Stories of reality vs expectations
- Wizard of Oz/Wicked
- Blind date/Dating app
Sometimes what you expect – maybe even what you are hoping for – is not what it turns out to be. And you might even be basing it off things you’ve heard or read or seen – but what comes to pass is very different than what you imagined.
Not unlike the birth of Jesus – the reality of how the Messiah enters the world was very different than what the people of God expected.
They did not recognize him – they did not understand.
And it’s easy for us – on this side of the story to question them.
How could they not see?
How could they not understand?
But we can see and comprehend the whole story.
And they were going off of their expectations.
The people of Israel had been waiting centuries for the messiah and the prophecies had declared what that would look like – going all the way back to Genesis.
Genesis 49:10
New Living Translation
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants,[a]
until the coming of the one to whom it belongs,[b]
the one whom all nations will honor.
And then in Isaiah
Isaiah 11:1-11
New Living Translation
A Branch from David’s Line
11 Out of the stump of David’s family[a] will grow a shoot—
yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
2 And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
Micah 5:2
New Living Translation
A Ruler from Bethlehem
2 [a]But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel,
whose origins are in the distant past,
will come from you on my behalf.
Isaiah 9:6-7
New Living Translation
6 For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor,[a] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!
Jeremiah 23:5-6
New Living Translation
5 “For the time is coming,”
says the LORD,
“when I will raise up a righteous descendant[a]
from King David’s line.
He will be a King who rules with wisdom.
He will do what is just and right throughout the land.
6 And this will be his name:
‘The LORD Is Our Righteousness.’[b]
In that day Judah will be saved,
and Israel will live in safety.
The Jewish people were hanging onto words and phrases from these prophecies – from these OT scriptures – words like
King
He will rule
Heaven’s armies
Mighty God
Ruler of Isreal
The Spirit of counsel and might
Ruler
All nations will honor
They hung onto words that met their expectations – and overlooked other phrases and words in the prophecies – kind of heard what they wanted to hear.
And they wanted to be delivered – they were living in a time of economic hardships and political oppression under Roman occupation and rule – they were desperate.
Desperation and fear and longing lead to expectations
They wanted a king – like King David – to sweep in like a revolutionary and mightily end their oppression and hardships and slay the beast that was the Roman empire and restore the land to peace and justice and prosperity - in their minds the messiah would bring instant transformation.
That’s what they expected, believed, wanted – but that is not what came to pass.
That’s why it says in John 1
10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him.
They did not recognize him.
Their expectations were here (gesture) – and what came to pass was:
“And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Luke 2:12
Jesus – the Messiah, the savior of the world – entered in as a baby to an impoverished young couple – no fanfare – no chariots of gold – no armies – just a humble beginning – an innocent child wrapped in scraps of cloth.
The entrance of the Jesus Christ was probably more like this writing by Ken Gire:
For the census, the royal family has to travel eighty-five miles. Joseph walks, while Mary, nine months pregnant, rides sidesaddle on a donkey, feeling every jolt, every rut, every rock in the road.
The night is still when Joseph creaks open the stable door. As he does, a chorus of barn animals makes discordant note of the intrusion. The stench is pungent and humid, as there have not been enough hours in the day to tend the guests, let alone the livestock. A disquieting place for a woman in the throes of childbirth. Far from home. Far from family. Far from what she had expected for her firstborn.
It is a relief just to finally get off the donkey. She leans back against the wall, her feet swollen, back aching, contractions growing stronger and closer together.
Joseph’s eyes dart around the stable. Not a minute to lose. Quickly. A feeding trough would have to make for a crib. Hay would serve as a mattress. Blankets? Blankets? Ah, his robe. That would do. A gripping contraction doubles Mary over and sends him racing for a bucket of water.
A scream from Mary knifes through the calm of that silent night. Joseph returns, breathless, water sloshing from the wooden bucket.
Joseph places a garment beneath her, and with a final push and a long sigh her labor is over.
The Messiah has arrived.
The Son of the Most High God umbilically tied to a lowly Jewish girl.
The baby chokes and coughs. Joseph instinctively turns him over and clears his throat. Then he cries. Mary reaches for the shivering baby, lays him on her chest, and his helpless cries subside.
Deity nursing from a young maiden’s breast. Could anything be more puzzling-or more profound?
She looks up at Joseph, and through a watery veil, their souls touch. He crowds close, cheek to cheek with his betrothed. Together they stare in awe at the baby Jesus, whose heavy eyelids begin to close. It has been a long journey. The King is tired.
And so, with barely a ripple of notice, God stepped into the warm lake of humanity. Without protocol and without pretension.
Where you would have expected heads of state, there were only donkeys, a few haltered cows, a nervous ball of sheep, a tethered camel, and a furtive scurry of curious barn mice.
Except for Joseph, there was no one to share Mary’s pain. Or her joy. Yes, there were angels announcing the Savior’s arrival-but only to a band of blue-collar shepherds. And yes, a magnificent star shone in the sky to mark his birthplace-but only three foreigners bothered to look up and follow it.
Thus, in the little town of Bethlehem…that one silent night…the royal birth of God’s Son tiptoed quietly by…as the world slept.
That is how our savior entered the world – no one even knew – where most expected a lion – the messiah came in like a lamb.
But why? Why is this the way that God chose to send his son? Why not usher him in on a chariot of gold with a scepter and an army behind him? Why a baby born to a virgin in poverty?
He is our king – our messiah – our savior – the Christ – so why was it all so ordinary?
Break for Song and Poem
What seemed to those in the first century and what might seem to us today to be oh so ordinary was the ushering in of the extraordinary.
From the moment of his first breath – Jesus was ushering in the upside-down kingdom of God – a kingdom where the last shall be first – a kingdom of justice and mercy and love.
And he identified immediately with the poor and the marginalized. He was born as one of them – he was born into a peasant family – Mary and Joseph were so unimportant that they aren’t even offered a guestroom – where they actually were was probably the first floor of a home where everyone else slept upstairs – and the first floor was where the animals were tended to – they were so lowly – so unimportant that even though she was ready to give birth they don’t let them upstairs – just how impoverished they were is clear in Luke 2:22-24 – when Mary and Joseph take Jesus to Jerusalem for the purification offering
22 Then it was time for their purification offering, as required by the law of Moses after the birth of a child; so his parents took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. 23 The law of the Lord says, “If a woman’s first child is a boy, he must be dedicated to the LORD.”[a] 24 So they offered the sacrifice required in the law of the Lord—“either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
This is a significant point – the turtledoves and pigeons alert us to just how poor they were – we see the same scenario in Leviticus 12:8
8 “If a woman cannot afford to bring a lamb, she must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. One will be for the burnt offering and the other for the purification offering. The priest will sacrifice them to purify her, and she will be ceremonially clean.”
A lamb is the preferred sacrifice but for those that cannot afford it – then turtledoves or pigeons are an acceptable alternative – Mary and Joseph are one of those – This is a significant detail when we consider the birth of Jesus. Mary and Joseph, despite their righteousness and faith, were not wealthy. They could not bring a lamb for the purification offering; instead, they brought the humble offering of two pigeons, fulfilling the requirements for those who were poor. The Savior of the world was not born into privilege, but into poverty - in simplicity and humility, identifying with those who struggle to make ends meet.
they are people that others look down on
In Mark 6 when Jesus returns to his hometown in Nazareth – they don’t accept him – in verse 3 it says
3 Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary[a] and the brother of James, Joseph,[b] Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.
Jesus could have taken any path. He could have been born into wealth and royal privilege. He could have been born in a grand palace surrounded by servants and riches.
Jesus made it clear that He came not for the powerful or the influential, but for the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized. He was born among them. His birth showed that He was not distant from the suffering of the world, but that He entered into it. He identified with those who have no voice in society, who are overlooked and forgotten.
The humble offering of two pigeons was not a mistake or an afterthought. It was a divine sign that Jesus came to identify with the least of these, the outcast, the oppressed. In the way that He lived and in the way He died, Jesus shows us that He is with us in our struggles. He knows the pain of poverty, the alienation of being overlooked, and the difficulty of living with little.
That commercial – Jesus – he gets us – it’s true – he felt every humiliation, every heartache, every pain – he understands us in deep profound ways.
Not a king on a throne but a baby in a manger – completely unexpected
10 He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. John 1:10
They did not recognize him.
Do we?
Do we recognize the baby born into poverty – raised in humble circumstances – identifying with the least of these?
Or are we still looking for the powerful – the mighty – the conqueror?
Are those the things that we value in this world? Are those the characteristics we value and attain to?
Do we recognize the humility of Jesus and his kingdom? And if we recognize it – do we embrace it? Do we live by those values that define the kingdom of God – and began at the birth of Jesus.
Do we live as if the last shall be first – putting others above ourselves – self-sacrificing love – embracing humility?
God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
God blesses those who mourn,
God blesses those who are humble,
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
God blesses those who are merciful,
God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
God blesses those who work for peace,
God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
Is this who you are? Are these the things that define your life? Is this the upside-down kingdom that started that night in Bethlehem that you are continuing to bring on earth today? Have you dedicated your life to the humble pursuit of Jesus and all that he identified with?
Matthew 25:37-40 says:
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,[a] you were doing it to me!’
In this exchange Jesus is putting himself as judge as the king – leading into this he says when the son of man (a title he has used for himself) comes in all his glory and sits on his throne – from baby in a manger to king – and he separates them – sheep and goats – who grazed together and were very hard to tell apart – but would be separated by the shepherd at night – and he is saying to all who will hear – how you treat my people – my brothers and sisters – those that follow me and are bringing my kingdom into the world – how you treat them matters – it is how you are treating me – these are the things Jesus cared about – and as you realize how Jesus entered the world – his extremely humble beginnings – this verse feels figurative and literal – Jesus was probably hungry and thirsty and naked – regardless of who he is talking to – it is clear what matters to Jesus – that when you take care of these things – you are honoring him – and he is harsh in his judgement here – when you do these things/act these ways vs. not – the way Jesus came into this world immediately defined his kingdom values – his birth was an absolute indication of what was important
As his followers – those of us that have surrendered our lives to the suffering servant – the servant king – are these the things that we hold true – are these the things that we value?
Unlike Dorothy with the wizard – or a misrepresented first date – the unexpected humble entrance of Jesus is not a disappointment – it is a beautiful fulfillment of the OT prophecies – it took some time for all to understand that he is the king – but this significant birth – so significant that calendars were formed by it - we know that it is the birth of a king
6 For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor,[a] Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace
will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies
will make this happen!
I read a quote this week that said something along the lines of – as christ followers we shouldn’t be asking the question is this biblical we should be asking
Is this Christlike?
His birth changed everything – he did bring transformation – he turned everything upside down and became one of us – challenged the status quo – and ruled thru humility and love
He is the savior – the messiah – the good news – and once we have surrendered our lives to him we carry that good news with us wherever we go – to whoever we encounter – and they will see that good news – the HS in us – as we continue to bring his upside down kingdom into the world – as we love as he loved – as we are kind and merciful and compassionate and forgiving and patient and humble – this Christmas may we honor that extraordinary baby born to an impoverished young couple in extreme circumstances with no fanfare – may we adore him and worship him with our passions and energy and resources and our entire lives – for he alone is worthy
Song
Prayer
Blessing
Your name is still called 'Wonderful,' 'Counselor,' 'The Mighty God,' 'The Everlasting Father' and 'The Prince of Peace.' As Your children, we cry out for a fresh filling, and a new awareness of Who You are. We choose by faith to make the 'good news of great joy' a reality in our own lives, so others can see us as lighted trees of life, pointing to You this Christmas. We know one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that You are Lord. And we also know that peace on Earth can only come when hearts find peace with You. You are still our Joy. You are still our Peace. You are no longer a babe in the manger. You are Lord of lords and King of kings. And we still celebrate You as Lord—this Christmas and always.