A Month-Long Journey with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Day 6 Today.

My dearly, dearly beloved reader, I want to take a break before we get into 2 Samuel and so I have decided if our Lord Jesus is willing, to take this 31 day journey with our Precious Saviour (one for each day of the month) listed in the order of their appearance in the New Testament. I have taken them from the Nelson's Complete Book of Maps and Charts and I trust we will each one be inspired, blessed and led to love our Lord Jesus Christ even more.

I'm a pilgrim bound for glory,
I'm a pilgrim going home;
Come and hear me tell my story,
All that love the Saviour, come!

Refrain:
Hallelujah! I love Jesus!
Hallelujah! Praise to God!
Hallelujah! He's my Saviour!
He has bought me with His blood!

I will tell you what compelled me
For the better land to start;
'Twas the Saviour's loving kindness
Overcame and won my heart.

Faint and weary, then He brought me
To the fountain of His love,
Showed me how His blood had bought me,
Sealed my pardon from above.

When I started on my journey,
Many said I'd faint and fail;
But my Saviour's ever with me
And thro' Him I still prevail.

Soon my journey will be ended,
Soon my Lord will come again;
Then, together with the ransomed,
I will Praise His Glorious Name.

Thanks: timelesstruths.org

Hallelujah!

Amen!

The one isolated incident from the boyhood of Jesus is recorded by Luke to let us know that our

Lord Jesus had a normal human childhood.

"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man" (v. 52)

Birth of Jesus at Bethlehem in a Stable.

Caesar Augustus was the adopted son of Julius Caesar. His name was Octavianus and he took the name Caesar.

The name Augustus was not a name at all but a title. When the senate submitted to him certain titles like king, emperor, and dictator, he was not satisfied. Instead he chose the title Augustus. It had a religious significance, and it was an attempt to deify himself.

It was no accident that Dr. Luke mentioned the name of Caesar Augustus. 

This man signed a tax bill that the whole world be taxed. He needed money to raise an army to control his vast empire and to live in luxury.

Luke’s historical reference was that this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.

Joseph and Mary came out of Nazareth in Galilee and went into Judea to Bethlehem, the city of David. Joseph did this because he was of the house and lineage of David.

How thrilling it is to read this historically accurate passage with tremendous spiritual truth behind it. Caesar Augustus attempted to make himself a god. He wanted to be worshiped. He signed a tax bill which caused a woman and man, peasants, living in Nazareth, to journey to Bethlehem to enroll. That dear woman, Mary, chosen of God, was carrying in her womb the Son of God! 

This is quite tremendous! 

Caesar Augustus tried to make himself God, but nobody today reverences him or pays taxes to him. 

But that little baby in Mary’s womb - many of us worship Him today and call Him our Savior.

Caesar Augustus was merely the tool in God’s hand to bring to pass the prophecy

 "But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:2). 

This is a remarkable account.

Everything that happened was arranged by God. 

Luke gets right down to the human details in this passage. He says that Mary put swaddling clothes on this little child - baby cloths on the Son of God! 

How perfectly human He was - our God manifest in the flesh!

Reception of Jesus: Angels Announce His Birth to Shepherds; Shepherds Visit the Stable.

Luke 2:8   "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night."

Many people ask the question, "When was Jesus Christ born?" 

It could not have been in the dead of winter or the shepherds would not have been out at night with their sheep. But the date of His birth is irrelevant, just as the day upon which He was crucified is irrelevant. The Scripture does not say when He was born; the important thing is that He was born. The Scripture does not say when He was crucified; the important thing is that He died for our sins.

Luke 2:9-11   "And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

It is wonderful to see a little baby come into the world, and our hearts sure do go out to that baby.

That is the way God entered this world. 

He could have entered - as He will when He comes to earth the second time - in power and great glory. Instead, He came in the weakest way possible, as a baby. 

George Macdonald put it this way:

They all were looking for a King

To slay their foes and lift them high:

Thou cam’st, a little baby thing

That made a woman cry.

That is the way our Saviour came into the world. He did not lay aside His deity; He laid aside His glory.

There should have been more than just a few shepherds and angels to welcome Him - all of creation should have been there. Instead of collecting taxes, that fellow Caesar should have been in Bethlehem to worship Him. 

Our Saviour Lord Jesus Christ could have forced him to do that very thing, but He did not. 

He laid aside His prerogatives of deity. 

He came a little baby thing.

While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around.

"Fear not!" said He, for mighty dread
Had seized their troubled mind,
"Glad tidings of great joy I bring
To you and all mankind."

"To you, in David's town, this day
Is born, of David's line,
A Saviour, who is Christ the Lord;
And this shall be the sign:

"The heav'nly Babe you there shall find
To human view displayed,
All meanly wrapped in swaddling bands,
And in a manger laid."

Thus spake the seraph, and forthwith
Appeared a shining throng
Of angels praising God, and thus
Addressed their joyful song:

"All glory be to God on high,
And to the earth be peace:
Goodwill henceforth from heav'n to men
Begin and never cease."

Amen!

Luke 2:12   "And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. "

Away in a manger,
No crib for His bed
The little Lord Jesus
Laid down His sweet head

The stars in the bright sky
Looked down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay

The cattle are lowing
The poor Baby wakes
But little Lord Jesus
No crying He makes

I love Thee, Lord Jesus
Look down from the sky
And stay by my side
'Till morning is nigh.

Be near me, Lord Jesus,
I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever
And love me I pray

Bless all the dear children
In Thy tender care
And take us to heaven
To live with Thee there.

Hallelujah!

Amen!

Our Saviour Lord Jesus came into this world as a human being. He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities. God knows about mankind. He knows you, and He knows me. 

God understands us because He came into this world a human being. 

This also means that we can know something about God, for He took upon Himself our humanity.

Luke 2:13-14   "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

Angels we have heard on high,
Sweetly singing o'er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echo back their joyous strains.

Refrain:
Gloria in excelsis Deo,
Gloria in excelsis Deo.

Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
Say what may the tidings be,
Which inspire your heav'nly song?

Come to Bethlehem, and see
Him whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord, the new-born King.

See within a manger laid,
Jesus, Lord of heav'n and earth!
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
With us sing our Saviour's birth.

Special Thanks always to our Lord Jesus Christ for  SermonAudio.com 

Amen!

Our Authorized Version gives the wrong impression here. 

The angels did not say,  "on earth peace, good will toward men." 

What they actually said was, "peace to men of good will," or "peace among men with whom He is pleased." The angels did not make the asinine statement that many men make today which goes, "Let’s have peace, peace, peace."

"There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked" (Isa. 48:22). 

We live in a day when we need to beat our plowshares into swords - not the other way around. We live in a very wicked godless world.  We live in a Satan-dominated world, and in it there is no peace. 

There is, however, peace to men of good will.

If we are indeed one of those who have come to Christ and taken Him as our Savior, we do have Peace of God. 

Romans 5:1 states: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

When Christ came the first time, this is the kind of peace He brought. At His second coming He will come as the Prince of Peace; at that time He will put down  all unrighteousness and rebellion in the world. 

He will establish peace on the earth. 

But until He comes again, there will be no peace on this earth.

Luke 2:15-16   "And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger."

The shepherds hurried to Bethlehem. There they found Mary, Joseph, and the baby Lord Jesus. They were probably the first to visit the Babe since Matthew tells us that the wise men did not arrive until much later.

Luke 52:17-20   "And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them."

Mary pondered many things in her heart just as a mother would do. They took the young child into Egypt for a time and later returned to Nazareth.

Since our Lord had come into the human family, and since He had been born under the Mosaic Law, our Lord followed the Law, perfectly.

What Child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?

Refrain:
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud—
The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Why lies He in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear: for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

Amen!

Circumcision of Lord Jesus; Purification of Mary.

Luke 2:21-22   "And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, His name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before He was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord; "

For forty days a woman was considered unclean after the birth of a child, according to the Mosaic Law. 

Mary as a sinner, had to bring a sacrifice to the Lord. 

She also needed a Saviour.

Luke 2:23-24   "(As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;) And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons."

Mary and Joseph offered turtledoves as a sacrifice, which were an evidence of their poverty. 

The sacrifice was for Mary and not for the Child. 

As far as we know, our Lord Jesus never offered a sacrifice.

Incident in Temple Concerning Simeon.

Luk2 2:25-33   "And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for Him after the custom of the law, Then took he Him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel. And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of Him."

There was a man by the name of Simeon who by the Holy Spirit was in the temple when the Lord Jesus was brought in to fulfill the Mosaic Law. God had promised Simeon that he would see the salvation of God and Simeon saw the little Baby. 

Salvation is a Person, and not something that we have to do. 

Salvation is a Person, and that Person is our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We either have Him, or we do not have Him. We either trust Him, or we do not trust Him. 

Do you have Him today dear reader?

Here we have another solo, and Simeon sings for us.

Luke 2:34-35   "And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary His mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;" (Yea, a sword shall pierce through Thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

Notice that Luke calls them "Joseph and his mother," not His father and mother.

Mary paid a tremendous price to bring our Savior into the world. She paid an awful price to stand beneath the cross of our Lord and watch Him die.

The cross of Christ has moved many people - artists have painted the picture, songwriters have written music about it, and authors and preachers have sketched those moments with words. There is a danger of dwelling on His death in a sympathetic way. Christ did not die to elicit anyone’s sympathy. He does not want our sympathy, He wants our faith. 

However, when Mary stood beneath that cross and watched Jesus die, it was with a broken heart. Of course her suffering had nothing to do with your salvation; her suffering had nothing to do with her salvation. Her suffering was due to a human relationship. She was His human mother. She had brought Him into the world and raised Him. He was her son. When our Lord looked down from the cross and said, "…Woman, behold thy son!" (John 19:26), a human relationship was there that no one else had. She was suffering as His mother. And at that time the prophecy of Simeon was fulfilled - the sword pierced through her soul also.

Luke 2:36-38   "And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem."

Anna, like Simeon, was living very close to God; and He granted to her also the gracious insight of recognizing His Son, her Messiah.

Return to Nazareth.

Luke 2:39-40   "And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him

Our Lord grew (physically), waxed strong in spirit (spiritually), was filled with wisdom (mentally). 

The grace of God was upon Him and He grew physically, spiritually, and mentally.

Visit of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve.

Next is recorded an incident that only Luke relates. Luke did this because he was a pediatrician and he was interested in our Lord as a boy as well as a man. Luke lifts one scene out of the boyhood of our Lord Jesus when He was twelve years old. Since nothing is recorded in the Gospels about the early life of our Lord Jesus, some people call this segment of His life the "silent years." 

Luke 2:41-45   "Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing Him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found Him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking Him."

Mary and Joseph were raising a normal, healthy child. He did not run around wearing a halo. The artists of the Middle Ages had some strange conceptions about our Lord Jesus, both as a child and as an adult. I do not believe He looked like any of their ideas. He was just a normal boy.

In those days people traveled in companies. When the time came to leave Jerusalem, the folk going to Galilee gathered together at a little town right north of Jerusalem to begin the journey home.

That is where they missed Him. 

They looked for Him for three days, and where do you suppose they found Him? 

He was in the temple.

Luke 2:46-50   "And it came to pass, that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. And when they saw Him, they were amazed: and His mother said unto Him, Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us? behold, Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And He said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? And they understood not the saying which He spake unto them."

When Mary and Joseph finally found our Lord Jesus in the temple, He was standing in the midst of the learned doctors of that day, both hearing them and asking them questions. Apparently He was asking them questions they could not answer. And they were astonished at His answers—remember, He was only twelve! I think it is clear that Mary and Joseph were a little provoked with Him.

The answer of Jesus revealed His surprise that they did not realize He should be about His Father’s business. 

He was speaking of the business of His heavenly Father. 

Mary, at this point, did not exactly appreciate who He was and what His work entailed, but she pondered these things in her heart.

Luke 2:51-52   "And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but His mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."

Our Lord Jesus was subject unto His parents. 

It is remarkable to see that Jesus, the Son of God, obeyed His parents and was subject unto them!

Luke gives us a report about those silent years when our Lord was growing to adulthood. He grew in wisdom (mentally), in stature (physically), in favor with God (spiritually) and man (socially). 

In every area our precious Lord Jesus Christ grew into perfect manhood.

The perfect righteousness of God
Is witnessed in the Saviour's blood;
'Tis in the cross of Christ we trace
His righteousness, yet wondrous grace.

God could not pass the sinner by,
His sin demands that he must die;
But in the cross of Christ we see
How God can save us righteously.

The sin is on the Saviour laid,
'Tis in His blood sin's debt is paid;
Stern Justice can demand no more,
And Mercy can dispense her store.

The sinner who believes is free,
Can say: "The Saviour died for me";
Can point to the atoning blood,
And say: "This made my peace with God."

Amen!

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