Adoring the Christ

Luke 2:21-38; Matthew 2:1-12

May we adore the Christ throughout the year.

Adored by Simeon

Luke 2:21–29 NASB95

21 And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. 22 And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” 25 And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, 28 then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29 “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word;

But his song is also a salvation hymn: “For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation” (Luke 2:30). Now he is ready to die! The word depart in the Greek has several meanings, and each of them tells us something about the death of a Christian. It means to release a prisoner, to untie a ship and set sail, to take down a tent (see 2 Cor. 5:1–8), and to unyoke a beast of burden (see Matt. 11:28–30). God’s people are not afraid of death because it only frees us from the burdens of this life and leads into the blessings of the next life.[3] Are you ready to depart in peace if God were to call you today?

Luke 2:30–35 NASB95

30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 A Light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.” 33 And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— 35 and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Sword=large, broad sword.

1261. διαλογισμός dialogismós; gen. dialogismoú, masc. noun from dialogízomai (1260), to reason. Thoughts and directions.

(I) Generally (Luke 2:35; 5:22; 6:8; 9:47; James 2:4, “judges having evil thoughts” [a.t.], unjust, partial; Sept.: Ps. 92:6; Is. 59:7; Dan. 2:29, 30). Reasoning, opinion (Rom. 1:21; 1 Cor. 3:20; Rom. 14:1; Sept.: Ps. 94:11). Mind, purpose, intention (Luke 6:8). Especially evil thoughts, purposes. (Matt. 15:19; Mark 7:21; Sept.: Ps. 56:6, evil; Is. 59:7), doubts (Luke 24:38, doubtful thoughts, suspense).[4]

Adored by Anna

Luke 2:36–38 NASB95

36 And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. 38 At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Both Simeon and Anna were able to see the glory and salvation of God in what must have looked like an ordinary baby carrying out a routine ritual because they saw with the eyes of faith. Do you see the glory of God in the everyday things of life?

Adored by the Wise Men

Adored Innocently

Matthew 2:1–3 NASB95

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

Herod was not a full-blooded Jew; he was actually an Idumaean, a descendant of Esau. This is a picture of the old struggle between Esau and Jacob that began even before the boys were born (Gen. 25:19–34)[6]

The Roman Emperor, Augustus, said it was safer to be Herod’s pig than his son. Herod had killed 3 sons, his wife and his mother-in-law because he saw them as threats to his power.

His murderous streak didn’t end with his death either. Right before he died, he ordered some of Jerusalem’s most distinguished citizens to be arrested on trumped up charges and sentenced to death. Their execution was to take place the minute he died. Herod knew no one would mourn his passing, but wanted to make sure that people mourned the day he died. (Barclay, p. 20)[7]

Matthew 2:4–8 NASB95

4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet: 6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah; For out of you shall come forth a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’ ” 7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.”

There may be people out today who wish to kill Christmas, but we innocently adore the Jesus Christ despite what the intent of the world may be.

Adored Joyfully

Matthew 2:9–11 NASB95

9 After hearing the king, they went their way; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The fact that they came into a house shows that the wise men did not arrive the night that Jesus was born.

The word for child here, παιδίον, is the same word used later in this same passage when Joseph is told to bring the “child” back to Israel. It is also used to describe Jesus when He was 33 days old at the temple and Simeon scooped Him up.

We know that right after the wise men visited Jesus, Joseph is told to flee with his family to Egypt. It is safe to say then that the wise men must have visited after Mary and Joseph returned from their trip to Jerusalem (Jesus one month old) and before He was 2 years old since King Herod killed the boys age 2 and below.

What about frankincense? Why did they give it to Jesus? Frankincense was the scent used in temple worship by the priests to cover the smell of the sacrifices. Jesus was the king of kings, but he was also the “great high priest.” Hebrews 2:17 says, “For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.”

But why Myrrh? In Jesus’ time, people used Myrrh to embalm their dead. A thoughtless gift for a baby shower? Not this one. These men, in their wisdom knew that Jesus was born to die. Hebrews 10:10 says, “And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”[8]

Matthew 2:12 NASB95

12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

All of these had one encounter with Jesus and they took advantage of that one time to adore Him, giving gifts and the praise of their lips to Him. We encounter Him each and every day through the Holy Spirit enlightening the Scriptures; shouldn't we adore also? Shouldn't every day that we can visit with Jesus be as exciting to us as it was for Simeon and Anna and the wise men?

Epiphany (Gk., manifestation) Festival, on January 6 commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles in the persons of the Magi. It is one of the three principal feasts of the church. Originally, it was a celebration of the baptism of Christ. In the Eastern Church, baptismal water is blessed on this day.[9]

1mass \ˈmas\ noun

[Middle English, from Old English m+sse, modification of Vulgar Latin *messa, literally, dismissal at the end of a religious service, from Late Latin missa, from Latin, feminine of missus, past participle of mittere to send] before 12th century

1 capitalized : the liturgy of the Eucharist especially in accordance with the traditional Latin rite[10]

§ 77. The Christmas Cycle.

The Christmas festival was probably the Christian transformation or regeneration of a series of kindred heathen festivals—the Saturnalia, Sigillaria, Juvenalia, and Brumalia—which were kept in Rome in the month of December, in commemoration of the golden age of universal freedom and equality, and in honor of the unconquered sun, and which were great holidays, especially for slaves and children. This connection accounts for many customs of the Christmas season, like the giving of presents to children and to the poor, the lighting of wax tapers, perhaps also the erection of Christmas trees, and gives them a Christian import; while it also betrays the origin of the many excesses in which the unbelieving world indulges at this season, in wanton perversion of the true Christmas mirth, but which, of course, no more forbid right use, than the abuses of the Bible or of any other gift of God. Had the Christmas festival arisen in the period of the persecution, its derivation from these pagan festivals would be refuted by the then reigning abhorrence of everything heathen; but in the Nicene age this rigidness of opposition between the church and the world was in a great measure softened by the general conversion of the heathen. Besides, there lurked in those pagan festivals themselves, in spite of all their sensual abuses, a deep meaning and an adaptation to a real want; they might be called unconscious prophecies of the Christmas feast. Finally, the church fathers themselves confirm the symbolical reference of the feast of the birth of Christ, the Sun of righteousness, the Light of the world, to the birth-festival of the unconquered sun, which on the twenty-fifth of December, after the winter solstice, breaks the growing power of darkness, and begins anew his heroic career. It was at the same time, moreover, the prevailing opinion of the church in the fourth and fifth centuries, that Christ was actually born on the twenty-fifth of December; and Chrysostom appeals, in behalf of this view, to the date of the registration under Quirinius (Cyrenius), preserved in the Roman archives. But no certainly respecting the birthday of Christ can be reached from existing data.

Around the feast of Christmas other festivals gradually gathered, which compose, with it, the Christmas Cycle. The celebration of the twenty-fifth of December was preceded by the Christmas Vigils, or Christmas Night, which was spent with the greater solemnity, because Christ was certainly born in the night.

After Gregory the Great the four Sundays before Christmas began to be devoted to the preparation for the coming of our Lord in the flesh and for his second coming to the final judgment. Hence they were called Advent Sundays. With the beginning of Advent the church year in the West began. The Greek church reckons six Advent Sundays, and begins them with the fourteenth of November. This Advent season was designed to represent and reproduce in the consciousness of the church at once the darkness and the yearning and hope of the long ages before Christ. Subsequently all noisy amusements and also weddings were forbidden during this season. The pericopes are selected with reference to the awakening of repentance and of desire after the Redeemer.

From the fourth century Christmas was followed by the memorial days of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr (Dec. 26), of the apostle and evangelist John (Dec. 27), and of the Innocents of Bethlehem (Dec. 28), in immediate succession; representing a threefold martyrdom: martyrdom in will and in fact (Stephen), in will without the fact (John), and in fact without the will, an unconscious martyrdom of infanthe innocence. But Christian martyrdom in general was regarded by the early church as a heavenly birth and a fruit of the earthly birth of Christ. Hence the ancient festival hymn for the day of St. Stephen, the leader of the noble army of martyrs: “Yesterday was Christ born upon earth, that to-day Stephen might be born in heaven.” The close connection of the feast of John the, Evangelist with that of the birth of Christ arises from the confidential relation of the beloved disciple to the Lord, and from the fundamental thought of his Gospel: “The Word was made flesh.” The innocent infant-martyrs of Bethlehem, “the blossoms of martyrdom, the rosebuds torn off by the hurricane of persecution, the offering of first-fruits to Christ, the tender flock of sacrificial lambs,” are at the same time the representatives of the innumerable host of children in heaven. More than half of the human race are said to die in infancy, and yet to children the word emphatically applies: “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The mystery of infant martyrdom is constantly repeated. How many children are apparently only born to suffer, and to die; but in truth the pains of their earthly birth are soon absorbed by the joys of their heavenly birth, and their temporary cross is rewarded by an eternal crown.

Eight days after Christmas the church celebrated, though not till after the sixth or seventh century, the Circumcision and the Naming of Jesus. Of still later origin is the Christian New Year’s festival, which falls on the same day as the Circumcision. The pagan Romans solemnized the turn of the year, like the Saturnalia, with revels. The church teachers, in reaction, made the New Year a day of penance and prayer. Thus Augustine, in a sermon: “Separate yourselves from the heathen, and at the change of the year do the opposite of what they do. They give each other gifts; give ye alms instead. They sing worldly songs; read ye the word of God. They throng the theatre come ye to the church. They drink themselves drunken; do ye fast.”

The feast of Epiphany on the contrary, on the sixth of January, is older, as we have already observed, than Christmas itself, and is mentioned by Clement of Alexandria. It refers in general to the manifestation of Christ in the world, and originally bore the twofold character of a celebration of the birth and the baptism of Jesus. After the introduction of Christmas, it lost its reference to the birth. The Eastern church commemorated on this day especially the baptism of Christ, or the manifestation of His Messiahship, and together with this the first manifestation of His miraculous power at the marriage at Cana. The Westem church, more Genthe-Christian in its origin, gave this festival, after the fourth century, a special reference to the adoration of the infant Jesus by the wise men from the east, under the name of the feast of the Three Kings, and transformed it into a festival of Genthe missions; considering the wise men as the representatives of the nobler heathen world. Thus at the same time the original connection of the feast with the birth of Christ was preserved. Epiphany forms the close of the Christmas Cycle. It was an early custom to announce the term of the Easter observance on the day of Epiphany by the so-called Epistolae paschales, or γράμματα πασχάλια. This was done especially by the bishop of Alexandria, where astronomy most flourished, and the occasion was improved for edifying instructions and for the discussion of important religious questions of the day.[11]

The Day of Jesus’ Birth

Determining the day of Jesus’ birth is basically futile. The closest thing to biblical evidence is the reference to the shepherds watching over their flocks at night in the open fields (Lk 2:8). This would indicate a nighttime birth (hence our Christmas Eve traditions). It would also seem to indicate a birth between March and November, since the sheep were usually kept in folds rather than in open fields during the winter months, making our December date of the observance suspect.

Early Christian tradition is not very helpful either. Our earliest reference is probably that of Clement of Alexandria (about AD 200), who mentions two dates suggested in his time, May 20 and April 20–21. Various speculations of the third century likewise date the birth in the spring, among these being April 2, March 25, and March 28. These datings seem to have been related to the spring equinox and the assumption that the earth was created at a time when day and night were of equal length and that Jesus’ birth must have followed the same creation pattern.

The earliest Christians do not seem to have celebrated Jesus’ birth. The earliest celebration of anything even approximating His birth was that of “Epiphany” on January 6 in the eastern churches. Epiphany was primarily a celebration of the incarnation, of the coming of Christ to earth rather than of His birth. The choice of January 6 may have come from pagan celebrations, such as the feast of Dionysus held on that day. The Roman church seems to have begun celebrating Jesus’ birth in the fourth century, particularly under the influence of Constantine. A major holiday for the Romans was in honor of the sun god, held on December 25 around the time of the winter solstice. During Constantine’s reign this holiday was Christianized, with Christ rather than the sun celebrated as the true light of the world.

Perhaps the questionable origin of the date of our Christmas celebration should remind us of what is primary about the holiday. It is not just the celebration of a birthday. Origen (early third century) was right in observing that birthday celebrations are not distinctly Christian. He noted that in the Bible only pagans are depicted observing their birthdays—Pharaoh and Herod. What should be central about Christmas for us is what was central in the early Epiphany celebrations—not the birth so much as the coming of Christ as the incarnate Son of God, the word made flesh, the light of the world.[12]

Christmas. Though speculation as to the time of year of Christ’s Birth dates from the early 3rd cent., *Clement of Alexandria, e.g., suggesting 20 May, the celebration of the anniversary does not appear to have been general till the later 4th cent. The earliest mention of the observance on 25 Dec. is in the *Philocalian Calendar, representing Roman practice of the year 336 (25 Dec.: natus Christus in Betleem Judeae). This date was prob. chosen to oppose the feast of the Natalis Solis Invicti by the celebration of the birth of the ‘Sun of Righteousness’. Another tradition, however, derived the date of Christmas from that of the *Annunciation. The Pseudo-*Chrysostomic tractate De solstitia et aequinoctia conceptionis et nativitatis domini nostri Iesu Christi et Iohannis Baptistae argued that the Lord was conceived and crucified on the same day of the year, and calculated this as 25 Mar., a computation mentioned by St *Augustine (De Trinitate, 4. 5). Whatever the origin of the 25 Dec. date, after the accession of the Emp. *Constantine its observance in the W. seems to have spread from Rome. In the E. the closely related feast of the *Epiphany (6 Jan.), which commemorated also the Baptism of Christ, was at first the more important; but in the later 4th cent. it was connected with the Nativity, esp. in Syria, and by the, middle of the 5th cent. most of the E. had adopted 25 Dec., though the Church of *Jerusalem held to 6 Jan. until 549. In the *Armenian Church 6 Jan. is still the only day devoted specifically to the celebration of the Incarnation. The controversies of the 4th to 6th cents. on the Incarnation and the Person of Christ doubtless contributed to the growth in importance of the feast.

The day is celebrated in the W. rite by three Masses, of the night (normally said at midnight), of the dawn, and of the day, which have been held to symbolize the threefold birth of Christ, eternally in the bosom of the Father, from the womb of the Virgin Mary, and mystically in the soul of the faithful.

The popular observance of the feast has always been marked by the joy and merry-making formerly characteristic of the Roman Saturnalia and the other pagan festivals it replaced. It developed considerably in England in the 19th cent. through the importation of German customs by the Prince Consort (e.g. Christmas trees) and the influence of Charles Dickens. The singing of *carols has become a widespread feature in both ecclesiastical and secular contexts.[13]

2714 Early Christmas Happenings

Christmas was first celebrated in the year 98, but it was forty years later before it was officially adopted as a Christian festival: nor was it until about the fifth century that the day of its celebration became permanently fixed on the 25th of December. Up to that time it had been irregularly observed at various times of the year—in December, in April, and in May, but most frequently in January.

Clovis, the first Christian King of France, was baptized on Christmas Day, 496. Gilles de Retz, of France, the original “Bluebeard,” was executed on Christmas Day, 1440, in atonement for a multitude of crimes, which included the killing of six wives, from which the popular nursery story is derived. The Pilgrim Fathers, who condemned all church festivals, spent their first Christmas in America working hard all day long amid cold and stormy weather, and commenced the building of the first house in Plymouth 1620.

It is a significant fact that no great battles were fought on Christmas Day. They have occurred on the 24th and 26th of December, but the anniversary of the advent of Peace on Earth has ever been observed by a cessation of hostilities.

In history Christmas has been a very remarkable day. It was on Christmas Day that Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Holy Empire in the Cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelie. On Christmas Day, in the year 1066, William the Conqueror was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.

—Current Anecdotes[14]

2715 Son-Light

Back in A.D. 274 an emperor of the Old Roman world chose December 25 as “the birthday of the unconquered sun.” He recognized that at this midwinter date it reaches its lowest point in the Southern sky and begins its gradual movement northward again. The annual rebirth of nature was closely linked to the Romans’ new year and planting season. Houses were decorated with greenery and candles, and presents were given to children and the poor. In time, Christians made this a holy day of their own. By A.D. 336, the church had decided that all believers should celebrate the birthday of the Lord Jesus, the Son of righteousness on December 25.

—M. R. De Haan II[15]

• When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings with toys at Christmastide. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?

—G. K. Chesterion[16]

White Christmas?

Without Jesus to wash us whiter than snow, there can never be a genuinely White Christmas.

Consider Lindsay, for example. His father, a distant and severe man, worked him especially hard during the holidays. Lindsay was given extra chores at the family ranch, and his old man whipped him if he didn’t work hard enough. Lindsay lived in fear of these beatings, which often drew blood. But even worse were the verbal floggings, the names, the insults, the belittling put-downs. They seemed especially harsh at Christmas.

The memories stayed with him all his life, tormenting him like demons every December. One friend said, “Lindsay was never able to find happiness. He became a hard-drinking hell-raiser who went from woman to woman and couldn’t find peace or success.”

Finally at age fifty-one, he angrily watched Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” one last time, then put a gun to his head and a bullet through his brain.

“I hated Christmas because of Pop, and I always will,” he once said. “It brings back the pain and fear I suffered as a child. And if I ever do myself in, it will be at Christmastime. That will show the world what I think of Bing Crosby’s ‘White Christmas.’ ”

Ironically, sadly, he was Bing’s son—Lindsay Crosby.

(That bizarre story is itself a parable of what happens when we gut Christmas of its true glory. If only Lindsay had really understood that Jesus Christ was born on Christmas day so that our sins, though they be as scarlet, shall be as white as snow. “Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool,” Isaiah 1:18).[17]

[1] Gower, R., & Wright, F. (1997). The new manners and customs of Bible times. Chicago: Moody Press.

[2] Gower, R., & Wright, F. (1997). The new manners and customs of Bible times. Chicago: Moody Press.

[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Lk 2:21). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

[4] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

[5] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Lk 2:36). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[6] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Mt 2:1). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

[7] Wilson, J. L. (2009). Fresh Sermons. Fresno, CA: Willow City Press.

[8] Wilson, J. L. (2009). Fresh Sermons. Fresno, CA: Willow City Press.

[9] Kurian, G. T. (2001). Nelson's new Christian dictionary : The authoritative resource on the Christian world. Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Pubs.

[10] Merriam-Webster, I. (2003). Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary. (Eleventh ed.). Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, Inc.

[11] Schaff, P., & Schaff, D. S. (1997). History of the Christian church. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[12] Cox, S. L., & Easley, K. H. (2007). Holman Christian Standard Bible: Harmony of the Gospels (290–291). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

[13] Cross, F. L., & Livingstone, E. A. (2005). The Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd ed. rev.) (338). Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.

[14] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations : A treasury of illustrations, anecdotes, facts and quotations for pastors, teachers and Christian workers. Garland TX: Bible Communications.

[15] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations : A treasury of illustrations, anecdotes, facts and quotations for pastors, teachers and Christian workers. Garland TX: Bible Communications.

[16] Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations : A treasury of illustrations, anecdotes, facts and quotations for pastors, teachers and Christian workers. Garland TX: Bible Communications.

[17] Morgan, R. J. (2000). Nelson's complete book of stories, illustrations, and quotes (electronic ed.) (108–109). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.