Digging In His Word

We’ve all heard of John the Baptist… the voice of one calling in the wilderness.  He was sent to prepare the way of the Lord.  He was the forerunner of Jesus Christ.  Today we will look at his ministry.  It is told about in all of the Gospels.  Let’s look first at the account in Matthew’s Gospel.

All of our lessons, so far, have talked about Jesus in His infancy.  He came and He fulfilled prophecies but most of the Gospel information tells us of His ministries as an adult after age 30 (Luke 3:23).  Today, I want to take a little time and focus on His childhood.  The Bible tells us just a little bit, but not much, about that time period.

Sometimes people in power can become obsessed with their own power.  They do not recognize that they have been put in power by God nor do they accede to His will.  Sometimes, the drive to stay in power can lead to extreme measures being taken out of paranoia.  We will see that today in today’s text.

Religious and spiritual occasions happen every so often in our lives and many times, they are big and special occasions.  A baptism or a baby dedication can get the whole family out of the house and will be followed by a big dinner or something special marking the occasion.  Jesus’ birth also called for some special observances but being Jewish, these were probably quite different than those we observe in our families today.  We will look at four different rites that Joseph and Mary arranged after Jesus’ birth: circumcision, purification of the woman after birth, consecration (or presentation) of the child, and redemption of the child.

There is nothing quite so exciting as a new baby.  Family comes out of the woodwork, coming to see the little one and friends and neighbors all show up as well.  Everyone wants to see the new arrival.  New babies are so precious and they can bring such joy into our lives.  Today, we will see the birth of the most precious baby of them all.

Today’s text focuses on Joseph, Mary’s betrothed.  We do not know much about this man.  The Bible tells us little about him, but he must have been a good man for God to have chosen him to raise His Son.  We know only that He was a carpenter (Matt 13:55-56).  Today’s lesson will show him to be a man whose heart was right with God.

Nine months never seems longer than when you are waiting for a baby.  Elisabeth was lucky.  She had Mary with her for the last three months to keep her company.  In today’s text, the time had finally come and the baby arrived.  It was a boy, just as the angel had foretold and the Bible says that her neighbors and relatives shared her joy.  Elisabeth was very old and had been barren her whole life and now everyone around her believed that the Lord had shown her great mercy (verse 58).

Imagine that you are just a young, teenaged girl living a quiet life in a small farming town.  It’s an average, quiet day and you are going about your chores when suddenly, an angel appears and tells you that you are going to have a baby.  You are betrothed, but not yet married, and have probably dreamed most of your life about being a mom (most girls do), but it is unlikely you expected it to be suddenly happening in the immediate future.  And not only a baby, but God’s Son, the Messiah. 

It has been six months since the angel Gabriel visited Zacharias and announced the upcoming birth of John the Baptist.  For five of those months Elisabeth has been in seclusion (verse 24).  The Bible does not tell us why, but with her advanced age, I assume she has had a difficult pregnancy. 

Today we will be looking at the genealogies of Jesus.  They are contained in two places… once in the Gospel of Matthew and once in the Gospel of Luke.  Take a moment to find these in your Bible and look them over.  Many people skip over these texts when they are studying, thinking these are just lists of names with no meaning.  But these genealogies are, in fact, quite important.

We will begin our study of the Gospels in John, chapter 1.  Before telling us of Christ and His life, John opens, in his first 18 verses, by declaring just who and what Jesus is.  Compare verse 1 of John’s Gospel with Gen 1:1 and note the similarities.  Verse 1 tells us that the Word was there at the beginning.  He was with God and He was God.  So, who is the Word?  We can easily find the answer to that in verse 14 of our text.