John 10:22-42
Hey! I saw something interesting today; John the Baptist was set apart by God from birth, and filled with the Spirit, AND Jesus himself said that “among men born of women there isn’t anyone greater than John”…and yet John, the Spirit-filled, prophecy fulfilling prophet….never performed a miracle.
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Luke 10
There are 5 different topics in this chapter, let’s take minute to look at each one individually.
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John 9
There are some similarities between physical and spiritual blindness. Jesus points out a few here.
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John 8
Jesus often did things that didn’t seem to make sense. Here he lets a guilty woman go, and causes a crowd who believes in him to hate him.
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John 7
The contrasts between those who believe and those who don’t are on display in this chapter
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Matthew 18
There’s a world of difference between child-like and childish…one will prepare you for heaven, and the other…well, not so much.
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Mark 9
The first verse of this chapter is as important as any other part of the text. One sentence conveys a powerful truth.
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Matthew 17
I recently was moved by the Spirit to take another look at the Transfiguration of Christ.
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Luke 2:1-38
- The references to Augustus and the census, and to Quirinius help us to document the date through other ancient records.
- I noticed that Luke’s record doesn’t say the baby was born the night they arrived. I wonder if they were in the stable for more than a night?
- The radiance of God’s glory surrounded the shepherds. This was more than a bright light that shone down on the earth like a beam of light. This light chased away every shadow, and illuminated all sides of the shepherds. It was more than daylight.
- The vast host might not have been singing. The armies of heaven may have been chanting the phrase in verse 14. It doesn’t say whether the army said it once, or kept saying it. From what is written, it sounds like they said other things as well, because it says they were “praising God and saying” not “praising God by saying” or “as they said”.
- When the shepherds told their story to the people, everyone was astonished. There’s no record here that they were not believed because of their station in life. Generally, people want to believe good news, and news about a deliverer being born was good news indeed.
The shepherds shared and went back to work. Mary meditated on what they said. - I wonder if any of the shepherds lived long enough to see Jesus ministering to the people. Could one of the shepherds been young enough to see Jesus born and crucified? Shepherds were often younger men.
- God orchestrates wonderfully. Simeon “just happens” to be in the temple when Mary and Joseph arrive. That’s because he listened to the Holy Spirit and moved when he was supposed to. I’m so glad that he did! Anna “just happens” to be walking by when Simeon is prophesying and praising God. Anna practically lived at the temple, but it’s a fairly large place with lots of people milling around. This is no less a miracle than Simeon. Interesting that a woman would play such a key role in the announcement of Christ.
- Luke doesn’t mention that Mary and Joseph returned to Bethlehem to stay for awhile. He doesn’t mention the visit from the wise men, or the trip to Egypt. Honestly, that seems odd to me, because Luke has so many other details recorded. (like Mary’s song of praise). Maybe Matthew was already recorded, so he didn’t feel the need to reiterate.
- I’ve mentioned this before: they offered the sacrifice of poor people, two young pigeons. Oddly enough, within a year or two they would be very wealthy because of the gifts of the Magi. (at least we think they were). Some scholars believe that Mary lived out her life on the income from the Magi. I doubt it, honestly.
- Vs 34 says that Jesus was a “sign from God” but he was also much more than that.
Pastor Rick signing off for today. Be blessed!