Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends on this the day AFTER Christmas.
In many ways today is a day of great disappointment for millions of people, did you know that? The long journey of anticipation toward Christmas is rudely over. Too many gifts will be returned today for a refund and many children’s toys will be discarded as broken or unwanted already. Christmas trees will be dismantled and piles of them will soon appear on street curbs. You may also know this week more people file for divorce than any other week of the year! But what about us, people who view Christmas as a major spiritual experience? What about those involved in that first Biblical Christmas.
The Christmas story in Luke 2 tells us the angels returned to the glory of heaven with their announcement mission accomplished; (Luke 2:15) and the shepherds returned to their fields and sheep rejoicing at what they had experienced. (Luke 2:20) The Magi had not yet seen the star or begun their journey and of course King Herod was oblivious to what was happening in Bethlehem.
Speaking of oblivious, it appears everyone in busy Bethlehem except Joseph and Mary were totally uninterested in the miracle in the stable. Oh, many of them had heard the remarkable news from excited shepherds (Luke 2:17,18) but evidently no one was excited enough to go find the stable and see this newborn miracle for themselves!
I presume Joseph was busy finding food and shelter for his little family and young Mary was busy caring for her newborn very special infant, with no help from her mother or any other experienced woman! Luke tells us it was a full week before the next significant event in the Christmas story. Luke writes: “On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He was conceived.” (Luke 2:21) Only one sentence but oh my, the significance of this event!
We don’t know where it happened or who else may have witnessed it, but this was a very, very important experience for every Jewish family with a newborn son. Why? Because God Himself had commanded this 8th day monumental event for every baby boy. Do you know when God did that? Way back in time, in the days of old Abraham the father of the Hebrew people.
Genesis 17 has the story. “When Abram was 99 years old the LORD ‘appeared’ to him and said, ‘I am God Almighty (El Shaddai) walk before Me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make My covenant between Me and you, and I will greatly increase your numbers.” (Gen. 17:1,2)
The remainder of that chapter describes one of the most important days in human history. In brief, here’s what happened that day:
1. God identified Himself by a new name: El Shaddai which means “covenant keeping God” or “God is all sufficient”. (Gen. 17:1)
2. God gave Abram a new name: “Abraham” which means “father of many nations”. (Gen. 17:5)
3. God reaffirmed His LAND of Canaan covenant with Abraham and his descendants. (Gen. 17:8)
4. God established ‘circumcision’ as the ‘mark of God’s covenant’ between God and the descendants of Abraham. (Gen. 17:10,11)
5. God specified the ‘circumcision mark’ was to be given a male descendant of Abraham on his 8th day after birth. (Gen. 17:12)
6. God gave Abraham’s barren wife Sarai a new name: “Sarah” which means ‘princess or noblewoman’. (Gen. 17:15)
7. God promised Abraham that his 90-year-old barren wife Sarah would become pregnant by Abraham and bear a son, and she would become ‘the mother of nations’. (Gen. 17:16)
8. God told Abraham to name the miracle son born to Sarah, “Isaac”, and the Covenant between God and Abraham would be inherited by Isaac, not Ishmael. (Gen. 17:19-21)
Joseph and Mary knew and cherished this rich heritage which was theirs. Joseph’s parents had done the same with him when he was 8 days old. They knew this act of circumcision was far more significant with Mary’s miracle son than any other Jewish boy all the way back to Isaac, for this miracle son, born in a stable, was God incarnate, the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. The bloody, irreversible, circumcision act, done on the 8th day, proclaimed that this little boy was a son of God’s Covenant with Abraham. He was a member of the people God had declared to be “My treasured possession…a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” (Ex. 19:5,6)
But another very important part of this 8th day ceremony was the official naming of this baby boy! For Joseph and Mary there were no options, the name ‘Jesus‘ had been proclaimed to both Joseph and Mary in separate encounters with angels whom God had sent to them to be sure they fully understood the delicate significance of this miraculous incarnation of God here on planet earth! (Matt. 1:21 & Luke 1:31)
Joseph and Mary understood WHY this baby should bear both the mark of circumcision and the name Jesus, for His Covenant life mission would be SAVIOR of any in the world who would recognize His truthful identity and understand the significance of His life, death and resurrection in earning deliverance from their sin bondage and sin condemnation! I doubt we can therefore imagine how significant this 8th day event was for Joseph and Mary. Do you see that they were also covenanting themselves to God to raise this miracle infant to understand and accomplish His earthly mission!
Now my friends, have you ever considered that for us, New Year’s Day falls 8 days after Christmas Eve? I can only imagine the load of responsibility and awesome privilege that Joseph and Mary felt that week as the 8th day approached! So, as we approach New Year’s Day 2025 with what attitudes, what focus of purpose, what new Holy Spirit anointing, what sense of identity in your relationship with Jesus Christ, will you prepare to step into January 1, 2025?
While we thank God for yesterday, Christmas Day, we spend today, the day after Christmas in awe, considering the eternal significance of Christmas and how we might best spend the 8 days between this Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day preparing for our future, just as Joseph and Mary spent their 8 days preparing for their new future with baby Jesus, God incarnate! What do you think God has in HIS mind for our 2025 and how would He like to help you and me prepare over these next days?
May I offer you this worship song to help us align our hearts with Jesus this day after Christmas, as we prepare for a New Year?
Today’s Scripture: Genesis 17:1-21.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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