His First Message Series

“Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” [1]

What image does the mention of Christmas typically conjure up in your mind? Chances are that thinking about Christmas brings to your mind an image of a babe lying in a manger, especially if you are a Christian. The scene is so peaceful—the babe smiling at His mother and Joseph, assorted animals gathered around the feed trough where the child is lying. The manger scene inspires a sense of awe and comfort to us as Christians, as it does to many outsiders. Unfortunately, we who follow the Saviour are prone to neglect the staggering implications of Christmas.

Indeed, a child was born to a virgin named Mary. The circumstances of that child’s birth were less than propitious. However, we who know this One realise that the

Word became flesh at that time. The Word, God Himself, took on human flesh. Our observance of Christmas is acknowledgement that God became man.

If you and I were to design the birth of the Son of God, I suspect that we would have arranged for His birth to be quite different from what we see in the Word of God. Conditioned as we are by this fallen world, we would likely arrange for the Son of God to be born to a powerful king and his queen. We are convinced that high-born people are powerful people, and we would want the Messiah to be powerful. Or perhaps we would select a warrior prince and his lovely bride. In this way we could ensure that the Lord would truly be a man-of-war. Some among us, perhaps being of a more spiritual character, would arrange for the child to be born into the home of a great theologian, a biblical scholar or a learned rabbi who was conversant with all that God had prophesied.

However, the Father arranged for His Son to be born to a young peasant girl of perhaps no more than twelve or thirteen years of age who was betrothed to a carpenter, a young Jewish man who was only slightly older than his fiancée. You see, God delights in confounding the wise of this world; He seems to delight in upending human expectations. God has no need to use the means of this fallen world to accomplish His ends.

The child that was born to Mary and into the home of Joseph would grow to manhood in quietness and obscurity; and some thirty years after His birth, this One Who was born of a virgin would present Himself to Israel. He would present Himself in an unpretentious manner. His presentation would be in a synagogue in an out-of-the-way place where He would be handed the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah. It was all so ordinary, and no one could suspect that something momentous was about to happen.

Then, having read the portion of Scripture that was assigned to be read that day, Jesus simply said to those present, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” With that one quiet, everyday act, God would set in motion His plan to transform His fallen creation in the most ordinary fashion. By the determined will of the Living God, His Son would invade the planet, surrender His life as a sacrifice to propitiate the brokenness of mankind, establish His reign through the transformation of hearts as people believe Him and are born into His Kingdom. This Redeemer, this One Who is identified as the Word, having given His life as a sacrifice, would break the bonds of death and rise from the dead. Those who are redeemed by His grace are then left behind to push to completion His great work. In His own time and according to His predeterminate will, this Anointed One will return to receive to Himself those who have loved Him, those who have been changed by His grace.