Christ is born: the family

eejoseph

Nativity lectures 2023a


Christ is born: the family is the subject of the first lecture based on the following verse:

18) Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph

Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 1


To follow are three other lectures titled;
Christ is born: the scandal
Christ is born: a Spirit-driven conception
Christ is born: the God who is with us



Christ is born: the family


In the Catholic Church the family with which Messiah is associated has a high profile.  The mother, has her name adorning thousands of school buildings, houses of worship, and streets.  I, for a long time did not develop any curiosity about who St. Joseph might have been. Duh! Duh, and duh! My slow start does not change the facts.  Mary was a holy girl.  She didn’t have to do any miracles, and won’t be canonized by the Catholic church for her character to be declared unequivocally.  She didn’t have to do any miracles to be called a saint, or holy.  Joseph was a just man, loving and forgiving.  One does not quickly find a man who discovers his fiancee pregnant and works to protect her honour.  While the Christ-child is the Highest’s son (Luke 1:32) and Son of God (Mark 1:1, Luke 1:35, John 11:27), he is also Mary’s child, and Mary’s husband, having no part in the procreative process, is recognized as the boy’s father.

Father and mother, parents


“And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.” (Luke 2:33, NASB)

“Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.” (Luke 2:41, NASB)

Siblings



“Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?” (Matthew 13:55, NASB)

The wider family, the Davidide clan

The Christ-child belongs to humanity and the Jewish clan most associated with divine promises.  Here is the beginning of the clan into which Christ was born.

Ruth’s son, a redeemer, destined for fame 

13) So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14) Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel.” (Ruth 4:13-14, NASB)

A “forever” deal

“He is a tower of deliverance to His king, and shows lovingkindness to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.” (2 Samuel 22:51)



“But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord forever.” (1 Kings 2:45, NASB)


“then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’” (1 Kings 9:5, NASB)



We have seen that the Christ, God’s anointed ruler, belongs to a family, but what is the distinguishing feature of the family at the time of birth we shall see shortly.

Holy and dysfunctional


Just like holy and girl we do not expect to find holy and dysfunctional united.  Why does God not pick a couple with no discernible problems?  What does he have up his sleeve?  Perfect people are usually proud and puffed up.  Coming down God’s sleeve is the mystery of the ages, an impossible thing happening in the public eye.  Consternation was the natural reaction to little unknown David going out to battle the Philistine giant.  We too may be horrified that Israel’s ruler – the môshal – comes from little Bethlehem.

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.”

Micah 5:2


Christ is born into a family with a husband who was sure that he was not the father of his wife’s unborn child.  The potential for dysfunction can hardly be greater.  The drama is gripping as potential dysfunction is transformed into a display of grace and cooperation with God.

Even the dysfunctional learn


We do not know how a pregnancy may have been hidden in first century Judea, but we have one clue. This supposed cover-up turns into a learning experience.  We learn that Mary conceives when her cousin Elizabeth was three months pregnant.



“And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.” (Luke 1:36, NASB)


39) Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40) and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. (Luke 1:39-40, NASB)


And Mary stayed with her about three months, and then returned to her home. (Luke 1:56, NASB)



We are certain that Mary learned some essential lessons about being a mother as she watched Elizabeth for the last 3 months of her pregnancy unfold.  Such is the family into which Christ was born: not endowed with great riches, huge estates and great fame, but united by God’s unique intervention.



The family into which Christ later baptizes believers is not unlike the family into which he was born.  Two features distinguish the Bethlehem family from the divine family: it is not limited by human DNA and no member dies.

Sunshine, rain and music

eejoseph,

When are you most happy?

Three things make me truly happy; sunshine, rain and the pursuit of creating music.

I like the sunshine because it powers our life here on the planet, and particularly on this day, the winter solstice, as the sun begins its journey back towards rising in the east where I can see it rise over the horizon, instead of coming up behind buildings later on in the day, I am supremely happy.

I love the rain because it cleans the air and causes food to grow to feed a hungry planet. I like the sound of the rain beating on the roof and I like the smell of the earth when it is touched by rain. I think it is my love of water, especially the ocean and its movement and sounds.

I like the pursuit of creating music because music is latent in almost everything I do: I am gifted to detect rhythm, harmony and melody in so many things around me. Sound is life! There is my happy package.

Desperation in prayer goes off the rails

eejoseph

When you listen to this prayer you will feel yourself saying “yes, yes” or the usual “amen”. You may notice how the prayer goes on to ask for things of the coming night and the next day.

While we surely have concerns about later today, tomorrow and the next year, it is not the way we are taught to pray. There is no need to try to cover all the bases of which we are aware in a prayer, and that is why the Lord taught his disciples to pray about today specifically in his instruction on prayer. Artificial intelligence can generate a meaningful prayer but can also profoundly overshoot by driving for perfection.

More reasons for silence

eejoseph,

What skills or lessons have you learned recently?

Shutting down my voice and pen have been a strategy for doing no harm. Today, I can say there are great reasons for silence.

  • While there is always a crime in progress, I don’t want to step up and out when it is happening in plain sight and people are paid high salaries to prevent crime
  • When I am in school, I let nothing unseat me
  • Everything is neither breaking news nor public

Life has buttons for pause, stop, rewind, and fast forward.

From the least to the greatest

eejoseph

Happening in plain sight. Breaking news! Hot off the presses! Not really. The sins of the Israeli government are none of those things. It is rare for outsiders to see the brutality of Israeli hatred for Palestinians and Gentiles in general. There is no documentation available of how the government of Israel steals, with deadly violence, land from Palestinians. The western press and governments now have no choice but to call on Israel to behave like the rest of us. Follow Abraham’s lead. Hamas’ brutal attack may have awakened some of us in the west to the Palestinian Problem, but the spineless preachers of Christianity are perhaps the most gripping picture of cowardice and depravity. Not one of the so-called watchmen on the walls have said a word about the criminal ex-president or the beleaguered Israeli Prime Minister. The reason is that the two nations have lost their compass, despite the high-faluting slogans about God and country, law and order, peace and security.

Y’all can stop the Torah pushing

Instead of preaching the gospel, namely the death and resurrection of Yeshua of Nazareth, American and Canadian preachers have settled for pushing miracles and prosperity instead of teaching people that their hearts need to change towards love for the neighbor and the appropriate respect for their ancestors and for their children.

They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. (Jeremiah 31:34, NASB)

This great prophecy is not happening because Americans and Israelis have no sins of which to repent. Labelling the halls of power “Dens of thieves” is not an anti-American jab, nor an Antisemitic uppercut. Facts, man! Just facts. I am sufficiently experienced to recognize criminal enterprises. America United? Never again. Israel, holy land? Definitely and bordello government.

The new WACKO

eejoseph

A label we apply to persons who defy knowledge and insist on oppressing the defenceless is evil. An utterly ignorant, incited and energetic crowd needs no obscure label.  Calling them extremist or far right anarchists may only scratch the surface of the political pond.  When people who disagree with us become enemies to be destroyed none of the honourable tenets we have come to acknowledge and commit ourselves to apply any more.  For the English speaking world the common descriptors are White, Anglo, Christian Killers Overdriven. Here is a list of what is truly wacko about society and the powers that be.

  • Golden rule
  • No one is above the law
  • Democracy is not king at the United Nations
  • Polls and elections are mere windowdressing
  • Respect for all religions is sheer hypocrisy
  • Adults who refuse to maintain their juvenile integrity spoil the bunch
  • Commonplace miracles are an opiate

Reformers and standard bearers

Why does it not bother us that all the people who claim to be reformers and revolutionaries have no other roots – whatever they say they stand for. They have invented their own sources of authority and then concoct fables, just as the Jews did about their history, and try to impress us with a kind of wisdom and knowledge they propose to be previously unknown. That doesn’t work in Christian circles, because the gospel was once for all time delivered to the saints. It’s done. There is no light to be shone on the gospel beyond what is already written. The Holy Spirit does not get into anything but what is written so that we can be safe. So if you have a conviction about anything that is not settled once for all by the intervention of Yeshua of Nazareth something wacko is lapping at your heels.

Your sorry ass is happy?

eejoseph

The world does not, and has not for decades , revolved around American rhetoric and even less around a humanitarian Israel, China or any of the veto -wielding nuclear powers of our times. Staring down the right to self-defence is the right stance for the global community. The right to free expression seems to have no traction when Black lives – remember the Orange Threat’s “What have you got to lose by voting for me?” – are at stake. White people have for centuries been killing Black people with law enforcement looking the other way saying “There’s no there here”. Israel has been oppressing everyone who is not a Jew, with cleverly disguised abuse and bullying of secular Jews. Republican grandstanding just exposed its malignant tumor of hypocrisy thinking they can force yes and no answers to complex questions about civility and free speech. So a rabid mob has succeeded in bullying intelligent persons, while criminally tainted individuals of the Orange And MAGA clan persist in their diabolical schemes.

Now that university presidents are targets – for thinking critically – of the idolatrous conservative political establishment a lot of pundits and respected commentators are going to lose their heads and their place in the pantheon of truth-bare news

Focus on what family Canada?

eejoseph

We are telling you, Dobson and the Pharisee crew can throw in the towel right now.  Focus on the Family ads on Canadian television is part of the conservative conspiracy to infect Canada with religious psycho-babble.  Focus on the Family was the tip of the spear that deceived Americans about Christian politics. It is because they rejected Yeshua of Nazareth as God that they have turned to lipservice love, homicidal patriotism and flag idolatry. The Canadian family does not need a model based on the United States or the kingdoms of Israel or Judah. Focus on the Family Canada is heading up the creek with no paddle.

Polls and sham debates

Christian politics is of the same family as Christian circumcision or Messianic salvation with Moses and the Ten Commandments as the leads. the conservatives are hoping that pulls and sham debates can deflect the Canadian people from having governance that is liberal and grounded in human rights. Focus on the Family, let me remind us, led the push to home schooling resulting in two generations of morons posing as the learned and chosen.  Focus on the Family laid the groundwork on American radio and television for insurrectionist notions to appear as normal and recommended.  Canadians are not buying that drug! Focus on the Family is simply sleepwalking hocus pocus!