"Jesus' Greatest Enemy" July 6 Readings: Matthew 2, Luke 2:39-52

 

Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2022

This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles. The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but I have divided it so that we will spend half the year in the OT, and half the year in the NT. 

Bible Readings: Matthew 2, Luke 2:39-52   

Background:   

We had a tradition in our biblically correct home when I was a kid. We would always take the Magi out of the manger scene and place them somewhere across the room. They are a mysterious group - we know little about these men who came to worship the child. But what we do know is that almost everything we THINK about them is wrong! There were likely not three - that is just how many gifts they brought. They did not come to the manger, but to a house. The star appeared when Jesus was born and that's when they left home. Jesus is described as a child, not a baby when they arrive. Who were they? How did they know that this star meant that a baby was born who would be king of the Jews? These questions will remain mysteries for a long time.

This is followed by the great tragedy of the killing of the children of Bethlehem - it is likely that Jesus' birth had been long enough before to justify in Herod's mind the two-year-old age limit. It was a low point for an evil man who did many terrible things. Jesus escaped with his parents, returned to Nazareth after Herod's death, and lived what was likely a semi-normal (as normal as a sinless boy's life can be) childhood.

We see the story of his time in the Temple when he was 12, learning and worshiping. It must have been a unique blessing and challenge to parent a child such as Jesus!

SPECIAL NOTE: On the "Synoptic Problem"

As you read the accounts of Jesus' birth you are introduced to what scholars often call the Synoptic Problem. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels, because they have so many similarities. John, of course, is completely different. But even with their similarities, there are great differences. Look at the birth narratives.

Matthew never mentions Mary and Joseph living in Nazareth prior to their return from Egypt in chapter 2. Luke does not mention the flight to Egypt, making it sound as if they returned to Nazareth after a brief time in Bethlehem. With the exception of Jesus' birth, none of the stories told in one book appear in the other.

Why so many differences? Why are there what appear (note the word APPEAR!) to be contradictions in the various accounts? Sometimes it is factual, such as the Nazareth issue or the flight to Egypt. Sometimes it is chronological - when did a particular event take place? There are some thorny issues.

I do not have all the answers here, and this is a devotional, not a theological treatise. But here are some thoughts to keep in mind.

• None of the gospels is meant to be complete. Luke even spells this out when he says that books could not contain everything that Jesus did. 
• Silence is not denial. Just because Luke does not mention the trip to Egypt does not mean he was denying it took place. He was simply including those facts he thought necessary to tell the story of Jesus he was telling (under the Spirit's inspiration). 
• Different perspectives are not contradictions. Though two men might reflect on an event in different ways, and with slight differences, those differences do not undermine the truth of either account. 
• There are facts we do not have in evidence. We do not know what happened and when we do, the biblical accounts may make more sense. We have to trust at times without complete understanding. 
• These books were not meant to be chronologically precise. Stories were not told in chronological order, but in thematic order (at least at times). 

None of that will convince a skeptic, but neither should we cast away the Bible or doubt its authenticity because there are some logistical issues in the synoptic gospels that we have not yet completely explained. Trust God and trust his word. 

Daily Devotional: Jesus' Greatest Enemy 

There he is, lurking in the shadows, the great enemy of Jesus throughout this adventure story God wrote in history - the life of Christ. No, it is not the evil Herod, he plays his part and exits early. It is not even the Romans who pretty much ignored Jesus all his ministry. To pull the mask off this villain, let us set the scene.

The Jewish people have been longing for the Messiah to come for centuries. Though they misunderstood God's promise and his purposes, they hoped for the day God's Anointed would deliver them from their enemies. They knew the prophecies about his coming - especially these men who devoted their lives to studying, debating, and understanding the scrolls of the Law and the Prophets.

Now, enter stage right a troupe of Magi from the east, asking about the birth of the one "born king of the Jews." Jerusalem was suddenly abuzz with news of these strange visitors and the news of the star they were pursuing. When Herod asked where Messiah was to be born, the religious leaders had their answer ready. "Bethlehem," they said. They knew it off the top of their heads.

Bethlehem was only about 6 miles away - an important fact. I'm not exactly a world-class athlete, but I can walk 6 miles, and if I knew that Jesus was there I would do it! The Messiah had been born, or at least that is what these men were saying, and all they had to do was walk a couple of hours at an easy pace and they would see if it was true.

And they couldn't be bothered!

This is our first introduction to the greatest enemy of Jesus, the greatest enemy of early Christianity, and the greatest enemy of vibrant Christianity through the centuries - dead religion. Oh, we like to say we aren't religious, but we are. If you go to church and participate in rituals (baptism, communion, giving, etc) you are involved in religion.

But dead religion - have no part of that. Religion that goes through the motions but never encounters the living God. Religion that cares more about rules than a vibrant relationship with Christ Religion that is dull and lifeless, that does not change or transform us, that allows us to continue to walk in our old ways without being changed by the power of Christ and the indwelling Spirit. Religion based on human principles more than the revelation of God in Scriptures.  

Father, may I never settle for a dead religion that knows only the form of godliness but not the reality of your life in me!

Consider God's Word:

Think of Jesus in the Temple at Twelve. He was sinless, yet he still desired the word of God so that he could learn and grow. Contrast that to the scribes who knew exactly where the Messiah was to be born but did not even bother to go six miles to see if they could see him.

Which better describes your attitude toward God's word? Are you hungry like Jesus to know all that you can of the word? Or are you a hearer only who does not do what the word says?