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Tag: nazareth

WE Have Been Here Before – the Son of Man in a Manger
Born the Son of Man

Oh, the humility and love of GOD to be born as a Son of Man!
Roger Harned – on the birth of the Messiah Jesus

Think of it – consider the concept of The Almighty LORD God, born as a human being through a woman. In this sense Jesus, the Christ, comes to man through a woman as a son of man born of mankind.

Christmas – Celebration of the ‘Mass of Christ’

Shouldn’t we see Christmas not so much as the all-too-familiar scene of ‘a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths lying in a manger,’ but rather a sign of God’s tender mercy for mankind?

Our common view of the Christ child is both incomplete and a mere introduction to God at best.

Therefore the humbleness of the Christ child, who was and is and will be the Lord God Almighty, Creator of the heavens and earth should bring us to our knees. Picture the LORD GOD more fully in the Person of Jesus filled with the Holy Spirit!

We speak of the Messiah Jesus, Son of Man and Son of God. He was born by the Holy Spirit through the virgin Mary, betrothed of Joseph of Nazareth, a son of David.

And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
Matthew 1:16 KJV

This seventeen verse genealogy from the Gospel of Matthew introduces a touching story of a child for children of God. Yet it is not the picture I ask you to see today.

Son of Man

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

What’s the point of this extensive genealogy from Abraham? The list through David, Solomon, Rehoboam, Jeconiah and through Jacob the father of Joseph (who was only engaged to Mary)? Of course we know few of these men and women (like Rahab & Tamar or Jeconiah).

Clearly Jesus is the son of Mary, a woman with child sometimes accused of being with another man. To call Jesus a son of man, that is, adam, refers only to Mary!

The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel of Matthew 1:18

God as Father

Jesus’ self-designated title, Son of Man, is at issue here. Who is the father of this Messiah of Israel? (And what role do Joseph and Mary play in God’s mysterious plan of redemption for mankind?)

If Joseph is not the father why follow his bloodline or ancestry at all?

(… for she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit}

Mary, a virgin, is not some young girl who pridefully claims a status as ‘single mom’ as some today will. She does not speak of an indiscretion with a young man other than Joseph who she will not name.

This is a truly unique instance of Divinity interacting with creation. God becomes the Father of Jesus, yet not a husband to Mary.

Matthew 1:19

So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

The LORD God is Father to Jesus, Son, a man (child) born to ‘man‘ (adam) in the person of Mary.

He IS the Very Image of the invisible Father (LORD & Creator of the first Adam and the first woman created). The Son of Man IS fully the Father and yet the seed of adam through Mary.

God – the Holy Spirit

Mat 1:20 –

But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,

“Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

So scripture records clearly that Mary is the single mom of Jesus. Yet the overshadowing cloud of Life in the Holy Spirit is the Father of this Christ child.

Jesus the Christ IS the Son of God incarnate (in the flesh).

Mat 1:21

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Joseph, Step-father of God

Mat 1:24-25 – When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her but did not have sexual relations with her until she gave birth to a son. And he named him Jesus.

Here also Joseph demonstrates humility and righteousness as did Mary. He too obeys the angel of the Lord God; for this Son of David must lead a young Jesus to grow in wisdom and grace.

Son of Man – a babe in a manger

Joseph flees Bethlehem, near Jerusalem in Judea, over 300 miles to Egypt, later returning to Nazareth in Galilee several more miles to the north.

Matthew 2:

…an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying,

“Get up! Take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to kill him.”

14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and escaped to Egypt. He stayed there until Herod’s death, so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled:

Out of Egypt I called my Son.

An angel of the Lord warns Joseph to flee to Egypt.

Also angels had appeared in person to shepherds in the hills where David had watched over flocks. Then later after Herod’s death [~4BC] an angel tells Joseph to return.

22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.

And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee. 23 Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth

.. to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Follow the Lord Incarnate

As any wise men or women might observe, God did not come into this world to condemn the world. Christmas gifts represented by the wise men attract our focus, but should never substitute for our worship of the Lord. Jesus IS the Christ of Christmas.

We overlook an obedient step-father who saves them all from Herod the Great, murderer of the innocents of Bethlehem. Let’s not hold too high a chosen mother in this iconic manger scene. The Lord God our Father sent Salvation to mankind as a baby born for a Cross.

Follow the Son of Man

Later Matthew reveals to us the cost to the Father of the manger, which is the Cross of Christ. The Apostle also reveals the Gospel Good News.

Matthew later describes a scene where the Apostle Simon Peter asks the Lord the cost of discipleship. Jesus has just told them of the difficulty for men, even faithful men and women, to enter heaven. Peter wants to know our reward.

“Then who can be saved,” they ask?

The Lord then states:

“With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26b

The followers of the Son of Man were not certain if they could be saved.

Some remain uncertain how God could be born to a virgin or die on a Cross for our sin. You may wonder how Jesus rose from the grave.

How did the Lord raise Lazarus or how He will reward you at the end of it all?

Matthew 19:

27 Then Peter responded to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you. So what will there be for us?”

So Peter asks for all of us: doubters with limited faith.

²⁸Jesus said to them,

“Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Good for the Twelve, you think. What about us?

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or motheror children or fields because of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Following Christ from the Manger

Have you long ago left your gift at the manger or even forgotten Christ’s difficult journey?

The Son of Man came down to Creation humbly and lived a difficult life in the flesh for us. He lived it without sin so that He could bear ours.

From Bethlehem to Egypt to Nazareth to Capernaum to Jerusalem to Golgotha…

to Hell and back from the empty tomb, to the road to Emmaus…

to rising into the clouds at Pentecost, to appearance to Saul near Damascus, to Revelation to John on Patmos:

The Lord came to the Created – to you and to me, Jesus lived, died and rose that we might follow Him further than as a Babe in a manger in Bethlehem.

He has been here before. The Son of Man who was journeys from before Eden until beyond now.

Next we will explore some of the Lord’s previous appearances to mankind, God-willing.
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To Be Continued...
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December 1, 2019
James and Jesus: Brothers – 6
Although we took an initial look at the identity of the letter writer in Witness of a Converted Brother, before we ask ourselves about the conclusion of James’ letter, I would like to go back to take a look at the relationship between James and Jesus.

James, Bond-servant of his Brother

Ἰάκωβος θεοῦ καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
James 1:1a Greek; NASB

Picture James and Jesus after the resurrection. What a humble relationship the author James states here.

First and foremost, he is a bond-servant, δοῦλος, doulos or slave.

Slaves were common in the Roman empire. They served men of importance at many levels: kings, the rich, military leaders, land owners, regular citizens to whom one owed money. Slaves were not uncommon in Judea and servitude required the self-control of humility.

If the relationship between James and Jesus is one of a bond-servant to his master, James acknowledges that as a servant of God he serves Jesus as his lord. The risen brother (actually, half-brother) of James is God in the flesh!

James and Jesus of Nazareth

Surely by now Mary has told Jesus’ brothers and sisters what she had held in her heart: this son is the Son of the Living God by the Holy Spirit!

Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary, and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, aren’t they all with us? So where does he get all these things?” And they were offended by him.
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his household.” And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
Matthew 13:55-58 CSB

James was always the younger brother. Joseph had died, then Jesus assumed his role as head of their household. Later Jesus would leave Nazareth over controversy related to His teaching to live in nearby Capernaum.

He traveled throughout Israel for three years prior to His crucifixion and resurrection. James, as the elder brother, would have cared for his mother, brother and sisters.

What was it like to grow up with Jesus?
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Much of the commentary to follow is best read as historical fiction from a probable first-person narrative of James, half-brother of Jesus, based on the scriptures linked.
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Although the risen Christ anoints James as head the church of Jerusalem, he would have traveled there many times.

James and Jesus would have been known as Galileans, Nazarenes and familial brothers, not Judeans or leaders of Jerusalem. But now he is one of more than five hundred witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. James accepts the difficult call to lead the church in Jerusalem.

Though we have no sermon, but only his letter to the churches, his personal witness of Jesus must have been subject of much preaching.

“What was it like to grow up with the Lord Jesus,” so many believers must have asked?

Humbly, James would have confessed, “I did not believe.”

The Child James and Jesus

{Hear James’ voice in his later good news to the church.}

The physician Luke interviewed our mother Mary and many others in order to tell us about Jesus, before His recent miraculous and powerful earthly ministry of only three years. Our mom now retells a story I will share with you of when Jesus was a young man and I was just a small child.

Luke 2:

[Jesus] grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom, and God’s grace was on him. Every year our parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. When he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the festival. Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, and they had to return to Jerusalem to search for him. (They sent us back to Nazareth with relatives.)

After three days, they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

(I remember when they came back to us in Nazareth.)

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.

In the Synagogue of Nazareth

A few years later Dad died, and Jesus watched over all of us. When we grew older I heard my brother teach in our synagogue. but I did not believe in Him. Of course, I too worshiped in the synagogue on the Sabbath Jesus read from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah.

Luke 4:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me…
Luke 4:14 from Isaiah 61:1

Then my brother Jesus said: “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

My own brother, yet I could not believe the words He proclaimed to all of us, we who witnessed the Lord in the flesh. They all spoke well of my brother. We all wondered what Jesus meant.

“Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” What does your brother mean by this?

Then He said: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ referring to a local rumor of a miracle He was said to have done nearby.

Jesus said they resented that He did not prove himself in our hometown, using familiar illustrations of the prophets Elijah and Elisha doing miracles outside of Israel.

Then the crowd turned. I didn’t know what to think, but I still didn’t believe Jesus and I too would have loved to have seen proof.

Everyone in our synagogue was enraged. They got up, drove Jesus out of town to the edge of the cliff, intending to hurl him over it.

I thought of the words of Judah after Joseph’s brothers had thrown him into the pit. A few of us helped Jesus to quickly escape the angry Nazarene worshipers.

Capernaum and Jesus Preaching Nearby

Jesus had already become very popular in Galilee before Nazareth rejected Him. Although I had not seen any yet, many attested to miracles my brother worked in nearby towns. That is why some had said, “do a sign for us here in your hometown.”

People now followed Jesus into towns and everywhere He went.

Hillside near Capernaum where Sermon on the Mount may baye been preached

Matthew 4:

13 He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea…

From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Matthew 4:17

We heard reports of my brother’s teaching many times as people traveled through Nazareth from here or there. Merchants of the fish markets and others also told us that Jesus had preached things like, “blessed are the poor,” and “blessed are the humble.”

Teaching, Preaching, and Healing

23 Now Jesus began to go all over Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 Then the news about him spread throughout Syria. (That’s what the Romans now call the region near us.)

… 25 Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan.

James and Jesus, a family visit

Jesus lived in Capernaum, but He traveled mostly. When word came to us where to find Him, we often followed the crowds to see my brother. Mom delighted to see and hear Him, when we could. But me… I still didn’t fully believe all the reports we heard.

We heard that some Scribes and Pharisees had come up from Jerusalem to see Jesus. So we traveled alongside the crowds to see Jesus.
- Ruins of Capernaum
- Gottlieb painting Christ preaching in Capernaum
I sent a messenger to push through the crowds to speak to our brother.

Luke 8:

20 He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.”

21 But he replied to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear and do the word of God.”

We waited for Jesus to finish, listening to Him. Jesus preached many of the sayings we had already heard. And finally, we managed to meet our brother, who kissed and embraced us all. Then we stayed with Him, returning to Nazareth the following day.

I met with Jesus other times too, but of course I could not follow Him because of my responsibilities to our family.

Jerusalem

Jesus had said to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.

I won’t get into politics since it’s so complicated. But next I would like to tell you where my brother stood on some of the controversies in Jerusalem.
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To be continued... James and Jerusalem
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May 16, 2019
Beyond Nazareth

Taking the long view – Beyond Nineveh and Nazareth

Our long journey began in Beyond Nineveh with a look at Jonah, a reluctant Prophet who preached repentance to the largest city on earth. {Read about the beginning of our journey in the link above.} From Jonah’s home in the Galilean hills, Jerusalem would have seemed like a modern day New York City [Population 8.4 Million] compared to nearby towns of Nazareth and Capernaum.

Just like Jerusalem compared to Nineveh, New York City pales by comparison to a distant city like Karachi Pakistan [Population 27.5 Million souls]. A familiar New York City is smaller even than two cities in China, Shanghai [24.3 Million] and Beijing [21.5 Million].

Jonah of Gath-hepher, a town of Lower Galilee, about 5 miles from Nazareth

The Lord sends Jonah to seek repentance from a distant unfamiliar city. Instead, Jonah sailed toward modern-day Spain rather than journey east toward modern-day Mosul Iraq. In fact, these foreigners repented!

Isaiah Preaches Repentance and More

Prior to the fall of Jerusalem many prophets foretold destruction by several conquering empires. One additional perspective of these turbulent times comes from the prophesies of Isaiah. Yet a distant look Beyond Nazareth reveals hope of a Redeemer and Messiah. How distant? More than seven centuries.

Isaiah 52:7

How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”

A Long Time from Nineveh to Nazareth

We see jews made refugees not long after Jonah won non-believers in Nineveh to the Lord. Jerusalem captured, spared then rebuilt; conquered again and again (just as before). In first century Galilee powerful Rome to the west subdues all the Mediterranean. Israel (long defeated) doubts a prophet of note could reside in Nazareth [see John 1:46]. But a Prophet, yes more than a Prophet, would be called by others: Jesus of Nazareth. All would ask, is he the Messiah?

Isaiah Prophesies a Far-distant Hope

Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.

As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—

so shall he sprinkle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.

Isaiah 52:13-15

A son of man, suffering servant of the LORD; Jesus of Nazareth became best remembered for His Holy and Perfect Sacrifice of love on the cross. The distant time was eight hundred years before Christ and Isaiah spoke accurately of the pivotal event in the history of mankind.

Isaiah 53: Description of the Messiah

Now, twenty-one centuries after Jesus of Nazareth, scripture speaks to us – to the believer and to the sceptic in distant lands:

Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

Prior to the fall of Jerusalem, before the rebuilding centuries later, centuries before Jesus of Nazareth the Prophet Isaiah describes our loving Lord.

For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Does the world esteem God? Is the Lord not saddened by our grievous sin?

Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.

To be continued…

April 6, 2017