The First Arrival of the Messiah

The sun rises on a thriving Roman Empire. In the east of the Empire, we find an effectively oppressed Jewish capital serving as minimally as possible such a powerful empire. This empire was only interested in the payment of taxes and the respect of its authority. A young man named Joseph was working for his future with a beautiful young virgin named Mary, to whom he was betrothed. Thus, began God’s new work, man’s salvation via a Hypostatic union of man and One among God's Trinity. A Man among men to communicate directly God’s love as our Immanuel, restore in man what sin had disintegrated in man, and establish an eternal covenant for direct communication to the Divine and Eternal Kingdom. Before their marriage, Joseph was informed his betrothed was pregnant, and knowing it was not his child and still reverencing his betrothed, he considered giving her a bill of divorce to preserve her from the judgment of men. Then, in a dream, he was confronted by an angel. The angel revealed the work God had ordained for them. Joseph awoke and chose to marry her. After Mary, was made aware of her pregnancy and that of her cousin Elizabeth via Gabriel, she went in haste to stay with Elizabeth, likely until she gave birth to John the Baptist. Caesar had declared a census and thus Joseph traveled to the city of David, Bethlehem, to be enrolled with his betrothed. When they arrived, “the time came for her to be delivered” (Luke 2:6 RSVCE). They wrapped the Newborn in swaddling clothes and placed Him in a manger in a near cave since the inn was far too crowded. At that moment, angels appeared before the local shepherds who were tending their flock. The shepherds, then, came to adore the Lord in response to the announcement of the angels. After eight days, Jesus was circumcised and given his name by Joseph as the angel had prescribed. Then, after forty days when Mary’s purification was completed, they brought Jesus to the temple to present him according to Mosaic law. As was the custom, they bathed when entering the temple and bought two turtle doves for sacrifice to God, recalling the relationship of Abraham to Isaac as given by God. 

Following the signs made clear to them in the sky, astrologers journeyed and came to Herod’s court inquiring about the newborn king of the Jews. Herod, jealous/ambitious for power and burdened by the thought of defending his throne again, was struck with grief/fury and summoned the religious leaders of the people to inquire as to the meaning.  As the astrologers arrived at the house of the Lord they offered Him very interesting gifts of Gold suggesting his kinship, frankincense suggestive of His divinity, and myrrh as a symbol of death. Afterward, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph instructing him to flee to Egypt lest the child would be murdered. Since Herod was enraged by the Magi who did not return as instructed, he ordered the male children in Bethlehem at the age of two and under be killed. While the most powerful of men were shaken by the possibility of One more powerful than they, God worked a mission that the most malicious and valiant of their efforts would only bring to completion. After what was likely a couple of years, Herod died and an angel appeared to Joseph instructing them to return to the Holy Land. Mary and Joseph likely avoided Judea on their journey to Galilea. Returning to Nazareth, Jesus would have grown up amongst an agricultural community that was interdependent. As Jesus grew, he would have begun by helping his mother tend to the necessary household duties. As He matured, He would likely have been instructed in his father’s trade of carpentry. Thence, He would have learned how to carve and shape wood as well as make the tools they needed. Being a Jewish boy, He would have been instructed in the customs of Jewish life, especially the practical implications of the Law as well as the scriptures. As a student, he would have learned/written in Hebrew while speaking Aramaic. At home, Joseph would have led most ceremonies as head of the household, most notably the Sabbath meal when the Jewish family rests and offers thanks to God for His Providence. Jesus would often have looked forward to the major feasts of the year when the family would travel to the temple in Jerusalem. The Seder meal would commemorate these feasts such as the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Tabernacles, and Passover. On one such occasion, Jesus remained in the temple having a good conversation with the scribes and priests while Mary and Joseph assumed He was with their neighbors somewhere in the caravan. After three days of searching for Him, Mary, burst in with the love of a Mother and the greatest Christian, and revealed to Him her agony saying, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.”(Luke 2:48). Mary having questioned Him, He responded honestly to her frustration, confusion, and anxiety saying, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”(Luke 2:49). He obediently returned to Nazareth with them. Mary reflected on these things as she watched Jesus grow as any human, Son of God though He was. Consequently, no threat would find Him whose wealth and reign did not flow from His power but obedience to His Father who was omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent.

Written by Carter Carruthers