- Advent Week 3: Joy
- Shepherds -Luke 2:1-21
- Recap: Mary and Joseph are in Bethlehem
- 90 miles from home & all alone
- Jesus is born according to prophecy
- In a state of extreme poverty, homeless even
- Shepherds raised sheep
- The biggest market for sheep was the Jewish sacrificial system
- Some estimates of 1 million sheep were slaughtered during busy Jewish holidays
- The shepherds mark nothing special
- Working guys doing their job out in the field
- No ordinary night: The sky breaks open
- The glory of the Lord shines out
- At first there is the fear of surprise and terror
- Then of curiosity of what this could be
- And finally of awe in realizing what has happened
- Acting on what they have experienced they go to Bethlehem – quickly
- They wasted no time in finding Jesus
- We know from last week that King Herod himself could not search out the location of the Messiah
- How could some shepherds find Him so quickly?
- They wasted no time in finding Jesus
- The glory of the Lord shines out
- Recap: Mary and Joseph are in Bethlehem
The ____________ ____________
- Having experienced the savior that night tey went away praising God
- The Bible uses the shepherds often
- Abraham, Moses, David all worked a shepherds
- Jesus is called a shepherd
- Elders in the church are told to shepherd the people of God.
- Contrasting
- The iron hammer of Rome
- The bloody wake of Herod
- The rise and fall of human leaders
- Jesus was different
- He does not need to force anyone
- He leads in gentleness: My yoke is easy
- He also calls on us to be different.
- We are His sheep
- He is our great shepherd
- As His church we are also to shepherd the people under as we too are guided by Him
- Wisemen – Matthew 2:1-12
- During the Pax Romana – a time or peace in the Roman empire
- Quirinius is governor
- Calling the census to being around 8BC
- Herod is King of the Jews
- Ruling until his death in 4BC
- Remember: Herod was Jewish
- And he ruled a nation of Jews
- Surely the idea of a coming Messiah – A King of Kings would be familiar to him – Whether he had believed it before or not
- The appearance of these wisemen from the east shakes the whole thing up.
- Quirinius is governor
- The wisemen are:
- Not Romans
- Not Jews
- They were not supposed to be in Jerusalem or in Bethlehem at all
- They are:
- The most powerful
- The most influential
- Most well connected men in the world
- More powerful than kings and rulers
- Directors of those rulers and kings even
- When these guys show up something really big is going on.
- They are everything Herod really is not
- And everything that could take it all away from him
- Acts 13:4-12
- Daniel….
- Ch 1: Daniel is in this group of young men who will be groomed to join the advisors for the king
- Daniel especially seems to have a gift like no other
- 17 defines that for us
- That gift is directly from God
- Where did the Magi get their intel?
- That gift is directly from God
- During the Pax Romana – a time or peace in the Roman empire
____________
- Ch 2: The king is going to kill all the wisemen until God gives Daniel the dream and the interpretation
- Ch 3 & 4: Daniel is more and more established as God proves Himself over and over
- Ch 5: Some 20 years later with a new king and shortly a new empire will conquer Babylon: The Medo-Persians.
- Ch 6: Under Medo-Persian King Darius, Daniel is still there acting as a wiseman.
- We see here the power of the Law of the Medes and Persians
- Greater than the king himself
- Yet God is greater still than that
- Esther 1:12-19 – More powerful then the monarchy
- It is said that…
- The Magi were so powerful that no Persian was ever able to become king except under two conditions:
- He had to master the scientific and religious discipline of the Magi, and
- He had to be approved of and crowned by the Magi.
- The Magi were so powerful that no Persian was ever able to become king except under two conditions:
- We see here the power of the Law of the Medes and Persians
- Herod: Client king under the pleasure of the Romans
- Persia is the world superworld that could upset the Roman empire
- The Persian king makers, the wisemen, the Magi show up at Herod’s house looking for the new king – not Herod the current king.
- And they don’t show up as three dudes on a camel
- There would have been a few wisemen
- Maybe a few dozen
- Along with their aids
- A number of those for sure
- And probably some group of soldiers to keep them safe
- Maybe a few dozen of those.
- There would have been a few wisemen
- So when these guys descend on Jerusalem in Herod’s town
- It is a sight to see
- No wonder Herod is shaken up.
- And they don’t show up as three dudes on a camel
- The Star, briefly
- Matthew 2:2, Matthew 24:29, Jude 1:3
- Matthew 2:9-10
- Luke 2:8-9
- Acts 7:54-59, Acts 9:1-5, Matthew 17:1-5
- The Magi knew: Numbers 24:15-19
- The star seen by the wisemen was the very glory of God
- Shining out upon them
- Busting out of creation
- To reveal to them the glory of the creator
- This light was the glory of God
- And they rejoiced in seeing it with great joy
- The gifts, briefly
- Gold – Wisdom, Kingship
- Jesus was the King of Kings
- Frankincense – Deity, Prayer
- Jesus was fully God
- Myrrh
- Humanity, Living Sacrifice
- Jesus was fully Man
- An embalming herb – Signally his eventual death
- Humanity, Living Sacrifice
- Gold – Wisdom, Kingship