So it was,
that while they were there,
the days were completed
for her to be delivered.
And she brought forth
her firstborn Son,
and wrapped Him
in swaddling cloths ...
Luke 2:6-7
Adult Message …
What did Mary wrap in swaddling cloths?
There are two appropriate answers to this. First, we could say that she bundled up a baby. Jesus was, indeed, fully human. Alternatively, we could say that Mary swaddled God! Wow!
As the famous Christmas Song ponders …
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you
I heard a preacher once deliver a line that has captivated me ever since. It starts like this: “From the moment Jesus was born, he was bound …” He was swaddled, right? That’s what the preacher wanted you to hear. But the preacher finished off the thought like this: “From the moment Jesus was born, he was bound … for death. And the swaddling clothes prefigured the grave cloths.”
Wow! As I said, I’ve been wrestling with that ever since.
Yesterday, we looked at what Jesus did in the last days of life. From the moment our Lord entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he was bound for death on Good Friday. And the question was – and is – what did he spend his last days doing?
Answer: He prophesied.
The trajectory of these prophecies will be … 1) My earthly life may end in a few days. 2) But my living will not end! 3) And neither will yours – whether you encounter death or are alive when set all things right, because 4) “if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” (That’s John 14:3. Jesus says that more succinctly and more powerfully than I).
We’ve been tracing Jesus’ last days’ prophecies in the Gospel of Matthew …
· Chapter 24 in the Gospel of Matthew starts with Jesus’ prophecy of the coming destruction of the Jerusalem Temple (24:1-2). The Temple would indeed be destroyed in A.D. 70. And this prophecy that was clearly fulfilled should, again, give us confidence that the next set of prophecies should be taken seriously too …
· … like, next verses, the Signs of the End of the Age (24:3-8). Jesus states definitively that the “end of the age” is coming. When? We’re not sure. In fact, we’re told first when it is not. He says there will be “wars and rumors of wars [and] famines and earthquakes.” The horrible events have always occurred. But they’re generally “birth pangs” rather than definitive signs of the end. After all, how many wars have there been in the last two thousand years that haven’t been the sign of the end. Now, the end may certainly coincide with a world shaking war or earthquake, but these aren’t definitive signs.
· Next, Jesus’ foretells persecutions. Persecutions have happened to Christians since the beginning of the church too (including the disciples, the “you” he’s specifically addressing in Matthew 24:9-14) … and yet these persecutions so far haven’t been the sign for the end.
· Next, Jesus’ talks about the Desolating Sacrilege (24:15-28). He’s referencing a prophecy in Daniel 9:27. Daniel’s prophecy came true a first time in 167 B.C. Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Greek-Seleucid King, used Israel’s altar of burnt offering to set up a shrine to the pagan Greek god … and … he sacrificed the most unclean animal to the Jews, a pig, upon it. That was an abomination … and … it caused desolation. Well, Jesus prophesied that a similar kind of thing would happen again in the end times. (Note: There are many interpretations of how the events of the end times will unfold. In one of the most common interpretations, it is prophesied that the end times will begin with the Rapture – Christ coming again in the clouds to bring believers “home” before the seven-year-period of the Tribulation begins. In that calendar, the desolating sacrilege is believed to be one of the key events at the three and a half year mark of the Tribulation.)
· As part of these events, Jesus warns us to beware of false messiahs (24:23-24)
· Matthew 24:29-31 begins telling what it will look like when Christ calls “the elect” home – complete with a “loud trumpet call” and his “coming on the clouds.”
· Therefore, he concludes, “from the fig tree, learn its lesson” (24:32-35). He’s saying, just as you know the signs of spring and summer and of the coming of ripe figs, pay attention to the signs of the coming of Christ.
I still have more to tell you tomorrow. But the fig tree provides a good stopping point. And it asks a good question: Most of us pay attention to the signs of the coming of spring and summer; are you paying attention to the signs of the coming of Christ?
In Christ’s Love,
a guy who is still captivated
by that line – and so I repeat it,
so maybe you’ll continue
to be captivated by it too:
“From the moment Jesus was born,
he was bound … for death.
And the swaddling clothes
prefigured the grave cloths.”
Children’s Message …
What did Mary wrap in swaddling cloths?
There are two appropriate answers to this.
· First, we could say that she bundled up a baby. Jesus was, indeed, fully human.
· Alternatively, we could say that Mary swaddled God! Wow! Jesus was also fully God!
As the famous Christmas Song ponders …
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you
I heard a preacher once deliver a line that has captivated me ever since. It starts like this: “From the moment Jesus was born, he was bound …” He was swaddled, right? That’s what the preacher wanted you to hear. But the preacher finished off the thought like this: “From the moment Jesus was born, he was bound … for death. And the swaddling clothes prefigured the grave cloths.”
Wow! As I said, I’ve been wrestling with that ever since.
Yesterday, we looked at what Jesus did in the last days of life. From the moment our Lord entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he was bound for death on Good Friday. And the question was – and is – what did he spend his last days doing?
Answer: He prophesied. For example, in Matthew 24:29-31, Jesus begins telling what it will look like when Christ comes to call believers home. He says that there will be a “loud trumpet call” and that he (Jesus) will come, riding “on the clouds.” In other words, it will be spectacular! It will be beyond human!
Therefore, he concludes, “from the fig tree, learn its lesson” (24:32-35). He’s saying, just as you know the signs of spring and summer -- and when it’s time to go pick ripe figs – pay attention to the signs of the coming of Christ.
Discussion Questions:
1. What are the signs of spring and summer?
2. Why do you know and pay attention to them?
3. What are the signs that it’s about time for Jesus to come again?
4. Why do most of us allow ourselves to be better acquainted with earthly things than spiritual things?
5. What might you do as a family to pay more attention to spiritual things?
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