Title: Jesus in the Humble
Contents
Jesus came in the humble
Luke 1:26-38
I pray that God's blessings and peace will be with you and your family on Christmas, when the work of salvation begins.
The Christmas we celebrate today is not just a celebration of Jesus' birthday. The original birthday celebration we have is to celebrate with joy that a life was born on this earth and grew up safely and healthy throughout the year. In that sense, we are not celebrating Christmas. It also celebrates and celebrates the birthdays of great saints. It only meaningfully remembers the day when a life was born and left behind a great achievement. It's not even celebrating Christmas in that sense. Of course, there are no such elements at all, but the birth of Jesus Christ is not just the birth of a life.
It would be more accurate to say that God entered the world in a human body rather than birth. We say this is the incarnation.
These days, the birthday of Shakyamuni, the beginning of April, is set as a holiday, and the church celebrates it more loudly than the old church celebrated, but the birth of Shakya is just the birth of a life. In other words, his birth is not the event of God becoming a man, as Christianity says. Therefore, the coming of Jesus Christ is a special event, a historical event, and a one-time event.
In that sense, the celebration of Christmas should not be just a celebration, but should always be asked about its meaning. When the writers of the Gospels wrote the account of the birth of Jesus, they did not write the autobiography of a famous person, but rather to reveal the meaning of the coming of Jesus Christ. We want to examine the meaning of Jesus at this time and receive grace together. In particular, I would like to focus on those who met the baby Jesus who was born.
First, Jesus Christ was born in the body of Mary, an ordinary virgin of Nazareth in Galilee. Mary referred to herself as "the lowliness of the maid" (Luke 1:48). In a word of humility, she was nothing more than a country girl unless she stood out.
Jesus did not come through the body of any royal or noble woman, but through the body of a country girl of Nazareth. Often, when writing a biography of a character, it is common to make his life more beautiful than it really is, but in the case of Jesus, on the contrary, we get the impression that he is deliberately emphasizing a low and lowly birth.
Mary was an ordinary country girl, but she had a humble heart, an obedient heart, and an amazing endurance. An angel appeared to Mary, who was betrothed, and told her, "You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus." Mary was startled, saying, "How can this be?" she tried to deny it, but as soon as she heard the angel's words, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, and therefore the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." It is to obey, saying, "I am the servant of the Lord's maid, let it be done to me according to your word."
In fact, accepting this fact was a heavy cross for Mary. Because, according to the customs and laws of Judea at that time, it was a sin to be stoned to be pregnant by a virgin. In addition, you must be prepared to break up your marriage with your fianc you loved. In that society, it means being the target of irresistible criticism. Mary accepted the conception of the Son of God, ready to bear all these crosses.
However, this obedience brought great joy to Mary's soul, and she had an amazing sense of history to realize that the work of salvation promised from the time of her father Abraham has come to a realization. In the hymn to Mary in Luke 1:46, "My soul praises the Lord, and my heart rejoices in God and my Saviour, because he has looked at the lowliness of the maidservant. Behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. Liroda," he sings. According to the social custom at the time, Mary, who had no choice but to be the most cursed woman, accepted it as a blessing, and sang she was the most blessed.
Such faith cannot but be obtained through truly amazing obedience. That's right. Even if it is a heavy cross, it turns into a blessing for those who lose it through obedience to it.
Jesus Christ came into this world through this very Mary, an ordinary virgin, but with incredible patience and obedience. Mary's crucifixion continued after that. When the parents took Jesus to the temple to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth, a devout man named Simeon said to Mary. ?쏛 sword will pierce your heart??(Luke 2:35). This prophecy came true, and Mary's heart suffered more pain than being stabbed by the death of Jesus on the cross. However, that painful wound was soon healed through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and he was able to receive comfort through the Holy Spirit. Jesus, who came to take away the sin of disobedience of Adam and Eve, came through Mary, a woman who knew how to obey, and was obedient to the point of death.
The next people who met the baby Jesus were the shepherds who were tending their sheep in the fields of Bethlehem. They had an amazing experience. Suddenly, a bright light shone all around them, and an angel appeared and delivered the message. "Do not be afraid, behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will come to all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, Christ the Lord. Then, suddenly, the chorus of thousands of angels rang out. ?쏥lory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased??(Luke 2:14).
Then the shepherds went to Bethlehem and found a baby lying in a manger. The shepherds gladly accepted this wonderful experience and glorified God for this event.
At that time, all Jews were waiting for the Messiah. However, it is no wonder that the poor and disrespectful people among them waited more eagerly for the Messiah. The news of the birth of the Messiah, who had been waiting for 600 years, was the news that all the people of Israel wanted to hear. The first to hear this message would be the religious leaders who study and keep the Law and the Prophecy day and night. But strangely, it is certainly not common for poor shepherds far from the law to be the first to hear the news of the Messiah's birth directly through an angel.
It is not known what the living conditions of the shepherds were at that time, but it is presumed that they were poor people living a daily life. Perhaps these were the shepherds who provided the sheep for the sacrifices in the Jerusalem temple. If so, they would have been well aware of the injustice, exploitation, and conspiracy that was taking place in the temple in Jerusalem. So they must be the ones who gave up their expectations for this temple sacrifice early on.
They must have plundered the sheep at a low price that did not even cover their labor costs by the priests, who provided the sheep for the sacrificial rites, but considered the sacrificial rites as a mere transaction rather than a religious ceremony. The exploitation and hardship they suffered must have made them more eagerly awaiting the Messiah. They may have remembered the words of this psalm. ?쏷he LORD sustains all who stumble and raises up the humble. The eyes of living creatures look to you; you give them food in due season, and open your hand to satisfy the desire of every living thing??(Psalm 145). :14-15).
Zeb 3:12 says, ?쏧 will leave a wretched and poor people among you, and they will be protected in the name of the Lord.??In the end, Jesus Christ came according to the prophecies of these prophets, and he especially came to protect and show mercy to the poor and afflicted people. The shepherds shepherding the fields were an example of the wretched, poor and oppressed people. The coming of the Messiah is bound to bring joy to these people more than anyone else.
Finally, we can think of the Magi, an unexpected visitor to the baby Jesus. These are Gentiles, not Israelites. They could not have waited for the Messiah. Perhaps through astrology, they learned of the birth of a great baby, and they went on a pilgrimage to find him and finally reached Bethlehem, where they worshiped the baby Jesus and offered gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
This story of the Magi appears in the Gospel of Matthew, and the original readers of this Gospel are Jews. I think that Matthew's treatment of this article here implies that the history of the gospel accomplished through Jesus Christ is not only for Jews, but also includes all nations of the world.
Sometimes there may have been some hesitation or a desire to go back. But they were finally able to meet the baby Jesus and returned to their homeland with confidence and joy. Their amazing insight and determination were what made them the first Gentiles to encounter Jesus. The coming of Jesus has meaning for all who have an insight into the meaning of this history.
The Messiah, Jesus, came in a way that people did not expect at the time, in an unexpected place, among people who did not expect it. He came into the lowly, into the humble, into the poor, into the Gentiles who had no Messianic expectations. Why? Mary's song explains why.
?쏮y earnest expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed in anything, and I will be completely bold as before, so that whether I live or die, Christ may be exalted in my body.???쏤or me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.??How comforting would these words be to them? It was the most meaningful Christmas, he said.
If we are to truly understand the meaning of Christmas, we will have to go down to a place of humility and poverty. Because Jesus is there. We should not lose our poor heart in material abundance. We must not sell our humility. Jesus comes to the humble.
May your true encounter with Jesus Christ take place in you this Christmas.