The  Messiah’ Secret -  The Birth of Jesus

    Reading. Luke 2:8-20 

Micah prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.                    Micah 5: 2.              

Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem came about through the Romans putting in place a census for the purpose of future taxation. Herod the king implemented the decree of Caesar, he directed a general registration to all of the people, to go to their own city, and be enrolled according to their tribes or families. Joseph and Mary were betrothed and both were descended from the line of King David, so they travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census.

Bethlehem could not cope with the numbers of people arriving. When Joseph and Mary reached Bethlehem they struggled to find accommodation in the Inns. A stable was the only place found available to give shelter, rest and warmth and that night Jesus was born. 

The Shepherds

After the birth of Jesus shepherds who were watching their flocks in the nearby fields when suddenly an angel appear before them. The angel told the shepherds of the Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem This would be a sign to them, he was cradled in a manger. A great number of angels appeared and they were all praising God.                                                                                                              

Bethlehem was noted for the flocks of sheep kept near to the town. Lambs were reared for the sacrifices made at the temple. The shepherds who looked after these flocks were not like the shepherds looking after the sheep on the surrounding hills, they had the reputation for not being  reliable.

The shepherds who looked after the temple sheep were observant of the law, they were religious men. The temple flocks were watched all the year round, great care was taken over them as they were inspected for their perfection. Only the best of the flock were acceptable for the sacrifices.                                       

 It was significant that the shepherds looked after the lambs. The angels sang echoing the trumpet blast and the singing took place when the sacrifice was laid upon the altar , ‘Glory to God in the highest.'  "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah" by Alfred Edersheim.
John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God. Jesus was sacrificed for the sins of the whole world. He was not born to condemn the world but to save the world.

The Sign

After the angels left their presence, the shepherds decided to find the new born babe in Bethlehem.  It was possible that other babies had been born in Bethlehem that night, but it was unlikely that any would be lying in a manger for his bed. This sign was fulfilled when the shepherds found Joseph and Mary and the baby in the manger.

There was great rejoicing by the angels and the shepherds over God’s good will towards the people of the world. Peace on earth has yet to be fulfilled, but the peace in our hearts that Jesus gives to those who believe in him. 

                                                                                                                      

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The Messiah's Secret - Joy to the World

Advent Season is a time of preparation for Christmas.

One of the practical things we prepare before Christmas is the Christmas cake. My aunt started making her Christmas cake in November. The cake ingredients were carefully weighed and mixed together in a large bowl and finally  it was placed in the oven to cook. Days later the brandy was added through a series of holes pierced into the cake, it was left in a large tin to mature. Following that the marzipan was rolled out and put onto the cake. The icing was put on in several layers and in due course the decorations were placed on the top and a decorative band around the cake.

History of the Christmas Cake

Originally people used to eat a sort of porridge on Christmas Eve. Gradually, they began to add spices, dried fruit, honey etc in the porridge to make it a special dish for Christmas.                                                               

Later it was turned into a Christmas pudding and in the 16^th century, flour replaced oatmeal and eggs were added. This became known as the Twelfth Night Cake, it was part of the celebration of Epiphany. The spices represented the gifts of the Wise Men from the East.
However, the Victorians changed it from being the Twelfth Night Cake to the Christmas Cake. The cake being made for the celebrations on Christmas Day.                                                                         

On the left is a cardboard Christmas Cake representing the body of Christ. The cake consists of 6 pieces.  Three pieces celebrate the summer events that took place in England. The other three celebrate Christmas with pictures relating to St. Mary’s and  the church in the community and the world wide church. On every piece of the cake I put lots of stars representing Christians along with pictures referring to the topic.

The Queens Jubilee. In June we shared with our Queen in her 60^th Celebration of her reign. The Queen being the head of the Church of England every Borough in the land held a Civic Service at a Church. St. Mary’s held it for the Borough of Rossendale. ( St. Mary’s website: www.stmarysrawtenstall.co.uk news)

The Olympic Torch passed through Rawtenstall. Thousands of people turned out standing and waiting on St Mary’s Way to catch a glimpse of the Torch. It reminded us of John the Baptist heralding the news that Jesus is the light of the world. Our congregation received on that Sunday small torches with the words, “Jesus is the Light and the Way."

The Olympic & Paralympics Games. Sportsmen and women coming from all over the world to London to compete in the games and were united in their love of their sport.

The World Wide Church. Jesus’ birth being celebrated touches the lives of all nations and people. We also remember the suffering of many Christians as we draw closer to Jesus’ return.
St Mary's Church celebrates 175 years of being a visible witness and presence in the town. The stars represent God’s people.
God’s promise to Abraham, “Look towards heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them . . . so shall your descendants be.” Through Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed. Genesis 15: 5,6. 12:3.
Church and Community. In our Valley the churches come together to celebrate Christmas remembering Jesus Christ’s birth: carol singing on the railway, streets and supermarkets along with charity concerts and ‘In Yer Face’ Youth Drama Group.
The Star on the top of the cake Simply says to us, we follow Jesus.

Readings from Zephaniah 3: 14 – 20.   Luke 3: 7-18
Zephaniah prophesied two future events. The coming invasion and the restoration of Israel. These were fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judea and the restoration of the exiles from Babylon through the Persian King Cyrus. The temple was rebuilt by Zerubbabel and Joshua between 520 – 515 BC
Great celebrations followed each event.  Alfred Edersheim in his book  ‘The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah’ page 40 After the return from exile new hymns were written to celebrate and commemorate their return from exile in Babylon.

The expectation of the fulfilment of Daniel’s prophecy was apparent when we read in our reading in Luke 3:15. “As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ."
Daniel's prophecy, 70 weeks of years from the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah. Daniel 9: 25,26.
The Jewish people were expecting the Messiah to restore the eternal land from the Roman occupation and the Messiah’s inheritance of the eternal throne of King David.
Peter referred to this as, “The times of refreshing.” Acts 3:19.  Another term of reference is the ‘Jubilee’.                                                                                               

Jubilee

Under the Law the Jewish Jubilee took place every 50 years, it commenced on the Day of Atonement. The fields were left fallow and the people were to eat from last year’s harvest. Hired servants who had been working off their debt, their debt was cancelled.

 Inheritances were restored, the land returned to the original owners, and slaves set free. Leviticus 25: 39.

Under Law God’s justice and generosity was a shadow of what was to come with the Messiah’s Jubilee. 

The Messiah's Jubilee

The Messiah’s Jubilee was referred to as the “Year of Liberty” or “The Year of Redemption” or “The year of the Lord’s favour."

When Jesus at the beginning of his ministry went into the synagogue at Nazareth he read from the book of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord’s favour.” Luke 4: 18. 19. Isaiah 61: 1, 2.

Jesus during his ministry was setting people free from all kinds of bondage and bringing them into the glorious liberty of Jubilee.  Jesus parables: the lost sheep the lost coin and the prodigal son, were about restoration and celebration. “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.” And in the parable of the lost coin, ““Rejoice with me, for I have found my coin which was lost.”  The parable of the (prodigal) lost son, “Bring the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet and bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let us be merry, for this my son was dead, and is alive again, he was lost and is found and they began to make merry.” Luke 15: 3-32.

The  good news of the Messiah’s Jubilee had significant meaning to the Jewish people.

John the Baptist.

Picture the scene, the news has reached Jerusalem that John the Baptist, the priest’s son, was preaching a baptism of repentance in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. Crowds of people descended from Jerusalem flocking to hear his message and many were baptised in the river Jordan.

In amongst the crowds there were two groups of people analyzing the words of John.                                                 

1)The poor people whose hearts were open to look for a better life in God’s kingdom. Only to find that they were not recognised by the Pharisees.

2) The Pharisees and the scribes who refused to be baptised by John. Luke 7: 30.

St. Mary's Players Sketch.

In the sketch there was a battle between the two groups of party goers: those who had been invited to Eileen’s party and those who had been invited to Jay’s. The choice between the two came down to the attitude of the host of the party. Jay’s attitude was regarded by most as being a bit aggressive, he thought that everyone should obviously prefer his party. Whereas, Eileen’s approach was a more humble, she hoped that they could make it to her party. The outcome was that everyone went to Eileen’s party.

Jesus would I feel have  identified himself Eileen’s humility and her party goers. He certainly identified with group 1 those who had been baptised by John the Baptist.

Jesus comforted his disciples and followers with these words: “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." “Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied." “Blessed are you that weep now, for you shall laugh." “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man!" Luke 6: 20-22.                                                                      

Jay’s attitude in the sketch reminded me of the larger than life character of John the Baptist, he was strong and defiant, and he spoke out against King Herod. He was popular with the ordinary folk, but the leaders were reluctant to be part of John’s baptism.

Jesus spoke highly of John, saying that he was Elijah, operating in the Spirit and power of Elijah.

The Messiah’s Secret page 44.
“Jesus spoke of John the Baptist being a great man and a prophet and how the people like Zachaeus the tax collector and the outcasts they might be least in the kingdom, were greater than John the Baptist. Through these words Jesus lovingly sought to reassure the poor and the outcasts of their place in the kingdom, because as followers they would not be accepted in the synagogue. The Pharisees did not accept Jesus’ teaching of the Baptism of repentance performed by John the Baptist and Jesus’ disciples.” Luke 7: 30.John 9:22.

Messiah’s Jubilee
Celebrating as we do every Christmas Jesus’ coming into the world, It is also a celebration of Jesus coming into our hearts as our Lord and Saviour.
We celebrate with those across the world who share our faith in Jesus, they like us, who have entered into the Messiah’s Jubilee. Having been released, set free from all that used to enslave us. Our debt of sin has been paid for us on the cross by Jesus, and we have entered into the freedom of God’s forgiveness.
We are Joint heirs with Christ, just as Jesus did a complete work of salvation and entered into the rest of God.  We have entered into God’s rest.
The rest of God has nothing to do with the physical body.  It is resting in God’s favour, the Father loves the child, nothing can separate us from the love our Father God’s steadfast love and in his love he continually forgives us. The Holy Spirit empowers the Christian to be Christ-like.
God’s love created and sustains life, so we are created anew and sustained in the love of God.  We have been blessed with every spiritual blessings in heavenly places. How do we access these blessings? The answer; it is by prayer we access these blessings.                                    

 A prayer for peace in our world (Church of England website)
Make your ways known upon earth, Lord God,
your saving power among all peoples.
Renew your Church in holiness
and help us to serve you with joy.
Guide the leaders of all nations,
that justice may prevail throughout the world.
Let not the needy be forgotten,
nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
Make us instruments of your peace
and let your glory be over all the earth. Amen