A Home for Jesus

And He said to them, “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know I must be in my Father’s house?”  Luke 2:49 ESV1

Read Matthew 1:18-25 & 2:11-15; Luke 1:26-56 & 2:41-52

“God so loved the world that He gave His only Son … in order that the world might be saved through Him (John 3:16a & 17b). But before Jesus saved the world, he was a Baby who needed care, a little Boy who needed providing for and protecting, and a young Man who needed encouragement and direction. Who on Earth could God trust to raise His Son? Who could be up to the challenge of parenting all of God wrapped up in the skin of a little Boy? Both Mary and Joseph must have been exceptional people! Much can be deduced from Scripture about this couple.

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Sharing Secrets with God

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.  Luke 2:23-26 ESV1

Read Luke 2:21-35

There were undoubtedly many reasons why God chose Mary and Joseph to raise His Son. One of those reasons was that they were obedient to His commandments. When Jesus was eight days old, “they brought Him up to Jerusalem [to the temple] to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’) [see Exodus 13:2 & 12]  and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons’ [see Leviticus 12:8]” (Luke 22b-24). At that time, Jesus was also circumcised and officially named. But more waited at the temple for the young family than tradition.

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So, This is What Blessed Feels Like

Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! … Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.  Luke 1:42, 45 ESV1

Read Luke 1:2-38

Those words were spoken to Mary by her relative, Elizabeth, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Mary had come to visit Elizabeth shortly after Mary became pregnant by the power of the same Holy Spirit. Mary had unquestionably accepted this strange happening with the words, “‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your [the angel, Gabriel’s] words’” (Luke 1:38). And Mary had excitedly agreed with Elizabeth’s announcement, saying, “‘From now on all generations will call me blessed’” (Luke 1:48). And Mary was blessed like no other woman on the face of this Earth has been blessed. But did Mary have any idea what that blessing would entail?

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Noble Joseph

Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.   Matthew 1:20b NLT1

Read Matthew 1:1-25

As he worked in his carpenter’s shop, did Joseph ever ponder the fact that he was a descendant of the great King David? His ancestors, for fourteen generations, had been kings of Israel, the leaders of God’s chosen people. Did he ever wonder how his life would have been different had Israel faithfully served God and still had a king on the throne? He could have been raised as a prince, not a pauper. He could have been preparing for the throne instead of building a blue-collar business.

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