Chris Loehmer Kincaid's Blog, page 23

Room

Her first son was born. She put clotharound Him and laid Him in a place where cattle are fed. There was no room forthem in the place where people stay for the night. (Luke 2:7, New Life Version)

Mostversions of the Bible say that there was no room in the inn. I chose this translationbecause there’s a good chance that there wasn’t even an inn in Bethlehem atthat time. Many Bible scholars believe that “inn” actually referred to an innerroom of the house, such as a guest room.

True,there was no room for Mary and Joseph in any of the “places where people stay”because the city was filled with travelers going there for the census. But thestable where the animals slept was warm and safe, and probably quieter thanthe houses which were filled with people.

Ithink it was a beautiful place for a baby to be born.

Prepare

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:“Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for ourGod.” (Isaiah 40:3, New King James Version)

Decemberis the one month out of the year where everyone spends so much time preparing.There are presents to buy and wrap, cookies to bake, cards to mail, a tree toput up and decorate. And all in preparation for Christmas morning.

Jesus’scousin John, better known as John the Baptist, came to prepare the people forthe coming of Jesus. He didn’t bake cookies or buy presents; he preached to allwho would listen.

Areyou telling people about Jesus in preparation of His second coming? 

Order

About that time Hezekiah became deathlyill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the kingthis message: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your affairs in order, for youare going to die. You will not recover from this illness.’” (Isaiah 38:1, NewLiving Translation)

Theword “order” has a lot of meanings. We can order someone around, we can giveorders, we can put our books in alphabetical order, we can call a meeting toorder, UPS has delivered our order. But no matter how it’s used, the word usuallysignifies some sort of organization.

Wethink of setting our affairs in order only when we think something bad is goingto happen to us. But no one knows for sure when they are going to leave theirearthly body.

Neitherdoes anyone know when Jesus will return to this earth to call all believershome. Do we need to have our affairs in order for that or do we just need to have faith in Him?

Nazareth

Philip found Nathanael and told him, “Wehave found the one whom Moses wrote about in the book of the Law and whom theprophets also wrote about. He is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

          “Can anything good come fromNazareth?” Nathanael asked.”

          “Come and see,” answered Philip. (John1:45-46, Good News Translation)

 

“Cananything good come from Nazareth?” What a horrible thing to say. Can you thinkof names of other towns that you would say that of? Probably could think ofsome countries too?

But,boy oh boy, did Nathanael have that wrong! Because Jesus was good in every way.

Messiah

          But the angel said to them, “Do notbe afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah,the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in clothsand lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:10-12, New International Version)

Accordingto my online dictionary, Messiah means 1) a leader or savior of a particulargroup or cause or 2) the promised deliverer of the Jewish nation prophesied inthe Hebrew Bible. Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah of the Hebrewprophecies and the savior of humankind.

Unfortunately,at the time of His birth, many wanted to be delivered from Roman rule. Theydidn’t realize that what they really needed was to be saved from their sins.

Whatabout you? What do you need to be delivered from?

Lamb

       The following day as John was standingwith two of his disciples, Jesus walked by. John looked at him intently andthen declared, “See! There is the Lamb of God!” (John 1:35-36, Living Bible)

Jesushas frequently been called the Lamb of God. Why is that?

InBible times, when a Jew sinned, they had to take a lamb to the temple as asacrifice to be forgiven. In the book of Exodus, God’s final plague for Pharaohto let His people go was that the firstborn son of every family would die. Forthe Jews to have their sons spared, they had to kill a male lamb who waswithout blemish and spread its blood on the tops and sides of their door frame.   

Nowpicture Jesus as the Lamb of God, the sacrifice that would save us all, Hisblood spread on the cross.

King

Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem inJudea during the time when Herod was king. When Jesus was born, some wise menfrom the east came to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the baby who was born tobe the king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worshiphim.”  (Matthew 2:1-2, New CenturyVersion)

Sohere we have three different sorts of kings. First, King Herod and we all knowwhat kind of king he was – vicious, merciless, and egotistical. Second, thewise men from the east, who weren’t kings at all, but are referred to as kings insome stories. But regardless of what we call them, they turn out to be prettygood guys.

Andthe final King in this passage was that innocent Baby laying in the manager. WhenHe was born, He was nothing like anyone thought He would be. But look at howHis story turns out.

Immanuel

         All this took place to fulfill what theLord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear ason, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God is with us). WhenJoseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he tookhis wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he calledhis name Jesus. (Matthew 1:22-25, English Standard Version)

Thisis actually a continuation of yesterday’s post, where an angel of the Lord cameto Joseph in a dream, telling him what to do about the situation with Marybeing pregnant.

Jesusis known by many names. The words of the prophet here are from Isaiah 7:14, andit’s a long story why they named the baby Jesus instead of Immanuel.  But I think the important thing to remember is“God is with us”. No matter what name Jesus goes by, He is always with us.

Joseph

        Now the birth of Jesus Christ took placein this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before theycame together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And herhusband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved todivorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of theLord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear totake Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the HolySpirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he willsave his people from their sins.”

Thingswere a little different back then. Today, this story might have played outcompletely differently. Joseph still might have stayed with Mary. But if heleft her, she would have had three options. 1) Have the baby and give him upfor adoption. 2) Have the baby, keep him and raise him on her own. 3) Well, Idon’t even want to write it, let’s not even consider it, as God knew Mary’sheart.  

Howlucky we are that Joseph was an honorable man who listened to the angel in hisdream and that he remained with Mary, protecting her and the Baby she carried.  

Butwhat happened to the letter I? Come back tomorrow to find out. 

Hungry

          “Then the King will say to those onhis right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, thekingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry andyou gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,I was a stranger and you invited me in.” (Matthew 25:34-35, New InternationalVersion)

Ifyou remember from yesterday, those on the right were the sheep. As believers,their names were in God’s Book; they would make it to heaven. They fed those whowere hungry and thirsty. They gave strangers a place of rest.  

Butthey were put on God’s right side because the stranger they fed was Jesus.

Here’sa sudden thought I had. Who invited Jesus in, when Mary and Joseph were lookingfor a place for Him to be born? Maybe the words Invited, In, and Inn should be tomorrow's words. Nope, guess again.