Christmas?”

This week, as we launch into this series, I would like for us to look at a section of one of the accounts of Jesus life that are recorded for us in the Bible. In the Bible, there are four different accounts of Jesus life, which are called the gospels. What is so interesting is that these four different accounts of Jesus life, which were written to four different types of people, complement one another in a way that provides us a vivid picture of the life of Jesus and what drove Him to live the life that He lived.

One of these four accounts of Jesus life, called the gospel of Matthew, was written to Jewish people to explain and to show that Jesus was the Messiah that God had promised would come to rescue and restore the Jewish nation as His chosen people. You see, the Jewish people knew that God had promised Abraham, who was the person from which the Jewish nation descended from, that through his offspring that all the nations would be blessed. I

n addition, God had promised the Jewish nations most famous king, King David, that one of his descendants would be the Messiah. So the Jewish people were looking for the descendant of Abraham, from the line of David that would be the promised Messiah who would bring the Jewish people back to God and back to prominence in the world. So to prove that Jesus was the long promised Messiah, Matthew began his gospel with a genealogy to show that Jesus had the proper family background to be the Messiah.

Now, I don’t know about you, but reading a genealogy, which is a list of names that details a person’s family tree, does not sound very exciting. As a matter of fact, maybe you are here this morning and at one time you actually started to try to read the Bible. And then you came to a genealogy. And then, after about five minutes into trying to read the genealogy, you stopped reading the Bible, right. I mean, who can pronounce all of those names? And reading a list of names is so boring, isn’t it?

However, for the Jewish people, being from the right family, having the right family background, was essential to be their rescuer and redeemer. The Jewish people knew their history; their upbringing and their education revolved around the teachings of the Torah, or the Law, which are the first five books of the Old Testament, and the writings, which was the history of the Jewish nation. Many, if not most, Jewish people had the entire Old Testament memorized. They knew the stories and they knew the names and the people behind the stories.

So for Matthew, who was writing to Jewish people to explain and to show that Jesus was the Messiah that God had promised would come to rescue and restore the Jewish nation as His chosen people, the natural place to start his account of Jesus life was with a genealogy that displayed Jesus family tree. In addition, for Matthew, it made sense to write his account of Jesus life this way because Matthew knew something that they did not know and that we often do not recognize.

You see, Matthew wrote the story of Jesus life this way because Matthew knew his story. And it is in Matthew’s story we find a timeless truth about our story. Tomorrow, we will begin to look at Matthew’s story…