The life of Christ, part 2

[0:00] Good evening. Welcome back and welcome for the first time to a number of you as we continue in week two of this course, The Life of Christ According to the Gospels.

[0:21] And so for the newcomers, how many don't have books? Pedro and Helen.

[0:33] Okay, so Sadie is making some extras. Yeah. So she'll be a few minutes. Bring them to you.

[0:46] Okay, you may be wondering about these guys here. These are mics that pick up from far away. And the guys in the back are going to turn them on when you read Scripture.

[1:01] Because the whole thing is getting recorded so that people can catch up. Or there's a few that want to listen from far away.

[1:12] Just listen to them after. So that's why I'm wearing this headset. So these mics are off unless somebody is reading. Then they'll turn them on. And kind of thing.

[1:24] So you don't need to be scared of them. All right. So any questions before we start tonight? There's pens up here and pencils if you need something to write with.

[1:43] And we realize with the notes, these books are for taking notes, that you can do a lot of writing. That tables would be better, but just not very convenient for our setting.

[1:56] So we're going to try it this way. All right. Well, why don't we open in prayer? Father, we are blessed.

[2:10] We thank you for the beautiful day that you gave us again. The sunshine. Thank you for bringing us together tonight again.

[2:21] And as well, thank you for the Word of God. The Scriptures that we can have the privilege of studying. Of looking deeper into what you have said there.

[2:35] And not only in the Gospels what you've said, but what you've done. And so, Lord, as we continue, may you again guide us. May you give strength. May you bless us.

[2:47] And open our hearts to your Word. We thank you for the Spirit. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. So, last week, we had done an introduction to this course.

[3:11] And we looked at the Gospels. And kind of the, why are there four Gospels and so on.

[3:24] And of many, many Gospels written, we discussed that four were chosen that matched the criteria for Scripture. And so, we went over the four.

[3:40] And so, the first book, the first Gospel is Matthew. And in review, whom was it written to? What was the audience in mind? To the Jews?

[3:58] Okay. So, it was written to the Jews. And Matthew was one of the twelve. He was a tax collector before Jesus called him.

[4:09] But he was one of the twelve apostles. And how does he present Christ in the book of Matthew? What? As a king.

[4:21] So, written to the Jews, presenting Jesus as king of the Jews. That's the theme here. Okay. And then the second Gospel, Mark.

[4:33] Written by John Mark. He's not one of the twelve. But was a missionary along with Paul. And who was the audience for his writing?

[4:46] The Romans. And how did he present Christ? As a servant. As a servant. So, written from that perspective.

[4:59] Jesus as a servant to us. To the Romans. And so, the Jews, Israel, was in the midst of the Roman world.

[5:12] Controlled by the Roman world. And so, there was Romans everywhere. And so, from that perspective, Mark writes to that audience.

[5:25] Okay. The third book. The Gospel according to Luke. Luke was a physician. And who is his audience?

[5:40] Sorry? The Gentiles. Yeah. The Gentiles. Or, as the Scriptures would say, the Greeks. Gentiles. One and the same.

[5:52] And because Greek was the kingdom language, so to speak, of Rome. It was Greek. And so, to the Gentiles.

[6:04] And he presents Christ as? The Son of Man. Okay. So, his humanity comes out. And then the last book is John.

[6:19] The beloved disciple. And who does he write to? To the church. To the church. Presenting Christ as?

[6:31] The Son of God. And so, we have in the four Gospels, the Gospel of John has by far the most teaching in it.

[6:41] Whereas the other Gospels have a lot more recording of Jesus' ministry. Of his miracles. John has hardly any miracles listed.

[6:53] But a lot of teaching by Christ. A lot of long chapters by that. So, yeah. That's a bit of a summary there. I think we need at least three or four already.

[7:11] It was busy, so I just have the pages for two. Okay. Okay. Okay.

[7:23] So, we're going to continue today. We had looked at the two conceptions. The conception of John, the Baptist. And then of Jesus Christ.

[7:35] How Gabriel came to both of those mothers. And then we looked at the birth of John. And we started to look at the birth of Christ. We had discussed the two genealogies.

[7:48] Proving who Jesus was. From a genealogy point of view. And then we looked at Joseph being prepared for Christ's birth.

[8:01] As the angel of God appears to Joseph in a dream. Preparing him to accept his pregnant betrothed.

[8:13] And so that's where we ended up. So then in your notes, it's on page 3C. 2C there on page 3.

[8:25] The birth of Jesus Christ. And let's turn to Luke chapter 2. 1 to 20. 1 to 20. 1 to 20. 1 to 20. 1 to 20.

[8:51] 1 to 20. 1 to 20. 1 to 20. 1 to 20. 1 to 20. 1 to 20. 1 to 20. 1 to 20. 1 to 20. And again, feel free to read. So I don't have to do all the reading.

[9:03] Some of these passages are longer. So take however many you're comfortable with. Maybe four or five verses. And just go along. So I'm not going to go down the benches. So just feel free to start reading.

[9:15] So Luke 2, starting in verse 1, right through 20. 1 to 20. And it came to talk that it noted that the decree went down to the secret of all the world to be registered.

[9:32] The census first took place while the area was governing Syria. So all went and registered. Everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up to Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, to Judea.

[9:47] To the city of Nazareth, which is called Babylon. Because he was of the house and the age of David. And to be taxed with Mary, his spouse wife, being great with the child.

[10:03] And so it was that for a while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son. And wrapped him in sweat and clothes and laid him in the manger, because there was no room for him.

[10:18] Amen. Amen. Amen. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.

[10:30] And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them. And the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings and great joy, which will be to all people.

[10:42] For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign of you. You will find a babe wrapped in his wealth in faith, lying in nature.

[10:59] And suddenly there was 50 angels in the multitude of the heavenly host, praying to God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, and on earth. And the angels were away from heaven.

[11:12] And the shepherds said to one another, Let us go to the gospel, and see this thing that happened, which the Lord has made known to us. And they went to the pace, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, the lion and the manger.

[11:26] And when they saw it, they made known the same, and had been told of concerning this child. And all those who gritted marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

[11:37] But Mary kept all these things upon them in her eyes. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard, and seen as they were told them. All right, thank you for reading.

[11:49] So we have one of the most beautiful chapters in scripture, which we always focus on a lot at Christmas time. The birth of the Savior.

[12:02] And so the gospels, the good news, is God bringing salvation to mankind. And so the life of Christ is the name of the course.

[12:21] So we're touching in on what God is doing. And so we don't have time in all the passages that we'll read to dig in to all the passages, because we wouldn't get very far.

[12:33] So we have to skim over and look at all the gospels in the 12-week period. But even in this account of the birth, we see God intervening again, miraculously, in several ways.

[12:52] And one of them is that, again, he uses the political powers for his purposes.

[13:04] And the census was there, right? And so it was prophesied that Jesus would be born where? In Bethlehem, right?

[13:18] And how do we get them from Nazareth to Bethlehem? Well, God used his way to do that.

[13:29] And he used a political figure, the Roman emperor. And so, by the way, from Nazareth down to the Jordan, and then by Jericho, and then up the hill to Jerusalem.

[13:43] And it's a good 70, 75 miles trek on foot. And so that's a long hike for a woman that's nine months pregnant.

[13:57] Regardless if she has a donkey or not, that's a long trip. And so we see God bringing that about. Bethlehem.

[14:10] What does that name mean? What does the word Bethlehem mean? It means house of bread.

[14:27] And Jesus is? The bread of life. Now, is that a coincidence? No.

[14:38] There are no coincidences in Scripture. And so God allowed or brought that together as well. That he had to go to his lineage to David, his forefather, who was of Bethlehem.

[14:54] Way, way back in Samuel. David among the sheep in Bethlehem on the hillsides. Well, here we are, generations, a thousand years later.

[15:06] And Joseph and Mary go back to that town. And they're registered there, and Jesus is born there. And so I talk briefly about David being, in a sense, his ministry, his kingship, being a type of Christ.

[15:25] Bringing Israel to the height of their glory in the Old Testament. Maybe a glimpse of the tribulation or of the thousand-year reign to come.

[15:40] And so Jesus, too, was born in the house of bread. So we see those things. Again, angels, angelic intervention, as they come to the shepherds.

[15:57] And they make those announcements to the shepherds there. And get them to worship the baby Jesus.

[16:07] Any thoughts there about that chapter? Or that portion? Okay, and it was prophesied in Micah 5.2.

[16:26] I don't know if we need to turn there. You can read that for yourself. Micah 5.2. That Jesus will be born in Bethlehem. And so it had to be.

[16:39] There was no other way. Okay, then let's move on.

[16:54] The next number there, 3, is infancy and childhood. So in Luke 2 as well, 21 to 38.

[17:04] Let's read 21 to 24. Who would read those verses for us?

[17:14] 21 to 24. And when eighties 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.

[17:27] And when the days of purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written, in the law of the Lord, every male that opened his womb shall be called holy to the Lord.

[17:40] And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is called holy to the Lord. A pair of turtle doves are too young to do. Okay, so we have Jesus born in Bethlehem.

[17:54] And then the next verse says, And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child. So now Jesus is circumcised.

[18:08] He undergoes that surgery and he is given a name publicly at the eighth day. Okay, I'm not sure.

[18:19] This probably happened in Bethlehem. I'm not positive. But then verse 21 or 22. And now when the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were completed, they brought him to Jerusalem and presented him to the Lord.

[18:38] So what are the days of purification? So a woman after childbirth was deemed unclean.

[18:56] If it was a male child, it was for 40 days. And she had to wait that long before she would bring the offering to clean or purify herself.

[19:12] And if it was a female child, then it was, I forget, 60 some days. It was quite a bit longer.

[19:24] But here, so we know now that 40 days later, after the birth, they went to Jerusalem. And she would have offered the offering demanded, probably a pair of turtledoves.

[19:44] I'm not sure if it says here. Yeah, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Verse 24. And so she would have gone and presented that and to fulfill the law as God had given it in the Old Testament.

[19:59] So all of these proceedings fulfill the law 100%. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law.

[20:11] So his parents were obedient all the way as well. Okay, and then while they're waiting there, I don't think we'll take time to read this, but the rest of Luke 2, or a good chunk of it, is first Simeon in verse 25 and on.

[20:32] Simeon is there, and he is an old man, and it's been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die till he saw the Christ child.

[20:43] So after the days of purification, the 40th day, Simeon comes into the temple, and he takes this baby, and he blesses, and he prophesies that this is the child of God, and that he will...

[21:07] It says, So here again, it's God's hand at work.

[21:26] All the way we see God's hand preparing, bringing about. And so he prepared Simeon, and then an old lady, a widow, it says a widow of about 84 years, and she too had been looking for the redemption of Israel, and she too blesses the baby Jesus.

[21:52] So we have an old man and a widow of 84 years. So that's how Jesus is introduced into the world.

[22:13] Any questions? Okay. Let's move on then.

[22:25] And then the next section is the visit of the Magi in Matthew 2. And let's read 1 to 11.

[22:43] Matthew 2, 1 to 11. Who would read for us? Who would read for us? Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?

[23:06] For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, and all Jerusalem with him, gathering together all the chief priests and scribes and the people, he required of them where the Messiah was to be born.

[23:20] They said to him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what was written by the prophet. And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah.

[23:33] For out of you shall come forth the ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel. Then Herod secretly called the Magi, and determined from them the exact time the star of Judah.

[23:49] And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search carefully for the child, and when you have found him, report to me, so that I too would become a bishop. After hearing the king, they went their way, and the star which they had seen in the east went on before them, until it came and stood over the place where the child was.

[24:08] When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. After coming to the house, they saw the child, and Mary, his mother, and he fell to the ground and worshipped. Then opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts of the Lord, for I can see the sign of the Lord.

[24:24] All right. Thank you. So we have the short account of the Magi visiting, or coming to worship, to bring their gifts, coming from the east, very likely from the far east, which would today from, it's believed probably Babylon, or somewhere in that area, would be today Aran.

[24:57] And so a long, long journey to come and visit. These were Magi studying the stars, also knowing prophecy, and being guided divinely by stars.

[25:14] Can you just imagine that? Being in a far country and following a star. Did these Magi have faith, or did God tweak them a little bit, or to get them to follow through?

[25:35] You know, that's quite something, how God brought that about. And they followed a star to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem down to Bethlehem.

[25:53] And they stopped to inquire, of course. And here we're introduced into the age-old battle, God's enemy, Satan.

[26:10] And we're reintroduced into Satan interfering with God's plans. And so, when Satan lifted himself up and said, I want to be like the Most High, and God would not tolerate that and cast him out of heaven.

[26:35] And at some point later, when he created Adam and Eve, Satan was there to destroy God's creation.

[26:51] To see if he could put a thorn into God's plan. And he did. And he did. And he did as he deceived and got man to sin and to fall away from God.

[27:10] Here, 4,000 years later, God has brought about the beginning of the plan of salvation. Satan. The birth of the child.

[27:24] And now Satan uses Herod as his instrument of destruction. So, Satan is still out to get back at God.

[27:39] To kind of foil up his plan, if he can. And so, he deceived the wise men or the Magi and said, I want to come and worship him as well.

[27:54] And there again, God intervened in a dream. And the Magi went back a different way. But had God not, they would have gone to Herod and Herod would have surely killed the baby.

[28:11] And so, in every aspect, our enemy is defeated. God is always ahead and greater.

[28:26] Always. And we can translate that into our life today. God is greater. And if we are sons of God, we have the Spirit of God, we are, we have power in us that is greater than Satan by far.

[28:50] And he has to flee and tremble at the name of Jesus. And that's very evident here in the story of the Magi.

[29:01] And they brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, and gold being applicable to a king.

[29:20] And I didn't actually study that, frankincense and myrrh. one of them is for burial and probably the myrrh. But there's another purpose here.

[29:35] Joseph and Mary, it's very likely that they were fairly poor and how they traveled.

[29:46] and in the next verses, they're heading where? To Egypt. They're heading to Egypt. And I believe these gifts will have been convenient to help finance their travels.

[30:05] As as they came and the same night they've they've had to flee into Egypt. And so we we know that Herod then proceeded to kill all the two-year-old boys and and under from from birth to two years in Bethlehem and all its districts to make sure I'll get them.

[30:31] And but God had made provisions and so let's read verses 13 through 15.

[30:42] or 12 through 15. Having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod they departed for their own country by another way.

[30:54] Now when they had departed behold an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream saying rise and take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I tell you for Herod is going to search for the child to destroy them.

[31:10] and he arose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt and was there until the death of Herod that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled saying out of Egypt did I call my son.

[31:25] Okay so we have we have Jesus as an infant well not infant he's a young lad now a young child he may be he may be a toddler under two is kind of what we know but he could have been one already but anyway they're moving to Egypt because of the threat from Herod to destroy God's plan of salvation and so God again intervened and but just focusing on why Egypt and why does why does verse 15 say that out of Egypt I have called my son what's important about Egypt why does God mention that yeah it's related to that yeah yeah so going back to well let's first turn to

[32:38] Hosea Hosea chapter 11 after Daniel Hosea and verse 1 Hosea 11 verse 1 when Israel was a child I loved him and out of Egypt I called my son and he goes on to to describe God's relationship with Israel in Hosea and how God loved lovingly nurtured and the verbiage is that that Israel is compared to a newborn that

[33:39] God brought into the world and he's nurturing her growing her into a people so it's an illustration right but that's the quote here that out of Egypt I called my son so it was a reference in Hosea to Israel but also prophetic of the Messiah so it was both and some of your Bibles will have that capitalized called my son in Hosea there and so Egypt representing bondage and remember when when God called Abraham to go to this country that he would show him the land of Canaan how much of that did Abraham own none well he did buy a plot for his for a grave right but other than that he he cast his tent he pitched his tent and moved around he did not own they did not possess the land they they lived in it and and and then

[35:03] God took his people 70 in total and moved them to Egypt because they were not strong enough to nurture there among the Canaanites and for 430 years they lived in Egypt and then they came into bondage and God brought them out with a strong hand out of Egypt I have called my son out of bondage and so Jesus too went to Egypt to come back as the savior so kind of interesting how God does that all right we're almost up to our first stretch break here I want I want us to trace Jesus' journeys on the map here and I would like a volunteer to come and draw it's not going to be hard

[36:10] I'm going to tell you Tess is it you thank you okay so so so we're going to draw his journeys so what's the first journey that Jesus made they're going to help us so for every journey you can take a different color okay what's the first journey Jesus made okay we're going to back up one there Rick what he came down from heaven and was conceived in

[37:10] Nazareth so just draw a line like that that's journey number one and you can put a one there in the blue and then from there where did he go okay what did he do in Bethlehem he was born there okay so what did what did Mary do when she heard that Elizabeth was expecting so her relative Elizabeth was six months pregnant and she lived in what's called Ein Karim I don't see if I say that right but it's about seven or eight miles west of Jerusalem and that is today when you go to Israel that's celebrated as the place where John the Baptist grew up and so that name is not given to us in scripture but the

[38:19] Jews have always all the years celebrated that was where John the Baptist was at home and so we're going to draw from Nazareth she went down to Ankarim in the womb Jesus made a journey okay that's number two and from there he went back to Nazareth journey number three yep pick another color okay and then what's the next journey so you're doing it as a crow flies but she might have gone down the coast but very when Jerusalem they always went down the river and then back up that was the travel drug the next journey to Bethlehem okay back from

[39:26] Nazareth to Bethlehem down yeah okay and and that's we're going to end this map conception to birth so he made four journeys and then was born and we're going to take five minutes ten minutes break here and then we'll do the second half I do have I do have little maps if you want to trace that for yourselves I forgot to hand them out but during the break come and grab a couple you can take like three each if you want and if you want to draw them in you can do that up here or wherever hi oh on the other side yeah we're on a new map already all right let's get started again

[40:39] I'm going to try to keep it quite on track because the children activities downstairs we've told them an hour and a half and I think that's stretching for them there's quite a bit of children down there so we're going to try to keep our end of it as well okay so out of Egypt I have called him and and they stayed there till the death of Herod now interesting that King Herod is believed to have died in the year 4 BC and Bible scholars are quite quite united on that that that he died in 4

[41:42] BC which is according to calendar time before Jesus was born but we know he wasn't he died after he was born and so our calendar isn't accurate to how it started it's off a few years we know that anyway but so Herod is believed to have died in 4 BC meaning Jesus would have likely been born in either year 5 or 6 and so that's just a little tidbit there but they stay in Egypt till Herod is dead all right the next portion of that is in his life in Nazareth and we'll keep reading in Matthew 2 verse 19 to the end there 19 to 23 and again

[42:44] I would ask for a volunteer to read starting in 19 in Matthew 2 and his father and his father and his father and his father and his mother and came and heard that he was afraid to go there to be more by God in his dream and he came and wrote in a city that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets he shall be called and all right so then God again appearing in a dream to Joseph in Egypt saying

[43:44] Herod has died it's safe to go back to the land of Israel and so Joseph packs up the mother and the child and off they go and but then he hears that Herod's son Archelius has been made king over the province of Samaria and Judea and so Herod King Herod had I believe four sons and but Archelius was king over this region here and his reputation was worse than his dad's for being brutal and so Joseph hearing that that son he wasn't the firstborn but one of his sons

[44:46] Archelius was made king there decided that's not where I need to live Christ's life might be in danger yet and so he goes because of that he goes then to Nazareth and then scripture is fulfilled that says that he shall be called a Nazarene and there's nowhere in the Old Testament that we find a prophecy that says he will be called a Nazarene but here in Matthew it says that he shall be called a Nazarene so we're not sure where exactly that comes from the there's very little relationship to the Old Testament and Nazareth there is maybe some but there's there's a

[46:21] I hope I wrote it down I think it's Isaiah 51 I didn't write it down be good to read that no it's not 51 we'll have to skip that by but it says it refers to a branch a root of justice and that word is netzer the root of that it's referring to

[47:25] Christ a branch of righteousness and that is also connected to the word Nazareth and so we're not sure why Matthew says he shall be called a Nazarene but there are some connections and yet nothing direct and so anyway it confirms what God wanted that he would be a Nazareth and that area was controlled by Herod's third son Antipas so he was also one of Herod's sons brother to Archelaus but he was of a different demeanor he wasn't nearly as harsh and so Herod's sons ruled that whole area okay when in John chapter one when when

[48:29] Philip meets Jesus and he brings Nathanael to meet Jesus Nathanael makes a comment and he says can anything good come out of Nazareth and Philip had introduced him to Jesus could this be the Messiah and Nathanael answers could anything good come out of Nazareth now why would that be you know Judea looked looked down on Samaria as half breeds because they were a mixed folk and they looked down on Galilee the Galileans which Nazareth is in Galilee they looked down on them as the poor people and they kind of spoke with a different dialect and so

[49:37] Judea had the temple the sacrifices and all the Jews had to come to Jerusalem all the males three times a year for the feasts and these people were it they looked down on Galilee as those poor people up north and that was the attitude can anything good come out of Galilee or out of Nazareth and also later when they have a discussion among the Sanhedrin the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem they make a comment no prophet has ever arisen out of Nazareth the the not sure if it's Caiaphas or that says that or Annas one of the high priests no prophet has ever risen out of

[50:40] Nazareth it's not true there's at least three Old Testament prophets that came out of Nazareth or out of Galilee we know that for a fact but he was making reference to there's nothing good in that area they will never rule do anything and so that's kind of where that came out of God God deliberately chose to raise his son with that kind of reputation and having said that let's turn to Isaiah chapter 53 Isaiah 53 and the first oh let's read the first three verses he says who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the

[51:51] Lord been revealed for he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground he has no form or comeliness and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him he is despised and rejected by men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised and we did not esteem him so now when we read this we often think well this is a direct reference to the cross how he was treated there but I think it's more that he was rejected and despised it's because he came from Nazareth he was looked down upon automatically and rejected as no good and and so maybe that added to the

[52:53] Jews struggle to accept him as the Messiah as well and so that's part of the equation you know that's that's in life everywhere we look at people groups or areas there's not a lot of good there right or don't we do that today we shouldn't but we do yeah yeah it still happens right and so that was very much the case there interesting that God would then choose to have his son grow up there without reputation or like a good reputation or a good rapport okay any comments or questions on that okay any comments or questions on that okay all right so if you if you're taking notes

[54:07] John 146 is can anything good come out of Nazareth John 146 and John 752 is no prophet has arisen from Galilee you want to jot down notes and then we read Isaiah 53 one to three okay all right and then the last story of before his ministry starts is his trip to Jerusalem let's turn to Luke chapter two starting in verse 39 and right through 52 so this is the rest of

[55:18] Jesus childhood that's all we have in scripture on on on from from the time he came out of Egypt maybe a couple years old to age 30 this is what we have this these verses so let's read from starting in 39 who would read so when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord they returned to Galilee to their own city Nazareth the child and became strong and filled with wisdom and grace of God was upon him his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover and when he was 12 years old they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast when they had finished the days they returned the boy was the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother did not know but supposing him to have been in the company they went a day's journey and sought him among their relatives and acquaintances verse 45 someone and when they did not find him to return to

[56:43] Jerusalem searching for him after three days they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers listening to them and asking them questions and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding of his answers and when his parents saw him they were astonished and then he said to him son why have you treated us so why have you been searching for you in great distress and he said to them why were you looking for me if you not know that I must be in my father's house and they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them and he went down with them and was submissive to them and his mother treasured all these things in her heart and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor of God and man okay yeah that's an interesting story right yeah because the next introduction is his ministry and

[57:50] Luke tells us about the age of 30 it says yeah and so at age 12 they made this trip so just a note before we go there Luke after her purification on day 40 here we just read so when they performed all things according to the law of the Lord they returned to Galilee to their own city Nazareth what happened to Egypt so Luke Luke writes that that our map is gone but that when they went to Jerusalem got purified at when Mary's time was up at the day 40 they went back here and they settled Matthew says they went to Egypt first and then came back and then moved to Nazareth and

[58:50] Matthew also says there was wise men that came quite some time later they were still in Jerusalem this is the Gospels different accounts and how do we bring them together the synoptic gospels make it one story so Matthew writing to Jews included the details of their of the wise men coming of the gifts to him as a king and then they're going to Egypt out of Egypt I have called my son Matthew writing to a Jewish audience that was important Luke writing to the Romans to them that didn't matter that he was called out of Egypt to the Jews that was where they came from that represented coming being freed from bondage and so

[59:58] Luke chose not to include that does not mean that it didn't happen because Matthew said it did but Luke chose not to include and by the way neither did the other two so Matthew is the only one and so we we learned that that different the different authors of the gospels have included different events on purpose for their audience for a reason they have included it and so you'll find that in quite a few places where well is there a discrepancy here no one author left out details that he felt weren't maybe important for what he was writing so that's kind of the explanation for that and so we're told the child grew became strong in spirit filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him he was a sinless child and we know that

[61:05] Mary was told very directly by Gabriel before conception this child was going to be the son of God we read that last week in Luke 1 she was told three times by the angel in that passage this will be the son of God she raises this child and it says he grew in spirit filled with wisdom and grace and no I can't no it would be a tough one right especially with Jesus four half brothers coming along and needing discipline all the time right and then his two sisters but that that was what would have been a very different experience her firstborn did not sin and so he did not have a rebellious heart so at age twelve they're they're going to

[62:21] Jerusalem I think it's the feast of Passover the occasion it's one of the three feasts and so Jesus goes along and you know in Jewish culture what happens at age twelve the bar mitzvah what is that there it's a yeah it's a it's a service of induction into adulthood where you are now responsible to follow the law of God you're entering adult life as a teenager and and so Jesus it's again I don't believe there's coincidences in scripture it happens to be at age twelve that

[63:24] Jesus goes along to Jerusalem and and there he he he finds his way into the temple and gets into deep discussions with the leaders and not only is he answering their questions he's asking them questions they can't answer he's showing the abundance of his wisdom and grace for a twelve year old and these rabbis who have who know the Old Testament off by heart at least the first five books and he has them confounded stuck as a twelve year old and so this is Jesus now can you imagine being his brother growing up his answer to his mother when when she said we're anxious we've been looking for you anxiously on the third day why did you seek me did you not know

[64:47] I must be about my father's business and for a parent to travel a whole day back towards home they would have made a good start back up to Nazareth and then to turn around and travel a day back the second day and the third day they found him in the temple and between relief and a little bit of grrr it must have been on Mary's mind right because they must have been worried to and yet yet through it all Joseph and Mary knew this son was different and he was destined for different things that too must have been turning in their heads because they had that very clear okay so then Jesus it says he went back with him to

[65:48] Nazareth and was subject to them or submitted to them but his mother kept all these things in her heart and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men so we have that's that's what we've covered tonight is is takes us right to his adult life where he starts ministry at roughly the year 30 or age 30 and then we have three three and a half years of ministry before the cross and that's going to take the rest of the course that's where it gets interesting but this is this is the foundation of it how God brings about the Messiah any thoughts there or questions at all had the spirit of

[66:58] God with him yeah yeah he's also the only child that was fully a human nature and fully God nature born of a woman born of the Holy Spirit for 3D John 1 46 and John 7 52 and then we read Isaiah 53 1 to 3 4, all

[68:07] All right, so that ends that portion of it. Let's go back to our map and do some more journeys and catch up.

[68:34] You coming up again or do you want somebody else to? You're going to be the lady to do it. All right, so we completed the other side with the last one, that he went to Bethlehem and was born there.

[68:57] And so now we have from his birth to 12 years. So from Bethlehem, where was his next journey? Okay, before Egypt.

[69:18] To Jerusalem. Yeah, up to Jerusalem. Bethlehem to Jerusalem, right there. That's number one.

[69:31] And that's where he was. That's where Mary would have had her cleansing, right? Her offering at the temple in Jerusalem.

[69:42] Well, it says that she went there. And then where did the wise men visit the child? Where? Yeah, because the wise men came to Jerusalem and inquired, right?

[69:58] And then the star took them to Bethlehem. So they were living in Bethlehem. So back down, journey number two. To Bethlehem.

[70:12] And then after the wise men are there, God appears in a vision and says, flee to Egypt. And so that's journey number three. Down to Egypt.

[70:30] Okay, and then after Herod dies, and God reveals in a dream that he can go back, and then they moved up to Nazareth. Journey number four.

[70:42] Way up to Nazareth. Okay.

[70:55] So he's doing quite a bit of moving around in his childhood. And so that takes us up to his place of growing up.

[71:09] And then his next journey is? Do we have one more?

[71:20] Huh? Back down to Jerusalem when he was 12 years old. He's been to Jerusalem quite a few times.

[71:32] And then from there went back to Nazareth, and that's where he stayed with his parents. Now, we're not told in Scripture at the annual feast if the whole family went every year whether Jesus would have made a lot more trips with his parents.

[71:50] We're not told those things. But these are mentioned. So the sixth trip would be back to Nazareth where he would stay until he was age 30. So, from a Mennonite perspective, I just got to say this.

[72:20] In the, not to offend anyone, but in the old colony system, it is very common and normal that children don't go to church to what age?

[72:33] Age 12. And this is the only Scripture passage where it might come out of. That Jesus went along to Jerusalem at age 12 to the temple.

[72:46] And I'm not positive that's where they get it from, but very likely that's the only verse they would find in Scripture that would give them that concept.

[73:02] Did they? Okay. So it would confirm it, yeah. And so, hence, keeping children away from church for the first 12 years based on a verse like this.

[73:15] So, all right. So that's kind of interesting how we can piece things together sometimes.

[73:27] Let's, we have five minutes. Let's go on to see. Two great ministries begin. And we'll look at the ministry of John the Baptist.

[73:45] And let's read Mark 1, 1-8.

[74:02] 1-8. Gospel of Mark 1, 1-8.

[74:15] Who would read for us? The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets.

[74:33] Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

[74:46] John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea and those from Jerusalem went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

[75:03] Now John was clothed with camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist. And he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, There comes one after me who is mightier than I.

[75:17] Through sandals strap I am not worthy, can stoop down and loose. I indeed baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Okay. Okay.

[75:31] Thank you, Julius. So we have one of three accounts of John the Baptist, his ministry. I picked the shortest one.

[75:44] And so John was baptizing, came on the scene, very likely at age 30 as well, because he was six months older than Jesus. And he started his ministry before Jesus did.

[75:58] He was already baptizing when Jesus came to him to be baptized. John 1 verse 28 says that John was baptizing by Bethabera.

[76:13] Here's the Jordan River into the Dead Sea. Bethabera is a town there. But he was actually using the Jordan. But his ministry area was Bethabera.

[76:34] And so that's the place where he would have been at. And so the word of the Lord came to John.

[76:49] Mark doesn't say it that way. The accountant Luke does. And the word of the Lord came to John. Now, what does that tell us?

[77:00] The word of the Lord came to John. Do you want to see it for yourselves?

[77:11] In Luke 3, verse 21. Verse 1. Luke 3. I'll pick the verse here for you.

[77:32] Verse 2. Verse 2. It says, While Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

[77:51] So what does it mean, the word of God came? Did Jesus come in? Did Jesus come in? Yeah. No, not directly at least.

[78:02] Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. He was indwelled. He was indwelled. It is saying that God is again speaking to his people.

[78:18] And the book of Malachi, the book of Zechariah, the book of Haggai, the last three books in the Old Testament, and the word of the Lord came to.

[78:32] And the word of the Lord came. And now, for 400 years, the word of the Lord had not come. 400 years where God was absolutely silent.

[78:48] There was no message to his people. Zero. That we, like, direct through prophets. And the people of Israel were waiting for the Redeemer.

[79:00] And here, John and the word of the Lord came. Wow. We're there. God is again speaking to us.

[79:11] And he has a message. And we wonder, why did John the Baptist dressed in camel's hair and, what does it say? He dressed like a prophet living out in the boonies.

[79:26] And, like, a very rough character. Clothed with camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist. Eating locusts and honey. What's attractive about this guy?

[79:40] Because we learn that the multitudes all came to hear him preach. And were baptized by him.

[79:51] The people were hungry for the word of the Lord. They were hungry. God had used that period of silence to prepare to develop this hunger as well.

[80:09] And so, John had their attention. And so, they came from far and wide to listen. And he basically preached a message of repentance.

[80:21] for the remission of sins, it says. And he baptized them upon their confessions. Jesus had not yet died for the remission of sins.

[80:33] But they were confessing, acknowledging their sin. And that was his message. So, who was John? Why did Jesus need to come?

[80:48] Who was John? Yeah. He was a prophet.

[81:02] And as the verse 2 and 3 say, prophecy of Isaiah, I send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you.

[81:14] He was a forerunner to prepare the people for Jesus, for the Messiah. That was his ministry. John.

[81:31] They ask him, we're going to cover that next class, are you Elijah? Are you, are you the Savior? Are you the Messiah? And he says, nope, I'm not. I'm John.

[81:42] And, we'll, we'll dig into that a little more. But, but he was simply the forerunner preparing the way for the Lord.

[81:53] And it was approximately a year later, he was in prison. And shortly after that, he was buried. Beheaded.

[82:04] and, he was taken off the scene because his ministry was fulfilled. God's purpose through him had been done.

[82:16] And, and, his life came to an end. And so, we're going to stop with that. We're going to pick up, I'm not quite finished with John the Baptist here yet, but our time is done.

[82:29] So, any thoughts or questions before we close here tonight? The time goes very fast, I find. But, we had agreed to an hour and a half, so let's, let's try to keep it there.

[82:45] So, thank you very much. For those that don't have books, we'll make more for, for next class and, and make sure you have the full set of notes.

[82:56] So, at, at the end of the course, if some of you have struggled with note keeping, I can make my teaching notes available for, for a price now.

[83:11] So, thank you for coming and, Lord willing, see you next time.