Christ Church

Make Way (The Inescapable Story of Jesus #1) (CCD)

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INTRODUCTION

The Gospel of Mark is a flurry of action. It grips us with the activity of this Jesus. Mark does not spend as much time on what Jesus taught, but rather forces us to look intently on all Jesus did. And all His doing was to confirm the opening thesis of Mark’s Gospel: Jesus is the Son of God, and has brought the Kingdom of God unto us.

THE TEXT

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost […]

Mark 1:1-8

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Mark’s Gospel starts with a bang and continues throughout the entire Gospel at a frenzied pace. Christ leaps off the page. This is no passive narration. We are invited to sit on the front row of this story of the ministry of the Messiah, the Son of God. The narrative is in the historic present, which is intended to make the action vivid and close. And indeed it is. This message of the Gospel of the Kingdom presses in upon us.

Mark blends two prophetic citations (from Isaiah and Malachi) in order to jar us to attention. The Living God is on His way. In order to get people ready, He has sent a messenger ahead of Him to summon both Jews and Gentiles to prepare themselves to meet Yahweh (vv2-3). That messenger is John; his ministry of baptism in the wilderness caused crowds to swarm to submit themselves to his summons to cleanse themselves in order to ready themselves to meet their God (vv4-5). John is figured as a new Elijah (v6) and he informs them that a new Elisha is soon following who is greater and whose baptism will be that of fire, not water (vv7-8).

Isaiah said the way must be made straight (εὐθείας) and throughout the rest of the Gospel a variation of that word (or close synonym) is used 67 times. Ironically, we see this right away. Jesus Himself comes out to be baptized by John, and straightway after coming out of the water the Spirit descends upon Him and the Father’s publicly declares His love for His Son (vv9-11). And immediately the Spirit sends Him to a forty day combat with Satan amongst wild beasts, and ministered to by angels (vv12-13).

After this, John was imprisoned, but this does not contain the Kingdom of God which had come upon them; Jesus’ message is that God’s Kingdom had come, and He commands all men to repent and believe this news (vv14-15). The Lord Jesus, by the sea of Galilee, calls fishermen to be His disciples; these men straightway follow him (vv16-20). This calling is followed by an exercise of Christ’s authority. He straightway teaches with authority (vv21-22). To confirm this authority of word with authority in deed Mark relates that a man with an unclean spirit raved against Jesus in the synagogue. Jesus commands the unclean spirit to depart and it does. The powers that be are left astonished (vv21-27). Immediately, Jesus’ fame spreads in Galilee (v28).

Jesus hastens to Simon’s house, heals his mother and raises her up, enabling her to service (vv29-31). The crowds begin swarming around the house, bringing those unclean of body and of mind to be made clean by Jesus (vv32-34); but the devils were not permitted to speak, because they knew Him. Jesus is found in prayer in the early morning, and then He takes His ministry to the next town; and His preaching and cleansing continued in those towns as well (vv35-39). Devils are cast out of the synagogues (v39). A leper comes to Jesus for cleansing, which Jesus, in compassion, gives immediately (vv40-42). The leper is sent away straightway by Jesus with the instructions to not declare his healing until he had fulfilled the righteous requirements of Moses’ law (vv43-44). But the leper had loose lips; and Jesus’ ministry only grew in fame and renown (v45).

CHRIST CAME TO CALL

Mark’s Gospel traces a steady pattern of callings followed by commands to unclean spirits and  cleansings of fleshly infirmities. In this opening chapter we have a few callings. Mark begins with an assertion that Jesus is to be called the Son of God. John calls out to Israel to make ready for Yahweh to come in their midst. Then Jesus is called the Son of God by His Father. This is the first of three times that Jesus is confirmed to be the Son of God in Mark’s biography of Jesus (Mk. 9:7 & 15:39). So then, Jesus’ refusal to allow the demons to name Him has at least two purposes. First, it is not their prerogative to identify the Messiah of God. Secondly, Mark wants to paint Jesus as a new David, anointed, but not yet exalted to the throne; thus Saul’s enmity must be dealt with shrewdly. 

But we also see Jesus calling His first four disciples. God had promised by Jeremiah that in restoring Israel he would use fishermen to fish for men: “Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them (Jer. 16:16a).” He calls the four disciples, by the sea, and they drop everything to follow Jesus. The call of Jesus is not to be ignored. For He has come to remake the world.

CHRIST CAME TO COMMAND

There are parallels to David in how Mark presents this commencement of Jesus’ ministry: both are anointed (David by Samuel; Jesus by John’s baptism/Spirit’s descent) and after each of these anointing they must deal with someone plagued with evil spirits (Saul & the demoniac). Both act with humility, despite being the rightful king of Israel. Both begin to drive out the enemies (the Philistines for David and the demons for Jesus)

We see Jesus commanding the demons, and teaching the Word of God with authority. The modern indulgent Jesus is a false Christ. Yes, we find in Christ an ocean of love. But His love is not syrupy sweet, it is potent wine. Jesus came to command, not wring His hands pleading for you to open your heart. The evil must go, that the land may be fit for Yahweh’s presence.

CHRIST CAME TO CLEANSE

And this leads us to the third event in the cycle: Jesus came to cleanse. This won’t be the first time that Mark pairs the commanding of unclean spirits with the cleansing of bodily ailments. This is because Jesus came to restore man fully. The leprous man is made whole. He is restored to the fellowship of the commonwealth. 

Mark also emphasizes Jesus as the New Elisha (2 Ki. 7); four lepers discover that God has driven out the Syrians according to the prophetic word of Elisha. These lepers are the first to discover the good news of Yahweh’s miraculous cleansing of the land, and then they make it known to the king of Israel in order that all of Israel might partake of this cleansing. But the unbeliever is trampled in the gate and does not partake of this bountiful deliverance.

The cleansing of the leper, the raising up of Peter’s mother-in-law, and the driving out demons all make one thing clear: Christ is cleansing the land in order that the holy God might dwell in fellowship with His people.

JESUS IN YOUR FACE

As we progress through Mark’s Gospel there is one thing which Mark insists upon: you must not look away from Jesus. Mark writes so as to “get in your face.” He writes so that you hear clearly that Jesus calls out to you to follow Him. He commands the unclean spirits to begone. He cleanses you.

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The State of the Church 2024 (CCD)

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INTRODUCTION

This year, for my State of the Church message, I want to take a 30,000 ft. view. The church at large is beset with great danger to moral compromise. However, locally, we should not think ourselves impervious to the onslaught which is attacking the church of our Lord Jesus. We live in perilous times, and I want to summon our local congregation to look at the perils which surround us, and to take heed.

THE TEXT

But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Revelation 2:14-16

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This letter to the church of Pergamos requires a bit of context. It was a city north of Ephesus. The Lord Jesus tells them that they dwell where “Satan’s seat is (2:13)”. The church had held fast to the name of Jesus, and did not deny the faith, even though it cost the life one of their number (Antipas). Jesus refers to Antipas as “my faithful martyr” which the same title given to Jesus in the prologue (1:5). Pergamos held shrines to a few false deities: most prominently Dionysius & Asklepios. The cult of the former included ecstatic partaking of fertility rituals and frequent intoxication. The cult of the latter had a temple full of tame serpents; the sick would often be laid in this temple for the night, with the belief that the serpent’s touch would bring healing and revitalization. Seat of Satan indeed.

Though the church had held steadfast to the name & faith of Jesus in prior persecutions, the Lord holds their current compromises against them. Past faithfulness is no guard against future compromise. Their foremost compromise is holding the doctrine of Balaam (2:14), which is summarized as a stumblingblock of idolatrous syncretism and participating in sexual fornication. The Lord also rebukes them for toying with the Nicolaitin heresy, which He hates (2:15). He summons them to repent of this compromise, or else face the two edged sword of His mouth (2:16, Cf. 2:12).

Those who repent in faith––and thus overcome (1 Jn. 5:5)––will partake of hidden manna, and will receive a white stone with a new name. This white stone was used in Roman culture for a few purposes: victory in the various gladiatorial games, acquittal in court, and a ticket into the feasts halls & celebrations (2:17).

THE DOCTRINE OF BALAAM

The saga of Balaam (Num 22-25) is returned to a number of times throughout Scripture, and is held up as a warning to God’s people. But it is not Balaam’s attempted curses which are the focal point of the warning; in fact Joshua notes God’s preserving mercy to Israel by turning Balaam’s attempt to curse into blessings “Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: but I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand. (Jos. 24:9-10).”

It is not the presence of a false prophet who might try to curse Israel which is presented as the danger to Israel. God turns the curses of His peoples’ enemies into blessings. However, what is a danger to them is Balaam’s counsel/doctrine to Balak. Moses retells the story with a warning, “Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD (Num. 31:16).” We’ve already noted the Lord Jesus’ warning by John’s hand, but Peter & Jude warn of similar danger in Balaam’s doctrine:

  • Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness […] For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. (2Pe 2:15, 18-19).
  • Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core (Jde 1:11).

Both Peter and Jude accompany their warning against being enticed by Balaam’s doctrine by citing this Proverb: “Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain. By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone (Pro 25:14-15).” Collecting all this together, we should see that the NT uses Balaam as the archetypal false teacher. But Balaam’s doctrine is not laid out like a logical argument, but it is presented as a temptation to visceral indulgence. And the most potent and poisoning indulgence is that of sexual sin.

The temptation to theological compromise is more often than not preceded by sexual sin. The logical arguments for some false doctrine flow out of a need to provide justification for behavior. We often say that theology comes out of your fingertips, which is true. But it is also a fact that we often find ways to internalize a theology which justifies what our fingertips have become fond of clinging to. The systematic theology of justifying sin follows the sin itself. Excuses are the battlements which a compromised heart erects to defend its precious.

BALAAM’S STUMBLING-BLOCKS

You live in a sea of the flotsam and jetsam of sin. You and your children are surrounded by enticements to forsake the clean water of the Word to drink the sewage of Balaam’s doctrine. The soft tongue of sensual enticement will break your bone unless you put up bulwarks of living faith.

Pornography – You must not take a passive posture when it comes to protecting yourself and your family from the pornification of our culture. As Chesterton once said, “Pornography is not a thing to be argued about with one’s intellect, but to be stamped on with one’s heel.” It is not necessary to frequent the skeevy part of town to come across it. Your newsfeed, your Spotify playlist, your favorite Netflix show, and the Super Bowl halftime show are channels whereby you are being slowly worn down to be indifferent to the Moabite temptresses in the tents of Israel.

Withholding Intimacy – Paul teaches that sexual coldness in a marriage is a foothold for Satan (1 Cor. 7:5). Married couples must labor to maintain a robust bonfire of intimacy. Once more, according to Paul this is needful for both spouses. This requires masculine diligence to pursue, and feminine receptivity to being pursued. If this is ignored, Satan is given a seat at your family dinner table.

Abortion – The crushing weight of the crushed skulls of the unborn weighs heavily on our culture. It guides everything. The demons are chasing an entire generation of women who’ve slain their children. But the men who insisted upon the abortion of their sons and daughters, as well as the doctors that performed the sacrifice, and the magistrates who stand idly by are all haunted by the deep shame which God’s law places upon them. This explains the through the roof use of antidepressants, and mountain of mental illnesses.

Birth Control Pills – Less obvious, but just as damning, we’ve found minute ways of treating the blessing of children as a burden. Even Christian couples have found the ease of pharmaceutical regulation of their fertility to be very appealing. We have turned the womb of a woman from a haven for covenantal life into a chemical wasteland of disinheriting unborn heirs of the grace of life.

Surrogacy – A very pressing issue is coming rapidly into the norm. Not only have we turned the womb into a tomb, but we also have made possible the ability to make the womb profitable. Christian couples who struggle with conceiving a child should see the temptation to rent a womb as a profound abdication of faith in the God who opens the womb and grants conception. Surrogacy turns wombs into slave ships, and children into the slaves of the conceited vanity of so-called parents.

Sodomy – Within a short span of years our nation has embraced the mangled notions that sexuality is not just an attribute of our humanity, but it is our humanity. Thus, to condemn whatever indulgence someone’s sexuality desires is, in the demented thinking of our culture, the unmanning of the very person. But the exact opposite is the case. The judgement of God, according to Romans 1, is seen in being given over to mere impulse. To become utterly beastly. You and your family must practice self-control, in order to have any hope to overcome what we ought to refer to as the sodomizing of our society. This demands husbands to be vigorous, and wives to be virtuous, and demonstrate for their children the particular glory displayed in masculinity and femininity.

CONCLUSION

Rushdoony is worth quoting at length: “When men equalize good and evil, they hope with Adam to open up greater freedom to man, and to make life richer in its possibilities and actualities. But relativization is a two-edged sword: life, instead of becoming richer by the overthrow of moral law, becomes thereby on the same level as death, and no better. Nietzsche saw the consequences of this vaunted freedom and collapsed under its burden. Dewey could not explain why, having relativized all things, democracy should be held to have an especial value, or man’s freedom and dignity be prized. The anarchy of values leads only to the frenzied hatred of and war against all reality, because reality has become the epitome of darkness by its equalizing absorption of all meanings. In this sorry equalization, the theology of the modern church has had no small share.”

The battle which the church finds itself in is not unfamiliar to the people of God. From the days of Phinehas to the days of the church of Pergamum and down to our own present moment, Balaam’s doctrine appeals to our fleshly lusts first and only later do we erect a legal code to justify our sin. But the solution remains the same. Repent. The Sword of the Word does battle with the disciples of Balaam. Christ promises to the repentant both bread and a new name. No longer to be called Balaamites, but to bear the name of Christ. Have you been finding Balaam’s doctrine more and more fascinating? Have you dabbled in his ways? Have you been pining to hide under the shadow of Balaam’s clouds? Then beware. Turn away. Those are clouds without water. So to the church of the Lord Jesus in this year of our Lord, 2024, cling steadfastly to Christ and give no heed to our Balaams.

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The Seed Royale (Shadows of Bethlehem #4) (CCD)

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INTRODUCTION

The Psalmist said that the wicked dig a pit for capturing the righteous, but they fall into it themselves. Wicked men and godless kings have hounded God’s people, persecuted the righteous, and done the bidding of the Dragon in trying to stop God’s redemptive purposes. But all their schemes miscarry. All their plots are foiled. All their dreams are disappointed. The birth of Christ is the moment when the tide of redemption turned. Christ’s dawn meant that the darkness of despair was driven back. Evil’s doom had come.

THE TEXT

And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land. And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds, with the captains and the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD, and shewed them the king’s son. […]

2Kings 11:1-21

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

King Jehoram of Judah killed all his brothers (2 Chron. 21:4); he was married to Athaliah, daughter of Ahab & Jezebel  (2 Ki. 8:18); all of Jehoram’s sons were killed in a raid by the Arabians, except Ahaziah, the youngest (2 Chron. 22:1). Elijah had prophesied of the downfall of Ahab’s kingdom and line (1 Ki. 21:21-29). Several years later, Elisha anointed Jehu king of Israel, then tasked him with wiping out Ahab’s line, in accordance with Elijah’s prophecy. When Jehu hunted down King Joram––Ahab’s son, and current king of Israel––Ahaziah happened to be chumming around with Joram (his  brother-in-law); so Jehu assassinated both of them (2 Ki. 9:23-27).

Athaliah’s reign is introduced in such a way as to make the reader feel like everything is all out of whack. It doesn’t follow the expected pattern for the introduction of a new ruler for Israel or Judah. After her son’s death, the annihilation of her father’s dynasty, and the execution of her extended family she asserts herself as ruler of Judah, likely an attempt to preserve her father’s legacy. Her power grab begins by destroying all the royal seed (11:1). David’s line was in grave danger and would have been destroyed had not Jehosheba––the wife of Jehoiada the high priest––stolen the youngest son of Ahaziah, Joash, and raised him in the temple for six years (11:2-3).

When Joash was seven, Jehoiada hatches a plan to restore the rightful king to David’s throne. He conscripts a band of trustworthy leaders, swears them to secrecy, and then shows them the king’s son (11:4). His plan to protect young King Joash while overthrowing the usurping Athaliah involved forming a barricade of bodyguards to surround the temple on a Sabbath day (11:5-8). This scheme was put into action; David’s weaponry was brought out of the treasury; Jehoiada crowned Joash, gave him a copy of the covenant, anointed him, and they all made a noticeable ruckus (11:9-12). Athaliah hears the cries of “God save the king,” rushes to the scene (unfortunately for her, without any bodyguards), sees her grandson, rends her clothes, and cries, “Treason (11:13-14)!” Jehoiada commanded she be executed (outside the temple), along with any that tried to defend her, and his orders were followed (11:15-16). Then a covenant renewal ceremony takes place between the Lord, the king, and the people, followed by a purge of all the Baal paraphernalia (11:17-18). Joash is then seated on David’s throne, and the people rejoice (11:19-20). The narrative then returns to the expected way of introducing a new ruler (11:21).

THE LORD HAS SWORN

Psalm 132:11 promises, “The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.” So, when you read through this soap opera of a Bible story, you might think, “Boy, I hope God has an insurance policy on this promise of His!” Athaliah went about to destroy the seed which God had promised would forever sit upon the throne of David. Further, this threatened the even more ancient promise to Eve. Here was a little baby, about to be slaughtered, upon whom hung Israel’s only hope for the promised Messiah. Sound familiar?

God had sworn to David that his seed would sit on the throne forever, so when Athaliah comes to power that promise seems like a long shot. It’s precisely at the moment when faith seems most improbable and inadequate that God delights to introduce a new character to the story. Out of nowhere comes the woman, Jehosheba. If Bunyan had been tasked with naming the characters of this story, he couldn’t have done any better: Jehosheba means, “Jehovah has sworn.”

True faith does not concern itself with circumstances, it concerns itself with the Lord of the covenant. What has God sword? Faith doesn’t look at the bleakness of the situation and conclude that apostasy is the right course. Faith clings to God’s eternal oath. This holds true for both our justification and our sanctification. God has promised to forgive every last one of your sins and to give you everlasting life. Believe His oath, and so be justified by His grace. But God also calls us in our sanctification to trust His promises, especially when it feels like they are hanging by a thread. Perhaps you’ve stumbled into sin, well return by faith to His promise to lead you in triumph over your sins (2 Cor. 2:14). Maybe you’ve grown timid & fearful in these perilous times, well lay hold of His promise to give to His children a Spirit of power (2 Tim. 1:7). Maybe you feel surrounded by enemies of sin, worldliness, or devilry, well then seize upon His promise to deliver you from all your enemies (Ps. 18:3).

THE PAYOFF

Now, there are a number of ways which this obscure but gripping OT story finds its “payoff” in the story of Christ’s advent. Most obvious is the similarity of Athaliah & Herod’s slaughtering of their rivals (Mt. 2:16-18); Joseph performs a similar role as Jehosheba and Jehoiada, hiding the rightful heir to David’s throne.

In Luke’s narrative Joseph and Mary bring Jesus into the temple (again like Jehosheba and Jehoiada); while there, Jesus is “revealed” to the faithful believers Simeon and Anna (Lk. 2:25-38), like Joash was revealed to the faithful. Luke doubles down on this theme in the story of Mary and Joseph looking for 12 year old Jesus, and they find him, once more, in the temple, surrounded by the Jewish teachers (guardians of the faith). Jesus informs his parents that He is doing His Father’s business.

CHRIST IS REVEALED

It is right for Jesus, as Israel’s the rightful king, to be revealed in the temple. Israel’s kings were at their best when they fostered true worship of Yahweh in the temple. Joash’s home from infancy was Yahweh’s temple. The text calls him “the king’s son (2 Kg. 11:4, 12);” this both establishes the rightful claim that Joash has to David’s throne, and that Joash is a true son of Yahweh, the true King of Israel. So then, Jesus’ early visits to the temple function in much the same way. Here is David’s heir whose dwelling place is Yahweh’s house and is also Yahweh’s son.

The Christ has been revealed. Jesus is the rightful king. He is the Son of the Father. He is king, and priest, and prophet. So, though the dragon raged against him, and though wicked men still scheme for the downfall of Christ’s empire, they will fail and fall into their own traps. Christ is King of Heaven and Earth, and there’s not a damn thing the powers of earth or hell can do about it. Merry Christmas!

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The Last Laugh (Shadows of Bethlehem #3) (Christ Church Downtown)

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INTRODUCTION

The coming of the Christ-child was God’s brilliant wit on full display. How would God overthrow Satan’s kingdom? With a baby. How would God defeat the mighty, fallen cherubim, Lucifer? By planting a human seed. How would God destroy death? By laughing in its face.

THE TEXT

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

Luke 1:46-55

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

At Mary’s coming, her cousin Elisabeth––pregnant with John the Baptist––breaks forth in a blessing upon Mary (Lk. 1:41-45). Elisabeth’s blessing echoes what was said of Father Abraham: He believed and it was credited to him for righteousness. Mary, like Abram & Sarai, was promised a miraculous conception, given a name for the promised son, and she believed.

In response to Elisabeth’s blessing, Mary breaks forth in what we commonly refer to as the Magnificat. Her song is almost verbatim of Hannah’s prayer (1 Sam. 2:1-10). The Lord granted Hannah’s prayer for a child, and conceived the son who would become the great prophet Samuel. Hannah’s prayer is full of exultation that God had caused her to triumph over her rival. This rival (Peninnah, Elkanah’s other wife) had a unique talent for getting under the skin; she frequently threw Hannah’s barrenness in her face.

That same key signature of exultation is present in Mary’s song. The proud are scattered (v51). The vanity of the mighty is thwarted by God’s mighty arm (v51-52). The rich find themselves penniless (v53). Meanwhile, the humble are exalted (v52), the hungry filled (v53), the lowly handmaid is regarded (v48), the servant/son Israel is helped (v54). And all of this flows from God’s remembrance of mercy (v54). But brought into keen focus is the promise which God made to Abraham and to his seed (v55).

RISE THE WOMAN’S CONQUERING SEED

Mary’s closing line takes us back to the ancient stories found in Genesis. While she explicitly mentions Abraham and his seed, God’s promise of a seed was first given in Eden. The promise to Abraham was an expanded revelation of the promise given to the serpent at the fall of Adam: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (Gen 3:15).” In the face of man’s rebellion and subjugation to the dragon, God reveals that a seed of the woman would arise to crush the dragons head. The rival would be overthrown. The Lord echoes this promise to Noah (Gen. 9:9), hanging His war-bow in the sky as an assurance that He would surely bring this promised seed to pass.

God called Abram out of the idolatrous people of Ur, and promised him Canaan, assuring him that his seed would possess it forever (Gen. 12:7, 13:15-16). Abraham believed this promise, and God reckoned it to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6). But then Sarah’s barrenness persisted. This led to a lapse of faith on their part, and the conception of Ishmael by Sarah’s handmaid Hagar. Hagar becomes a rival for Sarah, and thorn in her side. Eventually, Abraham pleads with God: “O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him (Gen. 17:18-19).”

Sarah, memorably, laughs at the news that the Lord would grant her conception (Gen. 18:12-15). But then, as the Lord had promised she conceives and bears a son, “And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me (Gen. 21:6).”

THE SINGULAR SEED

The seed promised to Abraham was a big deal, and the Apostles spend a great deal of time commenting on it. Paul in Galatians makes the clearest assertion regarding the inner pith of this promise to Abraham regarding his seed: “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. … Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. … And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal 3:8-9, 16, 29).”

So then Isaac was only a partial fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. The true fulfillment was found in Jesus Christ, born of Mary. God’s mercy was not to be found in simply having Abraham as an ancestor. His mercy would be found in a Seed; singular not plural. This promised seed was not a collective of human effort or lineage. The Seed would engage in mortal combat with the dragon and emerge wounded though victorious. In order to be righteous in God’s sight, you must trust in this Seed.

A JOLLY BELIEF

Mary’s prayer of exultation is the prayer of all believers, exulting over the triumph of the seed of the woman over the serpent’s seed. God made good on His promised mercy to mankind, and He did so by bringing to pass His word of promise to Abraham: a seed.

God’s promise of mercy which Mary recalls is to Abraham and to his seed. That Seed of mercy was now gestating in her womb. God’s covenant of mercy is found in Christ alone. There is no mercy outside of Him.

There is divine humor in this promise. It was by design that Isaac’s name means laughter. God was going to do something which no eye had seen, or ear heard, or mind had conceived. The serpent sought to engulf all of mankind, and Christ submits Himself to being devoured by the dragon. But Christ, the promised Seed, was the true and better Isaac. Satan sought to kill God, but God the Son overthrew death by His death. Christ became the curse, that you might not be accursed. The Word became a speechless baby, in order that His blood might eternally plead for you. And your response to this is to lay hold of this better Isaac by the same faith which Abraham, Hannah, and Mary all demonstrate. Exult, for God has overthrown your rival. For He has crucified your old man, and begotten you, not by perishable seed, but by the imperishable seed of the living and abiding word of God.

Mary’s namesake, Miriam, danced as the Egyptian warriors drowned in the Red Sea. This is the jolly faith which God reckons as righteous, because it is faith in His Son: the Word made flesh. The Word that bled. The Word that was put to death. The Word that crowns you with the cleansing waters of your baptism. The Word that is a feast of covenantal bread & wine. The Word that says to all who believe in Him, Yahweh is Salvation.

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Rachel’s Tears (Shadows of Bethlehem #2) (CCD)

Grace Sensing on

INTRODUCTION

The hallmark of Christmas is joy. Ear to ear grins. Hot chocolate mustaches. Gleeful shouts as presents are unwrapped. But your joy, true joy, is given to you by the grief of the Man of sorrows. The story of Christ’s birth, which brought glad tidings and peace on earth, is swiftly followed by a grisly tale of the ravenous wolf of sin.

THE TEXT

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

Matthew 2:16-18

TYRANNICAL BRUTES

The slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem is staggering. Herod stands in a long line of brutes who use their throne to slaughter the innocent. Pharaoh killed the Hebrew infants. Saul deputized Doeg (an Edomite like Herod) slaughtered the priests in Nob for helping David. Nebuchadnezzar starved the Jews of Jerusalem (during the two year siege, circa 587BC), and then as he marched them off to exile he brutally slaughtered many of them (Cf. Lam. 2:19-22, Ps 137:8-9, 2 Ki. 25:20-21).

The thing which set Herod off was the wise men refusing to cooperate with his design to destroy the Christ-child. Herod had been informed that Bethlehem was prophesied to be the birthplace of the new davidic king (Micah 5:2), and he knew that the star had appeared less than two years before, implying the baby was no older than that. Caesar Augustus is said to have stated that he’d rather be one of Herod’s swine than one of his sons. Herod’s brutality was well-known. But in the slaughter of Bethlehem’s sons, his wicked wrath is put on full and gruesome display.

Adam & Eve submitted to the Serpent, and reduced mankind to the level of brute. The first tyrant bludgeoned his brother. Man’s depravity always leads to murder. It leads to devouring others. The coming of Christ the King is good news, and this is put in stark relief when contrasted with the reign of Man in bondage to sin and Satan. Herod is the City of Man. He is a mirror held up to us to see the depravity of the human heart. But in Christ, the Kingdom of God has come upon us

WEEPING EXILES

Matthew tells us that this slaughter was a fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy in Jeremiah 31:15, “Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.”

When the Babylonians took the Jews into exile, they released Jeremiah at Ramah: “Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in chains among all that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto Babylon (Jer 40:1).” Jeremiah then is taken down to Egypt by a remnant of Jewish leaders (Jer. 42-43). Meanwhile, Jerusalem’s young men in particular were being cruelly slaughtered at Riblah (Jer. 52:27). There are echoes of Jeremiah in the story of Joseph whisking his wife and son down to Egypt (in fulfillment of another prophecy, Cf. Mt. 2:15), while Herod’s henchmen slaughter Bethlehem’s boys.

This is the context for Jeremiah’s prophecy. His prophecy had a two-fold fulfillment; first in the events that shortly followed his prophecy. But these events themselves become a type of the slaughter of Bethlehem’s sons. Both Nebuchadnezzar & Herod are non-davidic kings slaughtering the sons of Israel. A theme we’ll revisit in a future sermon. For now, it suits our purpose to simply make mention of it.

Though Israel dwells in the land the Lord promised her, it is clear that they are still in exile, still under siege, still in need of the deliverance of the Messiah. Bethlehem’s mothers mourned once more, for their sons were cut down, and would not grow up like plants around their tables (Ps. 144:12). The deuteronomic blessings were not to be found. Only the curses. They sowed in tears once more (Ps. 126). Ramah once more heard cries of grief & untimely death.

BENONI

Jeremiah’s mention of Rachel takes us further back into the story of redemption: “And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day (Gen. 35:16-20).”

As Rachel was expiring from childbirth she named her son Benoni: son of my sorrows. And then Jacob’s cherished wife dies. Jacob had worked under Laban’s tyrannical demands for fourteen years in order to claim Rachel as his bride. She’d been barren for long years before bringing forth his beloved son Joseph. And now his bride perished in anguished sorrow. Jacob buried her in Bethlehem (Ramah is relatively nearby to Bethlehem). Rachel had prayed, “Give me children or I die” and it was in bringing forth her second son that she died. This baby boy was both a son of sorrow and a son of his father’s right hand.

One other thread is worth tracing here. Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin, but instead of reigning at Yahweh’s right hand, he becomes a son of grief, while David becomes a true son of the right hand (Ps. 110:1). The Benjamites were famous slingers, but when a giant threatens Israel and her Benjamite king, a funny thing that happens. David (of Judah) deftly wields the sling to kill Goliath. David is a better Benjamite than Saul.

Herod is the king of the Jews who slaughters and devours his people, akin to Saul. Meanwhile, Jesus is, of course, a new David, a son of David come to lay down His life and give Himself as food for His people.

NEW COVENANT GLORY

Rachel’s weeping gives birth to a Son of the right hand. This world is full of sorrows, but the coming of Christ was the death knell for all sorrow and all suffering. The misery of God’s people was great. Their weeping was heard afar off. But now a Savior had been born in Bethlehem. He would take all their griefs and sorrows upon & unto Himself. All the tears which all of God’s people have sown, will turn into shouts of joy.

Jeremiah not only describes Rachel’s weeping over the death of Judah, he invites her to dry her tears (Jer. 31:16), comforting her with a revelation of new life. New life through a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34). But this new covenant would be bought with innocent blood. Jesus, the only son who survived Herod’s slaughter of Bethlehem’s boys, would still be slaughtered by another Herod. So He would, in all ways, be acquainted with our grief, share in our suffering, and die as one of us.

Weeping may endure for the night. But the morning brings joy. And now, in Christ, the eternal day has dawned. David’s throne is filled. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end. The sun of righteousness arises, with healing in His wings. This is the comfort for your every sorrow. This is the grace for all your sins. This is the Good News of Great Joy which is for all people. Christ is born in Bethlehem.

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