Unexpected Guests

The news was getting out. Sometime earlier, God had used angels to announce Jesus’ birth to shepherds. Now He chose another interesting and unusual way of announcing it to someone unexpected. This time no angels appeared. But a group of guys in the east, professional stargazers, were looking into the sky when they saw an unusual star. Where were they from? We don’t know, but it could have been Arabia or Persia. They studied the stars, and they believed that the stars showed signs and announced events. They had also studied many ancient scrolls, and they had read that a King of the Jews would come someday. Somehow they realized that this star had something to do with that King, and they wanted to know more. They were known as magi. We get the words magus, magi and magic from the same word. There was a lot of mystery about them, and some people believed they could do magic. They were also known as wise men because they often gave advice and interpreted dreams and other things for kings. How many of them went on the trip? We don’t know. But we do know that they chose three interesting and expensive gifts to take with them on the journey they were about to take.

Gold was a gift for a King. Frankincense was a gift for the Son of God. Some people burn it when they worship. Myrrh was a gift for the Messiah. It’s a spice that people used when they were burying people. Prophecies told that the King of the Jews would be the Son of God and the promised Messiah, and that one day He would give his life to save us. The gifts that the magi chose showed that they had read the prophecies, and they knew who they were about to meet. They were pretty excited about this, because it isn’t every day you meet someone like that! So as soon as they saw the star, they gathered their gifts, packed up, and left.

It was a long journey. If you’re looking for a King, where do you look first? You go to the capital of the country and find the King’s palace! So they found themselves in Jerusalem at the palace of King Herod. They started to ask around, “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose, and we’ve been following it so we can worship Him.”

When Herod got word that these guys were asking around about a new King of the Jews, he was pretty upset. What new King of the Jews? Herod was King of the Jews! Did this mean someone was about to take his place? He liked his job and his life, and he didn’t want to see it end because some kid was gonna come and take his throne!

So Herod called the experts: the priests. They had also studied the prophecies, and so they told him that the prophet Micah had said that the Messiah would be born in the tiny village of Bethlehem.

Then Herod came up with a crafty plan. He talked to the magi and found out exactly when the star had appeared. He told them about the prophecy that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. “Go there,” he told them, “and when you’re done, come back here and let me know where he is… because I wanna worship him too!”

So the magi left Jerusalem and followed the star to Bethlehem. It kept going ahead of them until it stopped over a house. They couldn’t contain their excitement! They knocked on the door, and when they went in, they saw him. The boy was probably somewhere around 2 at this point. Mary and Joseph couldn’t believe their eyes as a bunch of richly-dressed foreigners came into the house and knelt down to visit their son! They laid their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh at his feet.

That night, one of the magi had a dream that included a warning: Herod wasn’t planning to worship the new King of the Jews. So the next morning, instead of returning to Jerusalem, they left, and went home another way.

Joseph also had a dream. An angel appeared to him and said, “Quick! Get up! Take Mary and Jesus and get out of here! Herod is about to come looking for Jesus to kill him! Go to Egypt and stay there until I tell you it’s safe to come back.” Later someone remembered that the prophet Hosea had once foretold, “Out of Egypt I will call My Son.”

Sure enough, Herod’s men came looking for Jesus, but He wasn’t there. Sometime later, the angel appeared to Joseph again and told him, “It’s OK to go back now. Herod has died.” So the young family returned to their hometown of Nazareth, where Jesus grew up.

Waiting for an Announcer and a Savior

All through the Old Testament, prophets kept repeating how something big was coming. A man would someday be born who would change everything, and another man would prepare everyone for Him.

It all started in a garden. Satan used a snake to tempt Adam and Eve to do the one thing God had told them not to do. When God confronted them about it, He gave them punishments. One thing He said to the snake is important to what we are going to learn today.

Genesis 3:15

And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.

Hundreds of years later, Jacob lay on a bed in Egypt with his sons gathered around him. He was about to die, and as was custom before dying, he gave a blessing to each of his sons. He had something interesting to say to his son Judah.

Genesis 49:10

The scepter will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs shall come
    and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

More centuries passed. King Saul reigned over Israel, and when he died, David took his place. David ruled for many years, and Solomon became King after he died. After Solomon’s death, the tribe of Judah and a couple other tribes couldn’t agree with the rest of Israel who should be the next King, and the nation of Israel split into two. David’s dynasty continued in the nation of Judah. During the reigns of four Kings of Judah (Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah), God sent a prophet named Isaiah. He prophesied so much that it filled up a whole book! He had some interesting things to say about what was to come!

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel.

 Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. 

Isaiah 40:3

A voice of one calling:

“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.

At the same time as Isaiah, God sent another prophet named Micah. He had this to say:

Micah 5:2

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.”

More years passed. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led an attack on Jerusalem, defeating King Jehoiakim and taking many people from the kingdom of Judah away to Babylon. Among those was a prophet named Daniel, and he served several Kings of Babylon. The angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel in dreams, and gave him some messages to tell Israel a lot of stuff about the promised Savior, such as when He would come. A few kings after Nebuchadnezzar, Darius was King of Babylon, Daniel was still alive, and God sent the prophet Zechariah with some more things to say, such as this:

Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion!
    Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

I expect we’ll learn about when that prophecy came true in a couple months.

Sometime after that, a guy named Malachi came along and prophesied this:

Malachi 3:1

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

The prophets talked about two men who would come. One would tell about the guy who was coming, and the other one would be the one he was talking about.

Israel and their ancestors went through a lot. Adam and Eve got thrown out of a garden paradise. Noah built a boat to save mankind and animals. Abraham went on an epic journey from Ur to Canaan. God saved Jacob (Israel) and his sons from a horrible famine by making Joseph a ruler in Egypt. They then endured 400 years of slavery, and 40 years of wandering before they finally got to return to their homeland. They had judges and kings. The Assyrians took the nation of Israel captive, and the Babylonians took the nation of Judah captive. Judah got to go home after 70 years of captivity, but it was never the same. After the time of the prophets, there were 400 years that aren’t mentioned in the Bible. Other books tell about how during that time they were ruled by an empire that didn’t let them worship God, and they did bad things to the temple. A family named the Maccabees led the charge against their oppressors and defeated them. Then they had to purify the temple. The Jews still celebrate the purification of the temple. In fact, they just celebrated it last week! It’s called Hanukkah.

So it was that about a century and a half after the first Hanukkah, a priest named Zechariah and his wife really wanted a child. They were getting on in age, and he and Elizabeth kept praying and praying for a kid. Zechariah was alone in the temple one day, burning incense like he often did to worship God. Suddenly, he was surprised to notice someone next to the altar right near him! It was an angel, and he could tell that Zechariah was a bit scared. So the angel said, “It’s OK, Zechariah. Don’t be scared. God has heard your prayers, and Elizabeth will have a son. Name him John. He will bring lots of joy, and the Holy Spirit will fill him even before he’s born! But be careful. He must never drink alcohol. He will lead many people to God, and he will prepare the way for the Lord.”

Zechariah was a bit skeptical. “How can I be sure?” he said. “We’re too old to have kids.”

The angel replied, “I’m Gabriel. God sent me, and since you didn’t believe me, guess what! You won’t be able to talk until what I said happens.”

So Elizabeth got pregnant, and Zechariah couldn’t say a word. Literally. He couldn’t talk.

Six months later, Gabriel showed up again, this time to a girl in Nazareth. Her name was Mary, and she was engaged to a guy named Joseph. Imagine her surprise when she looked up and saw an angel! He said, “Hey, favored one! God is with you!”

Mary had never seen anything like this, and she didn’t know what to make of it. But she was pretty scared too. So once again, Gabriel had to tell her not to be scared. He explained, “You’ll have a child, and you need to name him Jesus. He’ll be great, and he’ll be the son of the Most High God. He will sit on the throne of his ancestor David, and he will rule over Jacob’s descendants forever.”

“Wait, hold on,” Mary said. “How is that possible? I’m a virgin! It’s impossible for me to get pregnant yet!”

So Gabriel said, “The Holy Spirit will come on you. The boy who is born will be holy, and he will be the Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is pregnant, and she’s an old lady! In fact, she’s been pregnant for six months now. Nothing that God says will ever fail.”

“OK,” said Mary. “Let it happen.” So Gabriel left.

Elizabeth’s pregnancy was probably news to Mary, and she decided to go visit her relatives in Judea. Mary was still a ways off when she saw Elizabeth and called to her. Just as God had promised Zechariah, the Holy Spirit came on the baby in Elizabeth’s tummy. Little baby John couldn’t contain his joy, and he jumped in excitement! Elizabeth called to her young relative, “Hey, Mary! You are blessed among women, and the child you’re gonna have is blessed! What an honor to have the mother of my Lord come visit! As soon as I heard you call, the baby in my tummy jumped for joy! You are blessed for believing that God will fulfill His promises to you!”

So Mary said, “My soul glorifies God my Savior. He’s seen little ol’ me, His servant, and from now on, people will call me blessed. He’s done amazing things and brought down strong rulers, but He’s lifted up the humble. He fed the hungry but sent the rich away emptyhanded. Just as He promised Abraham and all our ancestors, He has helped Israel.” Mary stayed with Elizabeth and Zechariah for three months and then went home.

Pretty soon, the day came, and Elizabeth gave birth. Eight days later, it was time to name the baby. The priests almost named the boy after his dad Zechariah, but Elizabeth said, “Wait a minute! His name will be John!”

Now everyone was confused. It was normal to name a child after a relative. They didn’t have any relatives named John. So they decided to get a second opinion. They asked Zechariah, who still couldn’t talk. He asked for a writing tablet, and then he wrote on it: “His name is John.” As soon as he finished writing, he discovered he could talk again! So they named him John, and the news began to spread.

Then Zechariah prophesied: “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel! He has come and redeemed them! Just as He promised through the prophets, he has raised up salvation in the house of His servant David, to save us from our enemies and show mercy to our ancestors. He promised Abraham that He would rescue us from our enemies and would make sure we could serve Him without fear and in holiness for all our lives. You, my son, will be a prophet, and you will prepare the way for the Lord. You’ll tell people about how God will save them and forgive their sins because of His mercy. The light of God’s mercy will be like the sun shining on people who were in darkness, and it will help us to walk in peace.”

Mary, meanwhile, was still pregnant. But that’s another story for another Sunday. John grew up and lived in the wilderness until he started to appear publicly.

Just as God promised the snake in the Garden of Eden, Jesus came along and crushed Satan’s head, but not before Satan struck Jesus’ heel. More about that at Easter time. Just as God promised Isaiah, a child was born of a virgin, and He was a wonderful counselor, everlasting Father, Mighty God, Prince of Peace. As God promised Isaiah and Malachi, John called from the wilderness, preparing the world for his relative Jesus. Just as God promised Micah, Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. As God promised the prophet Zechariah (not John’s father), Jesus would one day ride into Jerusalem on a colt. As God promised through Gabriel, Jesus was born just when Daniel said He would be born, the priest Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth gave birth to a child in her old age, and a young virgin gave birth to a healthy baby boy who would save the world.

Jesus' Baptism

Today's Sunday school lesson, from Luke 1-3 (with bits of Matthew thrown in)...


The big day came! Mary and Joseph had gone on a difficult journey with a donkey and their supplies to Bethlehem for a census, only to find no place available to stay. So they found a stable, and their bouncing baby was born. It was a big deal. On a tip from some angels, a group of shepherds visited them. Pretty soon, people started leaving after the census, and Mary and Joseph were able to find a house to raise their new son Jesus. A couple years later, some rich wise men came and brought expensive gifts. But on their way, they stopped by the palace in Jerusalem and talked to King Herod. Herod wasn’t too happy about this new King of the Jews, and he secretly plotted to kill Jesus. But an angel warned Joseph about it in a dream, and the family got up and fled to Africa. Maybe you know the country in Africa where they went? It’s called Egypt. They lived in Egypt until Herod died and it was safe to go back home. So after returning from Egypt, Jesus grew up in Joseph’s hometown of Nazareth. Many years passed, and Jesus turned 30.

Back up a little more than 30 years.

Mary was pregnant and scared. She went to her cousin Elizabeth’s house for a while because she heard that Elizabeth, who was too old to have children, was also pregnant. An angel had appeared to her husband Zechariah and told him they would have a son, and they should name him John. Zechariah didn’t believe the angel at first, so God made him unable to speak, until one day when his neighbors were having a discussion about John’s name, and he wrote on a tablet, “His name is John.” Zechariah prophesied that John would be a prophet, and that he would prepare the way for the promised Messiah that Israel had been awaiting for centuries.

The big day came! Elizabeth gave birth to a son, and they named him John. He was born a few months before Jesus, and when John grew up, he lived in the desert. There wasn’t much to eat there, except maybe some delicious locusts and honey. Yum!!

John became a preacher and prophet, just like his dad had prophesied. He often preached and baptized by the Jordan River, and he had an interesting message. He called the people snakes! He told them they needed to change how they acted. They needed to ask God to forgive their sins. They should share their food and their clothes. Tax collectors should only collect as much in taxes as they were required to collect. Soldiers shouldn’t ask for bribes or accuse people falsely. “Oh, and there’s this guy coming. I’m baptizing you with water, but He’ll baptize you with fire and the Holy Spirit.* I’m not even worthy to untie his sandals,” something that slaves normally did. Pretty soon, 30-year-old Jesus came to His cousin John to be baptized. John was a little reluctant at first since he thought Jesus should be the one baptizing him, but Jesus convinced him to do it.

When Jesus came out of the water, something amazing happened. Heaven opened, and the Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove! A loud voice from heaven boomed, “You are My Son. I love You, and I’m so proud of You!”

Jordan River, near a location where people are often baptized. 

I did not show this picture in class, but it shows a place 

where it's likely this happened.

So that was how Jesus began His ministry. He got baptized by His cousin John, and He showed publicly that He was different from anyone else.

I showed this picture of a shamrock before the lesson, as 

St. Patrick's explanation of the Trinity is the best I've heard.

We serve one God, who has three parts. That's confusing,

even for adults. As St. Patrick explained it, a shamrock

has three leaves, but it is still one shamrock. That's similar

to how the Trinity is three parts: the Father, the Son and the 

Holy Spirit, but only one God. All three parts showed up at 

Jesus' baptism.

* The prophecy about Jesus baptizing them with the Holy Spirit and fire came true 3 years later in the book of Acts.

All pictures are in the public domain, and I got them from Wikimedia Commons.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

(a.k.a. Veni, Veni, Emmanuel)

Latin:


Latin and English:


Veni, veni, Emmanuel
Captivum solve Israel,
Qui gemit in exsilio,
Privatus Dei Filio.

Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,
Nascetur pro te Israel!

Many have sung this Latin chant over the centuries. Though it is somewhat unclear when it was written, it either comes from the 8th Century Gregorian chants, or from the 15th Century Franciscan order of nuns, according to Wikipedia. In any case, it is traditionally sung during the Advent season, the four weeks leading up to Christmas. It wasn't until the 19th century that John Mason Neale and Henry Sloane Coffin translated it into English. It is a plea for Emmanuel, "God with us," to come and save us from our our bondage. Prophets such as Isaiah foretold of a Messiah who would be called Emmanuel, who would save Israel. Through the years, Israel went through bondage to Babylon and Assyria, and then later to Rome. The Jews longed for their promised Messiah to come. (Many Jews still do today.)

The first verse pleads with Emmanuel to come and ransom Israel, who is groaning in exile. The second verse asks for wisdom. The third verse asks the Lord to come, and it remembers the Law that He presented to Moses on Mt. Sinai with "majestic glory" (literal translation of the Latin). The fourth verse, from what I can tell, appears to be an appeal to God to use the shepherd's staff of Jesse (David's father) to catch the enemy (Satan and sin) and hurl him into the cavernous pit of hell. The fifth verse asks the metaphorical Key of David (Jesus was prophesied to be a descendant of David) to unlock the way to heaven and lock the way to hell. The sixth verse asks for comfort, and to get rid of the darkness of death. The last verse appeals to the King of the Nations and Redeemer of all (God) to come and save the people on earth who are slaves to sin.

Due to the challenges of translating a song into English, some of the ideas in the verses were lost or adjusted. The English lyrics must still fit in the tune and rhyme, so it is much more difficult to get a literal translation than, say, translating a book. One line I find interesting was the line Noctis depelle nebulas, Dirasque mortis tenebras in the sixth verse. The official English translation is "Disperse the gloomy clouds of night And death's dark shadow put to flight." The last two words, mortis tenebras, mean "death's darkness." Accordingly, the notes in the tune go down on the staff in the same way the meaning of the words goes downwards to the depths of dark death. So it's interesting that the English moves those words to earlier in the sentence and, with the notes going downward on the staff, has the words "put to flight."

Some of the prophecies that it mentions were fulfilled when Jesus came, "God with us", was born, lived, and gave His life as a ransom for the bondage that we had to sin. Jesus conquered death when He rose from the dead. Many Orthodox Jews who don't believe that Jesus was the Messiah are still waiting for Messiah to come and do this. However, some of the prophecies have not yet been fulfilled, and both Christians and Jews cry out for Christ to come and save us from our bondage. One day Jesus will return and conquer death once and for all. His sacrifice on the cross about 2000 years ago freed us who believe from sin, but as humans, we still suffer temptation and death. Someday that will be no more. Someday, Satan will be flung into the pit of hell where he can't torment and tempt us any more.

So with the Jews of old, I cry out to God:

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel