King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Monday, October 04, 2022
Chapters: MATTHEW 2, LUKE 2:39-52
Study: Justified In The Name of Jesus
Hello My Friend,
As I was reading the chapters for today, I started thinking about all the people who have some kind of knowledge of Jesus, but not enough to find Him. I was like that, I grew up Catholic and was well aware of Jesus being born on Christmas Eve we use to watch or sometimes go to midnight mass. I was well aware of His crucifixion as we watched them reenact it every year on Good Friday. We fasted for forty days from something that we enjoyed and would not eat meat on Wednesday’s and Friday’s until Easter Sunday. I even remember when there was a fish on the calendars every Friday for meatless Friday in honor of Jesus. I was as lost as could be because while I knew all about Jesus, I had no idea that I needed to be saved. Being a Catholic was all about works, our salvation was not even guaranteed, in fact, it was not even considered as we would be sent to purgatory in hopes that someone else would purchase our salvation for us. Well, they had part of it right, we cannot purchase our salvation, but it was Jesus who purchased it for us as He is the only one who could.
[Ephesians 2:8-10,13-16 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:]
As we continue in the reading of the Gospels, Jesus is born, this star that appeared when He was born stood over where Jesus was. That prompted everyone who had knowledge of the Scriptures and saw this star in the sky to find Jesus, and many of them ended up in Jerusalem, which is about five miles from Bethlehem.
[Matthew 2:1-5 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,]
[And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes] Here are these men, frantically searching for some answers when they started searching the Scriptures, finding what we learned yesterday, [Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem 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.]
Well, that news did not go so well for Herod or the rest of them, Herod, came up with a plan to actually have Jesus killed, but God, let it be known to the wise men that Herod was up to no good. As soon as they left they followed that star right until it stood directly where Jesus was staying.
[Matthew 2:7-12 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. 9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.]
[till it came and stood over where the young child was.] Notice that the Scriptures say “young child”, at this point Jesus was not a baby anymore, so all those images depicting that the wise men were there after Jesus was born are incorrect. Nevertheless, they still rejoiced when they found Him, as we all should be, [1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.]
By the way, there were more than three wise men, and the gifts they offered were often of their providence. I believe, these do however have a specific meaning to them, the gold, of course, would help them while they would be in Egypt. It was also in reference to Him being KING as gold was be offered to kings to pay tribute to them, the frankincense was in reference to God and the temple as this was offered as part of the daily offerings. And as for the myrrh, this was used to embalm bodies when they die, so, this in reference to Jesus being born to die for us. Remember, when Mary Magdalene and some of the other ladies went up to the tomb on the third day of His death with the spices to embalm Jesus and what they discovered?
[Mark 16:1-2,5-6 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.]
Now, for the first time ever all these Scriptures from the prophets concerning Jesus being born are coming to pass and these people are horrified at the thought. Why? For one, they had no idea what the Scriptures said until they started searching through them. And two, they had already had their congregation believing that their traditions were Law, if word got out that they had been lying all this time, then the people would leave and turn to the truth. Now, after the wise men left, God, warned Joseph that Herod was trying to kill His Son.
[Matthew 2:14-16,19-20,23 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: 15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. 19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.]
[and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem,] Forget the fact that Herod was that so wicked and worried about losing the throne that he resorted to killing babies, he also went into the wrong city. And had they really been reading the Scriptures, they would have discovered that Jesus would be in Egypt, [Hosea 11:1 When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.]. Nevertheless, God, still made sure that nothing would happen to His Son until the appointed time that He would die. We all have an appointed time to die, but as long as we believe in and receive Christ as our Saviour, we too will resurrect like Jesus, [Hebrews 9:27-28 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.]
[He shall be called a Nazarene.] [Nazarene; a term used for an early Christian sect in first-century Judaism, and later a sect of Jewish Christians.] [Nazareth; “the guarded one” or Nazer; “the branch”] This is why this Scripture is referring to this prophecy, [Isaiah 11:1-3 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: 2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:]
Now, keep in mind while Jesus knew that He is the Son of God, he was born just as you and I, He could not perform any miracles at this point so as He grew up with His surrogate parents, He followed the Law of Moses just as they did. It did not take long before Jesus started reading the Scriptures, becoming curious as to how the people responded to them. We do not know much about Him growing up as a boy until the age of twelve, that was when learned that every year they traveled as a caravan to Jerusalem for Passover.
[Luke 2:39-43 And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. 40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. 41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. 43 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.]
[And when he was twelve years old,] The age of accountability, it really does not take long for us to realize that we have a sin nature, a little toddler even knows when they are testing your limits. By the age of twelve we pretty much do know that we are sinners and that there are consequences to sin, [Proverbs 20:11 Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.]
[the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem;] I do not believe that Jesus even realized that they were gone, He was so focused on what was going on in the temple that He did not know they left. I have done that before, been working on something and so focused on it that I did not realize that everyone was gone. This would explain His response when Mary and Joseph found Him in the temple.
[Luke 2:46-52 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. 47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. 48 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. 49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? 50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. 51 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. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.]
[that after three days they found him in the temple,] Now, of course, when they realized that Jesus was not among them, Mary was frantic, and I am sure that as she started asking everyone in the group if they had seen Jesus that she had gotten even more worried as she realized He was not there. Just as Mary and Joseph sought Jesus until they found Him, all should be our searching for Jesus while He is still able to be found. The day will come when people will be searching for Him and not be able to find Him, [Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.]
[And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth,] Mary and Joseph really did not understand what Jesus was saying to them, but Mary kept them in her heart and would remember them come the day that she sees her son hanging on the cross, [John 19:25-26 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!]
[and in favour with God and man.] One could wonder if Jesus sinned by what He did, but He did not. Now, had He remained there when they had told Him to return with them, then He would have sinned. We should all be so inclined to be about our Father’s business, to have a deep desire to learn His Word, understand His ways, and what He expects of us. Salvation is never something that we forget, but it can be something we lose sight of when we are frightened. God, often has to remind us that this life we are living is not about the works we do in honor of what Jesus has done for us, it is about the lost who need Jesus just as much as we do.
[Luke 15:4-7 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for sending Your Son so that I do not need to keep working for a chance at eternal life, Your Son made the way for me once and for all. And thank You for my salvation by my simple obedience of my faith in Your Son. You are my Father, and I do want to be about Your business. Lord, lead me and guide me, give me wisdom of Your Word, help me make the right choices from the knowledge I have in Your Word, You have given me the freedom to choose how to live my life and I choose to live it to please You. I know I will not always be obedient, but also know that Your grace is sufficient enough to get me back in check every time as I live in subjection to Your understanding, learn to be more like Your Son so that I can show the lost how they too can find Jesus. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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