Saturday, December 24, 2011

THE PERSONALITIES OF CHRISTMAS - JESUS

In 2004, Anita and I drove to Phoenix to work in the newsroom at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention; and we eventually came to a place with a sign: “Continental Divide". This is where the watershed of the North American continent is found. A drop of rain falling on the eastern side begins to journey toward the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico; and a drop of rain on the western side flows toward the Pacific Ocean.

It was actually quite a tourist attraction; mostly and mainly by several tribes of American Indians. It was a big deal!

The birth of Jesus Christ was – and remains – an even bigger deal! In fact, it is the watershed of human history; because it divides the events of the past and the future. The First Christmas was the great pivotal event of history when Jesus The Christ was incarnated in the likeness of human flesh.

The shepherds came that night; at eight days, He was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem for circumcision and met the aged Simeon and Anna; at one to two years, the Persian Wise Men came by the house where they were; immediately, He was taken to Egypt to protect Him from King Herod; and upon the death of Herod, the family moved back to Nazareth.

At twelve years, He was Bar-Mitzvah’d in the Temple at Jerusalem.

At about thirty years; when Jesus began His public ministry, word drifted back to His hometown about His teachings and miracles. Had there been a newspaper in Nazareth, it might have run a headline, “Local Boy Makes Good”. Jesus was growing in “wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man”.

But when Jesus preached in Nazareth and began to present His claims, His townspeople rejected both Him and His claims. They could not accept as Messiah One whom they had known as “carpenter”. They could not follow as King One whom they had known as an ordinary blue collar citizen.

“And He went out from thence, and came into His own country; and His disciples follow Him. And when the Sabbath day was come, He began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing Him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things (Where did this man get all this)? What wisdom is this which is given unto Him (Where did all this wisdom come from), that even such mighty works are wrought by His hands (How can He perform all these mighty works)? Is not this the carpenter (This is not really “the carpenter” is He), the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and of Jude, and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us? And they were offended at Him” (Mark 6:1-3).


Jesus recognized that problem when He said:

“But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in His own country, and among His own kin, and in His own house” (Mark 6:4).

In other words, they were trying to account for Him in human terms.

Our text from Isaiah 53 for this Christmas Sunday says:

[1] “Who has believed our report (“prophetic utterance”)? And to whom is the arm of the LORD (“God’s intervention in the affairs of man”) revealed”?

[2] “For He (Jesus) shall grow up before Him (God) as a tender plant (“like a suckling child”), and as a root (“offshoot”) out of a dry ground (“very hard, arid, and dry soil”): He has no form nor comeliness (“no splendor or majesty of any form”); and when we (“all of us”) shall see Him, there is no beauty that we (Isaiah identifies with his spiritually blind countrymen) should desire Him”.

[3] “He is despised and rejected of men (“there will be no men of distinction to support Him”); a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces (“we avoid the real Jesus to embrace a “Jesus” who will not trouble us with demands) from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not”.

The term “dry ground” suggests a most unlikely place for a plan to grow and flourish.

Jesus came, not full grown as expected, but as a tiny baby. He was not born in a palace or mansion, but in a lowly manger. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin mother.

The gardener prepares the soil for planting and keeps the ground moist and soft. If the plant grows out of dry ground or in a crevice of a mountain, is shriveled and stunted. Jesus grew as a “root out of dry ground”, but He was no frail weakling.

In beauty, He was the Fairest of Ten Thousand; in strength, the Cedar of Lebanon; in purity, the Lily of the Valley; and in glory, the Rose of Sharon.

He was the Best of the best; the Noblest of the nobles, the Highest of the high, and the Holiest of the holy of all mankind; but look at the ordinary, lifeless, dry “soil” from which Jesus grew: You could no more account for Him from that “soil” than you could account for a flower growing in a paved parking lot.


I. NOTHING IN HIS FAMILY LINE COULD ACCOUNT FOR JESUS.

Heredity is a real factor in our lives. It is part of our makeup. We not only inherit physical and facial characteristics, but also mental gifts and personal charm.

A study of Christ's ancestry does nothing to explain Him. Yes, He was a descendent of King David, but so were multitudes of others. God saw that He grew up in a good family, but no other child in the same family compared with Him. He was a “root out of dry ground”.

Our environment contributes much of what we are. The atmosphere in which we live, the company we keep, and the friends we cultivate all have an influence on us.

Jesus grew up in ordinary village. His trade was that of an ordinary carpenter. There was nothing in any of that which could explain His uniqueness. He was a “root out of dry ground”.


II. NOTHING IN HIS TIME COULD ACCOUNT FOR JESUS.

There have been many times in history when several geniuses in literature and music and government lived at the same time; but never was there a genius like Jesus.

The time in which Jesus lived was a barren, difficult time for God’s People. For over four hundred years, there had been no prophetic voice. Formal religion was filled with legalism and hypocrisy. As far as fresh religious thought revelation were concerned, He was a “root of dry ground”


III. NOTHING IN HIS NATIONALITY COULD ACCOUNT FOR JESUS.

Jesus was Jewish; and it is time we faced that fact. The world has tried to eliminate the Jews; but Jesus was Jewish; and He is the ONLY Savior of the entire world.

The Jews have genius for religion. They excelled in law, wisdom, poetry, and prophecy; and they continue to excel in science and related fields. In addition to Jesus, they produced men like Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Paul. In more modern times, they have produced Albert Einstein, Leonard Bernstein, Yitzhak Pearlman, Isaac Stern, George Gershwin, Carl Sagan, Jonas Salk, Milton Hershey, Michael Dell, James Goldsmith (Goodyear), Levi Strauss, Calvin Klein, and “Doc” Pemberton (Coca-Cola).

Fully 20% of all the Nobel Prizes in Chemistry have gone to Jewish scientists; 41% of Economics; 27% of Medical; and 26% of Physics. Whether it is in the fields of Anthropology, Bio Medical Science, Chemistry, Computers, Economics, Linguistics, Literature, Mathematics, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, or Physics – Jewish men and women have excelled.

Jewish Edwin Land invented the Polaroid camera process. If you have ever had to have a spare tire replace a flat, you can thank Jewish Louis Pearlman; and you’re welcome from Jewish inventor, Laszlo Biro if you have a BIC pen in your pocket.

But there was not another ever like Jesus. As far as His nationality was concerned he was a “root out of dry ground”.

Jesus was Jewish; and He loved His country, its Holy City of Jerusalem, and the Temple in which they worshipped; but He belonged then – and He belongs now - to the entire human race.

The human race has produced many great people, but in wisdom and truth and holiness, Jesus excelled them all. They guessed at truth; He WAS the Truth. They quoted others in teaching; He was the original they quoted in teaching. For over two thousand years, He has inspired millions to follow Him, live for Him, and even die for Him; especially at your death, you want Jesus on your side!

The human race started so innocently and beautifully and has become so thoroughly stained, defiant, and corrupt; Jesus Christ is still sinless, obedient, and pure.

The question of the ages is how could so fresh and sweet a stream flow from such a bitter fountain. If the human race could produce one Jesus, why can it not produce more? The obvious answer is: the human race did not “produce” Him; God did!

Human nature cannot explain Jesus; he was – and is - a “root out of dry ground”.

The Christmas Narrative is the most logical account for Jesus:

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

His Incarnation was not normal; not mere human birth. At that stable on that cold stone slab filled with animal saliva and dirty straw, in the cold drafty cave; The Word became flesh in a miraculous incarnation.

Jesus was not simply the son of Mary – He was that – but He was – and is – The Son of God!


It was a glorious day when God created man; it was an even greater day when God became man.

It was a wonderful day when God made man in his image; it was an even more wonderful day when God made Himself in the image of man.

This is the miracle of Christmas! Let us go and tell it to the world!

No comments: